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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 24 November 2004

In this week's issue:

• five things your business adviser might not have told you
• six tips to improve the content of your website
• an update on complying with the Telephone Preference Service
• managing software licences
  

Weekly stir

Five things your business adviser might not have told you

For most people, once they've got their new enterprise up and running, they begin to come across the practical realities that every business owner has to deal with.

Here are five of those small business 'secrets' your business adviser might have overlooked and some tips to deal with them.

• When to stop doing things
• How to deal with people you don't trust
• How to deal with people that don't pay
• A 'label' every small business should have
• Why you should look forward to paying your tax
  

1) When to stop doing things

It's amazing how many businesses get involved in things that just don't work, and then fail to do anything about it. Advertising campaigns, joint ventures, business partnerships, new product lines, different recipes, price promotions and so on. The list is endless.

Now this will be less of a problem for those of you who test things first, because you'll quickly spot what is and isn't working and act accordingly. But most people don't test, and even if they do spot that something isn't working or paying its way, they just ignore it and hope for the best.

If something isn't working for you, then stop and do something else. Straight away.

2) How to deal with people you don't trust

Employees, customers, suppliers, marketing partners and advisers. You'll have to deal with all sorts of people in your new venture, and sometimes when you start interacting with certain people, there's something about them you just don't like, or don't entirely trust.

If you're faced with even the slightest doubts about the integrity of someone you're dealing with in your enterprise, then it will probably be better not to deal with them at all, or to get out of the relationship as soon as you can. There are plenty other fish to fry.

3) How to deal with people that don't pay

The best way to deal with slow payers or potential 'no payers' is to make sure they have no excuses for not paying in the first place. Don't offer credit to someone unless it's absolutely necessary and you've run a credit reference check on them first. Have a very clear credit policy, invoice your customers as soon as you've delivered your work or product, and send reminder statements on time. Don't let people off the hook, and make sure you have a firm, clear and consistent line in dealing with slow payers.

4) A 'label' every small business should have

Your new firm can be viewed in all sorts of different ways by your customers, suppliers and employees. For example, you might be seen as 'friendly', 'professional', 'exciting', 'reliable' or 'innovative'. But there's one adjective or 'label' that needs to stick to every small business that wants to get noticed and develop a reputation that will help it survive or grow.

Co-operative.

As well as you trusting others, it will pay massive dividends if you can ensure that everyone you employ, sell to, buy from or deal with feels that you are co-operative and trustworthy at all times, and operate to the highest of ethical business standards. If the people you encounter in business see that you're the type that will bend over backwards for them, then you'll build an invaluable network of contacts, customers, suppliers and friends who will want to do business with you for a long time in the future.

5) Why you should look forward to paying your tax

Standard advice that many small business owners get is to show as little profit as possible at the end of the year to minimise your tax bill. Now just think about this for a moment. This means you're going to intentionally run a business with the objective of not being too profitable.

You can only survive, grow and create future value in your business if you're trading on a basis where you intend and expect to make at least a modest, and ideally a rather fat and healthy profit.

If you get a big tax bill it means you've been making money. If you're making enough money, then the least of your worries is that you'll have to pay tax. Would you really consider condemning yourself to a poorer existence just to avoid paying tax?

These are just a few of the practical, commonsense attitudes and habits that will make your experience of running a small business a smoother ride.

Marketing tip

Six tips to improve the content of your website

Last week, we gave you some tips on improving the experience enjoyed by visitors to your website. But in order to convince those visitors to become your new customers, it's vital to ensure that the content you put on your site looks the part.

Writing for the web is a particular skill. Unlike when you're writing a press release or mailshot that's going to go out in hard copy, you need to think continually about how the content will look and how easy it will be to read on-screen. The key word to bear in mind when writing content to put online is 'scan'. People surfing the net don't read complete sentences and paragraphs slowly, as they would if they were reading a book or a long newspaper feature. Instead, they quickly scan headlines, bullet points and words that leap out and grab their attention. It's essential to remember this when you're creating the content for your web pages or online newsletter.

