|
Your EnterQuest Bulletin - 29 June 2005
| Thought for the week:
"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be
afraid only of standing still." Chinese Proverb |
In this week's issue:
Small business answers
If
you have any questions about your business idea, are lacking some
basic data about your target market, or simply need help tracking
down a grant, subsidy or other source of 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.
Weekly stir 
10
things that often end up on a business start up "forget list"
Starting a new business involves a mind-boggling list of tasks,
no question about that, and it's the same once you've started trading.
Depending on your specific business sector and location, these tasks
will vary considerably from one business situation to the next.
What this means is there's no single list of tasks that need to
be carried out.
The
problem for just about every new business owner is that you can
forget to complete or even start some vital tasks, or just not realise
that you needed to do them at all, which you may well end up regretting.
It's
human nature that this will happen, not that you're just a half-wit
or dumb. You don't know what you don't know, as they say.
To
help you with this, rather than produce a mile-long start up checklist
of things you might need to do before you start, we've produced
a list of ten things that just about every small business owner
should seriously make sure they do, but that we know from experience
will contain tasks that could be on your start up "forget list".
There's
no need to be embarrassed about it if you see things on this list
that you've overlooked or forgotten to do, because we can tell you
that you're in very good company.
Here
we go.
1)
Have you found a market for your idea or service?
Have
you identified exactly who will buy from you, and checked that they
actually will? Are you sure about that? Most people start up by
finding what they think is the right product but clean forget that
they need to find enough people to buy it.
2)
Is your business legal?
Have
you checked out everything to ensure you're trading or able to trade
legally? Have you researched all the laws and regulations you might
need to comply with? Have you informed all the statutory authorities
the law requires you to contact before (not after) you start up?
3)
Do you have a marketing plan?
Our
regular EnterQuest readers will be familiar with our opinions about
meaningless and aimless business plans. But have you got a marketing
plan? Every business should have a marketing plan that clearly sets
out how you will reach your target market. Here's a link to a useful
factsheet, A
Guide to Developing a Marketing Plan, which will help you to
write a marketing plan in one day.
4)
Have you chosen a business name that you have the right to use?
A
lot of people forget to check this one out, and then get into hot
water several months down the line when they discover that they've
chosen a name they weren't legally entitled to use in the first
place. See this practical factsheet, A
Guide to Choosing and Registering a Business Name, for further
explanation about this potentially thorny area.
5)
Is the business name you've chosen available as an Internet domain
name?
It
makes sense to find this out at the same time that you check out
whether you have the right to use the business name you are choosing.
6)
Have you contacted your local authority?
It
may not be relevant to your particular situation, but a lot of businesses
need to apply for local trading licences before (yes, before) they
begin trading. Contact your local council's economic development
department to begin with - the Directgov
website has a list of all the UK's local authorities' websites
to help you get started.
7)
Have you got all the right insurance policies in place?
Some
types of insurance are required by law, others just make good business
sense. When looking into this, don't forget to find out if there
are any changes you might need to make to your home insurance, if
you're trading from home.
8)
Have you told absolutely everybody that you've started?
Not
just the people you legally need to tell, but also your prospective
customers, your family and friends, and other business people you
know that you'd like to work with.
9)
Have you got your business stationery ready?
Again,
too many people forget to do this before they start up, and end
up not having business cards, letterheads, invoices and so on when
they need them once they're up and running.
10)
Have you legally protected your idea, invention or other intellectual
property that you've created?
Do
you want to get ripped off when some unscrupulous rogue, possibly
even a business partner you thought you could trust, nicks your
product idea, design, manuscript or name and starts touting it around
as their own? Make sure you've researched how to protect yourself
through the use of trade marks, copyright and patents.
Of
course, your complete list of start up tasks will be much longer
than this, but this particular list should help you focus on some
of the common and crucial things that get overlooked all too often.
You
can access hundreds of practical factsheets, reports and small business
guides on our new Scavenger small and home business research website
at www.scavenger.net.
Marketing
tip
How
to encourage customer feedback
You can use your website to encourage customers
to give you feedback on your products and services and interact
with your business. Here are five practical ideas for making your
site "feedback friendly".
1) Make your contact details obvious - don't bury them deep within
your site, and list them in the same place on every page.
2)
Make it easy for people to contact you - for example, hyperlink
your email address so users don't have to type it out themselves.
You could also consider having a feedback form on your site to
simplify the process (most web editing programs have a built-in
template for a basic form).
3)
Create a discussion forum, message board or "guestbook"
where customers can leave messages. This can create an online
community of your customers, generating useful opinions and feedback,
and can also provide a customer support mechanism. See Developer
Shed's tips
for starting and maintaining a successful online forum for
more detailed advice.
4)
Start a blog - regularly updated content like blogs encourages
visitors to return to your site more often, and can help you engage
customers in discussion.
5)
Use a questionnaire or survey, or offer customers the chance to
win a prize by completing a puzzle or quiz, to encourage feedback.
Offer your customers an incentive to complete the survey - give
them a discount on a future purchase, or something for free if
they reply. See Creative Research Systems' tips
for designing surveys for more ideas.
Find
hundreds more ideas, techniques and tactics for increasing sales
in the UK
Small Business Marketing Bible.
