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Title: Start your on business
Description: Friends, in this you will learn how a business is done and what problems can we face in it, by improving all this, you can grow a good business.
Description: Friends, in this you will learn how a business is done and what problems can we face in it, by improving all this, you can grow a good business.
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No part of this work may be reproduced or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for
purposes of review) without the express permission of the publisher given in writing
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First published in 2006
Second edition 2009
First published in electronic form 2009
© 2009 Paul Power
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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ISBN 978 1 84803 338 2
Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock
Typeset by PDQ Typesetting, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire
NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted
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...
For Brian
v
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CONTENTS
Preface
xi
1
So You Want to Start Your Own Business?
My story
Prepare yourself for some difficult times ahead
The five secrets of being a successful entrepreneur
Before we go any further, have you got what it takes?
So – have you got what it takes?
To do list
1
1
2
3
8
9
11
2
Great Business Ideas Start at Home
12
Why do so many businesses start from home?
13
Are all the best ideas already taken?
13
Where to get great ideas
13
Keeping a notebook
18
Evaluating your ideas
18
Your resources
19
Your lifestyle
20
Feasibility
20
Hobby business ideas
23
Don’t limit your ideas to your hobbies or what interests you 26
A great idea should be at the core of your business
28
Summary
29
3
What’s Involved in Starting Your Business
Deciding on a name for your business
Opening a business bank account
Creating a business identity
Your insurance company
Local authority
Where to base your business
Complying with the law
Health and safety
Data Protection Act
Summary
30
30
34
37
42
42
43
45
46
46
48
4
Research: The Doorway to Success
Why businesses fail
49
50
vii
S
TART AND
R
UN A
B USINESS
FROM
H OME
Researching your idea
Market research
The cost of starting a business
Who is going to finance your new venture?
Dealing with slow and non-payers
Writing a winning business plan
Summary
51
55
58
60
61
62
65
5
Sales: The Beating Heart of Your Business
Selling – there really is nothing to fear
You don’t have to be a sales expert to sell
The three golden rules for selling anything to anyone
Overcoming objections
Closing techniques
Mastering the three Ps of selling
Five ways to turbo-boost your sales
Summary
66
66
66
68
77
82
86
89
99
6
The Essentials of Shoestring Marketing
Why is marketing so important?
Learning from larger businesses
Why advertising doesn’t always work
Ten ways to market your business with a small budget
Press releases
Sponsorship
Media stunts
Making more use of your business cards
Local networking groups
Self-employed sales agents
Leaflet drops
Giving talks to groups and other businesses
Writing for magazines and newspapers
Summary
100
100
100
101
104
109
113
114
115
117
118
119
121
122
123
7
Deciding Where to Sell From
Be exposed to your target market
Be affordable
Allow a degree of flexibility
Be secure and safe
Choosing where to sell your goods
Summary
125
125
126
126
126
126
140
viii
C
ONTENTS
8
Your Business on the World Wide Web
Creating a website for your business
Marketing your website
Staying ahead of the competition
How much time do you spend on your website?
eBay
Summary
141
142
148
156
165
168
169
9
Traditional Retailing
Home-based forever, or will you take to the high street?
Traditional retail products
Shop
170
170
172
183
10
The Mechanics of Starting Your Business
Deciding on a trading identity
Registering for VAT
186
186
197
11
Ten Great Business You Can Run from Home
Start your own cleaning business
Start your own gardening business
Starting your own childminding service
Start your own pet sitting service
Start your own greetings card business
Start your own home tutoring agency
Start your own bed and breakfast
Start your own catering business
Start your own Internet business
Start your own antiques business
203
204
206
208
212
215
218
221
226
230
235
Index
240
ix
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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
Welcome to the second edition of this book
...
This gave rise to the first edition which was titled The Kitchen Table Entrepreneur
...
Today, none are located in my kitchen,
which is probably just as well, given the high number of visitors to one of our most
successful enterprises, The Littlehampton Dutch Bike Shop
...
If you want to start
your own business, travel light
...
Instead think big, but start
small
...
For example, it always makes me laugh when I overhear someone discussing with
another that they’re about to start their own business (or in some cases, already have)
...
But as you
will soon discover, if you haven’t already, as soon as you start your own business, or
announce your intention to do so, you’ll be bombarded with all sorts of free advice,
usually from people who – without wanting to sound too unkind – probably don’t
have a clue! Their free advice will usually include such gems as: ‘make sure you get
yourself a good accountant’, or another favourite, ‘be careful what tell you tell the tax
people or they’ll take everything you own
...
If only it was
that simple
...
Think about this for a moment
...
All this comes before you should even think of hiring accountants, tax experts and so
on
...
Without cash,
neither you nor your business can survive
...
Whilst not wishing to put you off entirely, please don’t underestimate the challenge
ahead
...
The difficult part is to make
it successful
...
However, the good news is
that once you have mastered a few of the basic concepts, you’re well on the way to
success
...
Many of the most successful entrepreneurs have had no
training and in my opinion this is why they are so successful
...
Since writing the first edition, I’ve had lots of correspondence from would-be
entrepreneurs asking for my advice on their ‘great idea’
...
The fact that I haven’t solicited their correspondence or wish to hear their ideas is
beyond them
...
So while I
welcome your correspondence, please note that I’m not a business consultant ready
and waiting to sell you my services
...
I’m neither and I certainly have no ambitions to be the latter
...
And if the truth be told, I couldn’t stand working for
bosses who I wouldn’t trust to lead me safely across the road, let alone determine my
future
...
Making millions doesn’t interest me
...
No matter how much wealth you
accumulate, you won’t be able to take it with you
...
Indeed, if that’s your ambition,
then great
...
But that’s not my aim and ambition
...
xii
P
REFACE
Everything I share with you in these pages is information I came across the hard way
...
It shouldn’t have
come as a great surprise to me when my first business venture crashed soon after
starting
...
But I was surprised, hurt
even, that I could have possibly failed
...
How many times have you looked at someone and thought, if they can do
it, so can I?
Well, the good news is you can
...
Dangerous stuff
...
Obviously it would make
sense to learn how to drive first
...
Next
you have to master taking directions, then reading the road signs and so on, until at
last you’re really ready to drive on your own
...
No book, however
comprehensive, can cover all eventualities
...
The rest is up to you
...
But at least you’re
getting the chance to decide what’s right for you and your circumstances
...
I hope through sharing my experiences and those of others that by the end of it, you’ll
have more knowledge than I had when I first started
...
Let me know how you get on and beware of ‘free advice’ and advice from business
gurus whose only business is advising other business people
...
For example, if they know so much about how to run a
successful business (other than one offering others advice) how come they’re not
acting on the advice they you want you to pay them for and making their own
fortunes?
Good luck!
Paul Power
xiii
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1
SO YOU WANT TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
My story
I can still remember the day way back in 1998 when I decided that there must be
more to life than seemingly endless monthly appraisals, unachievable monthly
targets, vacuum-packed sandwiches, foul-tasting coffee, uncooperative lifts, difficult
people, and management I truly detested
...
I’d like to open this book by saying that nothing
beats the feeling that came when I told my bosses where to stick it and the liberating
feeling of swapping days in fluorescent hell for the altogether more preferable
experiences of running my own successful business, and enjoying more free time
while earning truck loads of cash and being the envy of friends and ex-colleagues
...
The joy of telling an employer where to stick their lousy job is, sadly, short-lived
...
Why am I telling you this? Because starting your own business is going to be, with the
exception of coping with a life-threatening illness, one of the most challenging and
difficult things you’re ever likely to embark on
...
But I don’t want to start you off under the impression that it’s all
plain sailing
...
Neither is starting a business, for those who crave security,
and want assurances that everything will work out well in the end
...
So if you’re the type of person who
avoids risk at all costs, then my advice would be to stay employed, or unemployed,
as the case might be
...
Notice how I haven’t used the
words ‘lucky few’
...
Indeed luck has nothing to do with it
...
If there is such a thing, then I believe that you make
your own luck
...
Then you can sit back and wait for Lady
Luck to come knocking on your door
...
If you’re prepared to go for it, then commit to the hard work ahead, be prepared
for the failures, disappointments, let-downs, bureaucracy and fear, and start to enjoy
the massive benefits that will come when your start your own business
...
Sadly, it wasn’t to last
...
Despondent, I was forced to return to the ranks of
the employed
...
Even vacuum-packed sandwiches, fluorescent lighting and uncooperative lifts all
seemed like a dream compared to my new job where my circumstances were far worse
than before
...
I passed the time working for others as best I
could
...
But then one day I realised that I was
once again stuck in that nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday routine and, despite three
promotions and the fact that I was now earning more than I had been in my previous
job, I remembered why it was that I had had to return to employment
...
On the day I left this job, I made a promise to myself that I would never again work
for someone else
...
, I would never again
return to being an employee
...
2
S
O
Y
OU
W
ANT
TO
S
TART
Y
OUR
O
WN
B
USINESS
?
Today, my businesses are successful and I enjoy every minute of my working life
...
Self-employment is not for everyone
...
Undoubtedly there are those folk who will pick up this book and, once they recognise
how tough the road ahead can be, will decide they’re better off where they are now
...
Far better they realise, after the relatively small investment of
buying and reading this book, that self-employment isn’t for them than to discover
later when they have lost everything that they weren’t really cut out for it after all
...
As I’ve said, it can be a difficult
road, often long and seemingly unending
...
Let’s start by looking at some of the attributes that make successful entrepreneurs
different from those who fail
...
Develop self-reliance
...
Work with written goals
...
Develop a ‘can-do’ attitude
...
Maintain a sense of humour
...
Keep your ‘own counsel’
...
Without exception, what they all have is an acute sense of self-reliance
...
They also accept fully that they alone are responsible for their own future
...
Yes, their businesses are led by events that are often outside of
their control
...
WORK WITH WRITTEN GOALS
I wish I had discovered this secret earlier
...
For when you set a written goal you commit
to achieving whatever it is you want, which could be anything from simply
spending a half an hour a day researching your new business to setting a start date
for your new business
...
Imagine for a moment the forces that begin working on a
conscious and unconscious level, moving you towards this goal
...
o
Break this list down into smaller achievable goals
...
o
Create a written timetable for these things
...
You need to work to a timetable so you can
achieve your goals
...
It may be that you haven’t given
yourself a realistic timescale to work within
...
As you can see, when you set written goals you will go from simply thinking or
dreaming about doing something to actually working to a set, written goal
...
DEVELOP A ’CAN-DO’ ATTITUDE
Similar to developing a real sense of reliance, successful entrepreneurs also have a
real ‘can-do’ attitude
...
You’ll find them
heading up local community campaigns, tackling problems head-on, and refusing
to take ‘no’ for an answer from anyone
...
They are the ones that when there’s a problem get it sorted
quickly without fuss or insult
...
They refuse (whatever the circumstance) to be told that whatever it is they’re about to
do is impossible
...
Picture if you will all
those from the ‘it-cannot-be-done’ camp, arguing and forecasting impending danger
...
But their achievement brought world-wide admiration, and
at the time ushered in the reality that soon ordinary people could be travelling from
America to Europe by aeroplane
...
If
you can only achieve results where the odds are stacked in your favour and success is
guaranteed, you might as well stay doing whatever it is you’re doing now
...
It’s not so much what happens to you in this life, but how you react to it
...
Guard against listening to the
floods of people who’ll tell you whatever it is you’re about to do won’t work
...
MAINTAIN A SENSE OF HUMOUR
I’d love to tell you that I’ve laughed at each and every one of my many shortcomings
and numerous failures, but I won’t lie to you
...
Today I’m getting better at it, but I firmly believe that if
I had realised earlier on in my self-employed career that being able to laugh at
yourself is as important as paying your rent or mortgage, I believe I would have
achieved more and far quicker
...
The boating lake
Some time ago I ran a boating lake in our town
...
We’d open the lake
at Easter and it would close again in early September when the children returned to
school
...
One August bank holiday, I woke up early on Saturday morning to visit the lake and
ensure that everything was clean and ready to go for later in the morning
...
As I walked the short distance from the house along the
sandy beach to the lake on what was a beautiful morning, I couldn’t help but think
how lucky I was
...
When I caught a glimpse of the lake in the distance, I knew right away something was
wrong
...
I panicked
...
It
certainly wouldn’t have been the first time that one of our boats had been stolen
...
Relieved, I continued towards
the lake
...
Indeed something seriously wrong, but
I couldn’t yet put my finger on it
...
All of the water had drained away!
The lake was completely empty save for a few small puddles of water, totally drained
...
Here we were on the busiest bank holiday of the year
...
Ask yourself, what would you do? Well, I got angry
...
And even angrier
when some people began to come up to me with all sorts of petty worries
...
Replying sarcastically that we would obviously be opening
in a few minutes
...
’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll let you have a boat half price’, I told him, which as you can
imagine didn’t help the situation
...
It was a truly
hilarious situation, as was pointed out to me at the time by one of the local business
owners who advised me to see the funny side of it
...
‘After all, you getting angry isn’t going to fill the lake up,
is it?’
6
S
O
Y
OU
W
ANT
TO
S
TART
Y
OUR
O
WN
B
USINESS
?
He was right and I was wrong
...
You really do need to be willing to see the funny side in
every calamity
...
Far
from it
...
But it’s far worse, wouldn’t you agree, to lose your
takings and be entirely miserable and angry?
KEEP YOUR OWN COUNSEL
I cannot stress this one enough
...
Sharing your plans with everyone else really is disastrous
...
When I decided that I’d had enough of working for someone else for a living, I had
already given a lot of thought as to what sort of business I was going to start and run
...
I believed entirely in this business idea
...
All I had to do was replicate their idea
...
As their
business was not even in our area, I wouldn’t be competing with them
...
Then one night I was out for dinner with some friends and relatives, none of whom
were their own boss
...
During dinner I shared my ideas with the gathering who,
it has to be said, were mostly horrified at my plan
...
I was overrun with ‘What ifs’ and all sorts of well-meaning advice
...
When I discussed my plans sometime later with an already successful person who’d
started a similar business they advised me against my new plan and told me I should
stick with my original idea
...
7
S
TART AND
R
UN A
B USINESS
FROM
H OME
Eventually I made the decision to go with my revised business idea, thereby turning
my back on this successful entrepreneur’s advice
...
So here’s the lesson, dear reader – keep your own counsel
...
So with the best
will, keep your ideas to yourself
...
No one else
...
Have you ever been to a party where you’ve met a professional such as a
doctor, architect, engineer, dentist, or similar who asked you for your advice on how
they should treat their patients, design their buildings, or make their machines?
Of course not
...
No one but you is really
qualified to understand what’s involved in starting your business, let alone qualified
enough to offer advice
...
It would be silly in the extreme if I was to assume that every person who picked up
this book, or indeed any other on the subject of starting your own business, was
already well-endowed in the ‘skills’ department
...
But don’t despair
...
Simple as that
...
So before
we go any further, I want you to take a few minutes to undertake a stocktake of your
lifestyle
...
Lifestyle questionnaire
1
...
Are you motivated enough to be able to work alone, at home, solidly, without
resorting to phoning friends, watching day-time telly, or spending hours surfing
the Internet?
3
...
If you’re living with a partner, husband, or wife, have you discussed your
proposals and the implications of what you’re planning and how these will affect
both your lifestyles?
5
...
If your business venture fails (and lots of first ones do), would you be able to cope
and get back on track again?
7
...
Can you keep going under the kinds of circumstances where others would pack up
and clear out?
By reading through these questions you should be able to start to see the sort of
personality that’s more suited to being an entrepreneur
...
Don’t work under the false assumption that everything will be alright on the night
...
In fact, usually what can go wrong will go wrong, as well as a
host of other unforeseen problems
...
Why? I believe that once again when things go wrong
it’s not down to bad luck
...
Indeed, if such a thing as luck does exist, I am
certain you make your own luck
...
Just between you and me
...
Remember, when
you work for yourself you’re not going to have those others in the office, or factory, or
on the shopfloor that you can have a good old chinwag or moan with
...
In my experience, none of these people will be really interested in how you feel about
things
...
And why not? After all, your job is simply to satisfy their needs
...
All they will be concerned about
is whether you have any debts with them (be this loans or commitments like rent)
and whether you will be able to honour them
...
The sooner you understand that you will be on your own here, the better
...
Here’s an interesting experience that happened to me when I was doing a radio
interview promoting the first edition of this book
...
I get to
go all around the country chatting to interesting, would-be entrepreneurs
...
However, on one show, I took a call from an
extremely irate lady who berated me for suggesting through my book that anyone
could turn a hobby into a successful business
...
Once she’d calmed down, I asked her what did she believe was the biggest factor in
her daughter’s business failing
...
Note, the two parties she blamed:
l
...
2
...
What’s telling about this lady’s daughter is that her business hadn’t had a hope to
begin with
...
I’ll take you through what’s involved in
negotiating for a shop premises later, but suffice it to say it’s a bit like renting a flat or
house
...
Similarly you will know in advance your bank charges, loan repayments, and so on
...
Later
on, I’ll take you through the research you’ll need to do before signing anything or
indeed deciding to start your business
...
Instead they have rushed into a half-baked
idea without any real idea of how they were going to make it a success
...
So ask yourself now – are you willing to take responsibility for your future? If you are,
and I hope you are, great
...
At least you can walk away now without losing
any money, your home, your relationship, and so on
...
Ultimately, the rewards will change
your life for the better
...
To do list
1
...
This
could be anything, from setting a deadline by which you will have finished reading
this book to choosing a date for starting your business
...
From now on start working on developing your self-reliance
...
If you’re the
type of person who loves to be praised at work, then make a conscious effort to
stop seeking others’ approval
...
They live their lives on their own terms
...
Learn to laugh more and not get worked up about things
...
Whatever you do, don’t take
yourself too seriously
...
American computer magnate, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers, began
this business in his bedroom and initially traded from his garage
...
Karan Bilimoria, the entrepreneur behind the hugely successful Cobra Beer brand,
had prior to launching this dipped his toes in a variety of import businesses until he
finally found the right opportunity with this now famous drink
...
He used an elderly, and often unreliable battered green Citroen 2CV to carry
around his initial stock
...
All of
this was achieved initially from his kitchen table and delivering from the back of an
elderly car
...
And after an difficult initial trading period
that would have seen most fair weather entrepreneurs folding their tents and seeking
once again the shelter and convenience of paid employment, the trio proceeded to
build one of the country’s most innovative and sought after drinks brands
...
Glasses Direct is now a household name
and trades from offices at Charlton park, Malmesbury
...
Although the Body Shop began life
as a small shop in Brighton it was initially a home-based idea, started up by Anita as
she wanted to sell products that hadn’t been tested on animals or otherwise brought
about by harming anyone
...
Once again, the idea and business began at home with the initial
intention of creating a part-time business
...
Whether this is true or
not I’m not sure, but what is remarkable is that he founded his business from home,
and later on ran his empire from a houseboat moored in London
...
Also, and let’s be brutally honest at this point, the reason most business empires
initially trade from home is that their founders simply haven’t got the necessary
resources to start anywhere else
...
A typical
home-base entrepreneur will have little or no money, can either be in debt or
previously bankrupted by a failed venture, yet will still believe enough in themselves
and their ideas to continue with their global dream – which inevitably can only begin
from their kitchen table
...
I can guarantee you that nearly all the ventures you
come across will at one time have been home-based
...
You may sit there thinking, if only I had
come up with the idea for an online social networking site like My Space, Bebo, or
Friends Reunited
...
But
don’t despair
...
Where to get great ideas
It’s vital to explore all of the possibilities that present themselves
...
13
S
TART AND
R
UN A
B USINESS
FROM
H OME
By far the most difficult way of coming up with ideas is to sit down with a blank piece
of paper and try to think of things
...
LOOKING FOR IDEAS WHILE ENJOYING YOUR HOBBY
By far the easiest, and I believe the most enjoyable way of getting your creative juices
flowing is to get out there and throw yourself into your hobby
...
You see, very often the best business opportunities lie in what we
don’t like about something
...
In the past,
all you could buy were short leads that meant your dog often pulled one way
and you the other
...
And if
you don’t want your dog to walk any further you simply apply a brake using
your finger
...
But why did it take us so long to get this simple tool?
I’m convinced the reason is that those who manufacture dog leads never actually
walked a dog themselves, because the only person who could have come up with such
a product is someone who has long suffered the frustrating limitations of the
traditional dog lead
...
A much-needed improvement
for gardeners came about when one garden tool manufacturer introduced a
new range of gardening tools
...
Again, just like the modified dog lead, the reason these tools became overnight
successes was they were designed by people who gardened, who believed their
favourite pastime could be made more enjoyable and less painful by adding a few
thoughtful modifications to the original products
...
For example let’s say you’re a
keen walker and you find the maps you’re using difficult to store comfortably when
you’re walking, or hard to keep dry in the rain
...
o
You could design a map that suits the particular needs of your hobby, and either
publish your own maps or approach map companies with your ideas on how
their product can be improved, and offer your services as a consultant
...
o
If one is already available elsewhere in the world you could apply to the
manufacturers for a distributor’s licence to sell the product here in the UK
...
Identify the problem and find an easy way of solving it
...
In its
simplest form it involves you sitting down and writing down every idea that comes
into your head on a given subject
...
Although an extremely effective way of generating ideas, if you’re new to this
technique it might take you a little time to get used to it
...
Stick with it and I promise it’ll pay dividends
...
‘Rules’ for brainstorming
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
This technique works better when you’re
fresh and in a positive frame of mind
...
On a large, blank piece of paper write down a number of key words associated
with your hobby
...
2
...
As soon as you get an idea down on paper move on to
the next one
...
Use pictures to generate ideas
...
4
...
Six great questions to get going on are: How?,
Why?, Where?, When?, Who?, What?
...
Don’t take this too seriously
...
For example if you’re hobby is water-skiing, imagine the Queen learning to
water ski with Prince Phillip being towed behind in a doughnut
...
Use a stopwatch to time your five-minute session and as soon it ends, STOP
...
But I stress that just like any other worthwhile
technique it takes time and patience before you get the best out of it
...
Take a break from it and come back to it later when you’re fresh and make
sure you use all the techniques above
...
It’s amazing what
looking at just one picture can do for your imagination
...
Browse through them and you’ll start to see common moans, usually directed at
manufacturers and suppliers who are perceived as failing to satisfy their customers’
needs
...
Most large businesses work on economies of scale and will only introduce a product
or service if they’re sure there’ll be a large enough demand to justify full-scale
production
...
In my own gardening business I regularly read online forums and the letters in
gardening magazines and have found it to be enormously helpful when planning
marketing campaigns and finding out what customers really want
...
From this information I launched my
first gardening course – How to plan your first garden which I run in
springtime
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But beware of sharing your top tips with anyone else
...
To his surprise, and I believe understandable
annoyance, he later saw an exact replica of his device on sale at the Southampton Boat
Show
...
The company in question is one of the largest in the world and is selling thousands of
these gadgets worldwide without paying a penny to the original inventor
...
To do this you’ll need to get specialist advice from a solicitor
who deals with this sort of thing
...
So it’s essential to
record everything you come up with in a notebook
...
I use a small pocketsized notebook when I’m out and later transfer my notes into my master notebook
when I get home
...
This way there’s less chance of you losing your information
...
o
Record all your ideas in your notebook, even those you don’t like
...
For example, names and addresses of
businesses that make things you might need for your business etc
...
o
Using your PC as a notebook is fine
...
Evaluating your ideas
As someone once said, great ideas only work if you do
...
Neither should you get frustrated if some of your ideas seem to be too far-fetched at
this stage
...
Some you can open
today; others may have to wait until you have sufficient resources to put them into
action; and a few doors you won’t be able to open at all until you do a bit more
research
...
Generally there are three areas you’ll need to consider:
1
...
your lifestyle
3
...
Your resources
However brilliant your idea may seem you will only be capable of starting it if you
have adequate resources
...
It’s no good starting something and then
finding that you haven’t got what it takes to continue with your venture
...
SKILLS
Unless you’ve got enormous financial backing for your venture you’re probably going
to have to do everything yourself
...
There are lots of places to get help from
...
Regardless of your experience you should contact your local Enterprise Centre where
you’ll find a wide range of courses specifically run for people starting their own
businesses with little or no previous experience
...
Your lifestyle
Ignore this one at your peril! Starting your own business is one of the most exciting
things you can do
...
You’ll
also enjoy the enormous satisfaction that comes with building and securing your own
future
...
If, like many people, you’re the type of person who values your free time and never
wants to work weekends, and the business you’re planning to start will only work at
weekends, then obviously you have a problem
...
Just
imagine waking up every morning with a fresh breeze blowing through your
chocolate box rose-adorned cottage
...
Unfortunately the reality is something different and there will undoubtedly be
occasions where running this type of business means you have little time to enjoy
where you’re living
...
If your business idea will only
work at times when you don’t want to work at it then find another opportunity
...