Here are six tips for producing content for your website.

1. Be concise. This applies in all forms of writing, but it's especially important on websites. Long, drawn-out sentences and huge paragraphs simply won't be read. Your readers will be scanning your words with one finger on their mouse - don't put them off with long-winded vocabulary, complicated sentences or indigestible chunks of text or they'll simply click away.
   
2. Don't be too formal. The best web content can be described as 'smart-casual'. This means its tone is conversational, readable and easy to understand, but not let down by swearing, slang or too many colloquialisms.
   
3. Use short links. If you're including links to other relevant sites in articles you write for your site, make sure they don't break up the flow of text by stretching on for lines and lines. Long links also break more easily, so it's worth using a free service like http://www.tinyurl.co.uk or http://snipurl.com to shorten them.
   
4. Make the links obvious. If links are buried within a sentence or chunk of text, you need to make sure readers know where to click. The standard way to do this is to highlight your links in blue, and underline them.
   
5. Make the headlines strong. Listing the highlights or headlines of each page in a bulleted list at the top of that page, as we've done above, triggers interest and stands out to readers who are scanning a page to see if it contains anything relevant.
   
6. Make your pages printable. Nothing is more frustrating than printing off an excellent article or web page only to discover that it isn't formatted correctly for printing and has either come out blank or had the right-hand border lopped off. While people surfing the web will scan online information, they're likely to print something off that they're really keen to read, as it's easier to read in hard copy than on-screen. So it's well worth offering a print-friendly version of any articles, guides or newsletters you publish.

In the UK Small Business Marketing Bible you can find hundreds more tips on finding customers, as well as techniques and tactics that will help increase sales for any small business in any sector.

Legal tip

An update on complying with the Telephone Preference Service

In previous issues, we've explained how the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) works. Since 25 June this year, businesses have been allowed to register their details with the corporate version of the TPS if they don't want to receive unsolicited sales calls, under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. These are the regulations that govern telephone marketing.

The Government has recently been reminding businesses about the various ways they can use the TPS to make sure they are in compliance with these regulations. A few weeks ago, a business that made over 70,000 sales calls a month was shut down, and we thought it was time for an update about what the TPS does, and what you can use it for.

• First, have a look at the Information Commissioner's practical guidance on how the TPS actually works.
  
  
• If you don't want to receive unsolicited promotional calls in your business, you can register with the Corporate TPS by writing to this address. You might still get the odd call from overseas, but joining the database should cut out the majority of cold calls.
  
  
• If you are going to make sales calls yourself, the TPS can help you stay within the law. It offers a number of services to help you 'clean' your contact lists and databases - removing all the telephone subscribers who have chosen not to receive unsolicited calls.
  
  
• Because of the expense of buying a general subscription to the TPS, it offers a short-term subscription for small businesses. This costs only £50, and will allow you to check up to 500 telephone numbers.
  
  
• The TPS also has a useful guide to your legal obligations under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Finally, our Red Tape BUSTER contains plenty of other advice on the laws that affect you and your business, as well as hundreds of business scenarios, FAQs and checklists for every small business situation.

IT tip

Managing software licences

It's important to read the small print when you install a new piece of software on your computer. Most of it concerns copyright, and reading the licence will let you know where you stand with regard to using the software. And if you plan to install the software on more than one computer, you need to be aware of what the manufacturer or vendor has said about shared usage.

Here's a quick guide to the most important features of a software licence, plus a few pointers to where you can find more information.

• Licences apply to most of the software used on PCs. In the case of Microsoft Office, for example, the licence is usually attached to the outside of the CD-ROM or DVD case, but many licences only appear when you install the program.
  
  
• Essentially, licences are statements by the manufacturer or reseller of the software, letting you know how you can use the program. They often simply give permission for the software to be used. For the purposes of most business users, licensing software in this way is very similar to simply buying it.
  
  
• Occasionally, licences are renewable - on an annual basis, say - but this is rare. More common is the licence that resembles a subscription, such as for anti-virus software, which needs to be updated on a regular basis.
  
