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Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 235
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| Thought for the week: "Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon." Winston Churchill |
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In this week's issue:
Speaking out against red tape
Businesswoman Sylvia Tidy-Harris has set up a website to help small businesses to sound off about their biggest legislation peeves.
Red Tape Rants is the latest venture for the founder and managing director of The Speakers Agency, and associated companies aimed at female and male speakers.
Mrs Tidy-Harris, a former air stewardess, tour director, and business columnist for the Daily Telegraph, established Red Tape Rants for anyone with a genuine rant against red tape.
And her own pet hates? There are two recurring themes, employment issues and how red tape is created by people who have never run a business.
Mrs Tidy-Harris is particularly concerned about the cost to small businesses of replacing often vital members of staff during maternity leave, which she claims can be crippling.
"Often the only way to replace a person during their maternity leave, is to approach an agency," she said. "Typical charges are between £10 and £20 an hour including commission, which adds around £380 a week to the average wage bill of a small business."
But she believes the costs escalate still further when a woman on maternity either delays her return date, or decides not to return at all.
She said: "An employer negotiates a return date with the employee, but the employee can change that at any time. Employers should be given the right to enforce the return date, and make their employees return to work on that date."
She believes employment law in general is weighted too much in favour of the employee, rather than business, claiming: "There's between 22-26 million voters at an election, and only around 4.5 million small businesses in the UK, so its obvious whose votes the politicians are going to try and win."
Mrs Tidy-Harris started The Speakers Agency, in 2001, with less than £1,000 of funding.
The idea for the business came at her wedding.
"My husband was struggling to give a speech at our wedding, so I stood up, took the microphone from him, and finished it. Guests at the wedding remarked afterwards how good it was and asked if I'd ever considered public speaking. That gave me the idea for The Speakers Agency."
She approached Business Link for help, but says she wasn't impressed by the organisation.
She said: "I was told I could have a loan, applied and was granted it. 18 months later I received notification that I was defaulting on the loan because they had failed to take my repayments. In the end, it took them almost two years to take the first repayment."
The three agencies have more than 500 speakers on the books, including queen of clean Kim Woodburn and dragon Duncan Bannatyne, plus a host of others from the world of comedy, show business and sport, including her own father, cartoonist Bill Tidy.
Despite the success of her businesses, Mrs Tidy-Harris already has her own exit strategy planned, which brings her to her second theme.
"In three to five years it looks like I will be living abroad if Alistair Darling's proposed increase in capital gains tax is implemented. There is certainly no way I am passing a higher proportion of my business assets back to the Government.
"These changes to the rules for capital gains will see me paying almost double for the gains I make if I sell the business.
"Despite all the talk, I don't believe this Government really gives two hoots about enterprise."
How to overcome your website visitors' scepticism
The average consumer is extremely sceptical, especially when buying a product or service over the Internet, as it can be hard to trust a business owner or firm with no 'face'. You just don't get the interaction you do when a customer is standing in front of you, so it can be harder to build up a rapport and gain their trust.
The following are suggestions that will increase your credibility and instil a sense of trust and believability with your prospects when they visit your website.
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Include photos. These could be of your store, if you have one. This way people can see that you occupy 'real' premises. Provide pictures of yourself and your staff too - the more you can include about you and your business, the more people will feel confident about doing business with you.
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Use a merchant account. If you plan to take orders over the web, make sure you've got a merchant account. These can provide customers with the reassurance that they're dealing with a trustworthy and secure service - and you don't have to wait for customers to send cheques or postal orders as payment.
For more hints, tips and guidance on making your website presentable and accessible see our practical factsheet on increasing traffic to your website. The Internet Advertising Bureau also has more information on its website.
Each week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business ideas in the UK and elsewhere around the world.
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.
Do you know the meaning of the word 'abrogate'?
a) abolish or cancel
b) make a judgment
c) introduce or create
d) negotiate or arbitrate
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
The following topical business issues have been recently reported in the media. Did your radar pick them up?
1) The number of phishing e-mails purporting to be from well-known sources has fallen dramatically to make up just 21% of phishing e-mails discovered in September this year, compared with 85% last year, according to security software firm Sophos. What sources were Sophos referring to?
a) The Information Commissioner's Office and Companies House
b) The big four banks
c) The UK Intellectual Property Office and HM Revenue & Customs
d) eBay and PayPal
2) Small firms are not taking on new staff because of the complex issues surrounding employment law, according to a new report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). What percentage claim they don't hire new staff for this reason?
a) 16%
b) 22%
c) 32%
d) 45%
3) According to a current Health and Safety Executive campaign, what is the most common type of ill-health disorder at work in the UK and Europe?
a) circulatory
b) respiratory
c) stress-related
d) musculoskeletal
Answers at the end of the Bulletin.
The Free Software Directory
The Free Software Directory catalogues and links to free computer software that users can download. Free products can be easily found via categories such as business and productivity, e-mail and security. The US-based directory is part of the wider Free Software Foundation, which promotes the development and use of free computer software.
Website for the building trade
This website is an online addition to Building, a construction magazine which covers issues of interest to anyone working in the construction industry. You'll find the latest news, legal updates, health and safety guidance, events and a directory of construction products, plus other services.
Marketing Experiments Journal
This website has a US bias but is nevertheless worth a look. The Marketing Experiments Journal's mission is 'to discover what really works' in the world of online marketing. Users can access reports and sign up to gain access to interactive web clinics. The topics cover anything and everything from e-mail marketing to search engine optimisation, and lots more.
Tips on writing for the web
Following on from this week's marketing tip, if you're thinking of writing copy for your website (or any marketing materials for that matter), you should read Jakob Nielsen's pages on web writing. Nielsen discusses how people read web pages and provides hints and tips for writing easy-to-digest content.
This book focuses on the message that 'the customer is king' and aims to help you build relationships between yourself and your customers so you can sell better in today's modern climate. It confines 'traditional' closing sales techniques to the bin and approaches selling with a new technique based on behavioural psychology principles. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is a).
Abrogate means to abolish or cancel.
The entrepreneur told her MP it was time to abrogate some of the red tape surrounding employment law. |
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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. |