Feasibility
Before you invest time and money in any business idea you must be sure that what
you’re proposing is feasible
...
We’ll also look at formulas for calculating how much you
need to charge for your products or services
...
Test your idea on a best
scenario basis followed by a worse case scenario
...
So you work out very roughly what you’re hoping to charge your customers, taking
into account all the costs you’re going to incur
...
I stress you’re making rough calculations here
...
Just try to be as realistic as you can, being generous with your
allowances for expenditure
...
Armed with some rough figures you’re ready to work out three useful and very
difficult scenarios
...
Best case scenario
...
Worst case scenario
...
Most likely case scenario
...
What have you come up with?
For example, if the net amount you’re hoping to earn per customer, per holiday, is
£80, and given your resources in terms of time available etc, the most holidays you
can expect to sell is 100, then that means at the best case you’ll earn £8,000
...
However if
your figures are disappointing it doesn’t necessarily mean that your idea is
unworkable
...
Worst case scenario
Don’t forget to calculate a worst case scenario
...
Obviously this is the sort of scenario we all hope will never happen and provided you
undertake sufficient market research before you invest any of your money, it should
never arise
...
For example, who could have foreseen the
impact that the foot and mouth crisis would have had on local tourist business? Many
of the walking holiday companies went out of business because most of the
countryside in their areas was closed to the public
...
Thankfully this sort of scenario is rare, but it’s worth taking a bit of time to ask
yourself what would happen if the business you’re planning to start had no
customers
...
Most likely scenario
All being well this is the scenario you most likely expect to achieve
...
Again if the figures you come up with during this scenario fall below what’s needed to
make your idea worthwhile then either re-work your idea or start afresh
...
Not only is it a brilliant way of coming up with new ideas, but you’re
also starting to think like an entrepreneur
...
It’s always interesting
to look at what other entrepreneurs are doing
...
Your findings
Regardless of how brilliant, innovative or otherwise your idea might seem to be, it
must be:
o
capable of making enough money to make it a worthwhile investment in terms
of your time and money
...
The time spent working out some rough figures and projections at this early stage is
time well spent and will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your idea
...
Now is
the time to find that out
...
Hobby business ideas
Most hobbies can find an opportunity somewhere in the following ten business models
...
Don’t
dismiss anything immediately
...
Then in the next few
days, whenever you get a moment, start working through this list and seeing how
many businesses you could start from your hobby
...
They don’t risk their futures on one venture, but rather have a number of
smaller independent businesses on the go at any one time
...
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SALES BUSINESS
Probably the most common of all business models – this is where you either buy in a
product wholesale or make your own product and then retail it
...
SERVICE BUSINESS
A service business is one where you either sell your own skills, for example a gardener
offering a gardening service, or you offer a business where you employ others and
market their skills
...
You could also consider employing others
...
For
example in our gardening business we employ people to a do a range of things
including gardening, teaching and designing
...
TUITION BUSINESS
Regardless of what hobby you’re interested in, there will always be new enthusiasts
joining who will want to find out as much as they can about their new hobby
...
Examples of tuition businesses include organising and running creative writing
courses, fishing courses, cookery courses, flower arranging and craft making courses,
candle making courses
...
Provided you are a skilled organiser and capable of advertising and marketing your
courses you can employ teachers or those with specialist knowledge to give your
courses
...
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ACTIVITY BUSINESS
Hobbies offer unlimited business opportunities for anyone with organisational skills
...
The possibilities are endless here and the great thing about this type of business is that
all you really need to get started is your kitchen table
...
All you need is to find suitable hotels or venues to run your
courses from, negotiate the best deal you can with the proprietors, and organise your
holidays
...
It is particularly suitable if your hobby involves photography, painting, flower
arranging, crafts, candle making etc
...
WHOLESALING
Rather than simply retail products, you could also become a wholesaler
...
There are a number of international trade fairs held annually where you can meet and
find businesses looking for agents for their products
...
Products that the
larger businesses will ignore as they don’t believe they can sell them in large enough
quantities to justify their expenditure
...
Revenue comes from charging entrance fees, a portion of which then goes as prize
money
...
INFORMATION SHARING
Information sharing business is where you sell information regarding your
particularly hobby or interest
...
o
Publishing your own guide books or annual directories listing all the
information about your particular hobby
...
HIRE BUSINESS
Whatever your hobby, the chances are there will be something you can rent out to
other hobby enthusiasts
...
A hire service can be an excellent way of generating additional revenue for a
traditional sales business
...
Although lots of successful business ideas come from hobbies, don’t limit your
thinking to only those areas you’re knowledgeable in
...
Similarly, when Karan Bilimoria began his Cobra Beer company he wasn’t a brewer
or had any previous knowledge of the drinks industry or Indian restaurant market
...
Neither had Richard Branson any previous experience of running an airline when he
began Virgin Airlines, providing flights across the Atlantic
...
Her previous business experience included running her
own guesthouse and upmarket cafe´, neither of which, as she said herself, were really
successful
...
At least that what non-entrepreneurs will usually tell you
...
The actual reality is somewhat
more mundane
...
It’s more a
case that the successful entrepreneur will continue to slog away, enduring failure after
failure, setback after setback, until such times as they hit on the right idea at the right
time
...
Be prepared for setbacks
...
When you consider that according to the banks only one in every four new businesses
survives the first year of trading, and from then only one in every four will actually
survive beyond their third year trading, you don’t need me to tell you that the odds of
you being successful are fairly much stacked against you
...
My belief is that many business failures could have been avoided had the
entrepreneur given enough thought to their initial idea
...
The menu
displayed in the window is handwritten, prices are cheaper than cheap, and the lady
serving behind the counter looks like death has taken a break
...
They seemed to believe they were
going to be the next McDonalds
...
Yes,
they’re offering cheap food
...
And those that are offering cheap fare already enjoy a
loyal following built up over many years, which means there’s no incentive for
anyone to visit our cheap and cheerful friends except perhaps the bailiffs
...
A successful business is one that doesn’t follow the crowds, but instead carves
out a nice little niche for itself before the big boys try to move in on that market
...
Some ideas you will have might look good
initially, but make sure you work your way through all of these before starting your
business
...
I’d be embarrassed to tell you
(but I will anyway because it makes for a better read) that when we first started our
business we only had one model of a Dutch bike available and that could only be
supplied in one colour
...
When people ask me how I came upon the idea to import Dutch bikes into the UK, I
tell them that when I wanted to buy one for myself I couldn’t find a single outlet
selling them
...
Try to remember for a moment all the times you’ve tried to buy something you
simply couldn’t get hold of, but still dearly wanted
...
Don’t think small
items that cost a few pence
...
The area of mass
retail isn’t suitable for us kitchen table entrepreneurs
...
Think instead of the things these multi-retailers aren’t providing,
or won’t currently sell, as it’s too specialist, too niche for them
...
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Summary
1
...
2
...
3
...
If your dream is to run a
florists’ shop, but you can’t afford to buy one or take on a shop lease, then be
prepared to start with a bucket, selling door-to-door
...
These are the main areas that you need to consider when starting your business:
o
o
o
o
o
Naming your business
...
Complying with the law
...
Deciding whether or not to register for VAT
...
My advice is for you to
read Chapter 10 when you feel ready for it
...
Deciding on a name for your business
Choosing the right name for your business is important and is something you need to
really think about because whatever name you give to your business will need to
create the right image for potential customers
...
You could call
your business simply ‘Painting Holidays in Cornwall’, but the obvious problem here
is that it doesn’t give any more information than the obvious
...
Or at would-be
artists looking for a luxury break, which includes painting tuition and
pampering?
o
Where in Cornwall are your holidays based?
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What’s your own painting expertise?
o
Are painting holidays the only holidays you’re intending to run or will you
include other holidays at some future date, such as creative writing courses?
Obviously you are never going to be able to answer all of these questions with the
name of your business, but you can improve on the initial name by making it less
restrictive and more imaginative
...
The difficulty here is that anyone interested in learning how to paint might get the
impression that this business runs holidays for seasoned painters and not beginners,
while experienced painters might find the word ‘holiday’ a turn off
...
So what’s the alternative? You could go for something like ‘Creative Breaks
Cornwall’
...
You could also include a strap line on your business advertisements, websites etc:
Creative Breaks Cornwall
Discovering the artist within
If and when you decide to offer other types of holidays your business name is not
going to hold you back
...
Take Amazon as an example
...
Yet everyone knows they retail
books
...
The advantage of choosing a name like Amazon is that not only is it easy to
remember and intriguing, but the name doesn’t restrict the future growth or diversity
of the business
...
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Be imaginative and make sure whatever name you choose doesn’t restrict
your future business by pigeon-holing you into something that’s too
narrow
...
By this I mean
something like Green Fingers Gardening Company or Joe’s Bloomers, or Harriet’s
Heavenly Pastries etc
...
BARGAIN HUNTING
The exception to the rule is when you’re absolutely certain that what you’re offering
is going to be cheaper than offered by most other retailers, you should include this
information somewhere in your title
...
The Fisherman’s Warehouse
Cheapest tackle online
Choosing to use a word like ‘warehouse’ as opposed to ‘shop’ suggests large quantities
at low prices
...
Some businesses are ideal for this sort of personalisation, particularly if they involve
looking after something that your customer treasures, like children, pets, gardens etc
...
Including your own name in your business name
can under the right circumstances create a feeling of trust, which brings credibility
...
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OTHER FACTORS
Is the business name you want actually available?
There is no absolute right to a business name unless of course that name is the name
of a company or another business trading in the same area as you’re intending to
...
Of course it would also be silly to knowingly use another business name as not only
are you bound for legal conflict, you are also denying your business any opportunity
of being unique
...
Search through as many search engines as you can, including, Yahoo!, Google, Ask
Jeeves and any web directories relating to your chosen field
...
Better to find this out now than when you’ve ordered all your stationery,
brochures and the like
...
For example if you’re planning to
have labels printed for your products, will the name fit on a small label?
o
Will it create the right image for your business?
o
Will it build trust and credibility?
o
Can you get a website domain name to fit in with your business name?
o
If your business expands, diversifies or changes completely, can you keep this
name or will another be needed?
o
If you abbreviate your name, what do you get
...
Can your
name be abbreviated, and if so are you comfortable with the abbreviation?
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Opening a business bank account
There is no legal requirement that I am aware of that says you must have a business
bank account
...
OPERATING WITHOUT A BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNT ^ CASH ONLY
If you’re planning to run a small hobby business where all of your customers can pay
you in cash then you don’t necessarily have to open a bank account
...
You keep a float in your till to pay your business bills etc,
and then finally you pay yourself using cash
...
Not business income!
Obviously there’ll only be a limited amount of businesses that will want to operate on
this sort of basis and with credit card usage becoming more and more popular it looks
like cash will become a thing of the past
...
Certainly their charges are similar and once you get
past any initial period of free banking, there’s not much difference
...
I’ve found the ‘limits’ to be more than generous and if you do exceed your
limit you then only pay to lodge those items over the pre-agreed quota
...
Our free banking account is basically a postal
bank where the only way to lodge monies is either via the post using their
prepaid envelopes or in an envelope using one of their branch’s cash
dispensers, which means lodging cash is pretty impossible
...
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These arrangements suit us but might not suit your business
...
Ask yourself:
1
...
Are you planning to take credit cards?
3
...
Will you buying your products from abroad?
5
...
Anyone who is considering future borrowings for their business, employing staff and
taking large amounts of cash will need a bank where they can actually speak to a
business bank advisor who will be sympathetic to the sort of problems you face
...
Unfortunately she failed to make sure the cheques
had actually cleared before writing cheques for her employees’ wages
...
The results were disastrous
...
This started a panic with staff telling her
customers that they thought her business had gone bankrupt
...
It was difficult for her to rebuild her business but she did
...
Her argument was that her cheques had taken an
extraordinarily long time to clear
...
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Ask your bank manager some questions
Someone once described a bank manager as being: ‘someone who loans you an
umbrella when it’s sunny, then asks for it back when it rains
...
The list below is by no means
exhaustive:
1
...
What is their criteria for granting business overdrafts? Some banks will insist you
have an established track record with them for a period before they will consider
your application
...
Ask them to explain their bank charges, particularly in relation to free banking
offers
...
If you exceed those limits will you have to pay
charges on all your transactions or just those that exceed their limits?
4
...
This is where you’ll find out if you’re
talking to a member of staff in a call centre reading from a crib sheet or someone
who is actually interested in working with your business
...
When it comes to bank accounts ^ keep your personal and business
accounts at separate banks
...
The reason I recommend you keep your accounts at separate banks or building
societies is that in the event that you have a problem with one account, the bank may,
at its discretion, enforce its power and put a freeze on your other accounts thus
rendering you completely impotent
...
Were you to find yourself in this
unfortunate situation it’s quite probable that the bank would freeze your personal
account as well as your business bank account, which as you can imagine would even
be more disastrous
...
Before you know it everything is frozen
...
Creating a business identity
TELEPHONE LINES
Do you need another line? Yes, I believe you do
...
In the past I’ve phoned
businesses where children have answered the phone and I’ve given up trying to get
them to put mum or dad on so I can order something
...
A separate business line will not only give your business credibility, but also make life
easier for you
...
The disadvantage to having a separate business line is, of course, cost
...
By using a domestic line as opposed to a business line you miss
out on free listings in the business section of the phone book and of course when
anyone searches directory enquiries you will only be listed if you have a business line
...
Freephone numbers
When deciding on a business number you could also consider introducing a
freephone number or a number where your customers only pay the cost of local call
to contact you
...
The fact that your number will cost either nothing to call or the cost of a local call will
give them an added incentive to call your business first
...
When it comes to publishing stationery you have a number of choices:
o
Put together your own simple letterhead without a logo and print your own
stationery using your PC
...
o
Employ a graphic designer to create your logos and letterhead and then either
print it yourself or have a printer do it for you
...
By far the simplest and cheapest way is to do everything
yourself
...
Creative Holidays Cornwall
Primrose Cottage
Seafront
Cornwall
Tel:12345678
www
...
co
...
co
...
Should you have any questions, or to book your holiday, please call us on the above
numberor book online using our website
...
Kind regards
Bill Holiday
Proprietor
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Nothing fancy is needed
The important thing when deciding on how to approach your stationery is to
remember that nothing fancy is needed
...
Clip art is the image/cartoon graphics you receive free with most software publishing
programmes
...
If you use it when creating your identity, the
chances are that other similar businesses will too
...
While clip art is
fine for party invitations and birthday announcements, the image of your business
will undoubtedly suffer if you use it
...
Although it’s
relatively expensive to employ a specialist company to design your brochure,
letterhead and so on, it can pay enormous dividends especially if what you’re going to
be selling is high value and the buyer needs to be assured of your credability
...
Before employing a designer to work on your behalf make sure you:
o
See examples of their work
...
o
Ask for a written quotation
...
Before you enter into
any commitment make sure you know exactly what you are getting for your
money
...
Hopefully this won’t be necessary as professional
design companies will always send what is known as ‘copy-ready proofs’ to you
for approval
...
It’s vital you check these thoroughly for
mistakes as once you have given your approval the proofs will be printed and
you will have to pay for any amendments or alterations
...
Some businesses will insist you pay upfront
...
In the event
that you’re not happy with the quality or you don’t get what was originally
agreed you will have far more influence if you haven’t already settled the bill
...
If this is the case, offer to pay a deposit on order
with the balance falling due when you collect your work
...
Before printing anything make sure you check the proofs for errors and
omissions
...
Remember, if you are operating as a sole trader and trading under a different name
then by law you must include something like ‘Paul Power trading as Walking
Holidays Cornwall’ on your letterhead
...
(See Chapter 10 for more
information
...
Provided the quality of print and paper is of an acceptable standard these packages
can offer great value for money and in my experience printers are generally happy to
include some free artwork and layout
...
Envelopes
When it comes to posting out your letters, brochures, direct sales materials etc, you’re
going to need to think about envelopes
...
These are the ones where all you have to do is fold your letter in the correct
place and the address is automatically displayed through the window
...
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Ask your printer to give you a quote to have your business name printed
on your envelopes
...
Otherwise it might get
mistaken for junk mail and binned without being opened
...
Whatever you decide on make sure everything is consistent
...
If you’re unsure don’t commit yourself
...
I’ve known of small businesses who’ve rushed
their stationery order through only to find something as simple as the telephone
number was incorrect
...
The fact that you haven’t checked your telephone
number, business name or postcode is not the fault of the printers and therefore not
only will you end up with the most expensive scrap paper money can buy, but also
have to have everything redone
...
Starting a business is a bit like organising a wedding
...
An extra colour here and little embellishment there, and let’s just go for
that satin finished paper and suddenly your costs have quadrupled
...
During your first meeting with your printer let him know what your budget is and make
it clear that you will not be spending more than this figure
...
Our printer has been extremely helpful in
coming up with novel ways of getting the printing we want done to our budget
...
Because I run a number of small businesses, my
natural instinct is to choose a similar business to mine to undertake our printing
requirements
...
Personally I prefer the smaller independent who understands and appreciate the
problems that come with running a small business
...
It’s important therefore to check with
your insurance company that you are covered in the event that someone burgles your
home office and steals your computer, printer etc that your cover includes you
running your business from home
...
Unfortunately the relatively high cost of insurance cover means it’s usually one of
those things to ignore when starting your own business from home, but you do need
to ensure that by running your business from home you don’t invalidate your
ordinary home contents and buildings insurances
...
So if you’re planning to turn your garage into a workshop, you should check with
your local planning office to see whether or not you will need planning permission
...
But be
aware that if you are running a limited company from home the law requires you to
display somewhere outside your office the name of your business
...
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Where to base your business
It may seem odd that a book promoting the home based entrepreneur advises you to
consider working from somewhere other than your home, but there will be times
when this will make sense
...
Our gardening business includes trailers, machinery, vans and all that goes with
that
...
The other problem we’d face is that there is
now so much of it we wouldn’t be able to fit it all in
...
We then have a large
showroom area where customers can browse a large selection of Dutch bikes, we offer free
parking and customer toilets
...
The reason for this is that I prefer working from home, and the additional cost of
hiring an office on top of workshop/storage space was astronomical
...
Of course this arrangement may not suit every business, particularly those employing
office-based staff
...
Although you may
find you get a better rent figure if you agree to a longer let, you might find that after a
year the property is no longer suitable for your business and the costs terminating the
lease may be so great as to make it impossible
...
Just like I’ve done with my businesses you may find that you’re better off sourcing
some form of cheap storage/workshop area where you can keep stock, machinery etc,
and then base your office at home
...
Estate agents are paid commission on rent
and in my experience will always be pushing towards that ‘ideal property’, which
costs just little bit more than the one you’re looking at
...
SHARING A UNIT
It’s also worth considering sharing a unit with another business
...
If you are going to do this make sure you:
o
get the permission of your landlord
...
Although useful for reducing the costs of renting somewhere, you really do need to be
sure about whoever you share with
...
There are now companies who specialise in renting a variety
of sizes and who offer easy in-and-out terms, which usually mean that you can rent
these units on a weekly or monthly basis
...
The golden rule when it comes to renting anything is not to be tempted to
rush into it
...
The best place to read lease agreements is
away from wherever it is you’re planning to rent;
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get a solicitor to read the lease for you if the property is anything other than a
self-storage type unit
...
Not every business will be subject to the same laws
...
It’s up to you to check what legislation your business will have to adhere
to
...
Important legislation you should be aware of if you’re planning to open business
involving food:
o
o
o
The Food Safety Act 1990
Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995
Food Safety (Temperature Control) Regulations 1995
You can find full details of the requirements of these acts at The Foods Standards
Agency Website: http://cleanup
...
gov
...
You should also be aware of the legislation covering the following areas:
o
o
o
employing staff
health and safety legislation
Data Protection Act
...
You are also required to undertake a number of checks on anyone you intend
employing
...
Their age will affect the types of work they
are allowed to do; the hours they are allowed to work; rates you must pay them
...
You must be sure that
their status in the UK allows them to work
...
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Their skills and aptitude for the job
...
Visit the government’s Business Link website http://www
...
gov
...
You can use their free software tool to create a Written Statement of Employment for
all your employees and use their interactive tool to check your legal responsibilities
when taking on staff
...
Health and safety
As a business owner you have a legal responsibility for the health and safety of your
employees and anyone that may be affected by your business and its activities
...
It’s essential you have in place a properly written health and safety policy for your
business
...
hse
...
uk
...
It
works in two ways:
1
...
Personal
information would include your customer’s addresses, dates of births, telephone
numbers etc
...
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These rights, which are known as ‘right of subject access’, give everyone the right
to see the information that is being held about them on a computer, and some
paper records
...
Make sure that, whatever it is you’re recording about your customers,
you’d be happy for them to see it
...
For example if you run a
walking holidays business where you regularly send information to customers on
your mailing list, periodically you would have to make sure that the details you
have are correct and up to date
...
(There are some exceptions to this, for example when the information stored is
being used in the detection and prevention of crime
...
Notification is the
way in which a data controller’s processing details are added to this register
...
Unless you are exempt from Notification, you must notify the commissioner and pay
a fee, currently £35, to be added to the register
...
Failure to notify
when you are not exempt is a criminal offence
...
dpr
...
uk
...
If you receive a request you must:
o
send them the information you hold on them;
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o
tell them why this information is processed and anyone it may be passed to or
seen by;
o
explain the logic in any automated decisions;
o
deal with their request within 40 days from the date you receive it
...
COMPENSATION
Be aware that individuals may seek compensation through the courts if they have
suffered damage, or damage and distress, because of any contravention of the Act
...
I really recommend a visit to the Business Link site,
which is an invaluable tool for small business owners and entrepreneurs
...
Give plenty of thought to the name you’re going to give your business
...
2
...
There’s nothing wrong with the kitchen table
...
A successful business is impossible without creating credibility
...
4
...
5
...
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RESEARCH: THE DOORWAY TO SUCCESS
The two huge mistakes you can make when starting your business are to:
1
...
2
...
Deciding on a product first and then looking for customers to buy your goods is a
common problem, and the reason many businesses fail
...
The
novice entrepreneur comes up with a great idea for a business, stocks up his shelves,
opens his doors and then nothing happens
...
Why haven’t we got one of these shops? Is it maybe that no one either wants or needs
whatever it is you’re trying to sell them? Or if they do, perhaps there aren’t enough
potential customers to make the business viable
...
To succeed you must first identify your target market and understand their needs
before you get your products and services together
...
Not having a winning business plan is the other most common mistake made by
would-be entrepreneurs
...
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But the point is you reach your destination faster and far less stressed if you invest a
small amount of time preparing and familiarising yourself with the best route
...
o
o
o
o
o
o
Overestimating how much the business will sell or underestimating how long it
will take to achieve initial essential sales targets
...
Failing to identify your market correctly because of inadequate market research,
or no research
...
Carrying too much stock
...
Or in other words failing to have a winning business plan
...
In fact, I had thought about renting it
myself and turning it into a cycle shop
...
Personally I thought the rent was too high for our town
...
Not only had they already had one offer, but were now turning down others
...
I was shocked
...
Needless to say the new Internet cafe´ proprietor didn’t appear to have any
trade at all
...
Again surprising as there was already a large secondhand bookshop in what is a very small town
...
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I don’t take any pleasure telling you this story, but the reason it’s important is that
any one of us could end up in the same unfortunate position as that entrepreneur if
all we do is follow our heart and go with the business idea that suits us most
...
Before you can even think about
success, you need to be able to survive
...
They are:
o
o
overestimating
underestimating
...
I believe it can take at least three years to establish any worthwhile business
...
Researching your idea
There are various areas of your idea that will have to be researched and looked at
...
Look at these from every possible angle
...
Here’s something to think about –
why was the teabag a roaring success and the coffee bag a huge flop? I don’t think
anyone has actually managed to answer this one, but it does go to show that
sometimes even though something similar has been an enormous success it doesn’t
mean that your new idea will work too
...
Question everything about your product or service and ask yourself:
o
o
o
What makes your product/service unique?
Why would customers choose you in favour of anyone else?
How easily can you source your products?
In the initial burst of enthusiasm for your new business venture it’s easy to overlook
the question of sourcing
...
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Experience
Our local fishmonger relied entirely on supplying his business from local
fishing boats until recently
...
To overcome this he now buys a percentage of his stock from fish
wholesalers where he still manages to get fresh supplies for his business as well
as offering locally caught fish when it’s available
...
CURRENCY FLUCTUATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION COSTS
If you’re sourcing either products or raw materials from abroad you’ll need to make
sure that you allow provision somewhere in your costings for those inevitable currency
fluctuations and other costs that can adversely affect the price you pay for your goods
...
Another factor you’ll need to consider is transportation costs, which can rise
significantly in the event of an oil price increase, civil unrest or natural disaster
...
He goes there himself and transports them back to the UK on a road trailer
towed by his four-wheel drive
...
