Your EnterQuest Bulletin - Issue 170
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| Thought for the week: "The crime is not to avoid failure. The crime is not to give triumph a chance." Huw Wheldon |
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In this week's issue:
If
you have any questions about your business idea or target market, or need help tracking down a grant, subsidy or business support
in your local area, then send an e-mail with your query to the EnterQuest
information team and we'll do our best to help.
Send
your question to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com.
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To
access over 800 factsheets, guides and small business reports, go
to www.scavenger.net. |
Key questions to ask yourself before you start a business
Conventional thinking (and often advice) given to prospective new start ups is to find or create a product first and then work out who you are going to sell it to.
The problem with this approach is that more often than not it will result in novice business owners wasting their time, effort and money in creating a product or service that nobody wants.
Which is not at all desirable and pretty dumb.
Unfortunately, this is how too many people approach starting a business for the first time.
However, the individuals who do it successfully, often after two or three failures along the way, are the ones who spot a market gap or a niche that nobody is filling first, and then go on to develop or offer a product that will satisfy the needs of that market.
But what's worse than this is that the jackass entrepreneurs - who tend to grab hold of and follow the first idea, product or 'opportunity' that they see - rarely prepare themselves properly for running a business venture.
Despite making sales, whether through luck or good judgement, they still end up as failures because they knacker themselves and their venture by doing things that they are not cut out for or just too weak at.
If you're still in the early stages of considering a start up idea, or have spotted a market gap you think you can fill, here are some questions that you should ask yourself and consider before taking the plunge.
1) What business skills do you possess and what do you lack?
Business owners who fail quickly tend to spend too much of their time doing things they aren't good at rather than focusing their efforts on their personal strengths. Identify your weaknesses and things you are useless at doing, and get someone else inside or outside of your business to do them instead.
2) Who exactly are the ideal target customers you're aiming at?
Successful business owners can describe their 'ideal' target customers in terms of their specific personal or business needs, desires and problems they want solving. They can also identify where these customers are located, and crucially whether they can afford to pay for the product or service the business will offer.
3) What is different or special about your business that your competitors won't be able to match?
If you can't offer something unique or genuinely different to what's currently on offer, you're going to find it difficult to make a breakthrough into your target market. Focusing your marketing efforts on a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is essential if you're going to gain any competitive advantage in your niche.
4) Will you test your idea, business concept and USP in your market first?
Successful business ideas address specific needs and problems that a particular group of people are experiencing. Testing your idea, your offer, your price, your marketing message and your USP will enable you to make sure that what you're offering is going to be profitable or whether it needs refining in some way to make it even more attractive to your prospects.
5) Do you have a marketing plan that describes how you will make sales?
It won't matter how compelling a USP you have if you don't promote and sell it. Your marketing plan should identify how you will reach your customers, what marketing methods and channels you will use, and what systems you will have in place to manage this on a day-to-day basis.
6) How much start up capital do you really need?
Some businesses can be started up with very little initial outlay and ongoing capital requirements. But it's a very common mistake, usually fatal, to start up without sufficient working capital and to run out of cash before sales revenues have had a chance to become properly established. Make sure you've worked out how much start up capital you've got and how much you are actually going to need.
7) What are the risks of it all going pear-shaped?
If you have a list of risks associated with your proposed venture with little or even nothing on it, you're kidding yourself. Every business has risks attached to it, and it's vital that you can honestly identify the things that could go wrong and threaten the survival of your enterprise. By doing this you'll be able to identify how you can minimise these risk factors, and what you can do should they ever happen.
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The UK Small Business Marketing Bible is packed with hundreds more practical tips and techniques about growing your business, finding new customers and increasing sales. |
Royal Mail's new pricing system
If you send any mail at all in your business, you need to be aware of changes to Royal Mail's pricing system that come into force in a few weeks.
From 21 August, the cost of postage will be based on size as well as weight, under the Pricing in Proportion initiative. It's being introduced because Royal Mail reckons it costs more for it to handle large and irregular shaped packages, regardless of how much they weigh.
Not all post will be affected by the changes, though - special delivery items and packages weighing over 1kg remain exempt, for example.
The practical implications for business owners are as follows:
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Mail will fall into one of three categories: letters, large letters and packets. When sorting your mail, you'll have to separate it into the right category.
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You'll have to upgrade your scales and your franking machine will need new postage rates.
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There are some benefits for businesses - the weight limits for first and second class post have gone up, and by using smaller envelopes for the same volume of material, you can save money.
Why not also check out Royal Mail's dedicated web pages for small businesses, which offer tips on managing your postage costs, as well as explanations of the various discounts available for small firms and bulk mailings.
Complying with the law on website accessibility
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) was passed to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities and ensure that they have fair access to goods and services.
The Act relates to anyone with learning disabilities, mental illness, hearing and visual impairments and certain medical conditions, as well as physical disabilities. It applies to all businesses - see our informative factsheet about the Act for more details.
Businesses must make reasonable adjustments to the way they deliver their services so disabled people can use them. You can't, because of a person's disability, refuse to provide them with a service that you are offering to other people, and they can take legal action if they feel they are being discriminated against. If you provide services to the public, you have a duty to consider making changes to the things that could make it difficult for disabled customers.
This includes ensuring that people with disabilities can access your website.
Using free web hosting services
There are plenty of free web hosting services available, and many small firms take advantage of free hosting for their business website.