  
• Software publishers go to considerable lengths to enforce their licences. To keep up to date, you should keep a record of the various software packages you use and note down the dates on which they were installed. You should keep licences printed on certificates in a secure place somewhere in the office.
  
  
• As your business grows, licence management can become more complex. Several programs have been developed to help you cope with this - some are sophisticated enough to scan a network and report all the licences in use on various computers, as well as reporting on updates and patches.

For more on software licences, and a clear guide to the law, the Business Software Alliance offers a wide range of information.

New business idea

Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK.

Here is this week's idea:

• Personalised children's books

Just one word

Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts of personal and business situations.

It's a major problem for eBay, but do you know what shill bidding is?

a. placing a bid in the closing seconds of an auction
b. deliberately placing a bid to artificially raise the price of an item
c. putting an item up for auction that doesn't actually exist
d. changing your mind after a bid has been accepted

Answer at the end of the Bulletin.

Did you know?

Bofra bug bypasses anti-virus measures

A newly discovered variant of the MyDoom worm, dubbed Bofra, has devised a way to beat the barriers put up by anti-virus software. The worm works by installing small web servers on infected PCs. From these, it sends out e-mails that simply link back to the infected host. Because they don't contain any malicious script or attachments, the e-mails slip through anti-virus filters undetected. IT security firm Clearswift thinks that this may represent an unpleasant new breed of worm.

To learn more about this latest nasty, click on:
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=135065&liFlavourID=1

Unlimited ideas

Two weeks ago, we told you about the international ideas portal, the Global Ideas Bank. Now the UK's foundation for social entrepreneurs, UnLtd, has joined forces with the site to create an online workspace for social enterprises. The site offers space to publish project ideas and plans, browse through social enterprise ideas, discuss projects and network with others for advice and suggestions.

To view the site, go to:
http://www.unltdideasbank.org.uk

Worth a visit

Colour me happy

This clever tool takes you through the full spectrum of colours that can be used on web pages, giving you a chance to compare and contrast different shades, and work out which colours go together and which are an eyesore. Most fascinatingly, it allows you to view each colour through the eyes of a person who doesn't have normal vision, so that you can assess what your finished website will look like to someone who's colourblind or affected by any condition that influences how they see colour.

Access the tool at:
http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html

It's good to talk online advertising

This discussion forum is aimed at any business that has already, or is considering, advertising online. You can post questions on anything to do with web-based promotion, and browse an archive going back to 1996. A handy directory covering everything from search engines to cookies lets you search for previous posts by topic, and browsing earlier answers provides you with ideas, tools, strategies and case studies that can help get your next online ad campaign off the ground.

Check out the forum by visiting:
http://www.o-a.com

What's in a name?

Tips and advice on naming your new business are available at this site. It explains the importance of choosing a good business name, but also explores the branding opportunities offered by a good logo, tagline and web domain name. It also identifies different strategies for naming a business or product, including literal (think Toys R Us, Internet Explorer, Burger King); descriptive (Land Rover, Palm Pilot); evocative (Amazon, Yahoo!); invented (Kodak, Xerox); positioning (Quality Inn); and experience-driven (Comfort Inn, Skin So Soft).

It's all great stuff, and the name that's been chosen for the site is a good example of a literal name:
http://www.nameabusiness.com

Worth a read

Looking at how to start up a business on a shoestring budget, this bestselling book is packed full of tips for finding customers, researching competitors, planning your cash flow and deciding on a business structure - all explained without jargon, and with an emphasis on need-to-know, practical information. Its author, marketing guru Seth Godin, is giving away a free e-book version of the manual for the next week - simply go to http://www.changethis.com/8.BootstrappersBible to download your copy.

If you miss the deadline for the author's special offer, you can also order the book here:

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Good luck

The EnterQuest Team

This information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the information is accurate and up-to-date and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in the information nor any consequences of any errors or omissions. Professional advice should be sought where appropriate.