MINIMUM QUANTITY ORDERS
Beware of the effect that having to order minimum quantities can have on your
business
...
To keep costs to an absolute minimum our suppliers send our bike deliveries as
fillers for other business trailers, so our bikes travel with all sorts of other goods such
as fruit, flowers, vegetables and even cakes
...
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Another often unseen problem with minimum orders is you may not be able to order
further stock as you haven’t got the cash as all your money is already tied up in your
stock
...
MAKING YOUR OWN PRODUCTS
You’re intending to start a business where your unique selling point is that you make
all your own products
...
Whatever it is you’re selling, make sure you can produce it as quickly as will be
needed to make your business profitable
...
Offer anything else, and you
may well destroy your uniqueness
...
Her attention to detail has gained her an enviable reputation both in the
UK and abroad, with many of her products being purchased for the lucrative
American market
...
However, soon after opening her
shop she had to close it
...
Whereas before she spent her days working at her kitchen table crafting her
products, she now had a shop to run, which meant she had little or no time
left to make her products
...
She’s now back at her kitchen table doing what she loves most and her
business is booming
...
A product that is
imaginatively and attractively packaged will obviously have greater a chance of being
sold over one that is not
...
Mail order
If you’re intending to offer your products by mail order, you’ll need to be sure:
o
that your products are suitable for dispatch by either postage or by courier;
o
they don’t get damaged while in transit
...
Selling at craft fairs and exhibitions
o Try to make all your customers walking advertisements by giving them
something eye-catching to put their purchases in
...
o
Consider encouraging your clients to return their packaging to you for use
again
...
Wholesaling your products
If you are selling your products wholesale you need to be sure that whatever you’re
selling remains in the same pristine condition once it reaches your customers’ shelves
as it did when it left you
...
PRICE
Unless you are proposing to sell a truly unique, sought-after product to a small niche
market, consider very carefully the price at which you sell your goods and services
before you throw open your doors
...
The ethos that runs through all of the businesses that I am involved in is that we offer
a value-for-money service where customer service is our number one priority
...
We offer a quality products at prices
customers find attractive and leave enough profit to make it all worthwhile
...
I recently came across an Internet business offering what appeared to be bicycles
similar to the ones we sell
...
However when I compared their cycles to ours it
was apparent that they were not the same product in terms of specification and build
quality
...
To be successful, research needs to be carried out over a period of time as opposed to
on one occasion, as every business has seasonal peaks and troughs
...
For example, most retailers suffer in the
early part of the year when business is slow after Christmas
...
So make sure your research gives an accurate picture of the market in general and not
one that is either enjoying a seasonal boom or a temporary famine!
HOW TO FIND POTENTIAL COMPETITORS
Obviously before you can start researching your competitors you must first identify
who they are
...
Remember the poor guy who opened up an Internet cafe´ in my local town only to
find that the local library were offering Internet access? These sorts of events aren’t as
uncommon as they might sound
...
The location of this restaurant is superb in that it gets the best
views of the harbour
...
If nothing
else you may well spot a business opportunity – a worthwhile concession up for
tender
...
CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION
When checking out the competition make sure you find out:
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o
Exactly what it is they are offering
...
For example
is VAT included or added on at the point of sale?
o
The sort of guarantees your competitors are offering
...
How does this compare to what you
are offering?
o
Customer testimonials
...
If they haven’t, why not?
o
How close they are to where you will be based
...
If they have a retail business you should camp yourself
discreetly outside at various different times to see how many people not just go
into their shop, but also come out having made a purchase
...
Also send
them some query emails to see how quickly they reply
...
CUSTOMER SURVEYS
Sometimes the only reliable way to be sure that whatever it is you’re about to sell is
going to appeal to your potential market is to carry out customer surveys
...
Make sure you include
your email address
...
Again, invite comments and
suggestions regarding your proposal
...
o
Send out questionnaires to clubs, groups and organisations relating to your
hobby
...
For example, everyone who returns their questionnaire before
such and such date will automatically be entered in our free prize draw to win a
whatever it is you’re offering
...
Wherever your hobby enthusiasts gather, get out there
and network with them
...
For example, if
you’re introducing a new product or service you could go along and offer free
test runs/trials for whatever it is you’re offering
...
Not only have I
found this a brilliant way of getting new ideas, but also for finding new
customers
...
It may be that businesses like the one
you are proposing have come and gone
...
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Investigate as much as you can about your potential market
...
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Internet search engines
...
Council records
...
Newspaper archives
...
Speaking to potential customers
...
Without exception everyone we spoke to was extremely helpful and offered
us the benefit of their experience and came up with some useful suggestions
...
That way you’ve got a good chance of
finding out what’s gone on in your area, and whether or not a business similar to
what you’re proposing has come and gone
...
HOW MUCH CAN I CHARGE?
There’s no easy answer to this one, and how much you sell will depend on a
combination of factors including:
o
o
o
o
how big your market is
how well you promote your products and services
your unique selling points
your competitiveness
...
Once you’ve established this you then need to be sure
that there will be sufficient demand to make it profitable
...
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A common mistake is to decide on the type of business you want to start and work
backwards finding out, often too late, that you can’t afford to keep going what you’ve
already started
...
When calculating your initial costs, you should consider:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
How much you will have to pay for your initial stock
...
Vehicle costs
...
Insurance costs
...
Website costs
...
Working capital
...
This is as opposed to fixed capital, which is the capital you use to buy your fixed
assets, for example what you spend on items such as buildings, vehicles, machinery
etc
...
For example, if your business involves selling a range of
products you will always have money tied up in unsold stock
...
Thus even though your business will be receiving sales revenue (income from
sales), you will have to reinvest some, or even all, of this revenue in purchasing
replacement stock
...
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You need either to have money available in the form of working capital, or access to a
bank overdraft to cover your regular business expenses until such time as your
business is fully able to support itself
...
Initially you might find that although you’re busy, you are not earning very much, if
indeed anything, because you’re having to reinvest your revenue in your business
...
Who is going to finance your new venture?
There are a number of options available to you:
o
o
o
o
use your own funds;
bank loans;
business angels;
small firms loan guarantee
...
That way you won’t be burdening
your new business with loan repayments
...
BANK LOANS
My experience of banks and their lending policies has been dismal to say the least – so
much so that I don’t think I will approach them again
...
BUSINESS ANGELS
This is my favourite funding option
...
Obviously, you’ll need to be satisfied that you can get
on with your business angel and that you’re happy to have someone else have a role in
your business
...
You can find business angels by using the Internet and searching under key words:
‘business angels’, ‘funding for business’, ‘venture capital’ etc
...
You can apply for a loan for sums of between £5,000 and £100,000, or if your
business has been trading for more than two years you can apply for up to £250,000
...
The SFLG guarantees 75 per cent of the loan
...
You can get a loan for most business activities although there are some restrictions
...
dti
...
uk
...
When this happens you have a number of options, culminating in taking them to
court
...
So it’s important when dealing with an
overdue account not to rush in wielding a sledge hammer when one isn’t needed
...
By doing this you reduce
the likelihood of having a payment dispute at some later date
...
We include in all our written estimates that
our terms of business are that payment is made immediately upon completion
of the job
...
We adopt the following procedures for dealing with late payers:
o
Where a customer does not settle their bill immediately, we allow a period of no
more than seven days for their cheque to arrive, after which time we send a
polite reminder letter
...
It’s vital to keep dialogue friendly and non-threatening
...
o
If after a further seven days we still haven’t been paid, and there isn’t a genuine
reason why the bill hasn’t been settled, we then write a final letter, sent by
recorded delivery
...
We also include in our letter that if we don’t receive payment within seven days,
we will reluctantly have to take out County Court Summons
...
Although the
system is easy to use, it is far better to have your debt settled without the costs and
time involved in preparing your case for court
...
If your application is
successful in the courts you can reclaim your fees from the other side
...
Then you have to make a
further application to the court to allow you recover the debt from them
...
You can get the all the information, forms etc you need to make a County Court
Claim by visiting your County Court or their website at http://www
...
gov
...
Or you can phone the Business Debtline on 08001 976 026
...
And their angle on this? To write one for us, for which of course we will have to pay
them a fee
...
I don’t care if they’ve been Richard Branson’s personal
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business planner for the past 20 years, the only person that can really write a truly
winning business plan for your business is you
...
An expert’s expertise is in writing business plans
...
But you do because
it has something to do with your hobby
...
THE TEN ELEMENTS OF A WINNING BUSINESS PLAN
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
6
...
7
...
8
...
Essential for every business because you work out how
quickly and often you will receive cash into your business versus how much you
will have to spend to continue trading
...
Operational details for your business, which will include:
– details of where your business will be based, including any additional business
premises that you may need to rent (for example additional storage space for
stock etc);
– information on how many staff (if any) you will need to hire, where you
intend to get these staff from and how much you’re intending to pay them
...
This is wholly unrealistic and if your business relies
on others supplying their labour free of charge then you should be asking
yourself if your business is really viable
...
SWOT analysis – what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
facing your business?
BUSINESS PLAN FORMAT
If you’re considering approaching a bank to help finance your business, your business
plan will need to be presented in a certain format
...
If you are in partnership with
someone, or you are hiring specialist help, they’ll want to know more about these key
people before they are willing to lend you any money
...
The business plan is laid out in template form and all you have to do
is fill in the blanks
...
Having a system where you can change one item and then
immediately see the effect on profit and loss figures saves enormous time working
things out
...
Your presentation should be:
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o
Clear and to the point: free of superfluous and distracting things such as jokes,
anecdotes and over-familiarity
...
o
Convincing
...
They need to be convinced
you know what you’re doing and that above all else you are confident that you
can achieve what you are saying
...
Nothing is more soul-destroying than making a
presentation to someone when you feel at a disadvantage because of the way you are
dressed
...
Summary
1
...
2
...
3
...
Even though two businesses may on the
surface appear to be servicing the same market, they can be world’s apart
...
Try to get an accurate picture of your set-up costs before you start your business
...
Don’t forget working capital
...
Remember that in the
early stages you will need to reinvest much of your initial earnings to build and
develop your business
...
The only way to truly beat the
competition isn’t to undercut them or outdo them, it’s to outsell them
...
Nowhere is this truer when it comes to the perceived mystery and magic surrounding
successful salespeople
...
The next time you have nightmares about having to do your own selling I want you
to know that often selling is nothing more than you being able to ask potential
customers one simple question
...
Selling isn’t about:
o
o
o
talking your customers into buying something they don’t want;
selling them something at a grossly over-inflated price;
developing a ‘killer instinct’, whatever that might be
...
That’s what selling isn’t
...
Imagine you’ve just decided that you want to take up canoeing as a hobby
...
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You visit your local outdoor shop and once inside you’re approached by a friendly
and obviously knowledgeable salesperson who encourages you to have a good look
around the shop without feeling under any obligation
...
You also like the range of canoes in the shop
but are a bit unsure about which ones might be suitable for you
...
Now put yourself in the salesperson’s shoes
...
You stock everything from books, videos and clothing to a wide range of
canoes to suit a range of uses and budgets
...
You’ve just finished serving a regular customer when this person you have never seen
in your shop before nervously approaches you asking for advice, which you freely
give
...
Now if I was that salesperson, I’d want to sell them a canoe and all the bits and pieces
they need
...
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
So why do so many otherwise competent salespeople allow their customers to walk
out of the door of their shop without asking them one simple question?
WHAT IS THE MOST POWERFUL SALES TECHNIQUE IN THE WORLD?
Some salespeople will never grasp this, because it’s so simple
...
That’s it
...
The most successful and simplest
sales strategy that you can employ in your business is to say to someone, ‘Would you
like to buy it?’
Of course there are lots of different ways you can ask potential customers to buy
whatever it is you’re selling, but the question remains the same
...
We all know
that these so called sales techniques are used by all sorts of individuals and
corporations on a daily basis
...
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You won’t have to employ any of these unscrupulous tactics because as a home
business you’re going to be offering quality, value-for-money goods or services to
people who really need them
...
The only thing that is worse than a morose,
unhelpful salesperson is one that leaves you to ‘think’ about things
...
Remember that people buy benefits not features
...
You must give your customers a reason for buying from you – otherwise they’ll
buy from someone else
...
If you’re doubtful about selling whatever it is you’re selling, people will be afraid
to buy it
...
PEOPLE BUY BENEFITS NOT FEATURES
Believed to be the first rule in marketing, the ‘people buy benefits not features’
mantra is at the heart of every advertisement you’re ever likely to come across
...
Why is this concept so important? To answer this we need to look at the reasons we
buy anything
...
Marketing companies are aware of this, and many competing products highlight
price as being a benefit
...
What’s in it for you? What will you
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get if you buy a certain product? Will you feel better? Slimmer? Fitter? Wealthier?
Sexier? Younger?
Selling is all about benefits
The reality is that we don’t buy things because of features, we buy because of the
benefits that come with owning a certain product or service
...
Many of my
clients lead busy professional lives, which means that they are ‘time poor’
...
So the features of the service my business offers are that we undertake all aspects of
garden maintenance, including lawn cutting, hedge cutting, pruning etc
...
When we market our service we list our features (what we offer), but we sell our
benefits
...
Tired of spending all your free time mowing the lawn, cutting hedges and
travelling to and from your local dump?
Here at Paul Power Landscapes we’re experts at doing the thingsyou hate
...
The benefits are:
o
o
enjoyment
free time
...
Start looking at as many advertisements as you can
...
We can learn lots from looking at how other businesses market their products
...
Then when
the time comes to write your own ads you can browse through your file for
inspiration
...
Next
time you’re out shopping listen to what salespeople are telling potential customers
...
You will hear the same
message: ‘But the great thing about this is that it
...
The more skilled the salesperson the more suited the benefit will be
...
Take, for example, someone
buying a flight ticket
...
Some will be travelling on business, others holidaying and others wanting to travel as
cheaply as possibly
...
Comfort and getting you there on time will be key
benefits for business travellers, while value for money might be the message for
holidaymakers
...
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If you’re face-to-face selling then all you have to do is to correctly identify
the buyer’s needs and sell them a benefit that they want
...
Wait and think about it and it may be
gone
...
LOOK AT WHAT YOU’RE PROPOSING TO SELL
Whatever it is you’re planning to sell, start by listing all its features and then work on
the benefits
...
Many of the benefits may not be immediately apparent to you
even though it’s your product or service
...
Once you’ve come up with your list of benefits you’re almost ready to sell anything to
anyone, but you must learn and follow the remaining two golden rules of selling
...
But the bottom line still remains
– if you don’t give a good enough reason, people will buy elsewhere
...
This could be anything – an
essential item, luxury treat or something you buy everyday like a newspaper or carton
of milk
...
Immediately underneath your circled item write down where you intend to buy this
item and draw a circle around it
...
Done?
Now draw a line from the item and then draw another big circle
...
Write down as many places as
you can think of, stopping only when there is no more space left in your circle
...
)
Finally, draw a line and another big circle from the circle where you’ve written where
you’re planning to buy this item
...
Your findings
This exercise is to show you that although you made an initial choice where to buy
your item, there are other places you could buy it
...
Why did you make that initial choice? Cost? Location? Or something else? Marketers
often refer to these reasons as a business’s Unique Selling Points (USPs)
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Price
Unless you intend building an out-of-town pile-’em-high sell-’em-cheap style
warehouse, it’s unlikely that you will want to sell on price alone
...
For example if you’re planning on
running your business as a mail order shop, your goods will need to be keenly priced
to get customers buying from you
...
On the other hand, if your business will involve lots of personal attention and fussing
over your clients’ every wish, your prices will be higher than your competitor offering
a bargain basement, no-frills service
...
Quality
What makes your goods and services better than anyone else’s?
It’s not enough to simply say the word ‘quality’
...
Bed manufacturers are a good example of this
...
Buyers will therefore spend more on a bed that
promises restful sleep
...
The unique selling point will often be to
highlight how many springs or layers this bed has over its competitors
...
We’re living in a world where the words ‘next week’ often lose a sale
...
For example I’ve now given up furniture shopping in chain stores for the simple
reason that no matter how small the item, even a chair, it has to be ordered by the
sales staff
...
Finally, after what seems like an extraordinarily long wait you get a phone
call to say the furniture will arrive ‘sometime on Friday’
...
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I’m not alone in switching my allegiance back to the small independent retailer who
either has the item already in stock or will personally get it in for you and deliver it to
you at a mutually convenient time
...
Uniqueness
Many businesses based around a hobby are successful because what they are offering
is unique
...
The last thing they want is a large amount of their store shelf space
clogged up by products that relatively few customers will be interested in
...
Highlight whatever makes your business unique as a selling point
...
Experience
A few years ago the rudder on my sailing boat broke in half while we were in
heavy seas
...
I
searched everywhere to find a replacement rudder with no avail
...
Finally, on the advice of a friend, I spent a morning walking around what
I’d previously thought were disused warehouses
...
As soon as I met him I knew he
was skilled and competent
...
It was
everything about him
...
He had the entrepreneur passion
...
He told me he was sorry
that he was going to have to charge me so much, but he’d put a lot of work
into it and it was made from mahogany
...
He handed it to me lovingly wiping it down
with a cloth to remove his hand prints from it
...
He apologised again
...
I was shocked
...
Unfortunately he
took it to mean I was shocked at the price and began to justify his costs again
...
‘Everyone wants fibreglass now,’ he said, ‘wood
is just too high maintenance
...
Clearly John’s USP was that he was a skilled craftsman and experienced boat builder
...
While the new boat market is dominated by nomaintenance fibreglass crafts, there are still a large number of sailors who prefer
wooden boats, and some would say there has been a high revival in wooden boats in
recent years
...
Certainly if his prices were anything to go by he was
seriously undercharging, and these super-low prices could only be sustained for so
long
...
Having something unique to offer is a great selling point
...
We’d give almost anything to be able to get our
hands on something different
...
The enthusiasm and passion you bring
to your products and services is what makes your business as unique and special as
you are
...
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RULE 3
...
It is often the problem
when you work for someone else where the sales department has little control over
the quality of the products or service they’re selling
...
My
experiences have been that you walk in and are pounced on by an over-zealous
salesperson who follows you around the store like a puppy saying how wonderful and
nice everything that you look at is
...
And all throughout you’re subjected to the information
that there’s 50 per cent off this weekend, and that the now mandatory interest-free
credit is available on that particular item
...
The salesperson sells you the benefits (as they see them) –
interest free credit, etc
...
’
However, where it all falls apart is when you test the confidence they have in their
product
...
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However if they don’t have such good customer service, the cracks will soon start to
appear
...
The problem is that they’re not confident in their product
...
Unless you’re a seasoned conman, you won’t be able to sell unless you
believe in what you’re selling
...
There’s often a temptation to cut corners and decide that whatever
you’re selling will be ‘all right on the night’ sort of thing
...
Home businesses succeed because their owners believe
completely in what they’re offering
...
Special offers, interest-free credit and free delivery are the domain of the stack-themhigh sell-them-cheap brigade
...
You are different
...
Overcoming objections
The most notable difference between giving something away and selling it, is
objections
...
Unfortunately many sellers misinterpret an objection as being a reason someone
doesn’t want to buy, when in fact it is a clear buying signal
...
Consequently the seller’s shutters go down, the wrong message is given out to the
would-be buyer, and in an instant any chance of a sale is lost
...
If you’re to successfully overcome customer objections you must understand that
they’re actually not objections at all
...
Imagine for a moment someone is planning a holiday to some far-flung exotic
destination
...
They know roughly the area
where they want to go to because friends went there some time ago and said they
really enjoyed it
...
They could search the Internet, but
they really want to talk to someone about this holiday because although their friends
told them it was lovely, and they saw the breath-taking holiday pictures, others have
since said that the area is dangerous and holidaymakers can be at risk from local
criminal gangs
...
You are very helpful and pull out all the brochures on the
areas
...
So they tell you that it sounds a bit expensive, and
isn’t really what they were hoping to pay
...
Now you have two options:
1
...
2
...
If you are a more inexperienced salesperson you are more likely to opt for number
one
...
Why?
Well let’s look at the obvious first
...
In anyone’s mind that should
be seen as a fairly strong buying signal
...
Again this is a positive
buying signal
...
So what you need to do now is to overcome their objection
...
Well let’s not give up yet and see what we
can do for you
...
First that you’re sorry it sounds
expensive, and second that you are going to help them get the holiday they want
...
So you ask them: ‘When you say it’s more than you expected to
pay is that because you’re seen a cheaper deal elsewhere?’
Notice I used the word ‘cheaper’
...
Always use‘cheaper’and not ‘better’ when dealing with a price
comparison
...
Your customer now tells you the full story
...
’
Because you know your business you will know why there is a price difference
...
Now you’re ready to overcome the objection
...
But before you
do that you need to know whether or not the holiday is within your customer’s
budget
...
However, in all the years I’ve been running my own
businesses no one has been insulted by this question
...
Provided the holiday is within your customer’s budget then there is no reason why
they shouldn’t want to book their holiday with you
...
But of course in your position as salesperson you don’t know this and just as you
thought you’d got the order, your efforts are under attack again when you’re told, ‘I
don’t know how true it is but I’ve heard that a number of tourists have been robbed
when they go to this area
...
Provided the area isn’t marred by frequent robberies you’ll be able to allay your
customer’s fears
...
HOW TO TURN OBJECTIONS INTO IMMEDIATE SALES
As we’ve seen, objections are really buying signals because the buyer is really asking
questions that, if answered favourably, will mean they can buy whatever is being sold
...
In a few moments we’ll look at different ways of closing a sale
...
Awin-win situation is where the buyer gets what he wants at a price the
seller is happy to sell at
...
Often buyers use this objection hoping to get a better
deal
...
I say ‘degree’ as the last thing you want to do is get a reputation for having prices that
are always negotiable
...
This is how it works
...
No more buts, ifs, I’ll think about its
...
However if he does agree to buy now he gets the item at a reduced
price
...
Too often salespeople rush in
and spoil a sale because they just can’t stay silent for long enough
...
Think of the last time that you either made a significant purchase or bought
something you wouldn’t usually buy
...
Like most of
us you’ll have needed some time, even if only a few seconds, to think it through
...
Your mind is on what you’re about to do
and any sort of conversation can at best be an extremely annoying interruption and at
worst make up your mind that you don’t want whatever it is after all
...
It’s also something that takes a bit of getting used to because most of us find silences
uncomfortable
...
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A good way to do this is to start using the silent technique next time you’re buying
something
...
The most effective places to try this technique are at large retail chain stores where the
salesperson’s income rely heavily on them closing sales
...
The technique works as follows:
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
Instead keep
staring at the item
...
Wait
...
Do not say anything
...
If they’re working on a commission the chances are the first thing
they tell you is that the price could be reduced
...
Although silences can last an agonising amount of time, it will actually only be a
matter of seconds
...
Being mentally prepared is important
...
Say nothing until your buyer speaks
...
Closing techniques
The technique of turning a buyer’s interest into a sale is known as closing a sale
...
However, I believe you only need to concentrate on three
...
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ASK FOR THE ORDER
In my experience this is often the most appropriate and easiest method of getting the
sale
...
Instead they talk on and on and round
and round, desperate to do anything but actually ask for the order
...
So always ask for the order
...
And if they say no, ask them why
...
THE ASSUMPTIVE CLOSE
My second favourite method is to simply assume your customer is going to buy from
you
...
When I meet a prospective client for my landscape gardening business, I always
include lines like this somewhere during the meeting:
‘When we come and do your garden would it be all right if we parked on your
driveway?’
‘Do you have an outside tap that we could use?’
‘Generally we like to get onsite everyday at about 8am
...
I always ask the last question as this shows my prospective client that I’m confident
enough to be able to show them examples of our company’s work
...
Questions like these help build up a rapport with your client and also establish you as
a professional
...
You can use the assumptive closing technique for any business
...
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Try and avoid using sentences like: ‘If we’re lucky enough to get your order,’ or, ‘If
we can agree a price,’ and so on
...
They are based on
‘if’s and also give the impression that your price is in some way negotiable
...
Generous use of the word when will pay dividends
...
Remember that very often people ‘buy’ people
...
For example, if someone is planning to go on a painting holiday they’re going to have
to be certain they like who’ll be teaching the course
...
They want to enjoy the
whole experience
...
One of the advantages is that there’s no big build up to a grand finale
where suddenly you must close the sale
...
THE ALTERNATIVE CLOSE
Another powerful closing technique is to use is what’s often referred to as the
‘alternative closing method’
...
So the decision is now what to buy, as
opposed to will I buy?
It’s an effective technique that’s easy to introduce
...
So if someone is browsing your hand-crafted, keep-out-all-draughts
knitted sweaters, then all you need to do is introduce a choice, which could be a
different colour or size
...
‘Would you like the black one or the grey one?’ ‘Small or large?’
You’re using two closing techniques here
...
So you’re
assuming your customer will buy one – but which one
...