If you are considering using a free web hosting service, there are potential pitfalls that you should be aware of before signing up to a specific provider. Things you need to bear in mind include:
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Limited bandwidth. The amount of bandwidth you will need relates to the number of visitors accessing your site and the number of pages and/or images being downloaded from it. Free web hosting services may only offer a limited amount of bandwidth, which could have an impact on the performance of your site.
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Pop-up adverts. Getting something for free often means that advertisements are tied in with the deal. The hosting provider may insist that you publish adverts on your site, and this could be a source of irritation for visitors.
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Reliability. It's good practice to check your chosen hosting provider's 'uptime' - the amount of time their hosting services have been available. This should consistently be close to 100%.
In addition, if you don't have your own domain name and instead have your site's name 'tagged on' to the end of your host's domain name, there can be problems with customers remembering your website's address.
A report recently published by web hosting company Fasthosts highlighted this as a key problem for businesses that used free web hosting services but didn't have their own domain names. You can get round it by making sure that you also buy a relevant domain name for your site - see our factsheet on registering an internet domain name for more details.
The latest UK reliability statistics for web hosting providers can be viewed at the Webhosting.Info portal. You can also check out the Internet Service Providers Association for general information about the issues to consider when choosing a web hosting service.
Finally, Web Hosting Magazine has a US slant, but offers topical news and reviews of international web hosts.
Each
week we provide you with summaries of some popular or emerging business
ideas in the UK.
Here
is this week's idea:
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 what 'pre-eminent' means?
a) too early
b) first or initial
c) leading or most important
d) presumptuous or judgemental
Answer at the end of the Bulletin.
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The European Commission's (EC) anti-discrimination site
www.stop-discrimination.info
This website is a source of information about the Europe-wide campaign against discrimination. It covers news about relevant issues and activities in the European Union's (EU) 25 member states - but how user-friendly and accessible is the site? |
Navigation
and presentation - the homepage invites you to click on the appropriate language, and from there, the site is easy to navigate via a series of helpful drop-down lists. Although colourful and well-designed, the homepage includes too much news, however, with the result that you have to scroll down a long way to reach the bottom of the page.
 
Accessibility - as you'd expect, information is provided in 20 different languages. As you'd also expect, given its subject matter, the site complies with basic Web Accessibility Initiative standards. However, the information it provides about accessibility is limited, with no practical guidance for users of different browsers, and no text-only option.
Content
and usefulness - the 'Stop Discrimination' guide is excellent - it features a practical toolbox to help businesses understand what discrimination is and what realistic measures they can take to avoid it. Also available is country-specific information about anti-discrimination legislation, as well as project examples from across Europe of initiatives to tackle different types of discrimination.
Relevance - the press section of the site is not hugely up to date, with only one new story so far for July. However, what's there is interesting and varied, and you can also browse photos and speeches, as well as using the press dossier to research statistics and information about specific areas of discrimination. Finally, there's country-specific news and events.
This is a highly useful resource for business owners, providing practical guidance on how to comply with the law in this area. And we're awarding an extra point for the effort that has gone into packing this site with as much country-specific information as possible.
Our rating - 16/20
Employment law driving businesses to tears
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reckons hundreds of business owners are calling its legal helpline in floods of tears - all because of how difficult employment law is to comply with. It says it handles around ten calls an hour from bamboozled business owners struggling to understand the volume of red tape they have to deal with, and bemoaning the fact that little professional, impartial advice is available. Age discrimination is a particular source of contention - calls about this have spiralled by a whopping 871% ahead of new rules coming into force in October.
Smoking consultation for businesses
Pubs and other small businesses affected by the smoking ban that'll hit England and Wales next year are being asked for their views. The Government has launched a consultation covering issues like what will the definition of an 'outside' smoking area really mean, who will be exempt, what signs will you have to install and how will the ban be enforced. You've got until 9 October to add your views, and in the meantime you can read this analysis from industry mag The Publican.
Directory of Women at Work
This directory of female-owned businesses was set up by Cambridge-based web designer Jane Horwood, who aims to make it into a 'one-stop shop' for clients looking for services in their area. The site also lists regional networking groups for women in business, so self-employed women can exchange tips, ideas and support. In addition, there are a number of helpful articles written by experts to assist with everything from business writing style to information about personal image.
Resources for franchisees
The Franchise Magazine, published eight times a year, is packed with tons of useful information for franchisees and franchisors. From listing franchise opportunities to showcasing particular franchises in informative articles and features, this is a great resource for anyone thinking of taking up a business franchise. You can read the publication online, and sign up to receive regular news alerts. And on the same subject, why not check out the UK Franchise Directory for comprehensive, categorised listings of about 100 franchises?
Advice resource on redundancy and dismissal
Armchair Advice is a website focusing on the legal issues surrounding redundancy and dismissal. It contains a number of useful resources for business owners - from a location-specific directory of specialist advisers such as solicitors and careers coaches, to a range of guidance on the legal aspects of dismissing staff and employee rights.
This book reviews health and safety legislation in jargon-free language and explains how to comply with it in practical terms. It takes a clear and plain-English approach, featuring bulleted summaries of business owners' duties under the law. Check out:
Just one word answer
The answer is c).
Pre-eminent means leading or most important.
It might be your objective to become the pre-eminent business in your sector. |
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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. |