Legal
tip
Internet
policies for a small businesses - first steps for a thorny problem
Many businesses create Internet and e-mail
usage policies to help protect them against problems that can arise
from misuse of these systems. For example, you may find it helpful
to have a standard procedure set out in writing which explains what
to do if you receive an e-mail infected with a virus to make sure
that the virus doesn't spread around your network or get passed
on to customers. And if you have staff, you might find an e-mail
policy helpful to set out exactly what is permitted in terms of
personal e-mail and Internet use.
Other
areas your policy could cover include having a standard disclaimer
added to all outgoing e-mails, to protect your business against
inappropriate claims, offers or mistakes your staff or partners
might make. Here are a few practical resources where you can find
out more about how to develop and implement an effective e-mail
and Internet policy in your business:
Finally,
the UK Red
Tape BUSTER has much more on business Internet use, as well
as hundreds of factsheets, checklists and scenarios for every small
business legal situation.
IT
tip
Getting
your website bookmarked
Enabling
visitors to bookmark your site by adding it to their favourites
folder is a good way of ensuring they return. Here are three practical
ideas for ensuring your site is easily bookmarked.
- Provide
a hyperlink called something like "Bookmark this website",
which will automatically add your site to users' favourites when
they click on it. Behind this link you need to include a short
piece of JavaScript in your HTML - you can find the correct code
at Create-A-Website.
-
Remember that people who want to bookmark your site may not all
use the same web browser, so it pays to make sure that your site
displays properly in a number of browsers. AnyBrowser.com
lets you check whether your web pages are compatible with the
main browsers on the market.
- Including
fresh, engaging content will make your site worth returning to.
Provide regularly updated content, such as news or articles about
your business or sector. When adding fresh articles or news, always
include a date, and list updated content under an eye-catching
heading such as 'Latest news'.
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:
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.
Do
you know the difference between the commonly confused words "ingenuous"
and "ingenious"? Which of the following definitions applies
to which word?
a)
clever or inventive
b) simple, frank, to the point
Answer
at the end of the Bulletin.
Website review
The
HM Treasury website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk)
This
site is the starting point for information about the Chancellor's
Budget and any new fiscal initiatives or speeches that are relevant
to small businesses.
- Navigation
- an impressive homepage, with clear signposting to the news sections
of the site and the areas dedicated to the Budget. The section
dealing with consultations and legislation is less easy to follow,
and would be better categorised into different topics than simply
presented in one long list.
 
- Accessibility
- a range of access keys are provided on the site, but the explanation
of how to use them applies only to users of Internet Explorer.
Users with other browsers are given no options, and no additional
languages are offered.
- Content
- this site isn't bogged down in fiscal policy and jargon, and
its content is actually refreshingly informative and easy to understand.
The economic
data and tools, which include recent statistics and economic
indicators, are an especially useful addition.
- Relevance
- with at least ten new press releases per month, the site is
kept fresh and topical, and it also offers regularly updated information
about relevant legal developments and ongoing live consultations.
An
ordinary score of 13 for HM Treasury - the site is let down by a
lack of accessibility options and would do well to consider providing
multilingual versions of the content, plus options for users of
different web browsers.
Our
rating - 13/20
Did
you know?
Waste
disposal law is coming into force
Small
businesses are being urged to ensure they are up to speed with the
new hazardous waste regulations before they come into force in July.
Under the regulations, items like computer monitors and TVs have
been added to the list of toxic and hazardous materials. When getting
rid of any of these items, you'll need to be able to describe exactly
what your waste contains. There's a dedicated
website to help you get to grips with the new law.
Worth
a visit
Free
PR on the web
PR
Leap is a free service which posts a full text version of your
press release on its site. From there, it can get picked up by the
news syndication services (such as Google
News) that crawl the PR Leap site looking for new content. PR
Leap also provides its content as an RSS feed, so aggregators like
Bloglines and
NewsGator can
pick up releases and pass them to subscribers whose interests match
the content.
Alexa
toolbar
Regular
readers will recall that we're big fans of Alexa,
which enables you to compare the traffic statistics and other useful
information about your own and your competitors' websites. Alexa
also offers a free downloadable
toolbar, which opens in your web browser whenever you're online,
giving you information about the sites you visit in terms of traffic
ranking, related links and user reviews.
Worth
a read
This
fascinating book provides an eye-opening chronicle of the realities
of crime on the Internet, looking at worms and viruses that have
caused major upheavals, cases of Internet fraud and identity theft,
and interesting statistics about malicious activity online. It makes
for a disturbing read, but provides practical tips and advice about
what businesses can do to combat the risks posed by e-crime. Check
out:
Just one word answer
Ingenious goes with definition a) - it
means clever, inventive or original.
Ingenuous
goes with definition b) - it means simple, frank or to the
point.
Your
business idea might be ingenious, but you will need to explain
it in ingenuous terms in your business plan.
|
If
you have any feedback or suggestions for us to make this service
more relevant please e-mail your comments to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com
If
you wish to discontinue your subscription to EnterQuest please send
a blank e-mail to enterquest@cobwebinfo.com
putting UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject box.
Remember
that we guarantee never to sell or give your e-mail address to anyone
else.
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.
|