After all how many of us have walked out of shops because they didn’t
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have the size or the colour we wanted and were either too shy, too busy or whatever to
bother asking
...
What then? Ask them what they’re looking for
...
Keep them interested and stop them from going elsewhere
...
They could be looking for gifts for someone else
...
So the alternative close can go on until they either buy something, or you run out of
alternatives
...
Price alternatives are good, too
...
Because your
product is unique and all of your scented, bubbly delights are lovingly created, they’re
considerably more expensive than traditional off-the-shelf soaps
...
The problem here is often that the prices are
just out of reach of the average impulse purchaser
...
One that appeals to those who
appreciate the quality and uniqueness of your soap and will buy it whatever the cost,
and one for those who would love to buy your soap if it was more affordable
...
Or have a special offer bucket where you include
all your soaps that haven’t come up to the same exacting standards as the others
...
If someone looks interested but then
disappointed when they see the price of your soap and makes for the door, get in
there
...
We all like choice
...
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Mastering the three Ps of selling
Undoubtedly, closing techniques are important
...
That said, there’s much more to selling than just closing techniques
...
If you
pay enough attention to the three Ps then many of your sales will close by themselves
...
Prospecting
2
...
Price
...
Few, if any, businesses have ever
succeeded, let alone survived, because they got lucky
...
Great sales figures don’t just happen
...
Experience
A few years ago I wandered around Brighton market hoping to find some old
vinyl records on behalf of a friend
...
You could say I got lucky
...
I must
confess I’m not a fan of boot fairs and the thoughts of having to spend a
Saturday or Sunday morning wandering round a wet field with the waft of
sausages and onions doesn’t do it for me
...
So
my success was really down to spending a little time preparing and planning
...
To my
amazement many were full of all sorts of interesting things and ideas and
these businesses were doing a brisk trade
...
It wasn’t difficult to see why
...
Therefore the businesses that were doing well had matched their products to
the people who visited the market, and the traders that weren’t doing well
clearly hadn’t thought about the type of market they were selling to
...
PRESENTATION
One of the most powerful selling techniques I know is simply to present both yourself
and your product with the utmost respect, which means dressing appropriately and
packaging your product correctly
...
Although
most people say they wouldn’t mind their landscape gardener turning up covered in
mud, sweat and cement, often they do
...
Dressing to impress is important
...
Similarly if you handle your product as
if it is a piece of rubbish you immediately devalue it
...
I do this because I know that our business delivers a quality, value-formoney service, something all too rare these days
...
Displaying your product
Next time you’re out for a Sunday afternoon stroll, take a closer look at why you want
to spend time looking in some windows and not in others
...
Most antique shops have retail display down to a fine art, as do
successful florists
...
Even the most mundane product can be made
to look appealing in the right window
...
Get that right and you will at least have
customers coming through your doors or stopping at your stand
...
Creating atmosphere
Often the difficulty with a small shop is creating the right atmosphere
...
Make it easier for
potential clients to browse your wares
...
Inviting people in
Display a notice on your door
...
’
And then once they are inside, make your visitors feel at home
...
Have some music playing in the background as this
helps take away that church-like silence you often get in smaller shops
...
‘Too big
...
’
‘Too expensive
...
’
‘Not really me
...
And at all times avoid that awful, insincere greeting: ‘How can I help you?’ To which
I’m always tempted to reply, ‘You could pay this month’s mortgage
...
So make it easy for them to buy
...
Too expensive and you won’t sell any, too cheap and you won’t earn enough profit to
stay in business long enough to repay your initial financial investment
...
Whenever you see products or services that
you’re thinking of offering in your business, stop and really look at what price they
are being sold at
...
You face an impossible task competing with
these businesses who can retail goods and earn a profit for far less than it would
probably cost you to buy these goods wholesale
...
Record your price findings in a notebook along with details of potential suppliers,
wholesalers, packaging companies etc
...
Five ways to turbo-boost your sales
My top five recommendations for turbo-boosting your sales:
1
...
3
...
5
...
Include a mail order facility
...
Publish your own newsletter
...
ACCEPT CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS
Even if you don’t have a shop you should still consider taking credit and debit cards,
especially if you sell at craft fairs, exhibitions and so on, and what you sell is of
relatively high value
...
Not a huge amount by any means but how many of
us have £30 in our wallets?
People like buying things, especially something that they’ll be using for their
favourite hobby
...
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Experience
A local photographer did some brochure work for me recently and told me
that if it weren’t for him accepting cards his business would have closed years
ago
...
Even though expensive, it’s worth it
...
Just look at the restaurant business
...
Let’s go back to the homemade soap business example again
...
Chances are that many of these customers do not live in your
immediate area and probably won’t be able to return to buy some more
...
Yet an amazing number of businesses ignore the potential additional sales
that mail order can bring
...
You can also use this as an opportunity to promote all the other products you do that
your customer may not yet have bought
...
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By adding mail order to your business you really can increase sales without paying out
for further advertising because previous customers will now be able to buy again from
you, and will almost certainly start recommending you to their friends, colleagues,
and family and this in turn builds further sales
...
There’s nothing to stop you introducing similar schemes in your business
...
OFFER CUSTOMER REFERRAL INCENTIVES
The insurance business relies heavily on successfully targeting their existing satisfied
customers to introduce them to new customers, often in areas where previously they
have been unsuccessful
...
Usually a tempting incentive is offered, which could be anything from a pen to a gift
voucher or even a holiday
...
Encouraging referrals by offering incentives is a great way of building up
your customer base at a fraction of what it would cost using traditional
advertising methods
...
It’s easy to introduce referral schemes
All you have to do is ask your existing customers to recommend someone they know
to receive a copy of your latest brochure, sample product, newsletter etc, and as soon
as this nominated person starts shopping they will receive their free gift
...
Otherwise
your campaign runs the risk of suffering from ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ syndrome
...
Of course there’s nothing to stop you then
re-running the offer at a later date when hopefully you will get another batch of
potential clients
...
Offer a desirable gift, but something that is not going to cost your business a
fortune
...
The advantage here is that not only are you getting new customers
referred to your business, but you are also encouraging existing customers to buy
again so they can use the gift voucher
...
Set a deadline for when the offer expires
...
Your aim is to get your customers
referring their friends to you within a certain period of time if they are to qualify
for their incentive
...
As soon as you get your new customers shopping with you offer them a similar
incentive to refer their friends and so on
...
Keep interest alive by varying your incentives
...
5
...
Points
are also awarded on future purchases and once a certain number of points have
been accumulated a larger incentive gift can be claimed
...
PUBLISH YOUR OWN NEWSLETTER
Newsletters are a great way of promoting your own products, keeping your customers
loyal and generating additional income for your business by either selling advertising
space or earning commission on selling others’ goods
...
(See Chapter 8 for more information
...
For example, I run a Top Tips For Gardeners
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newsletter via one of my websites, and I get as many would-be customers as
customers signing up
...
If you haven’t got a website
You don’t need to have a website to publish your own newsletter
...
This isn’t a problem in my gardening
business where I automatically get potential customers’ names and addresses when
they phone up asking me to go and give them a quote
...
Don’t despair – there’s a
simple way around this
...
Make sure also that you give a copy to anyone
who browses your stand
...
The easiest and most effective way of getting people to send you their details and
subscribe to your newsletter is to offer an incentive
...
Your competition
It is vital here that you have a worthwhile enough prize for people to want to enter so
give it some thought and be prepared to splash out a little
...
Give
your readers a question to answer
...
Make sure your cut-out coupon collects the following information
...
full name;
2
...
Also useful if you are to send them a card on
their birthday);
3
...
email address;
5
...
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Remember, the objective of running the competition is to get people to sign up for
your newsletter, so don’t forget to ask them to subscribe
...
I recommend you ask them to tick the box if they don’t want to receive your
newsletter because market research indicates that this is the most effective way of
getting people to agree to something
...
It’s up to you
...
This needn’t be the
case
...
For example, you could start your competition in spring and say, ‘Lucky winner to be
announced in the winter edition of this newsletter,’ which shouldn’t have any adverse
effect on entries
...
For my
gardening business I publish a seasonal newsletter using a software program on my
PC
...
Provided your
document is well laid out, easy to read and attractive then that’s fine
...
What makes a good newsletter?
There are two angles you must consider here
...
Your needs: to make this publication sell more of your products and services and
expand your customer client base
...
Your customer’s needs: they’ve got to get something from reading your newsletter
...
It’s vital the content of your newsletter is informative and interesting in a chatty sort
of way
...
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So you need to work on your content
...
For example, my Top Tips For Gardeners newsletter always includes something about
the flowers and plants that are in bloom at the time
...
I finish this piece by inviting my readers to contact me to arrange for our company to
come around and prepare their garden ready for the spring
...
Winter Warmer ^ Book your spring tidy up before 31January and we’ll give
you 10% off our normal rates
...
Note that I’ve created a sense of urgency by asking customers to book before 31
January
...
Some things you could include in your newsletter:
o
Any interesting history behind your products: how did your products get their
name? Where were they first sold? Anyone famous using these products? What’s
the most expensive one to ever have been sold?
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o
Other customers’ tips and advice
...
This works well with hobby businesses where there
is a natural sense of allegiance because everyone is interested in the same thing
...
If you’re planning to exhibit at a certain venue, let your
customers know in advance by way of your newsletter
...
o
Staff profiles
...
Especially if you’re offering a mail order service you could introduce
your clients to the person or people responsible for taking their orders
...
Tell your readers how to get the most out of what they’ve
bought
...
o
How to guides
...
Even
though the object of my gardening newsletter is to sell more of our products and
services, I like to include short garden guides
...
o
Now is the time to
...
now is the time to’ feature, especially if things have some sort of natural
deadline
...
’ Or, ‘You really only have two
weeks left to plant your onion sets if you want to have them in time for summer
salad days
...
You’re not printing a magazine or newspaper,
so keep it as short as possible
...
What about pictures?
If you’re publishing an online newsletter then you can include picture links in your
newsletter
...
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If you want to include pictures in your online newsletter then the best way is either to
write in some hyperlinks, which are links either to other websites or web pages, at end
of the newsletter, or tell your readers there are now new pictures on your website
...
I think it’s too
expensive and doesn’t really fit in with what’s normally expected of a newsletter
...
Discuss with them what you’re
looking for and what you hope to achieve by having a newsletter
...
But do try to include them in your business
...
Making it ‘sticky’
Good newsletters are sticky ones
...
There are a number of ways you can make your newsletter sticky:
o
Competitions
...
You print the lucky winner’s name and they have to contact you
within so many days to claim their prize
...
Invite your readers to advertise their items for sale in
your newsletter
...
o
Ongoing feature
...
Divide it up into,
say, four parts
...
Naming your publication
Just like when choosing the name for your business, spend a bit of time working on a
title for your newsletter
...
So I simply call it Top Tips
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For Gardeners
...
Finally!
Remember the objective of publishing your newsletter is twofold:
1
...
2
...
SEND A CARD
Another great way to ensure customer loyalty and boost sales is to send your clients
cards, which can include:
o
o
o
o
Christmas cards
Birthday cards
Postcards
Get well soon cards
Sending Christmas cards to all your customers can increase your sales by up to 20 per
cent
...
The results are often amazing and I
believe that not only do we continue to keep our customers by sending them cards
but we win lots of new business, too
...
This included asking for date of birth so
you’ve no excuse for not sending your clients a birthday card
...
Postcards
It might seem an unusual thing to send your customers, but postcards make great
inexpensive marketing tool for announcing special offers, end of line reductions etc
...
Other cards
Where you’re running a business where you get to know your customers and meet
them on a regular basis, such as a gardening business, you can send all sorts of other
cards including get well soon cards and congratulations cards
...
These
are the small, inexpensive touches that sets your business apart from the rest
...
Saying thank
you is one way of making sure your customers stay loyal to you and your
business
...
You don’t have to be an expert to be a successful salesperson
...
The most successful sales strategy in the world is simply to ask for the order
...
People buy benefits, not features
...
Objections are buying signals
...
A professional salesperson will recognise buying signals and work on them to
achieve a sale
...
Turbo-boost your business sales by taking credit and debit cards; offering mail
order; client referral schemes; publishing your own newsletter; and sending
customers, both existing and potential, cards
...
Selling – there really is nothing to fear
...
Unfortunately it’s an area often overlooked
...
Often both approaches
bring the same result
...
Why is marketing so important?
Having a successful marketing strategy for your business is like having a powerful
train driving customers through your doors
...
All too often
businesses concentrate their efforts on the sales function without really bothering
about marketing, which results in poor sales because customers aren’t coming to buy
...
Even if you have a large budget available, be forewarned that the
amount you spend on marketing your business does not necessarily equal the size of
your sales
...
Every year big businesses invest
millions of pounds training their telesales staff in the latest techniques for
telemarketing
...
Personally, I never buy anything over the
phone; even if it’s something that I’m interested in I will only decide if and when I see
written information including terms and conditions
...
After all, they will be sharing with you all the
expensive training they have been given
...
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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM TELESALES EXECUTIVES
How to approach a cold sales telephone call
You’ll learn a lot from how they work the call so as to get through to the decision
maker
...
So listen to how they make their initial approach
...
They’ll have the name of who they want to speak to
...
?’
How to overcome common objections
The reason I urge you to tell them you’re not interested is because then you’ll learn
how to handle initial objections
...
The more objections you raise the better the lesson becomes
...
Coping with rejection
Whatever business you’re planning to start you’re going to have to learn to handle
rejection as you’re going to get it
...
When a professional telesales
executive calls you and you make it clear you don’t want whatever it is they’re selling
you, they won’t take it personally
...
’
Professionals will be unfailingly polite, respectful of your time and also will try to
leave the door open by saying something like, ‘Would you mind if I give you a call,
let’s say in a couple of months, to see if your situation has changed?’
If they sound nice and reasonable the chances are you’ll probably say yes
...
Why advertising doesn’t always work
Small businesses waste thousands of pounds annually on expensive advertising that
will never bring them a single customer
...
Advertising doesn’t work this way
...
The advertisement’s objective must be:
o
Specific
...
How are you going to work out how successful your ad is? One
way is to ask to customers replying to your ad to quote a specific reference
number or mention the ad itself to take advantage of a special offer
...
You must make sure your ad is going to reach your potential market
...
The key to success is to make sure the objective is achievable
...
For example, a common, and easily made, mistake is to use a small
advertisement to try to sell your products
...
So the objective for the advertisements we run for our Dutch bikes is to get people
motivated to get further information on our products
...
Rather than see your advertisement as simply a tool for selling your goods, instead use
it as a vehicle for bringing potential customers to either your telephone line or website
to find out more about your products and services
...
A WORD ABOUT ADVERTISING SALES EXECUTIVES
Beware, be very aware, that when someone phones you to sell you advertising space
their primary concern is to make a sale for their business not necessarily to generate
increased business for your company
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It’s
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expensive, but you agree to go ahead convinced that the investment is worth is
because your sales will rocket
...
Absolutely nothing happens – you fail to get even a single inquiry via your expensive
advertisement
...
It’s one that’s
happened to me in my business and from speaking to other entrepreneurs it’s
happened to them, too
...
I spent
considerable time on the phone with the sales executive discussing our
advertisement’s objective
...
Our first ad came and went with a dismal response
...
So I phoned and was told they never received it (although
they had received the covering letter, which was odd)
...
The next issue of the magazine arrived and our product had still not been
reviewed
...
When I phoned the magazine for an explanation I was told that the editor
did not think that our product was suitable for their readership
...
I pulled our advertisement immediately despite warnings from the sales
manager that we would be liable to pay for further ads as we had entered
into a contract
...
I cannot stress enough that the only thing an advertising executive is interested in is
their commission and their publication’s future
...
Don’t rely on anything they tell you and make sure that your products and
services are right for their magazine
...
My favourite method for promoting our businesses is using our websites
...
Here are my preferred shoestring offline marketing techniques
...
Classified advertisements
...
Press releases
...
Sponsorship
...
Media stunts
...
Make more use of your business cards
...
Join a local networking group
...
Use self-employed sales agents
...
Leaflet drops
...
Give talks to other businesses
...
Write for your favourite hobby magazines or create your own newsletter
...
My reasons are simply that some businesses will have to employ traditional
advertising methods to get started and bring potential customers through their doors
...
However, before rushing off to place your advertisements there are two very
important things you must get right
...
The publication must be suitable for your advertisement
...
The advertisement must be as powerful as a train in pulling customers through
your doors
...
She was right
...
Obviously had I given it more thought and really identified who
the magazine’s targeted readership was, I would have come to the same conclusions as
she did and not wasted our money
...
When considering a publication always get a copy of the magazine or newspaper
before placing your advertisement
...
If it doesn’t your message will fail to reach your target
audience
...
Phone the classified sales
department and ask them to send you a back issue and a media pack
...
o
When you receive your copy go through all the advertisements and ask yourself
if what you’re offering is the same as what is being advertised
...
Ignore what
the sales staff say
...
How much should you spend?
Rates are based upon a number of factors, which include how many copies are sold
monthly, quarterly or yearly, whether the magazine is a glossy colour affair or in more
of a newspaper format etc
...
My own experience has been that it’s far too tempting to place adverts in publications
which offer the best rates, while ignoring the key factor, which is do your customers
read this publication? If you’re sure that they do – having first worked through the
existing advertisements, then you need to work out an advertising budget
...
Don’t be surprised when you phone the advertising department of the publication to
be told that the attractive introductory offer in the publication isn’t the price you’ll
end up paying
...
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Advertorial
Whenever you do decide to go with a particular publication make sure to ask them to
run a small feature about you and your business
...
An advertorial is a great way of getting additional publicity for your business because
it’s your ad dressed up as a news story
...
Some marketing experts reckon that it can take customers as much as five exposures
to your message before they will consider buying what you’re offering
...
Anywhere between three and five seems to be the magic number
...
I have found that it usually takes about three months of advertising in a monthly
magazine before I see any return on my investment
...
When working out your budget try to come up with a six-month or annual
marketing budget
...
It’s so easy to get carried away
with bigger and better ads in the vain hope that this strategy will reap rewards
...
Work out a budget that you can comfortably afford ^ and stick to it
...
Five steps to writing a powerful classified advertisement:
1
...
3
...
5
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Create a killer headline
...
Call them to action
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Don’t try to sell them anything
Strange, but true
...
The primary objective of your advertisement should be to bring in enquiries and not
sales
...
Create a killer headline
Without it your advertisement is going nowhere
...
My feature was duly published and those I spoke to afterwards said they hadn’t seen
it
...
The reason? The headline
...
Your headline must grab the reader and make them want to read more
...
If your
product will only appeal to those interested in sailing then make it shout at sailors:
ATTENTION FRUSTRATED SAILORS
Or if you’re selling to gardeners with bad backs:
IS YOUR GARDEN BREAKING YOUR BACK?
And so on
...
Grab their attention and make them want to
read your ad
...
This is also true when it comes to your advertising
...
The way to do this is to write down all the benefits that someone would get if they
bought what you’re offering
...
The next step is to prioritise your benefits and decide which one of all them is the
most appealing
...
When you’ve got your powerful benefit it can follow your headline:
IS YOUR GARDEN BREAKING YOUR BACK?
Our catalogue is full of products specially designed
to take the hard work out of gardening
...
But they’ll put the magazine down intending to phone you later and then something
else will grab their attention, and fairly soon your ad will be part of pile of papers
bound for the recycling centre
...
Next time you watch television, listen to commercial radio or pick up a magazine,
listen out for the advertiser calling you to action
...
Many command you to pick up your phone right now
and find out how much money they can save you on your insurance renewal
...
The reason you do, is because they
have already told you the all-important what’s in it for you – cheaper car insurance, a
cheap holiday in the sun etc
...
Something
like:
Our catalogue is full of products specially designed to take the hard work out of
gardening
...
Create a sense of urgency
The response to your call to action can be greatly improved if you create a sense of
urgency as well
...
Remember that the primary objective of your advertisement is to bring customers
through your doors so create as much urgency as you can by offering a powerful timesensitive incentive
...
One will do so long as it’s powerful enough to pull them through the doors
...
Spend as much time as you can working on your classified advertisement
...
Keep the ‘What’s
in it for me?’ motivating factor at the forefront of everything you do
...
Don’t worry if you don’t get it right first time
...
Press releases
A press release is a marketing tool that is often overlooked by small business owners
and is still my favourite
...
Although obviously the greater your understanding and knowledge
of how to write your press releases the greater your chances of success
...
A SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE PRESS RELEASE
Every day newspaper editors, magazine editors and television producers are deluged
with press releases from businesses, politicians, entertainers and more, all trying to get
publicity for their interests
...
However, editors aren’t in the business of running free ads for anyone and they know
that if their publication, television or radio programme has even the slightest hint of
promoting products and services people will turn off in their droves
...
So to succeed in getting your business featured in their publications, your press
release must contain something that is newsworthy and not simply seen as promoting
your business
...
Although most local newspapers are pleased to run a small piece on a new business
opening in the area, you won’t find the glossy monthly magazines quite as
accommodating
...
But when contacting them you must be able to offer them a powerful benefit
for featuring your business
...
WHAT’S NEWSWORTHY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS?
1
...
All news revolves around human interest
...
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Imagine for a moment that you’ve just found a new product that overcomes sea
sickness
...
So rather than saying ‘Hey, we’ve just found the perfect solution to curing
seasickness,’ you would announce that either you or someone you know who has
suffered from seasickness has finally found relief from this awful condition
...
2
...
Your previous career may well be a news story
on its own
...
People love to read about how others have changed their
lives, especially those who’ve swapped a high-flying career for something
completely different
...
Employment and local prosperity
...
Stories like these are sought after
...
4
...
With every hobby there is something that is either difficult
to get, or prohibitively expensive to do
...
Incredible as it may sound
many boat owners are now moving their boats abroad, away from UK marinas, as
berthing rates are far more affordable
...
Rather than
have a berth for your boat, it is dry stored at the marina when you’re not using it
...
Once you’ve finished it is then lifted and dry
stored again
...
Because the marina was offering an innovative way of reducing the cost of berthing,
the story was taken up in all the press including the local television news
...
Remember the key to success is looking for the
human-interest angle
...
It’s the‘What’s in it
for me?’angle you’re looking for
...
Many books will recommend you use a set format for your press release, I
recommend you don’t
...
A simple but effective press release is to write a letter to the editor
...
This is not to be scoffed at, as
this is usually the most read section in any publication
...
I
include a ‘call to action’ for the editor at the end of the letter asking them to contact
me for more information or to come and visit us for a coffee and a tour of what
we’re about
...
WHAT TO INCLUDE
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
The headline
Just like a classified ad, you will need to make it attention grabbing, but without
looking tacky and cheap
...
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Briefly how it started
It’s important to cover this, as often this is where the editor’s interest lies
...
The life-changing angle will appeal to more people than the fact
that the area is to get a new herb farm
...
This might be the
paragraph that gives the editor the news story he wants
...
Something like ‘Pick up your phone
now and I’ll tell you all about it,’ probably won’t work
...
CONTACTING OTHER MEDIA
Television and radio stations are always on the lookout for local and national news
stories
...
Don’t be afraid to contact your local TVor radio station
...
Approach TV and radio in same way you would a newspaper or magazine
...
You’re far more likely to get a positive response if you come across as friendly and
enthusiastic as opposed to trying to act like a large corporation
...
You could sponsor anything from a local football
team to building and maintaining a flower border or garden for a hospice or
children’s home
...
You needn’t just sponsor charities
...
Having a nice big sign on one of the roundabouts leading into your town or city is a
great way of promoting your business
...
Sponsorship is a win-win situation
...
Not only are we making a
difference and getting a great feel-good factor for doing so, we are also raising the
profile of our business locally
...
Contrary to the image of journalists portrayed in films where they’re constantly
running around searching out that all-important story, most journalists haven’t the
time or resources necessary to do this
...
When they find something they believe would be of interest to their publication’s
readers they then work on the story
...
Editors are aware of this and are
obviously keen to either have a different slant on local news stories, or to look for
something completely different
...
Let’s imagine for a moment that you’re planning to run walking holidays but are
finding that many of the rights of ways in your area have been blocked by local
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landowners
...
You could arrange for a local protest where you and a bunch of walking enthusiasts
set out to challenge the actions of the local landowners
...
The first thing you might achieve is to
open up public walks which should already be accessible to the public
...
There are all sorts of stunts you can arrange for your business to generate publicity
...
You’d be amazed at how quickly you can increase your sales if you
start using your business cards as a marketing tool as opposed to simply a piece of
information
...
DESIGNING YOUR BUSINESS CARD
The three deadly sins of the business card design are having:
o
o
o
blank spaces;
no sales message;
no call to action
...
OK? So what can you see? A blank piece of paper? Or a
powerful sales message?
I’m not a betting man, but I’d lay odds that the majority of people will be staring at a
blank piece of paper
...
