Small Business Blog

Hi,

 A lot of business owners don’t really know how to advertise on the internet, so a lot of them go for easier options like eBay for selling goods or services. EBay is great, I’ve nearly bought 100 items on there over the past 4 years. There’s definently some other avenues of promotion that are much better than ebay though for most businesses.

1) Search Engine Optimization. optimise your website, hiring a professional is expensive little things you can do yourself will get you lots of free visitors from google and co.

2) Pay per click advertising - Google adwords, MSN Adcentre, Yahoo Search Marketing.

3) Email List building and Newsletters. Buyign ads or growing your own.

4) This is where eBay comes in for most products and services as far as return on investment and th equickness of getting sales goes.

 Thanks,

Andy

Hi,

 Don’t leave calculating your business taxes untilt he last minute it should be a constant ongoing exercise. Why? Well, because I used to leave it to the last minute and then find out I could have spent more of the tax money on tax deductables rather than giving it to the government. If you plan on a monthly or weekly basis you can always say “well, I’d rather buy this stock or machinery rateh rthan just give the money to the government”.

 Just don’t cheat on your taxes, the government doesn’t have a sense of humor on that subject at all. Their punchline is always jail..

Thanks,

Andy

Hi,

 I was thinking of what my business will be like in 10 years, if it’s still going. It seems like a long way ahead, but realistically I can still see myself being a home-based buisness with only one employee - ME!

 Some of you will be thinking that in 10 years you’ll want to have your own city office and some staff. I’d love that to happen as well but it wouldnt be very realistic, the hwole reaosn I’m self-employed is so I can do my work around my day rather than be stuck in an office 9-5. Most other people want to work at their small business average office hours, and it’s you people that will get thta office and staff in the future.

 Thanks,

Andy

Hi,

 It’s Easter monday, yet I’m working. Everyone else is off but I’m not - I own a small business. Truth be told, there’s not that much work to do as everyone else is off (well, not any new work today but I still have a few things to do for clients who paid me last week).

That’s the worst part of runnign a small business - you will have to put in some hours on the weekend and on national holidays. Even when going on vaction you’ll probobly need to bring your laptop with you do do some work! But I think it’s worth it!

Thanks,

Andy

Hi,

It goes without saying that if a client owes you a large sum of money and doens’t pay you should hire a professional debt collection agency and/or take them to court. However if they owe you less than £500, you’ll find collection agencies won’t take it on as they usually work for 10% for the recovered amount and well they’re not working several hours for £50.

So you’re on your own, and court would be too expensive and a waste of time as well (you’re not earning money in court!). What can you do to make them pay up? First off write them letters EVERY week and also give them a phone call. If you lay off them for a while the pressure goes down, it’s all about pressure to pay, if the pressure on the to pay goes down they won’t and you’ll have to build up all that pressure again (which isn’t good for either you or them!).

It’s a sad fact of life that some people don’t pay bills until they have to.

Andy

Hi,

When starting up a small business its always important to have a few people more experianced than yourself who you can call for help.

When starting up your business it’s going to be you on your own, and even if you know your trade or product really well there’s always customers who ask you to do soemthing you’re either not 100% sure on or can’t do yourself. Your “go to guy” will probobly offer more services than you or already have a built up network of companies to refer specilist work to. That can help you farm out specilist jobs while keeping your clients happy.

So how do you find a go to guy? Well, there’s lots of oppertunities to build up a relationship with other compaies you are hired by or are int he same industry as yourself. Try joining a trade asociation.

 Thanks,

Andy

Hi,

If your business offer a service or product that can be used nationwide or internationally then you should advertise on the internet, it’s a cheap and efefctive way of getting new customers. Use Pay-per-click advertising and buy text ads/banner ads on popular websites that are relevant to the people you want to advertise to. Buying adverts in online newsletters that are related to your industry would also drum up some business depending on their size.

If your business is a “local buisness” like a plumber, painter/decorator or electrician then the internet is goignt o be a waste of money as you need to advertise to people in your town. It’s very difficult to target people on the internet based on which town they live in (as it’s near impossible to tell where they’re from). Possible advertising solutions are Google Local - buy adverts for people searching for your service in your town. Yell.com/thompsonslocal.com - an online version of the yellow pages. Local websites - Most towns have communtiy websites now and you can advertise there although most are not that popular and a waste of money.

Thanks,

Andy

Ohhh what a month! I actually took in a lot of business from clients, but I was hit with several unexpected bills that really cut into my profits!

First the government sent me a volentary NI contributions bill, basically if I wanted 2003 to count towards my basic state pension I had to pay £130 as I hadn’t paid enough NI that year. So I decided to pay.

I’m a member of several professional/trade associations, and they all sent me requests for yearly membership fees to be paid for 2007. It came to £150. So again I paid, I really had to they’re great for business.

Sorry for being a bit of a moaner lol but I really hated paying those unexpected bills!

Andy

Checklists are a great way of helping you plan your business strategies. Every week (monday morning) take 15 minutes to sit down and write down a seris of goals for the week.

Try to include subjects from these areas - General day-to-day work (like improving your tools/infrastructure, becoming more efficient at what you do), Marketing (new sales startegies, direct mailing and internet campaigns), and where you’d like your business to be in the future.

 Draw little squares next to them and stick it to your notice board (or whatever) and tick them off as you go through the week. Then review your progress on Friday evening. It’s a really good motivational tool! Usually I don’t get 100% of my list done, but if I didn’t use it to motivate me I’d probobly get less done than I did.

Thanks,

Andy

The hurdle most newbies have difficulty with when starting their small busienss is making sales calls or even negotiating on the telephone with a customer. Negotiation is not just saying “yes”.

 The best way to successfully make sales using the phone is practice. Just like everything else in life - practice makes perfect. You can get a part-time job in a call centre for a few months and learn how to sell on the phone and make cold calls. The other option is to do it yourself. Pick out a few businesses who aren’t your best targets (keep those ones for when you’re good) and then give them a phone. Have a short introduction written down introducing your services and then take it from there.