If you were running commercial vehicles as part of your business you wouldn’t leave
one side of the vehicle without a sign, so why leave half your business card blank?
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Most people will have had their cards printed like this because this is the way the
printer does them
...
No sales message
Just like your classified advertisement, your business card should have a powerful sales
message
...
Remember that they need to be told what’s in it for them
...
And what better
place to do this than that great big blank space of the back of your business card?
Even something as simple as what I’ve written below is better than a blank space
...
Call to action
Now you’ve told them why they should visit your business you must call them to act,
otherwise your card will go into the bottom of their wallet, bin or coat pocket never
to be seen again
...
Phone us now for a friendly chat to see how we can help you
...
The sooner you get your business cards selling for you, as opposed to simply
providing information, the better
...
DISTRIBUTING YOUR CARD
You should never miss an opportunity to hand out your card
...
o
Get your business card on every notice board, window or wall where people
gather and wait
...
o
Whenever you meet a prospective customer don’t simply give them your card,
personalise it
...
o
Even if everyone knows about your business, it’s still worth giving friends and
relatives a quantity of your business cards so they can give them to their
colleagues and friends and put them up in their local barbers and so on
...
Groups generally work on the basis that you attend regular meetings, which can vary
from breakfast get togethers to evening meetings where you meet other business
owners and entrepreneurs just like you
...
For
example if you’re looking for funding your new business venture you could well find
someone at these events
...
ONLINE NETWORKING GROUPS
You can also network online by joining any of the online forums relating to your
hobby or entrepreneurial matters
...
Remember if you’re having problems with a certain aspect of your business, the
chances are others have experienced the same difficulties
...
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Online networking is an excellent way of both promoting your business
and getting that all-important support
...
You can employ a network of self-employed sales agents
...
Lots of products and service are marketed in this way, from boats to holidays to
books
...
Experience
Let’s imagine for a moment that your business is making dolls houses and
that each house retails at £100
...
The advantage to the sales agents is that they don’t have to buy your stock
...
When their customers enquire about these houses,
the sales agent will be able to answer all their questions because you will have
briefed/trained them in advance
...
Make sure that your commission structure is generous enough to be appealing while
still leaving you with a worthwhile profit margin
...
Another way is to advertise that
you are looking for sales agents on your website and point-of-sale material
...
In our businesses we hold a number of agents for a variety of products and
we also recruit our own sales agents to sell our courses
...
If they don’t sell your products, you don’t pay them anything
...
Provided you listen to what your agents are telling you, you can also get some very
useful and regular feedback from customers about how your products and services
can be improved
...
There are a number of options:
o
o
o
do it yourself;
employ someone to do it on your behalf;
have your leaflet included in an existing paper, for example your local property
paper or weekly advertiser
...
Personally I prefer to arrange and do it all ourselves rather than employ a company to
do it
...
DESIGNING YOUR LEAFLET
Your leaflet is crucial to your success
...
Why should anyone want to use your product or service?
o
A powerful benefit to potential customers for choosing you over your
competitors
...
It is vital that you establish your credibility
...
If you haven’t any qualifications then don’t worry
...
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o
Create a sense of urgency
...
Whatever
you offer, make sure it has a time limit
...
Never forget this crucial bit
...
o
Your full contact details
...
Even if you only include your name and a land-based telephone
number you are greatly increasing the odds that people will call you as you’re
providing them with information that the rogues will never give
...
If the only
contact detail you can provide is a mobile telephone number, then this type of
marketing isn’t for you
...
Try to make your leaflet as eye-catching and interesting as possible and always get it
printed by a professional
...
Shop around for a good printer and ask them if they offer a design
facility
...
As soon as you see
anything that resembles those awful clip-art animations then look elsewhere
...
DISTRIBUTING YOUR LEAFLETS
The benefit of leafleting is that you can target specific areas and even specific houses
...
Our local garage was unable to rectify it as were the other two garages I
took it to
...
We also undertake servicing
...
They told me not only had they heard of
the problem but repaired these faults on a regular basis
...
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This is an excellent example of targeted leaflet/card marketing, which got their
phones ringing every time
...
Remember the golden marketing rule – people buy benefits and not features
...
WHAT RESULTS WILL YOU GET?
We regularly undertake direct leafleting in our businesses and typically we get around
a 1 per cent reply rate
...
We always aim to distribute 5,000 leaflets in one marketing hit and this
generates approximately 50 sales calls, which we usually receive within around three
weeks of our campaign
...
So as I said earlier, we now organise,
motivate and manage our own direct marketing team
...
I’ve given talks to all sorts of local groups about gardening and garden design and
have always found them an excellent way of generating new customers
...
Even if those who attend your talk aren’t personally in the market for
your services they will tell their friends and relatives who may be, so it’s worth giving
everyone who attends your business card and a brochure or leaflet telling them more
about what you do
...
If you’re nervous about having to speak in public, don’t be
...
Whatever you do, don’t lose out on the
potential of this sort of marketing can do for your business simply because you are
nervous
...
My experience has been that people are wonderfully supportive,
hospitable and grateful for the time I’ve given to them and their organisations
...
Your library will also have a very useful folder containing the details of all local
groups that meet in the area
...
Either write, email or phone the contact and discuss
your idea with them
...
I believe it’s a win-win situation
...
I
also find that I also learn new things from them
...
But
it’s up to you
...
If in your business you’re doing something
different or unusual, then you should consider offering to write features for your
favourite hobby magazines
...
Whether it’s a landscape gardener
giving an account of how to lay the perfect lawn or a nursery owner discussing how
they rid plants of common pests – it’s all there
...
Although most magazines and newspapers pay their freelance writers and
contributors, I think that if you’re writing about your own business then you
should not charge
...
So don’t
look at it that you’re giving away your services free
...
The resulting
publicity will be more than just reward
...
I love boats and nothing grabs my interest more quickly than when my favourite
boating magazine visits a boat builder’s and we get to see first hand how a beautiful
craft is created from an idea on a piece of paper to a finished boat
...
A good website supported by a relatively
inexpensive, but carefully constructed, classified ad can be far more effective than a
large and expensive glossy ad
...
Work out a figure that covers you for a series of small classified advertisements,
website promotion, leaflets, business cards and any other point-of-sale material your
business will require and then stick rigidly to your budget
...
Lots of successful businesses are marketing on a shoestring
...
So don’t be afraid to go out and look for free publicity, hand out leaflets, put posters
up, give talks to groups, and build your own website
...
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
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5
...
A single ad is unlikely to give any worthwhile
return
...
Work out a marketing budget and stick to it
...
Never buy advertisements from cold-calling telesales executives
...
Make sure your advertisement is somewhere your target customer is visiting
...
I use the words shop window loosely
here as your ‘shop’ could be anything from a website to an ad in the small classifieds
of your favourite hobby magazine to a traditional bricks and mortar shop
...
Choosing the right venue to sell your goods is crucial to your success
...
Be exposed to your target market
The reason many businesses fail is not because there isn’t a demand for what they’re
selling, but because their products and services are not marketed at those who want
and need them
...
The business owners put an enormous amount
of time and effort into creating a very inviting shop which generated
immediate interest
...
Despite the initial interest, visitors to the shop were slow as few of the local
residents were interested in what the shop was selling
...
Unfortunately late-night drunks became a problem and frequently the shop
windows were broken by fighting and yobbish behaviour
...
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Sadly the business failed
...
Why did they
choose this area? Most likely because the rents here were far less than in the
more affluent areas of our town, and not only were the rents lower but the
retail area was far larger
...
We’ll look in a moment at what’s involved
in taking on a shop lease, but wherever you decide to locate your business you must
be sure that the products and services you’re going to offer have a fair chance of
generating not only enough to cover rent, rates, insurance etc, but also pay you and
give a profitable return
...
You’ll need to be
able to adapt to market changes either as they happen, or preferably to anticipate
them
...
Be secure and safe
In the case of the antiques shop, not only was the business located in the wrong area
but it was also exposed to frequent attacks
...
If you have shutters and security doors
where no one can see your window displays, you are losing out on potentially
valuable sales
...
Your business could include a
combination of these or just one:
o
o
o
o
o
o
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website;
space in another shop;
concession in a retail area;
direct marketing;
exhibition or trade fair;
hotel foyer;
D
o
o
o
o
o
o
ECIDING
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train station platform;
shops, cafe´s and kiosk;
boot sales or market stall;
shop;
local authority concession;
an existing business
...
Whatever
type of business you are planning to start a website can be a great and inexpensive way
of either selling your products or promoting your business
...
While this can be an ideal solution for some businesses it won’t suit everyone
...
Generally speaking the way these businesses are run is that you hire either a cabinet or
a space somewhere in the main shop where you display your goods, for which you
pay either a weekly or monthly rent
...
You
can rent your space for anything from a month to a year or beyond
...
Weekends are usually
the busiest times in these types of businesses and you would do well do run your own
stand/stall during these periods even though it may not be your turn
...
Advantages to renting a small space
o Rents are usually fairly low
...
o They can be profitable with the right goods
...
For example, you
can have a display area where people can take your brochure or card and order
your products online
...
o You often get more curious browsers than real buyers
...
o It is unsuitable for many businesses
...
CONCESSION IN A RETAIL AREA
An excellent way of selling your products is to take a concession either in a shopping
centre with a mobile kiosk or in another retail business
...
These businesses include
bespoke garden furniture companies, pet shops, camping and accessories shops, fish
shops, fencing businesses, cycle shops and so on
...
Another considerable benefit to your business is car parking
...
If your goods are heavy or bulky your customers will appreciate not
having the headache of stopping outside a high street shop where there is
no parking and every likelihood of getting a ticket
...
Again the main advantage here is you’ll
have an instant customer base and won’t have to shell out on advertisements telling
everyone where you are
...
However I think that instant savings on things like business rates, insurance, water
rates, advertising etc, combined with the fact that you will have access to a large and
ready-made customer base, can make this a very worthwhile option
...
By this I mean purchasing specialist mail order lists and then
writing direct to your target market
...
If
you don’t believe me then over the next few weeks start taking a closer look at your
junk mail
...
If it wasn’t worth doing do you think these highly successful businesses would bother?
How to run your own direct marketing campaign
You will need to obtain an up-to-date mailing list that you can work from
...
Most companies will offer a service where you can buy a printed mailing list or preprinted mailing list labels with the names and addresses already on
...
Remember that your business will not be the only
business to have purchased this mailing list, which may mean that your target market
becomes familiar, and understandably fatigued, with seeing the same label
...
Before purchasing a mailing list make sure:
o
You are buying from a reputable source
...
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The list is up to date
...
Ask the company representative to explain not only how they compile their lists
but also how up to date they are
...
You will need to buy in sufficiently large quantities to make your
campaign work
...
Thus if you’re sending out 1,000 letters you
can expect 10 positive replies
...
Although it can be expensive to run a direct marketing campaign it can be
well worth it
...
Exhibitions and shows
Exhibitions are usually open to the public and vary in size
...
However, the potential
suitability of a show should not be judged solely on how many visitors it attracts
...
Trade fairs
Trade fairs differ to shows in that they are only open to the trade
...
If you’re looking for agents to sell your products then a trade fair is the
place to find them
...
Where can you find them?
There are literally hundreds of exhibitions and trade fairs going on throughout the
year
...
If you’re really stuck to find an exhibition then phone up one of the
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distributors or manufacturers of a product you buy and ask them they know of any
trade fairs or exhibitions
...
Smaller shows usually don’t fill up as quickly and it’s not too costly to rent
a stand
...
I know of a number of small, independent boat builders who exhibit at two
annual boat shows and fill their order books for the following year, which justifies the
relatively high price of having a stand there
...
HOTEL FOYER
Depending on your products, hotel foyers can offer excellent potential for a variety of
hobby businesses where you can sell souvenirs, crystals, pictures, paintings, craft
items, local walking excursions, cycle hire, tours etc
...
How to set it up
o Draw up a list of potentially suitable hotels in your area
...
o
Go through your list and identify the hotel that you would most like to trade
from and then the next one and so on until you have a numbered list
...
Do not mention at this time
what you are looking to do
...
o
Draft a suitable query letter, which must highlight the benefits to the hotel of
agreeing to allow you have a concession in their foyer
...
’
o
Suggest either paying them a rent or commission on your turnover
...
If these are part of a hotel
group then you will need to write to the group’s chief executive in the first
instance
...
o
Make your follow-up phone calls and try to gauge whether or not the initial
hotels are interested
...
Much will depend on what you’re selling as to how suitable a railway station would
be as a location
...
There are a number of ways you could approach setting up your business
...
How to go about getting a site
First find a railway station that would be suitable
...
For example, most train companies are awash with offers from
entrepreneurs to set up food and cafe´ businesses
...
She did go on to say that they would always be pleased to hear
from anyone with ideas other than food and drinks
...
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CAFE¤ , SHOP OR KIOSK
If your business involves creating your own paintings, pictures, crafts, guide books
etc, then as well as marketing them online you could also offer them on a sale-orreturn basis to local cafe´s, shops and kiosks
...
Greetings card manufacturers
are masters of this form of marketing
...
o
Draw up a list of prospective retailers
...
Instead you can simply cross their name off your list and continue with
the next
...
o
Prepare a price list for your products
...
o
Set aside some time to visit all your prospects
...
Instead of simply saying that you’ll visit all these shops in the next
few weeks, set aside a few days and devote this time entirely to visiting your
prospects
...
Making your presentation
If you haven’t already done this sort of selling it can be somewhat daunting
...
I’d advise you don’t try to phone and make an appointment as it’s unlikely
they’ll agree to one
...
If they’re not, fine
...
When you walk into a card shop, cafe´ or kiosk, ask to speak to the manager
...
) As soon as you meet the manager/owner introduce yourself
...
It’s important you use the SOR (sale or return) method – this is standard practice for
selling such things as cards, photos, paintings, guide books etc
...
The benefit to the retailer is that there is absolutely no outlay on additional stock
...
All you pay is commission
...
Some will settle for less and others might want more so be
prepared to negotiate
...
Although many
retailers compete with each other much of this is done on a friendly basis with many
traders knowing each other
...
If you find
when making your presentation that one retailer will only accept your products on
the basis of getting an unreasonable commission, then politely walk away
...
Collecting your money and restocking
You’ll need to work out a cycle of when to go and restock your product and collect
what’s owing to you
...
As you work through your round you will find that some retailers will already have
done a stocktake and have either a cheque or cash ready for you, while others will be
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in state of complete chaos and might even say they can’t pay you today as they haven’t
enough money in the till or some other excuse, which is why it’s so important to have
the agreed date entered on your original stock sheet
...
Don’t get angry or demanding as there may actually be a genuine reason why the
retailer can’t pay you
...
My advice would be to check your stock and replenish where necessary and then
agree another date to return
...
If the amount that you are owed is large then
you should seek to recover your money via the small claims court or by employing a
specialist debt recovery firm
...
There will be lots of
other companies vying for floor and shelf space who will employ all sorts of
techniques to make sure their goods are the most prominently displayed
...
It won’t be the retailer’s fault, it will be because other companies employ
merchandisers whose job it is to make sure their products stay at the front and others
as much out of sight as possible
...
Hopefully the locations you’ve chosen aren’t too far from
where you live and you can pay regular visits to your retail outlets
...
As you live locally you will be able visit more regularly and
thus win the battle
...
Consider providing your own display stands
It might be worth your while investing in display stands for your products
...
Check the Internet for
suitable suppliers and make up some advertising logos to go with them
...
Just like any other outlet or venue you will have to do your research prior to
committing to setting up your stall or stand
...
Remember that most of them will
be on at the same time, usually Saturday/Sunday mornings
...
Assess each one and make sure you look closely at the people
who are walking around
...
If they are, great
...
If you think your products or produce aren’t suitable
then don’t despair
...
LOCAL AUTHORITY CONCESSIONS
Your local council may provide the solution of where to base your business
...
There are a number of way of obtaining a concession:
o
o
o
Bid on an existing tender when it comes up for renewal
...
Suggest a concession by putting together a proposal
...
Usually these concessions are advertised in your local newspaper under the public
notices section
...
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Most concessions work on the following basis:
1
...
2
...
The pack contains
information on the concession that is being offered, including any special
requirements
...
You will also be informed of the date by which the council must receive your
written tender bid
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
This decision is then placed before the relevant council committee for final
approval and the successful party is notified
...
The final decision will be made on
number of factors including:
o
Performance of the previous tenant and whether or not they are bidding
...
o
Experience of running the type of business that is on offer
...
o
The rent being offered
...
Unless you’re already running the concession you won’t really know how much to
offer in rent
...
Purchase an existing concession
Every so often concessions come for sale
...
A disadvantage is that even though you have purchased the business you will still have to
submit a tender in the same way as everyone else when your concession term runs out
...
It’s a
good idea to do your own research in addition to the reasons given in any sales
particulars
...
If this the case do you really want to buy something that already has a
poor relationship with the landlords?
As with purchasing any business, you should always employ professional help
including a solicitor and an accountant
...
Due diligence is a legal term
which means having the books and trading claims made by the current owner
checked
...
Suggest a concession
Another way to get a council concession, as we did with our cycle hire business, is to
suggest your idea to the council
...
All you need to do is convince the council that
the business you are proposing would be of benefit to the public and hopefully
improve the area
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o
Have a clear idea of the type of business you are proposing to run
...
So when we came to meet the officers from the
council we knew exactly the type of business we were going to set up and were
confident with our business plan
...
Therefore make sure you have at least two powerful ‘what’s in it for them’
benefits before you make your initial approach
...
So you must be patient
...
In my experience the people you will be
dealing with – the council’s concession officers – will be just as eager as you to see
your business up and running and benefitting the local community
...
Be flexible
In the event that your proposal is turned down don’t be afraid to ask why
...
Don’t give up
This is true with everything you do
...
Whenever you’re tempted to give up, take a small break and clear your head
of negative thoughts, get on your bike and go for it again
...
WHY DO BUSINESSES COME UP FOR SALE?
It’s a common misconception that the only reason businesses come up for sale is
because they are doing badly
...
Retirement and ill-health force many otherwise profitable
businesses to be sold
...
So there can be a
whole range of reasons for businesses coming on the market
...
Summary
1
...
2
...
3
...
Don’t be afraid to investigate these possibilities
...
Many local authorities offer retail concessions, which can offer attractive prospects
in terms of low rents and prominent positions
...
Beware of shark landlords
...
Never underestimate how
much this could cost you
...
A high street shop isn’t the only option available to you
...
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YOUR BUSINESS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
The Internet offers unlimited potential for home-based entrepreneurs
...
Where else can you launch a worldwide business for less than the price of a month’s
advertising in your favourite magazine?
But despite the opportunities, the Internet is awash with global business failures
...
o
Poorly-designed websites that make the business look amateurish and give the
impression of being run from the entrepreneur’s spare bedroom
...
So what can you do to ensure that your website does what you want it to?
To answer this question you need to ask yourself What’s your objective in having a
website?
o
Do you want a site that solely promotes your business and gives information
about the services you offer?
o
Or do you want a website that sells your products online?
o
Or a combination of sales and promotion?
Before you go any further with your business website you need to be clear about your
objectives
...
The reality is that bringing customers to your
website can be a full-time task
...
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Make no mistake about it – the Internet is cut-throat and there is no place for halfmeasures, poorly-designed web pages or sites that don’t take credit cards
...
Marketing your website
...
Creating a website for your business
As I said earlier, before you go any further and even attempt to build your own site or
commission someone to do it for you make sure that you have clearly identified your
objective in having your own website
...
For example, my businesses include a gardening business, cycle shop and boat hire
...
My primary objective in having a site for the gardening business is to promote my
main gardening business, which is maintenance and landscaping work
...
The site’s primary objective is to get people to contact us as opposed to selling them
anything
...
The process of turning those inquiries into actual orders is done offline
when I go and visit prospective clients
...
The objective differs entirely from that of our gardening business, because not only
do we want our website to be a marketing tool for our business, we also want to sell
our products online
...
Write down now what is your site’s main objective
...
Personally I prefer to build my own websites for the simple reason that I can update
them whenever I like without having to pay fees to a web designer
...
The disadvantages are:
o
unless you do it properly it can look amateurish and destroy your business’s
credibility;
o
it can be time consuming;
o
you need to know what you’re doing and be computer literate
...
For example, most template websites are simply a matter of pointing at a
menu and clicking the feature you want, then adding the text in the boxes
...
Most sites offer a free trial where you can sign
up for 24 hours and try out the templates before committing yourself
...
Most of these sites also offer to register your chosen domain name for a small fee,
which is often included in the price of the hosting
...
Otherwise you may find they
will charge you a fortune to transfer your domain name to another competitor
...
The disadvantage is that you will still need to pay a hosting company to host your site
and you will also need to register your name
...
Free website hosting and free template
There a number of companies that will allow you use their templates free of charge
including hosting your site on one of their servers, but in return your site will either
have to display their ads, or visitors will be bombarded with annoying pop-up ads
...
Regardless of how hard you try
you simply will not be able to encourage visitors to take your site seriously if their
viewing is constantly interrupted by pop-up ads
...
Have a page on an online directory
This is where you buy a page on another website’s directory
...
The success of your site will depend on factors outside your
direct control
...
If you’re just starting out I would suggest you join a hosting company where you
pay a monthly fee for your site, which includes web page templates to get you
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started and allows you to add outside features like guest boards, newsletter sign-up
scripts and so on
...
Most sites do this as a matter of course; if you don’t see any email them with
your request before you decide to sign up;
o
there is no requirement for you to run others’ advertising on your site;
o
that you can include search engines ‘meta tags’ in your pages
...
With an ever-increasing and bewildering amount of websites available in any
particular area your site will have to be good enough to encourage visitors to come in
and spend some time
...
Your site must be search engine friendly
...
It must be visitor friendly
...
To do this you will not only need to include key words in the main text of your
site, but you’ll also need to include key-word meta tags in your HTML coding
...
If you’ve created your own
site you can go to http://www
...
com/Meta-Tag-Generator
...
Try also to make your domain name relevant to what you’re selling online as search
engines also search under domain names
...
A good domain name will enhance your search engine ratings
enormously
...
When search engine spiders, or worse still
editors, visit your site they will be unlikely to list it if it doesn’t bear any relation to
your key words
...
Not only are you running the
risk of not being included anywhere by search engines, but equally importantly even
if you are listed and visitors come to your site having searched under ‘camping
directories’ they will rightly expect that this is, amongst other things, what you are
offering
...
When it comes to key words and meta-tags, honesty pays
...
If you’re ever tempted to include music, remember this
...
But what happens if your music blares out of their speakers?
Music and over-reliance on pop-up ads, gaudy colour schemes and poorly structured
pages, will drive visitors away from your site in seconds
...
When coming up with a suitable design for your website try to keep it simple so
that it’s:
o
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o
easy to read – the colour of the text doesn’t clash with the background colour of
the page;
o
free from large graphics that take time to download
...
Save the ones you like in your
favourites folder
...
Strike off those that don’t immediately grab you and
then keep on going until you are left with about three or four websites that you really
like, and build or model your own around their design
...
Surf any of the top search
engines and you’ll immediately notice that they all bear similarities to each other
...
For example, how many times have you visited a website where the colour of the text
clashes so much against the page’s background colour that you can’t read the writing?
Or you visit a site, find what you want to buy but give up after many unsuccessful
attempts trying to find how you buy it?
EMPLOYING A WEB DESIGNER
As I’ve said earlier, I personally prefer to build my own sites either using templates or
website software such as Microsoft FrontPage
...
If part or all of your business is going to involve taking online bookings, then you’d
certainly benefit from a website where visitors can check availability and make and
pay for their bookings online
...
From the moment your visitor arrives at your site you want them to know that you’re
not only open for business, but here to help
...
Whilst some people might go
home and wait, most won’t and will go into the next travel agent and book their
holiday there
...
One of the Internet’s primary advantages is that everything is
immediate
...
So if your business is going to be operating in these
areas I recommend you consider employing a specialist
...
Occasionally I’ve been tempted to ask them to give me a quote and without
exception I’ve been disappointed
...
When I’ve told
them that I want to be able to update the content of my site regularly, they’ve given
me a ridiculous price to do this
...
Usually somewhere at the end of the home page will
be a little logo or message saying who built the site
...
But make sure that:
o
you like the person who is going to be working on your site;
o
you get a written estimate for your website package;
o
you read a copy of the company’s terms and conditions and you understand and
are happy with them;
o
you know how much the whole package will cost including hosting fees etc, and
what will happen after your first year
...
Marketing your website
Creating your website is really the easiest part of setting up your online business
...
Working on the assumption that you are going to be using your website both as a
marketing tool for your business and a place where customers can buy your goods,
you’re going to have to work to a strategy if you are to succeed:
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1
...
2
...
3
...
GETTING VISITORS TO YOUR WEBSITE
Obviously you’re not going to be able to market or sell your products and services to
anyone unless you actually get them to your site
...
Search engines
One of the most frustrating things about search engines is that it can take a relatively
long time before your site gets listed
...
Of course it may take you longer depending
on your site and the market you are going to be operating in
...
Regardless of any other technique you use to bring visitors to your site
you must never ignore search engines
...
Search engines work on the principle that surfers type key words into their search
fields and then the search engine suggests a list of potentially suitable sites
...
Most will also have a
facility on their home page where you can suggest a site for them to look at
...
The advantage
of doing it this way is that rather than waiting around for their BOTS or spiders to
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find your site, you’re suggesting they come and visit
...
I mentioned earlier the importance of making sure that your site is as search engine
friendly as possible and that your key words accurately reflect what your site is about
...
Remember that search engines are businesses
...
Before submitting your site to search engines you should:
1
...
This means no ‘under construction’ signs or
‘coming soon’ messages
...
Draw up a list of all the search engines that you would like to have your site listed
on
...
3
...
I’ve found doing this in one session to be far easier than on an ad-hoc basis
...
Keep your list and check back at regular intervals to see whether your site’s been
listed
...
Don’t under any circumstances be tempted to keep re-submitting your
URL until your site gets listed
...
You’ll often hear about companies claiming that they can ensure your site is uploaded
to as many as 800 search engines
...
Both your time and money would be better invested promoting your own site
because your primary objective is to promote your site, whilst these companies’
objective is to make profit from you
...
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Specialist directories
Every hobby will have its own specialist directory website, many of which will be run
by amateur enthusiasts as opposed to businesses
...
The way to find the best directories is to use search engines
...
The search engine will then suggest a number of sites and you should go through
these and pick out any directory sites
...
Many will insist that you post a link from your site to theirs before they will consider
listing you
...
Links
Getting a link on the right website can result in visitors flocking to your site
...
Again what’s needed here is a proactive approach, which means visiting as many sites
as you can, compiling a list of these sites, and then contacting them asking them to
place a link on their site
...
The easiest way to find the best sites for links is to learn from your competitors
...
Then go
to the search engine AltaVista, which is located at: http://www
...
com
...
co
...
For example, let’s say you’re going to be selling kites and one of your main
competitors is John’s Classic Kites and their website address is www
...
co
...
All you’d have to enter is links: www
...
co
...
In a single search you will bring up all the sites your business should be linked
to if at all possible
...
Here they will tell you their submission policy, which could include that
you must have a link on your site linking back to them before they will consider you
...
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If you don’t hear from them after a few weeks send them another polite email chasing
them up
...
The advantages to promoting your site by joining a webring are:
o
they cost nothing to join;
o
provided your site fits in with the webrings genre, there’s no reason why you
won’t be listed;
o
some webrings will include you immediately or shortly after you join
...
You may already know of a webring that might be suitable and if
this is the case then all you have to do is send a request to the owner to join their ring
...
If it is you’ll be accepted and sent some HTML code and
graphics or banners that will you have to include on your site
...
The two main webring directories can be found at http://www
...
com and
http://www
...
com/rw
...
If you can’t find a suitable webring for your site then you could start your own
...
As
soon as you get another four websites to join your ring you will be listed in the main
directories
...
If you don’t, ask yourself why
...
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Adwords at Google
At the time of writing the search engines Google and Yahoo! both offer businesses an
opportunity to promote their website through an ‘adword’ scheme
...
Which page your site gets listed on will depend on
how much you bid
...
Lets say we offer them 5p a word
...
And as soon as they enter our site through
the search engine our account at Google will get debited by the amount we have bid
on the word
...
How high
your listing gets in the search engine will depend on whether you have been outbid on
that particular key word
...
The system has its advantages but the biggest drawback is that you are being charged
for every visitor who comes to your site via this search engine, which mightn’t be that
cost effective
...
Affiliate programmes
Affiliate programmes operate on the basis that either you sell other businesses’ goods
and services from your website for which you earn a commission, or other websites
sell your products and you pay them a commission
...
You sell their goods from your website and earn a commission
...
Fill out an online application form to become an affiliate
...
Amazon then visit your website and assess it for suitability and compatibility with
their own goals and ethos
...
If you are accepted you will be given special log on details and when you visit
Amazon’s website you can choose whatever goods you want to sell on your
website
...
You then cut and paste simple HTML code into your website, which displays
whatever products you have chosen
...
When visitors ‘buy’ from your website they will be automatically taken to
Amazon’s site where the sale, including processing of credit cards etc, takes place
...
Each sale earns you a commission, which you can either take as an Amazon gift
voucher or have paid into your account
...
There are all sorts of programmes that
you can join from selling books to flights
...
You will only earn commissions if your site already has customers coming
to it
...
There are two ways you can organise your own affiliate programme
...
Or
join one of the marketing companies which specialise in running affiliate
programmes and for a fee they will recruit affiliates on your behalf and work out
which one has sold what and to whom
...
They also take away the headache of trying to work out
which of your associates has sold what
...
This software could cost you anywhere
from £200 to £20,000 depending on what you require
...
affiliatewindow
...
It’s free to sign up to their website and browse all the
affiliate programmes that you can apply to join
...
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If you want to go it alone and purchase your own software or find out more about
running your own schemes, the following websites should be useful:
o
o
o
http://www
...
com
http://www
...
com
http://www
...
com
...
All you have to
do is search the major search engines using key words ‘affiliate programmes’, ‘affiliate
software’ or ‘run your own affiliate programme’
...
There are literally thousands of newsletters and e-zines published every
second and the reason for their growing popularity is that subscribers benefit from
reading the latest news and hot tips about whatever interests them and advertisers get
to promote their website
...
Rates can be expensive and unless you’ve got something
either unique or with worldwide appeal, I’d recommend you invest your time and
energy in promoting your website in other ways
...
For example, our gardening business site has been set up primarily to promote our
services in our immediate locality
...
Our offline marketing techniques include:
o
putting our website address on all our promotional literature including
business cards, brochures, posters, flyers and even on our T-shirts and fleeces;
o
putting our website address on our company vehicles;
o
having our website address as part of our letterhead;
o
a paragraph in every letter we write, saying that if you want to see examples of
our work and read what our customers say about us visit us online at
www
...
co
...
Writing to your hobby magazine and
letting them know that you’ve just opened a new, specialist website is a great way
of getting free publicity
...
Part of our sales policy for our gardening business is that we don’t pay for
advertising
...
But if we were to advertise, I’d include our
website in every ad we run
...
I’m always intrigued why they don’t and whenever I
ask it usually comes down to the same old problem – the website address is too long
for the small advertisement
...
Rather than have a short, crisp, domain name you’ll end up with something
that no one will ever be able to remember and you won’t be able to include in any of
your publicity material
...
Choose one that
people will remember, and that looks good on all your publicity
...
Now you’ve
got them coming you want to ensure they’re going to pay regular return visits
...
This sort of continued exposure to your sales message is vital to stimulate sales
...
If this is true it means that unless you
encourage visitors to make regular repeat visits to your site you are losing out on an
enormous amount of potential sales
...
Ensure visitors bookmark your site
...
Run regular competitions
...
Provide tips of the day
...
Offer free samples of your products
...
Run your own newsletter or e-zine
...
Create your own mailing lists
...
Include an advice column
...
Have a visitors’ forum where issues can be debated and discussed
...
Include a recommended links section
...
Include job opportunities pages
...
Have book reviews and product tests
...
This sort of thing happens to me regularly where I’m looking for
something, then follow links and more links and eventually find a really useful and
interesting site
...
The
solution is to bookmark it
...
For example let’s imagine you’re running a site for
sailing enthusiasts
...
So if you say,
This site is regularly updated with
the industry’s top sailing jobs
...
You have a textbook marketing strategy, which is to offer a benefit followed by a call
to action
...
Many
visitors may reach your site in different ways
...
Run regular competitions
Offering visitors the opportunity to win something from your site is not only a great
way of getting them to return but it’s also brilliant for getting them to sign up to your
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regular newsletter or e-zine
...
(We’ll look at what’s involved in writing your own newsletter later
...
For example if your top-selling item is a unique guide book and
you offer this as a prize, you may find that a proportion of people who would
otherwise have purchased your guide book will postpone this in the hope they’ll
win one
...
o
Benefit: There must be some benefit to you to offering visitors the chance to
win something
...
Therefore make sure
that in order to enter your competition they have to sign up to your newsletter
...
Provide tips of the day
Hobby businesses are ideal platforms for providing tips of the day
...
He’s
adamant that finding out about shortcuts is well worth it
...
You can write your own tips, which can be one simple sentence or include more
elaborate tips with drawings and pictures
...
Create an archive where visitors can browse through previously
published tips
...
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Magazine publishers use this marketing technique all the time to sell subscriptions
...
It’s a great way of generating instant
customers
...
The most important thing when running any sort of free giveaway or special offer is
that it must have a sense of urgency
...
Take advantage of our free give away:
Book and pay for the walking holiday of your choice
before 31 March and we will give you two extra days completely free
...
A great way of making sure they do is offering them the opportunity to
sign up for your regular newsletter where they’ll be the first to hear about your free
offers
...
Run your own newsletter or e-zine
The most important thing to remember when creating your e-zine or newsletter is
that there must be a powerful benefit to get your visitors to subscribe to your listings
...
Most of us suffer from email overload and the last thing we want is yet more of it
...
’ Or just include the
benefit in the title of the newsletter
...
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I searched around for ages trying to think of a suitable title for our newsletter and
eventually sat down and wrote down all the things I was going to include in my
publication
...
I’ve now built up a loyal readership
who not only read my e-zine but also contribute to it by emailing me their tips
...
Collect them when customers order your
products, enquire about your products, pay for your products
...
Time your emails to fit in with the seasonal swings of your business
...
Another way to collect email addresses is to have a guest book on your site
...
As part of their
membership you can send them your regular e-zine, which of course they can opt out
of at any time
...
To get the following people on
your email list you will need to be proactive
...
I’ve yet to have anyone say no
...
2
...
4
...
Editor of your local paper
...
Your financiers, if you have any
...
Your suppliers (suppliers will be better able to serve your needs if they know more
about your business)
...
Managers of any professional/trade organisations that you belong to
...
Many, if not all, will be
impressed that you’ve bothered to ask them
...
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Setting up an automated newsletter
The greatest advantage of having an online business is that it never closes
...
Even though
there’s no one actually running your site, your site needs to be able to run on
autopilot, which is why you need to use what is known as autoresponders
...
Sign up to a site that offers an autoresponder service (see below)
...
The code can be customised so you can include your powerful benefit message to
hook subscribers into signing up
...
Again, you can customise
your message to say whatever you want
...
’
Your visitor’s email address is then automatically added to your subscription list and
next time you write your newsletter you can send it using your autoresponder, which
will email it to all those on your subscription lists
...
You can
use it for a whole range of marketing and sales devices
...
o
Instead of displaying your prices on your website you can invite your visitors to
submit their email address using your text box link (autoresponder) promising
them you’ll email them a current up-to-date price list by return
...
You can continue to send them emails
(without overkill) at regular intervals announcing price increases etc
...
For example if you’re
running walking holidays you could invite readers to sign up to receive a free
walking guide, which would then be automatically emailed to them
...
o
If your hobby business involves cooking, invite your visitors to sign up for some
free recipes
...
This is a great way of building up client trust and
allowing potential customers to get a taste of just how great your business is
...
The most popular free autoresponders can be accessed when you sign up to http://
www
...
com
...
For example, your first email could be a complete price listing for your
products followed up a few days later with a special offer if you buy today
...
I also like Constant Contact (http://constantcontact
...
This site has lots of
brilliant features and your newsletters are made to look striking and professional
...
If you’re really serious about setting up your own
newsletter this site is definitely worth checking out
...
Lots of companies offer free web hosting and free autoresponders and it’s tempting to
sign up to them
...
Include an advice column
The reason hobbies offer such great business potential is that at any given time there
will always be newcomers to your particular interest and their quest for knowledge
will be insatiable
...
The following tips should help you run your own advice column
...
Rarely does this work and even if visitors do pay you to access this area
of your site their expectations may well exceed what you’re capable of offering
and thus damage your main objectives – either to sell them a product or service
or promote your business
...
Even if you are an expert in your chosen field you should
make your advice column more interactive by getting your visitors to post their
questions and then inviting other visitors to answer them
...
You’ll also find some engaging
debates will take place as visitors disagree with one another’s advice, making
your site even more popular
...
o
Keep an archive
...
This
will allow visitors new to your site to search under different categories and make
it easier to find the information they’re looking for
...
o
Monitor your column
...
Your aim is to provide a friendly, supportive
advice column where visitors don’t feel intimidated
...
You can either just run an advice column or extend it to
something a little more like allowing your visitors to post items for sale, items
wanted, personal messages etc
...
Again there are lots of companies that will provide you with a free visitors’ forum
board, which you can customise to knit into your own site
...
Again make sure that visitors won’t be beaten to death with free advertisements
and annoying pop-ups every time they read or post a message
...
Draw up a list and contact them all
asking whether or not they would like a free link on your site and in turn asking them
if they would they put a reciprocal link to your site
...
Don’t forget to make a list of your competitors’ website addresses and find out where
they are linked to, then approach these sites and ask them to add your site to their links
...
Include job vacancies
Adding links to job vacancies on your site is always worth considering as so many
people now use the Internet to search for a new job or career
...
Search for interesting vacancies and post links to your site
...
My favourite way is to include a round-up of interesting job vacancies in your
newsletter
...
All you have to do is spend a little time every month looking through your magazines
and other websites and then include this information on your site and in your
newsletter
...
What makes this worthwhile is that if someone posts a review of a well-known book
or product the search engine robots and spiders may well index that page using the
book or product title as a keyword, which could bring lots of visitors to your site that
you wouldn’t normally get
...
Don’t be fooled
...
Of course the main advantage of having an online
business is that it’s open when you’re doing other things and reaches a greater and
more diverse market place than any traditional shop
...
We’ll look in a moment at how you
can run diagnostic checks on your website, but get into the habit of checking
everything regularly
...
Get more out of your time:
o Set yourself daily, weekly and monthly goals and tasks
...
o
Do what you say you will
...
o
Monitor the volume of traffic to your site and try out different ways of
increasing your traffic
...
How many sites have
you visited in the summer where the home page still has an autumn or winter
theme?
Obviously you can save lots of time by making your website as automated as possible,
but you will still need to promote your site making sure that you expose your business
to the widest possible audience
...
I can’t imagine you would want to spend anything less than a couple of hours a day,
five days a week on your site until it really gets off the ground
...
Successful online
businesses don’t just happen – they are created and re-created until they achieve their
goals to sell or promote your products and services online
...
Some of things you need to consider are:
o
Browsers
...
Check how your site looks
both through Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers
...
Lots of people now use laptops and small screen monitors
...
o
Pictures
...
Make sure that your pictures, graphics, banners etc aren’t slowing
down your site
...
o
Music
...
The quality
of the reproduction will depend on the speed of your visitor’s Internet
connection
...
If, and this is a big if, you must have music on your site
make sure you allow your visitors to turn off the music and display your ‘click
here to turn the music off button’ where everyone can see it
...
Some sites that
offer this service include Site Inspector: http://www
...
com, and Net
Mechanic: http://www
...
com/toolbox/html-code
...
Check to see if you’re listed in the search engines
One of the most frustrating things about search engine submissions is that they won’t
tell you when and if your pages have been listed
...
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An easy way to see if your site is listed is to go the search engine AltaVista (http://
www
...
com)
...
co
...
html
...
As well as the above you can also go
to any search engine and enter your domain name to see if any of your pages are
listed
...
For example, if you’re running painting
holidays in Wales, then go to Google or Yahoo! or one of the other main search
engines and check to see what comes up
...
As I said earlier, there are a number of commercial sites who, for a relatively hefty fee,
promise to submit your site to lots of search engines
...
A number of sites that offer a submission service are listed below
...
o
o
o
Site Announce: http://www
...
com
...
submit-it
...
Get Submitted (web hosting, marketing, site submission)
...
get
submitted
...
Software and sites are changing all the time so play around with search fields using
key words such as ‘submit your site to search engines’ etc
...
There are a number of ways you can find out more about your visitors
...
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Extreme Tracking (http://www
...
com) offer a free tracking service
...
They
will give you some HTML code to paste into your pages and this will record your
site’s activity
...
analog
...
eBay
eBay needs neither introduction or explanation
...
OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOBBY BUSINESSES
eBay offers enormous opportunity for any collector both to sell and source their
goods
...
My own view is that not every business will suit eBay retailing
...
For example I’ve noticed
that the specialist Dutch bikes that we sell in our business seldom manage to achieve
their reserve price
...
We’ve purchase all sorts of bits and
pieces at hugely reduced prices for our business
...
We have found eBay an excellent place to purchase:
o
o
o
o
o
o
quality used and often near-new office equipment
tools for our bike and gardening business
low-cost packaging materials for our mail order business
stationery packs
accessories for our hire business
memorabilia for use in our marketing campaigns
...
Doing this has
not only saved us thousands of pounds but also made us far more conscious of how
much we spend
...
Setting up and starting your business is probably going to cost you far
more than you originally anticipated
...
I know of one mobile caterer who spent an absolute fortune on new catering
equipment only to find that he didn’t like the business he’d got into
...
Why? Because the company that had sold him all this
equipment sold ‘business packages’
...
Buy one of our super-duper catering trailers and become the next McDonald’s
...
So if your goods and services aren’t marketable on eBay, don’t despair
...
Summary
1
...
2
...
Remember your website is your virtual
shop window
...
3
...
Not only will you need to encourage
visitors to come to your site, but also to return regularly
...
eBay offers enormous potential for hobby businesses both in sourcing products for
your business and opening and selling online
...
After all, who would want to spend all hours
sitting behind the shop counter when you could be working at home at your own
pace, wearing your dressing gown if so wish, and running your own online shop?
However, this rather flexible romantic view of running an Internet business is the sort
of stuff that sells dubious get-rich-quick online schemes, while the reality of running
an online business is somewhat different
...
IS A SHOP GOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
Whilst the main ethos behind this book is starting a home-based business, eventually
this same business may well outgrow your kitchen table, house, garden shed, garage,
or wherever you initially locate it
...
The benefits of having a bricks and mortar shop
o With the right location, you can dramatically increase your ‘walk-in’ sales and
improve profitability
...
o
It improves your chances of more easily obtaining funding for your business, as
banks and credit companies like to lend on bricks and mortar as opposed to
kitchen tables
...
Working from home can often be
lonely and present a number of problems, including where to store things,
conflicts with other family members, distractions, and so on
...
Would-be purchasers are
far more likely to buy a profitable shop rather than simply a garage full of your
unsold stock and a list of customers
...
My
own experience from starting and running the Littlehampton Dutch Bike Shop
was that it was actually more cost effective to open a shop than to simply
increase our rented storage
...
o
It makes it easier to employ staff
...
Remember, moving out of home into a retail shop can be an enormous
turning point in starting and running your own business
...
It’s a great feeling to throw
open those doors and create a buzz of excitement, pop the kettle on, and welcome
your first customers
...
And so the Littlehampton Dutch Bike
Shop was born
...
But working from a
shop gave our business instant credibility as would-be purchasers could now test-ride
our bikes and visit our shop, and so overnight we went from being just another online
faceless retailer to a high profile business
...
For example, since writing the first edition of this book the owner of our local record
shop advertised his business as up for sale
...
When I approached the owner
about taking over the property and not the business, he told me he had already sold it
...
A few weeks
later, a local radio DJ announced he was the shop’s new owner and of course he was
ideally suited to take the business to the next level
...
At the time of shutting up shop the owner pinned a note on the door giving
the main reason for closing the business as unfair online competition
...
Thus the benefit to the retail customer is that
they’re buying a product at substantially less than they would have to pay for the same
product in the UK
...
What’s important to you at this time is to ask yourself whether or not whatever you’re
selling, or proposing to sell, is suitable for the traditional retail model
...
For example, would you order your bread online? Okay, perhaps you order your
shopping via a supermarket online delivery service, but how many of us can resist
being pulled into a shop by the gorgeous, mouth-watering aroma of fresh bread?
Consider also the pulling power of fresh fish in a traditional fishmonger’s open
window
...
In
Worthing (our neighbouring town) the fishermen regularly sell their fish from
relatively primitive seafront stalls with none of the glitz and marketing of the
supermarket chains
...
Potential customers don’t need to be convinced that the fish they are about to buy is
fresh as most of the stock can be seen wriggling around on the counters
...
They would also lose the benefits of running a simple, traditional,
cottage business
...
Having an online presence would, in my
view, greatly increase their sales potential as more would-be customers would be able
to find them
...
In the past when I’ve asked them if they’d consider a website, they have looked at me
as if I was telling them to shut their business down
...
For example, most quality florists now sell online – which wasn’t always the case
...
In many ways, he was indeed correct
...
Thus the benefit of being able to order online in the comfort of one’s own home
arguably far outweighs the relative inconvenience of having to visit a town centre
florist with all the hassles of parking and so on
...
Always think beyond the market outside your own doorstep!
Those forward-thinking florists (who were at the time few in number) who pioneered
the online concept reaped enormous rewards
...
But interestingly enough, those florists who opened up but only offered an Internet
service don’t appear to have done as well as those offering both an online ordering
facility and also a traditional high street florist’s
...
All you have to do is look at other similar business models
and see where they trade
...
However, as in the case of
the independent record shop discussed earlier, even if your product is suited to
traditional retailing you must be careful
...
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Don’t even contemplate taking on the multi-retailers
...
Most household budgets will already be overspent
...
Just take a look at petrol stations
...
Where
I live even the larger car retailers have now given up on retailing fuel, as the major
supermarkets have made profit making in this area next to impossible
...
If all you can offer
are cheaper prices, trust me, there will always be someone willing to sell
cheaper than you can
...
So you’ve decided to open a shop
...
I love retailing and believe
that provided you’re operating in a niche market, tucked away in the shade out of the
dazzling lights of the multi-retailers, then you really can build a successful business
...
Promotion
...
I’d like to take you through each one of the above
...
POSITION
Where you position your shop will ultimately decide whether or not your business
succeeds or fails
...
Or in other words, position
...
For example, let’s
say your cottage business involves making fresh, homemade produce
...
However,
on the downside, because of the labour involved and the quality of the ingredients,
you’re going to have to charge a lot more than what people would pay for off-theshelf, factory-manufactured produce
...
Unfortunately, and as you’ll soon discover if you haven’t already, the rental charges
for shops in these affluent areas are hugely prohibitive to say the least
...
Secondary positions
A secondary position is essentially one that is off the main high street or beaten track
...
For example, if this secondary position is in a relatively back street area surrounded by
empty boarded-up shops, or nightclubs that only come alive at midnight, then you’re
going to struggle to find your passing trade
...
You could also find
yourself next to or near to an already successful established business whose customer
profile is similar to yours
...
You should also be aware of the term ‘footfall’
...
So, for example, a busy London street would have an
enormous footfall running into thousands, while a quite rural area will have a
substantially smaller footfall which will in turn mean cheaper rents
...
Prior to committing yourself you should
always check out potential footfalls
...
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PROMOTION
There are two chapters on sales and marketing in this book which will give you lots of
ideas and tips on how you as a business person can improve your selling and market
your business
...
For example, I was recently browsing through an online site that specialises in selling
businesses
...
Although the subject matter the shop specialised in wasn’t really of interest to me, I
was surprised that I had never come across this place
...
Compared to the turnover (the amount of money a business takes annually from
sales), the costs of this marketing were huge
...
However, until now I had never noticed their advertisements
...
When you’re thinking of taking your business to a traditional retail environment,
don’t forget you’ll need to promote it, which is an extra cost that will always add up
...
However, if there
are already businesses out there offering the same products as you specialise in then be
careful
...
On the other hand, if you are a specialist operating in a niche area of the market then
you’ll obviously be able to charge more for your products as you’ve brought them to
the high street
...
If your products are also
available online via your competitors be careful that your shop isn’t going to be used
as a showroom for someone else’s online business
...
Much to my disappointment and frustration, I discovered that we had plenty of
prospective customers coming to our shop to see and try out this particular product,
but they didn’t buy
...
Needless to say we stopped stocking any of their products
...
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF HIGH STREET SUCCESS
Despite the enormous impact of multi-retailers and the Internet on traditional niche
retailers, I still believe that the high street offers great potential for the shrewd
entrepreneur with a keen eye for niche products
...
If our experience with the Dutch
Bike Shop brand is anything to go by (and I’ve no reason to believe we were any
different to any other successful high street retailer) you will be looking at at least
three years of effort before you see any worthwhile return on your investment
...
To begin with, your objectives, written or otherwise, must include all of the following key
tasks below:
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
Let’s take a closer look at each one of these key objectives
...
Your shop must be selling something that not only potential customers want to buy,
but also that they’re motivated enough to buy from you either now, or as a worst case
scenario, in the not too distant future
...
Our seaside town is surrounded by beautiful, historic towns that each
summer welcome coach- and carloads of visitors
...
But that’s the problem – they’re browsers, not buyers
...
But do they buy? Not on your life
...
So each year at the end of the season lots of the shops close down, stock is cleared
away, floors are scrubbed, and up go the ‘To Let’ signs
...
All
very sad, but in my view, entirely avoidable
...
Whatever it is you’re proposing to sell it must have immediate, or as near
immediate, purchasing appeal as is possible
...
Yes, you’ll get lots of very
interested people wearing out your carpets, goodwill and patience telling you how
great whatever it is you’re selling is, but unless they’re buying it there and then
you’re not going to earn any money
...
Your products must be of a high enough value to make selling them worthwhile
...
3
...
For example, if you’re retailing a product
that sells for anything over ten or twenty pounds you’re going to have to make it
easy for customers to buy whatever it is you’re selling
...
For six
long months I slogged away selling bikes to excited would-be customers only to
find that once it came to them having to say yes, they didn’t actually say yes
...
This was entirely my own fault as I should have realised that
not everyone has four or five hundred pounds sitting in their wallet or current
account ready to buy a luxury bicycle
...
Remember, you must make
it as easy for your customers to buy from you as is possible
...
I promise you, if you get the above right you will be well on the way to success
...
So now is the time to dismiss any glorious
notions you have of opening up the next niche ‘gift shop’, because high streets all over
the world are proven graveyards for this kind of retail establishment
...
I hope I haven’t laboured this point too much, and if I have done I apologise
...
It certainly
would have speeded up the process of going from hard struggle to profitability – and
I would have made an even greater profit
...
Let’s move on!
Allow yourself sufficient time to establish your business
As I said earlier, in my case it took us three whole years before we really saw our
Dutch bike shop take off
...
Rather than rely on taking any money out of our business during this initial period,
we had to continue with our other businesses, which at the time included, amongst
other enterprises, a landscape gardening business and running a boating lake
...
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What kept us going through those initial difficult and very tiring years was that we
hadn’t expected anything less
...
So the first, and I believe most important thing
to get right in your mind about taking your venture to the high street is to remember
that very few businesses enjoy overnight success, and those that do rarely if ever survive
...
I met someone recently who told me that they were about to open up their own
shop selling something that I believe is already available, indeed is over-supplied on
the high street
...
When I questioned their figures
and their idea they got quite annoyed and at this point I wished I had simply nodded
and smiled
...
So how can I be so sure of this? Well I managed to
glean from this person that the product they were intending to sell would retail at
£1
...
Even assuming a rather generous profit margin of 50% (which is rare, indeed
very rare, in any retail market), they would earn a gross profit of 87p on every product
they sell
...
When I asked them how many of these things they believed they could make in a day,
they hadn’t really worked it out
...
Which by their calculations would give them gross earnings (assuming they sold
them all) of three hundred and fifty pounds (£1
...
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that this venture will be doomed from day one,
but meanwhile they’re blissfully working away in a fool’s paradise unwilling or
unable to take advice from anyone
...
I love nothing more
than working out the figures for all my ideas
...
So if you’re sitting reading this book and planning your business, get used to having a
calculator around
...
It also guarantees that you will focus on those all-important
numbers
...
So your start-up
costs will be relative high
...
This means you will perpetually have money tied up in
your business
...
One of the commonest reasons why many new, and otherwise promising, business
start-ups fail is because the entrepreneurs involved haven’t got either the cash or credit
lines available to make their business successful
...
Let me give you an example from my own experiences of how lack of working capital
can hinder your progress and profitability
...
So we had
to pay for all our stock up-front, days and even in some cases weeks before the
bicycles arrived in our shop
...
All we were really
doing was playing on the margins, so to speak
...
I
decided to do both
...
They readily agreed
to lend us some working capital
...
I’m going to ask you a question now, assuming of course you have a home with some
equity in it: would you offer the roof over your head as security to your bank to
support your business venture? Difficult isn’t it? Dare you risk everything, or stay on
the margins playing at whatever it is you’re planning to do?
I decided to believe in our business and went all the way with the bank
...
Expansion that would not have been possible without us substantially increasing our
working capital
...
Be prepared to borrow, beg, and go cap-in-hand to relatives, friends, bank managers
and just about anybody else who can help you grow your business
...
That
way it’s all above board, and provided you’re successful they will see a worthwhile
return on their investment that will far out-perform anything on offer from the high
street banks or savings plans
...
If you’re opening a shop you will need sufficient cash or
credit available to keep it stocked at such a level that it is attractive for customers to
buy from you
...
Unless whatever you’re
selling is truly unique to you, few customers will wait around for you to get
something in for them that is already available elsewhere
...
Never underestimate the power of the Internet and also the potential damage it can
do to your sales
...
Yet because of cash flow problems, and a lack of working
capital, you’re unable to stock your shop sufficiently to be able to offer immediate
product availability
...
The
sad thing is that when this happens you’re actually selling for the competition
...
And if you’re unprepared to risk everything for your
business, then perhaps this entrepreneurial life is not for you!
Be prepared for the slog ahead and making sacrifices
Opening a shop isn’t everyone’s idea of fun
...
You’ll have all sorts of people
through your door including those who wish to steal from you, compete with you,
insult you, or find out all about your business with a view to starting their own similar
business
...
So every day you must be prepared to meet the challenges head on and to grow your
business without being put off by those who will do their utmost to demotivate you
...
Some years on and
we’re still growing, still expanding, and we’ve all had a great time
...
Today I don’t need to ask myself this any more
...
Yes, it’s been a hard slog, which would have been made easier had I been
forewarned
...
Prepare yourself for the hard slog ahead, but also try to
remember the fun and enjoyment that come with it
...
As this book is primarily aimed at those wanting to start a homebased business, I can only really touch on what’s involved in opening a shop
...
So don’t say never, never
...
Never rely on the promises or
claims made by letting agents or landlords
...
Shop
Before deciding on a shop you need to consider carefully the costs involved, which go
beyond rent
...
Leasehold or freehold
Just like buying a house or a flat, there are both leasehold and freehold retail
properties available
...
You’re also free, subject to planning regulations to
make any alterations to the building
...
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With a leasehold property you purchase the right to use the property for an agreed
period of time and are bound by the conditions of the lease
...
Whether your property is leasehold or freehold you will also be required to pay
business rates
...
It’s also common in the case of a leasehold property
(not that you have to agree to it) for the landlord to put it as part of the contract that
you pay all their ‘reasonable legal costs’ in negotiating the new lease
...
Is the shop located in an area where my target market is?
o
History
...
Is the area prone to vandalism, burglary and does it become a virtual nogo area at night? How close is it to pubs, clubs and late night takeaways?
o
Size
...
What’s the possibility of expanding your
business? Be realistic here; some shops are about the size of your average ensuite
...
o
Area
...
Is it on the up with new businesses coming in? What
are the plans for new housing? Is there already a business similar to the one
you’re planning to start?
o
Above and beside
...
But what if they’re not? How would that impact on your business?
Don’t forget to check out your landlord
As well as researching the market local to where you’re planning to open your shop, you
should also find out as much as you can about your future landlord
...
Remember that when you make an offer to lease a shop you will be asked for
references and there will be background checks, credit checks and deposits to pay, while
you will be provided with no information whatsoever about who your landlord is
...
However, unless you’re sitting on a pile of cash it’s likely that you will need
some sort of finance to fund your purchase
...
You could of
course find a property which has a shop with accommodation over it so you can live
above your business or rent the accommodation out as additional income
...
If you have the sort of money needed to purchase a freehold shop then
you’re better off buying an established profitable business
...
How do you find shops that are available to let?
There are number of ways including:
o
walking through suitable areas looking for agents’ ‘to let’ boards;
o
contacting commercial property agents and asking them to put you on their
mailing lists;
o
checking on websites such as Business for Sale and Daltons Business for which a
relatively small fee may have to be paid
...
businessfor sale
...
daltonsbusiness
...
uk
...
A lease agreement is legally binding and even if you cease trading after
your first few months you will still be liable to pay all outstanding rents for
the duration of the lease period you entered into
...
To provide all the
information needed to start every business would be an impossible task and so I
suggest you read what follows by way of an introductory guide to what’s involved
...
The first thing you will need to decide is which ‘trading identity’ is suitable for your
business
...
It’s important to choose the most suitable trading identity for your business
...
Changing from a
sole trader to a company is relatively easy
...
Only you can decided which one suits the type of business you are planning to start
...
For example Fiona’s Flowers, or
Greg’s Hairdressers, or Paul Power Landscapes
...
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Some important advantages to trading as a sole trader
o Easy to set up without any costs
...
o
Complete control over your business
...
o
Easy to change to another trading identity
...
Going the other
way, ie, limited company to sole trader, can be very expensive and bureaucratic
...
Your trading accounts do not have to include a balance sheet such
as you would have to provide for a company
...
This liability is
unlimited and should your business fail you could end up losing your personal
assets such as your home, car, furniture etc
...
While some businesses are suited to that of sole trader and
customers like the idea of doing business with a person as opposed to a
company, others do not
...
A sole trader is an ideal starting point for your business if you’re simply selling
something at craft fairs, exhibitions, through your own website, etc
...
Remember that the main advantage to being a sole trader is that you can easily
change to another trading identity as your business grows
...
Another advantage to you as either a sole trader or partnership is that in the
event you make a loss you can deduct your losses from future profits, provided these
profits are made from the same business
...
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HOW TO SET YOURSELF UP AS A SOLE TRADER
Setting yourself up as sole trader is relatively straightforward
...
Contact the Inland Revenue
Request the form that you need to complete to register as self-employed
...
If you fail to do this within the first three months of
becoming self-employed you risk a fine of £100
...
Contact the Inland Revenue either by phone (08459 15 45 15
...
inlandrevenue
...
uk/startingup/
...
2
...
Therefore if you’re a sole trader and name your business Discover Cornwall on Foot,
somewhere on your headed notepaper you will have to include your name, trading as
Discover Cornwall on Foot
...
3
...
05 a week, which can be paid by direct debit
...
The present limit is £4,745
...
4
...
However as a sole
trader you can employ as many people as you need while still trading as a sole trader
...
If you’re planning to employ staff you will need to collect income tax and national
insurance contributions and pay these to the Inland Revenue
...
4
...
We’ll look at the factors that you’ll need to consider when
making your decision in just a moment
...
Record keeping
You are required to keep an accurate and truthful record of all your business income
and expenditure
...
If you wish to record
them on a roll of toilet paper using a crayon, then you may
...
Regardless of the business identity you choose, you will have to some form of
bookkeeping procedures in your business
...
published by How To Books ISBN 1857038975
...
Comply with any other regulations that may be applicable
Depending on the type of business you’re going to start, you may have to register
with other government agencies
...
You’re now ready to trade as a sole trader
...
The advantages are much the same as being a sole trader, however when it comes to
making decisions you will obviously need to reach agreement with your partner
...
For example:
o
one partner wants to sell the business and recoup their investment;
o
one partner no longer wishes to work in the partnership but doesn’t want to sell
the business;
o
additional cash is needed to expand the business but only one partner is able to
the raise the cash
...
Even if your partner is your
husband, wife, relative or best friend you should have a formal partnership agreement
drawn up by a solicitor
...
You might start off as two carefree friends with lots of
time to devote to your business and everything go well
...
What happens when you one of you works fewer hours than the other and still wants
the same return?
Or your partner’s wife decides that she too would like to be a part of the business?
Or your partner gets divorced and their husband decides that they are entitled to a
share of the business because they have been married to one of the partners?
Lots of questions need to be answered before entering a partnership, which is why
you will need to have a deed of partnership drawn up
...
This agreement describes how the partnership is to be run as well as
detailing individual duties and obligations
...
So if your partner accumulates
business debts without your knowledge, you are also liable for them
...
A partnership can be for two or more people, however only those partners over
the age of 18 are legally bound by the terms of any partnership agreement
...
Can there be different types of partners?
Yes
...
o
General partners
...
Every
partnership must have at least one general partner
...
Sleeping partners invest in the business and share in any
profits or losses, but do not take any part in running the business
...
The important thing to note about sleeping partners is that although they do
not take any part in running the business, they are still legally jointly responsible
for any business debts and losses
...
Companies can be partners in another business
...
Limited liability partnership
You can also form a limited liability partnership
...
The following information is required:
o
o
Name of the limited liability partnership
...
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Names and addresses and date of births of each member
...
Designated members have certain duties, which include appointing an auditor,
signing the accounts, delivering the accounts and annual return to Companies House
and notifying them of changes to the members, registered office or name of the
business
...
Your company letterhead and order forms etc must show the place of registration,
registration number, the fact that it is a limited liability partnership and the address of
your registered office
...
You’ll then be sent a partnership return, which you must complete
...
Although usually only one member of the partnership is nominated to complete the
partnership return, every partner is liable in the event of any penalty if the form is
submitted late, or there is a false declaration etc
...
The procedure for a partner registering with the Inland Revenue is the same as for
that as a sole trader
...
SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS UP AS A COMPANY
The words ‘business’ and ‘company’ are often misunderstood
...
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A public company
A public company will have PLC after its name
...
This means
you would need a minimum of £12,500 (a quarter of £50,000) to form one
...
A private company
When you form a private company you do not need to have an authorised share
capital of £50,000 to form your company
...
If you have only one director this person cannot also act as company
secretary
...
The director and company secretary can be related, for example husband and wife
...
o
Not using the company for any fraudulent purpose, which includes defrauding
creditors or deceive shareholders
...
This is referred to as
‘wrongful trading’ and if you do so you may have to pay for any debts incurred
by the company while insolvent
...
o
Having a regard for the interests of employees in general
...
Instruct an accountant or solicitor to do it for you
...
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Forming your own company
Forming your own company can take several weeks and if at all possible you’d be well
advised to employ either an accountant or solicitor to do it on your behalf, or
purchase a ready-made company
...
You will then need to register the company with the Registrar of Companies by
sending in:
Memorandum of Association
...
The Registrar will need to approve the name of your company
...
Articles of Association are the rules by which your company will be managed
...
Memorandums of Association and Articles of Association can be purchased from law
stationers
...
This is the form used to notify Companies House of the first directors and
secretary and the location of your registered office
...
Form 12
...
Form 117
...
Registration fees
...
You can either pay
the standard fee of £20 or you can pay £80 if you want to use the same-day service
...
Fees charged by these
professionals vary and it’s worth shopping around to get the best quote
...
Purchasing a ready-made company
...
These companies will, as the
name suggests, be already formed and ready to trade complete with a company name
...
To change the company name you will need to:
o
Convene either an annual general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting
and pass a special resolution agreeing the new name
...
Businesses that sell ready-made companies can usually be found advertising in
Exchange and Mart and on the Internet by searching under ‘ready-made companies
for sale’
...
Otherwise you could find yourself buying a
trading business and inheriting its debts
...
o
o
You pay tax as an employed person on a PAYE basis
...
Other requirements
You are required to publicly display the Certificate of Incorporation and the
registration date and you must also put the company name outside your office
premises
...
Either the names of all company directors or none of them
...
The registered office address and the trading address of the company, indicating
which is which
...
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The advantages of forming a company
There are a number of advantages of forming a company as opposed to trading as sole
trader or partnership (except for a limited liability partnership)
...
Your personal assets cannot be
touched unless the company has been trading fraudulently or when the directors
knew that it was insolvent
...
This means that even though you have
invested your money into your company, you can no longer treat it as your own
...
On the other hand if you are trading as a sole trader you are actually trading as
yourself, which means you do own your business
...
COOPERATIVE
You could choose to run your business as a cooperative
...
Or if this is not possible immediately, then it must be the aim of the
cooperative to own them eventually
...
The management, business objectives and use of the assets must be controlled by
the workforce
...
The assets of the business must be owned by the workforce, or it this is not
possible, it must be the aim of the cooperative to own them eventually
...
The only reward for investing money for a cooperative can be interest on the loan
...
4
...
It’s unlikely that a home-based business would choose to form a cooperative
...
Registering for VAT
At some point you will have to decide whether or not to register for VAT
...
Before we get to look at the
circumstances when you must register for VAT, let’s look at VAT itself
...
Most business transactions will involve either supplying goods
or services or a combination of both
...
We’ll look at exemptions in a moment, but
basically there are three VAT rates, which are:
o
o
o
standard rate – currently at 15 per cent (until December 2009, usual rate is 17
...
These rates do not apply to all goods and services because some goods are what is
know as VAT exempt, which means no VAT is payable
...
Items which are exempt from VAT
A full list of items that are exempt from VAT can be found by contacting Customs
and Excise
...
Where your business activity involves:
o
o
o
o
o
o
providing credit
insurance
health care (with some exceptions)
postal services
most types of betting, gambling and lottery
membership benefits provided by trade unions and professional bodies
...
Broadly speaking, a Kitchen Table Entrepreneur’s business
will attract VAT
...
5 per cent
...
In order to do this I have to buy in raw
materials from a wholesaler and I pay VAT on these items at 17
...
I am registered for VAT
...
The tax that I can claim back is what is
known as ‘input tax’
...
However, I can only do this if my business is registered for VAT
...
Then as soon as I sell these goods to my customers I must charge VAT at 17
...
The VAT I charge my customers must then be given to HM Customs and
Excise and is what is known as ‘output tax’
...
So
my return to Customs and Excise will comprise of two taxes – output and input tax
...
5% giving a total of £117
...
Therefore my input tax, ie the money I can claim back from HM Customs and
Excise, is £17
...
I then re-sell these goods to my customers for £150 plus VAT at 17
...
25
...
25
...
25
Less total input tax £17
...
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In reality I may actually be able to claim back more input tax as I can claim back VAT
on anything I have to buy to produce my final goods
...
I am unregistered for VAT
...
50 and then sell them to my customer without having to charge VAT
...
50 because I cannot claim back the VAT,
however I do not have to charge VAT on my finished product, which means that I do
not have to add 17
...
When must you register for VAT
As you can see there are advantages and disadvantages to registering for VAT
...
Examples of this are guesthouses, many of whom choose to stay deliberately small
and operate below what is known as the VAT threshold
...
The limit at the time of writing is £65,000 per annum
...
Therefore if your business sells more than £65,000 per annum you must register for
VAT, unless what you are selling is zero rated in which case you can apply for an
exemption
...
You can see now why certain businesses decide to run their business so they don’t
reach this ceiling
...
The
important thing to know is that you don’t have to apply for VAT registration
immediately
...
So don’t feel you have to rush into
this decision
...
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Broadly speaking, HM Customs and Excise define a business as being someone who
is supplying goods and services in return for payment, although payment need not be
in money
...
In other words if you’re selling the occasional item here and there then you don’t
qualify for registration
...
When deciding whether or not to register for VAT try to look at the wider picture
...
Your total hire stock is made up of 10 new bicycles which you have just purchased at
£470 each including VAT at 17
...
Therefore the total amount of VAT that you have paid on your stock is £70 6 10 =
£700
...
But you must also charge VAT on your rentals, if you intend to rent these cycles out
at £20 per day then you will have to add 17
...
50
...
50 on each daily hire you make
...
What this means is that although you have recouped £700 input tax having bought
your cycles, you will now have to work out how much you will have to pay in VAT to
HMCE over the three years you intend to keep the bikes
...
Cost could include:
o
o
o
o
200
advertising
cycle accessories
staff uniforms
maintenance of any business property
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stationery
website costs
...
Even one small advertisement in a glossy magazine can cost £200 per month plus
VAT = £235
...
You may also find that you have to have your business premises painted once in the
three years and provided you choose a VAT registered contractor you can claim back
the VAT element
...
You need to work out your likely costs versus your sales income
and see which is best
...
There are instances where you get back the VAT on certain items even though you
have been trading for a period of time and not charging VAT
...
VAT exempt goods are different from zero rated goods
...
By registering you will have to complete regular VAT returns which can be time
consuming
...
Where to go to get further information on VAT
It’s beyond the scope of what we can include in this book to write a definitive guide to
VAT
...
hmce
...
uk
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They also run a number of business advice open days, which are free to attend and are
run at various times throughout the year
...
Details can be found on their website http://www
...
co
...
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Why spend and time and money trying to come up with the next biggest business
idea, when it’s far easier and profitable to follow the path already laid and signposted
by existing businesses?
Ultimately, there is really no such thing as a ‘new business’, as every new business
regardless of how innovative or radical is simply a variation of an existing business
model
...
You don’t see large supermarket chains spending
oodles of cash and time in innovating the next best washing-up liquid
...
Instead they simply operate on the basis that it’s far
easier to buy existing sought after goods and retail them at the lowest possible cost to
achieve maximum profits
...
So in this chapter, I’m going to take you through what’s involved in starting and
running a number of home-based businesses that are worth considering if you really
are serious about starting your own business
...
Gardening business
...
Pet sitting business
...
A tutoring agency
...
Catering business
...
Internet business
...
This is
by far the easiest business of all as you can literally start it with nothing other than
your own enthusiasm and willingness to work hard
...
And if you think that a cleaning business is a
dead-end business opportunity, think again
...
The advantages of starting a cleaning business include the following
...
There is no initial capital outlay
...
You don’t have to do any cleaning yourself
...
It can be run from home without ever having to rent or buy additional premises
...
TURN-KEY CASH BUSINESS
A turn-key cash business is one where your business is cash positive
...
So you don’t have to
worry about waiting for days or even months before you get paid
...
Depending on your circumstances this might be very necessary
...
NOT HAVING TO DO ANY CLEANING YOURSELF
The success of this particular business will very much depend on you not doing any
cleaning, and instead recruiting and building up a reliable and honest team of
cleaning staff to tackle all those cleaning contracts you’re going to go out and win
...
If you don’t believe me, just have a look at one of the many
cleaning franchises available for you to invest in and note how they all make the same
promises in terms of future growth
...
RUNNING IT FROM HOME WITHOUT THE NEED TO RENT OR BUY ADDITIONAL
PREMISES
Being able to start and build a business that you can run from your own home means
that you won’t have to share your hard-earned revenues with landlords who will
charge you rent and local authorities who will charge you business rates
...
OPERATING IT IN EITHER THE PRIVATE OR COMMERCIAL SECTOR
Some entrepreneurs might like to work with home-owners as their clients and will
offer a domestic cleaning service, while others may prefer to operate in the
commercial sector where they can clean in offices, factories, schools, and so on
...
However, looking at those who are already
running successful cleaning businesses, there seems to be a clear division between
those catering exclusively for the private sector and those involved in the commercial
sector
...
1
...
For example, a
window-cleaning business, a general cleaning business aimed at the domestic
market, or a specialist cleaning business aimed at the commercial sector
...
Check to see what other operators in your area are charging so you have a general
feel for how much you should charge
...
Get some cards or leaflets printed and drop them through every letterbox in your
neighbourhood; leave a pile in your local hairdressers, cafe´s, library, and so on
...
When the phone rings, be professional when visiting your prospective client
...
Give a fair price, which
must be in line with the current prices for the work they want done
...
Sell yourself and your business on the
basis of your quality and reliability
...
5
...
6
...
The sooner you reach the point where you need to employ staff, the sooner
you can stand back from cleaning and start enjoying running your business
...
Make sure you understand what’s involved in employing staff and also that you
have all the adequate insurances in place
...
The success of your business will depend on three things ^ quality of
service, reliability, and honesty
...
Treat your staff and customers as you would like to be treated yourself
...
So
remember, it’s your staff that make you a business and ultimately maintain
and build your reputation
...
Start your own gardening business
I started my first gardening business when I was thirteen and returned to this type of
business when I found myself in a personal and financial crisis when I was in my
thirties
...
With an estimated whopping 60% of UK residents seeing gardening as a chore, you
can instantly see the potential market for a professional gardening company
...
With a gardening business you really do have to like
gardening and be knowledgeable already
...
You can study, take short courses, and so on
...
You don’t need oodles of cash, business premises, and the like
...
The advantages of a gardening business include the following
...
It is a turn-key cash business
...
It can operate in the private or commercial sector or both
...
It is easy to build up a large, profitable business with a good resale value
...
HOW EASY IS IT TO START?
Similar to the cleaning business, you can start this today with some careful research
and a well-planned sales strategy
...
Carry out some initial research by phoning existing businesses in your area and
getting a clear idea of how much the going rate is for your services
...
Decide on what services to offer initially, taking into account your skills and
experience
...
3
...
4
...
Have a clear idea of how much
you’re going to charge and what you’re capable of doing
...
5
...
6
...
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HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED TO START?
If cash is a huge problem, you could initially start by offering your services as a
gardener where you supply the labour and expertise and your clients supply the tools
and materials
...
When it comes to running a successful gardening business, knowledge
and professionalism are everything
...
Make sure you charge enough and don’t be tempted to win new
customers on the basis of being cheaper
...
Start your own child minding service
With more and more women with children returning to work, the demand for
quality child minding is at an all-time high
...
Therefore it’s only right that this kind of business will
require you to be registered, have some degree of qualification, and be subject to
official, outside scrutiny
...
In any event you will need to check what is required in
terms of legislation, planning consents, and so on prior to your starting your business
...
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That said, the essential criteria for anyone wanting to start this business would
include:
o
You must have as your over-riding goal to create a business that puts children’s
needs first so that those in your care are treated to a safe, warm and often
stimulating environment
...
o
You must be organised
...
For example, if you oversleep one
morning you’ll awaken to a chorus of annoyed parents banging on your door
wondering why you’re not up and open
...
o
You’ll need to invest in toys and equipment and ensure your property is suitably
set up for taking care of children
...
To become registered you will have to apply and then satisfy their
criteria
...
The easiest place to find the information you’ll need is on the government
website which is found at www
...
gov
...
o
You’ll also have to have to comply with the National Standards, which cover a
range of age groups that you might be looking after
...
At the time of writing, there are 14 National Standards for the Under Eights
Day Care and Childminding, which is for England and Wales
...
In any event, regardless of
whether you live in the UK or elsewhere, you’ll need to check for all the latest
requirements
...
As you can see, this is a business where you’ll need to undertake some further research
and ensure that both you, and your household, are suitable to start this, but once
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you’ve decided to take those initial steps, what’s going to make your business
successful?
Just like every other successful business – you’ll need to offer the marketplace local to
you a solution to their needs
...
Remember
that while your customers will travel some distance to you, your business will
effectively depend on support from your local area
...
So let’s look at some of the areas you’ll need to cover:
o
To begin with, compliance
...
o
Finding out what’s already on offer in your area
...
And I can tell you now it will not be down
to who is cheaper
...
This something extra could be something as simple as
you having available space in your service for new children
...
A bit like seats for a highly sought-after concert, or places at a
school where children’s names are put down the minute they’re born
...
o
Costs versus earnings
...
You need to work out how much it’s going to cost you to provide your service,
which will include food, toys, heating, lighting, compliance costs, any remedial
works needed to your home, staffing costs (assuming you might need to hire in
additional help), and so on
...
A good indication of how much you can charge is to phone
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around existing child minding services and ask them for their rates
...
For example,
their house might have a wonderfully efficient cost-saving heating system, while
your home may not
...
So always be cautious
when making like-for-like cost comparisons
...
This is where you must think about what would happen
if
...
For example, what happens if
you’re suddenly taken ill and cannot open – what then? I’ve always found the
easiest ways to come up with solutions is to ask the competition
...
They’ll then tell you their contingency
plan, which hopefully you can adopt as well
...
FINDING YOUR FIRST CUSTOMERS
I say first, because this is a business that is built entirely on the child minder’s reputation
and quality of service
...
If you get it wrong, then not only will word spread
about your dire service but you may also find yourself in trouble with the authorities
...
For example, you’re only looking to
market your service to those with children, and those who need someone to look after
them while they are out at work, or otherwise unavailable
...
Leaflet drops in your neighbourhood
...
Poster/card advertising in your local supermarkets (they all have boards where for
a small fee you can advertise your services)
...
A list of child minders kept by your local authority where you can ask that it be
made known you’re available for bookings
...
An advertisement in your local paper
...
Something along the lines of why you’ve started and what you’re offering and so
on
...
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5
...
This is a good idea in any event, but do
remember that with this business you can only sell to those local enough to you to
be able to drop their children off daily and collect them again on their way back
from work
...
Be prepared for hard work
...
You really must love
working with children and have this as your primary goal
...
While I’m not suggesting you
embrace profiteering by looking after your neighbours’children, neither
should you operate as a charity just because they happen to be your
neighbours
...
You need to be sure that you can meet their
expectations and that they have a realistic expectation of what you can
and cannot offer
...
This service works on the basis that you either pet sit your clients’ pets
in their homes while they’re away or, alternatively, you take their pets from them and
look after them in your own home while they are not around
...
This business demands that
you’re going to be looking after someone’s much loved, and very often much adored,
pet
...
Extremely low overheads
...
Quickly builds up a profitable saleable business
...
Your stay could be anywhere from a 24-hour
period to a week or fortnight, during which you’ll attend to the needs of that client’s
pet
...
What it will not include is undertaking any household chores such as gardening,
cleaning, and so on
...
Otherwise you will run the risk
of simply being hired as offering an odd-job service
...
Generally speaking you’ll be required to stay in a client’s home and to only leave the
house for the occasional short trip
...
For example:
o
Duration of your stay
...
o
What you are to do in an emergency – which vet you are to take the pet to and
whether or not you are required to pay the initial fees (or if the owner has a preagreed credit limit at the surgery)
...
For example,
which rooms you can use, whether or not you must bring your own food, and so
on
...
Obviously, as with all
the other ‘looking after people or animals’ businesses, you will need to have a genuine
love of pets and a real willingness to create a service whereby pet owners are willing to
entrust their beloved animal to your company
...
I think the
most difficult thing with this business is getting started
...
So you need to work out which animals you would
be comfortable looking after
...
However, I’d imagine it would be quite difficult to find
a suitably experienced pet sitter for a snake, so if you have expertise with reptiles then
obviously you could take advantage of this by carving out a niche market within a
niche market
...
Pet sitting involves quite a lot of responsibility
...
So you’ve got to be sure that you’re up to the
job and also capable of looking after someone’s home in their absence
...
You’ll need to be covered for third party insurance,
which would encompass both you and your business activities
...
You’ll need to have some form of written contract
which you can get your clients to sign agreeing the scope of the things your
service covers
...
o
Membership of a professional body or holding pet care qualifications
...
Certainly there is everything to be gained by working towards a
professional pet care qualification and giving your business the endorsement it
might need by joining a recognised trade body
...
animalcarecollege
...
uk) and COAPE (the Centre of Applied Pet Care Ethology) which offers
distance learning courses (www
...
co
...
Your continued success depends on your reputation
...
Knowledge is power
...
Make sure you check any relevant legislation before you start and keep
abreast of any changes when you’re up and running
...
Start your own greetings card business
For those with a creative, artistic flair, starting a greetings card business is an excellent
opportunity to work on their creative side while building a profitable business
...
If you choose this option there are lots of different types of businesses that you could
start, including:
o
Designing and creating your own range of cards, which you can then sell
yourself
...
o
Commissioning others to create cards for you which you can then wholesale to
retailers
...
When it
comes to cards there are all sorts of occasions to include
...
And
the good news here is that the market opportunity is always growing for those with a
keen eye for an opportunity
...
Some of the main types of cards include:
o
o
o
Picture cards with a photograph on the front
...
Cartoon cards
...
Cards commissioned for specific events or occasions where the picture/cartoon/
drawings will be specific to that occasion (for example, when a member of the
Royal Family marries)
...
Within the above types of cards you’ll then have a number of sub-sections, for
example:
o
Cards that come with verses or messages, or even those that play tunes when
they are opened
...
o
General cards which are aimed at a particular event or occasion, such as a happy
birthday, good luck with your exams, and so on
...
For example, a mum with a family to raise who is looking to start a
small part-time, home-based business might find working at home, making her own
cards and selling them to local shops, an easier prospect to start up and run, while the
person with loads of time on their hands may want to launch a full-scale business
selling to the major high street retail chains
...
For example, if you’re a talented artist, you could produce your own paintings which
you could then use to create your own cards
...
Likewise, if you’re a talented
wordsmith or poet why not use your writing skills to create suitable verses for your
cards – you can have the images created for you by commissioning artists or
photographers to supply something to suit your style of work
...
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Obviously the sales and marketing methods you choose will depend on the type of
greetings card business you set up
...
o
Professionally printed cards (where you get a printer to produce your work)
could also be sold via the above sales channels, but you could also target a
broader retail market that would include specialised card shops, retail chains,
and so on
...
This is where businesses, charities, politicians,
and so on commission cards to be designed, created, and published that are
specific to their needs
...
o
Book stands at trade shows and sell direct to retailers
...
While booking a trade stand will usually cost
quite a bit, it can reduce your costs in the long run as you will get to meet and
show off your wares to lots of potential trade buyers in one hit
...
This is all useful information when planning your future design and
production schedule
...
Therefore, make sure
your cards and ideas have enough girl pulling power to get you noticed
and sold
...
Then try to work out if
enough of these people exist to make it a worthwhile business
proposition
...
Never have your cards printed in bulk quantities until you have tried them
out on your target market
...
It is only after this, when you have
worthwhile orders, that you should commit to having them printed
...
Make
sure from day one you have systems in place to capture all your
customers’details so you can contact them again in the future when you
launch your next batch of cards
...
Create low-quality rubbish and no one will buy your cards ^ with the
possible exception of a few doting relatives
...
However, as I quickly found out,
you don’t
...
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Parents today are keener than ever to ensure that their children are well educated to a
standard that allows them compete for college and university places and ultimately
for job places in today’s highly competitive marketplace
...
It may be that their child is weak in a certain subject or subjects
and this is where some additional tutoring would be very useful
...
Outside of these is you – the entrepreneur looking to start a worthwhile, profitable
business
...
You’re also an organised person with an eye for opportunity and detail
...
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HOW EASY IS IT TO START UP?
Starting up is relatively straightforward and won’t involve you having to spend oodles
of cash before you see a return on your investment
...
Decide to start your own home-based tutoring agency
...
Carry out some initial market research which should include checking out what is
already available in your neighbourhood, speaking to head teachers at local schools,
and checking notices in your local paper, libraries, school noticeboards, and so on
...
Decide on a name for your business
...
Remember, you’re selling private one-to-one education
...
4
...
Your earnings with this business will be similar to those of any other agency which
supplies staff or labour
...
When deciding on a rate for your tutors, you’ll need to take
into account an attractive enough hourly rate for them, plus any travelling
expenses, plus your commission on every hour they work
...
From this commission, you’ll
need to cover advertising costs (which can be relatively high) as well as
administration costs, for example taking and making bookings for tutors, running
a tutoring schedule, sending out information packs on your service, and so on
...
5
...
I’ll give you examples of how to achieve this in the next section on
marketing
...
When you have enough tutors to begin with, you’re now ready to market your
service to potential clients
...
7
...
You must match tutors to students, take and make
bookings, work out the logistics in terms of agreeing suitable appointments for
both parties – and you’re away
...
Similar to all the other business covered in this chapter, your success will depend
upon the quality of the service you’re offering
...
And just as important, you must ensure that the support you give
to your tutors is of such a high standard that they’re happy to work and stay with
your agency
...
MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS
Starting a tutoring agency needs a two-part marketing strategy:
o
o
A campaign to recruit tutors to your agency
...
In my experience, I don’t believe you could run a joint marketing campaign to cover
both of these areas
...
Remember, parents are ultimately looking for exam success for
their children
...
This can only be achieved when you have assembled all your tutors and you can use
their individual accolades as unique selling points
...
o
Subsequently, sending a letter to each head teacher asking him or her would
they mind advertising your agency to the parents of the children in their school
...
o
Putting up posters in local libraries, doctors’ surgeries and leisure centres, as well
as a direct mail leaflet drop in school catchment areas
...
Again, this is a business that would really benefit from a
website where parents can view your services online and see glowing references
from parents and existing students
...
You can also use this as a unique selling point, and
your tutors can also maintain the privacy of their own homes, which is equally
important
...
There are currently two types of check you must have done – a basic and an enhanced
– and I’d recommend you go for the enhanced as this way you can demonstrate that
you have taken every possible precaution to weed out any undesirable people
...
This is a business based on logistics ^ you
have to juggle lots of balls in the air to make sure everyone is where they
should be at the right time
...
As with child care, education is a priority for many parents, so you must
therefore expect to have your business scrutinised by prospective
parents
...
You must get your prices right, thus accordingly there isn’t really a‘cheap’
solution to home tutoring
...
Back then my parents paid »25 an hour for one-to-one
tuition
...
So don’t base your service on being cheap
...
Start your own bed and breakfast
Obviously this is a business that will not be suited to everyone as to start a bed and
breakfast you’ll need to have a suitable property
...
I know a number of successful bed and breakfast owners and all of them enjoy the
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social interaction that their business brings
...
HOW IT WORKS
I’m sure you are probably familiar with the traditional B&B business model – where
visitors stay anything from one night to a week or more and on payment of a preagreed rate get a bed and breakfast service
...
However, the unique selling point for most B&Bs isn’t price, but comfort
...
Some of the benefits of starting and running a B&B include:
o
It is the ultimate home-based business where your home becomes your business
...
o
You can quickly build up a regular clientele so you won’t have to continually pay
out for advertising
...
o
It can involve long hours where you’re up early in the morning cooking
breakfasts and your days are spent cleaning and preparing rooms, thus leaving
you with little personal free time
...
For example, if you’re living in an
industrial area you could target the commercial market by offering local businesses
high quality, comfortable rooms for their visiting customers, staff and suppliers
...
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When people need somewhere for an overnight stay this will also offer you a market
for your rooms
...
There’s
lots of other business around that you can pitch for
...
So it’s important to advertise your services in the
market local to you
...
You could also perhaps team up with local farms and organise farm tours, or walking
holidays, where your B&B could be used a base for these holidays
...
None of them
struggle for business all-round and even in an economic downturn they’re still busy, as
those people who would normally stay in a hotel will downsize, as it were, to a B&B
...
org)
this sector is 28% bigger than that of the budget hotels business market
...
HOW EASY IS IT TO START?
Depending on where your home is, at present and in terms of decoration, tidiness
and how everything works this will determine how soon you can start your business
...
And I’ve certainly stayed in some B&Bs where
the standards far exceeded those I’ve experienced in four-star hotels
...
Here are some of the things you need to address before starting:
o
Before you do anything else, pay a visit to your local council offices and check
whether or not you need planning permission to turn your home into a bed and
breakfast
...
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o
Your home will also need to comply with current fire regulations
...
o
You’ll need to carry out your own survey of your home to work out how many
rooms you can comfortably let out, what toilet facilities you can offer, where
you’ll have your guests sit down and have breakfast, and what provision you’re
going to make for families staying with children
...
o
While doing all the above, check out the competition
...
When comparing these
rates, make sure you don’t get carried away by assuming the rates quoted by a
single bed and breakfast are indicative of all B&Bs in your area
...
All this adds up to boosting their earning potential, but remember
that as a start-up business with no reputation or awards to trade on you may
have to tailor your prices accordingly
...
For a
relatively small investment you could save yourself lots of bother and learn from
the experts
...
MARKETING FOR YOUR BED AND BREAKFAST
There are a number of ways to market your B&B
...
If there is a scheme local to you where you can get your business rated
by the tourist board then you should do this as soon as you can
...
o
Get a professional to design a website for you
...
In my experience,
you’ll get far more business with a great website than you will with any other
advertising medium
...
If possible, create an
online booking system for your bed and breakfast so you can take bookings 24
hours a day, seven days a week
...
For example, if you’re in an area
where you get lots of walkers visiting, then advertise in those magazines that
walkers will buy
...
I’ve yet to find a B&B (or hotel for that matter)
anywhere other than by using Google on the Internet
...
o
Network with existing B&Bs in your area
...
Without exception all of them agreed, and almost immediately a
steady flow of guests came their way as a result
...
Running a B&B isn’t for everyone
...
Those I know who run
B&Bs are far happier, and I’d hazard a guess more profitable, than those people I
know who run restaurants and cafe´s
...
Whether these are staffing problems or a lack of business due to
bad weather or faulty fridges, the hassle factor of running a restaurant seems to me to
outweigh the benefits
...
Don’t start by ripping out rooms and building extensions to your existing
home
...
Lots of successful boutique B&Bs
started out with just one or two rooms and many have stayed this size,
still managing to be more profitable than their larger competitors
...
Take a look at successful hotel chain rooms
where the emphasis is on clean, neat, bright and fresh colours as
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opposed to anything too dramatic
...
Wherever possible aim your business at the local market first
...
You could even consider offering a
discount to bookings that come from your immediate neighbourhood and
town
...
Far
better to invest any surplus money you have in the appearance and
presentation of your property as this really will be the key to your
success
...
Awell designed website will pay you dividends
...
And if
you can do it, try to get an online booking mechanism built in
...
Nothing
wrong with this, however, you will need lots of cash either to buy an existing
restaurant premises as a going business or to build your own
...
However, if your home isn’t suitable don’t despair, you can still find a suitable
property to operate from and subject to planning consents and the necessary
registrations you can still work from relatively cheap premises
...
HOW IT WORKS
Your business will work on the basis of you bringing catering to wherever a client is
...
The possibilities with this type of business are endless, as you and your
business are no longer tied to one location
...
o
Events such as village fairs, shop openings, council meetings, and so on
...
o
Farmers’ markets and town feˆtes
...
o
Mobile, all-in barbeque services where not only do you supply and cook the
food, but you also bring your own equipment
...
HOW EASY IS IT TO START?
Starting a mobile catering business is relatively straightforward and to begin with can
be easily achieved on a very small scale
...
A more ambitious business will require greater preparation and research to get
started, but don’t let the work involved put you off
...
You’ll also need to speak to your council’s
environment department which will cover all aspects of food hygiene and safety
...
They should also be able to advise you of what elementary food hygiene courses
you will need to take before opening your business
...
If you are planning to use your own kitchen at home then it will have
to meet the minimum legal requirements
...
o
As you’re not planning to open a restaurant or cafe´, the location of your kitchen
isn’t crucial to your success
...
Again, you’ll need to check with your local
council for advice and guidance on the current legislation
...
For example, if the
premises you are considering renting consist of a derelict rat-infested warehouse
with no proper sanitation it’s likely that the costs will be too prohibitive for you
to convert it into something that meets your requirements
...
Unlike some of the other business models (for
example, a cleaning business), a catering business does require you to have
cooking skills
...
So if you are
considering this option, you must be a competent cook in the kind of food
you’re going to offer
...
But if
you’re going to undertake the larger and obviously more lucrative jobs, then you
need to be skilled and capable in what you do
...
So when’s the best time of the year to
start an outside catering business?
The answer to this question will very much depend on the type of outdoor catering
business you’re intending to run
...
However, if you’re pitching at the domestic
market you could find that you do well catering at funerals, birthdays, New Year
parties and the like
...
YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
Don’t be tempted to start your business on the basis of a solitary advertisement in
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your local paper or telephone directory
...
This is the sort of business that needs a really clever, proactive sales approach
...
Just
do it – get out there and sell your business
...
As your business
doesn’t have a shopfront to speak of, you’ll need somewhere where prospective
customers can see what you’re offering, can browse menus and products, and get
a feel for you and your business
...
Once you’re up and running you can also publish
positive customer experiences on your site and if you sell at farmers’ markets and
feˆtes, you can also upload pictures of your previous attendances at these events,
hopefully showing lots of happy people munching their way through your
sought-after produce
...
Think leaflets, flyers, A boards, posters, free food samples, direct mailing
to businesses, and networking with local councillors, local business people, and
so on
...
For example, you should approach all
the funeral directors in your area asking them if they would consider
recommending you to clients who may be looking for home catering after a
funeral service
...
o
Be proactive with the local press
...
Give your business
a local news angle to capture the imagination of the editor of your local paper
...
Whatever angle
you take, make it in some way newsworthy
...
o
Pick up the phone and cold call as many local businesses as you possibly can to
advertise your new business
...
Be bubbly – or gracious, sexy, or
charming – but above all, be proactive
...
Not only have you to source, prepare and
cook food, but you also have to set up your stall possibly at a different
location every time you open for business and all this adds to your
workload
...
All of this adds to the overall expense, so make sure
you don’t overlook these costs when quoting to prospective clients
...
The idea of you
catering for an outside event with bought-in supermarket sausage rolls
(I’ve seen one outdoor caterer do this recently and it was absolutely
shameful what they dished up) isn’t what this business is about
...
Beware of the costs
...
For example, in our businesses our
products don’t have a shelf life anywhere near that of a pint of milk or a
loaf of bread
...
However, this is not true of catering where your jams,
soups, cookies and so on will all have to be sold within a certain period
...
Over-production in this business
will quickly devastate any potential profits
...
As part of the research for my feature, I interviewed a number of
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shopkeepers, the manager of Brighton’s largest indoor shopping centre, and a
number of estate agents
...
The manager of the shopping centre told me that she couldn’t see why
anyone would want to shop this way as they’d miss the ‘touchy feel’ of the traditional
shopping experience
...
Fast forward to today and were I to interview the same group of business people, I
think it’s fair to say that they all would agree that the Internet has significantly
changed the way we all do business
...
I
tend to disagree with this view, and believe that the smart, forward-thinking,
traditional retailers who could see the Internet’s potential grabbed the opportunity
with both hands and used it as a tool to build stronger, more profitable businesses
...
And while his
competitors were moaning about unfair competition from online retailers, this
Portsmouth cycle shop entrepreneur started an online business selling cycle parts and
accessories
...
Had this cycle shop owner ignored the potential of the
Internet, he would have lost out on the fun, excitement, and profitability of creating
an online retail giant, and subsequently taking a very early retirement to enjoy the
fruits of his labour
...
For example, I have successfully grown a profitable niche cycle business
from my kitchen table into a business where we now turn over in excess of a million
pounds, and this figure is continually growing
...
So what type of online business could you set up?
The list of potential businesses is simply endless
...
If you’re a talented chef who would like to set up
your own restaurant but cannot afford the money needed to buy or rent a property,
you could set up your own online cookery school
...
Here are just some ideas to get you thinking:
o
If you’re retired you could set up an online group where you arrange days out,
holidays, or excursions for like-minded people who want to make more of their
retirement but perhaps are living alone and lacking in confidence or
companionship
...
o
Start an online magazine covering your chosen field
...
bikeradar
...
uk) was set up as an online forum and point of
information for cyclists
...
o
You could start your own dating agency, or a website where people can find likeminded travelling companions or someone to join them on day trips or cinema
or theatre visits
...
For example, a friend of mine makes bespoke miniature figures for dolls’ house
collectors, model railway enthusiasts, and so on
...
At one time she even opened up her
own shop, but the overheads were too great and she was quickly forced to close
...
She has
since opened up her own website and is selling her pieces all over the world
...
Contrary to what you might think, you don’t need lots
of technical know-how or to be able to write your own codes or HTML scripts
...
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Once you’ve got your business worked out – whether this is arranging walking
holidays in Ireland or selling pet rocks online – you’ll then need to create an online
presence, which could include:
o
o
o
A blog
...
A traditional website
...
For example, if your main interest is in hill walking, you could start a blog
detailing all your experiences, both good and bad, and reviews of outdoor gear you’ve
tried as well as you experiences of walking in various places
...
I
like blogs and I have a few favourites which I read regularly and have made purchases
from on the basis of those products and services endorsed and recommended by the
blogger
...
Not only do celebrities now
use social networking sites as a way of promoting their latest album, track, film, or
book, but new talent has also managed to get their music played and listened to
where all other conventional routes have failed them
...
myspace
...
Setting up your own page on these sites is as easy as it gets and you don’t need any
specialist web-designing knowledge
...
For example, I know of one entrepreneur who wrote a downloadable ebook, (which
is a paperless book which you download online, usually either free or for a very low
cost) on how to wash a mountain bike
...
I cannot think of any other advertising
medium that would generate such a response for so little investment
...
Website
A fully automated website where visitors can not only browse your products and
services but can also buy them online using a credit card is vital to your business
success
...
Once again, you don’t need to spend thousands on this
...
Our site at the Littlehampton Dutch
Bike Co (www
...
co
...
I first heard of Mr Site in the national press when it won a number of awards
for offering low-cost web start-ups
...
So I used Mr Site, and to date we’ve achieved over a £1million pounds of
business by using this website, which costs us less than a hundred pounds a year
...
Once you’ve achieved this and some early sales success, you can then
reinvest some of your profits into creating a really superb website which can take
online bookings and so on
...
Even if you don’t have Internet access at home or own your own
computer, you can still run your business from the local library, internet cafe´, and so
on
...
It’s a great flexible
business model that offers so much potential to people of all ages and abilities
...
Yet speak to anyone today, young
or old, and most of them will recognise the business name eBay
...
moneysupermarket
...
gocompare
...
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Think big and think global
...
So don’t limit your business to the market that is local to you
...
Regardless of how much
money you spend bringing visitors to your website, social networking
area, or blog, if you’re not up to date or good enough the competition are
only a click away
...
If you don’t give
them enough good reasons to buy from you, there are plenty of others
who will take their money
...
I’ve had this happen where another ‘entrepreneur’ has simply copied our
products and tried to pass them off as the genuine article
...
Although this is illegal, there’s little you can do to
stop it as many of these copycat online businesses will be set up using
post box numbers and overseas addresses
...
For example, if you’re calling yourself ‘joepublicshops
...
uk, make sure you also buy up the
...
e
...
com) and so on
...
Remember, shoppers can’t meet
you in person so you need to convey honesty, reliability, and so on
...
The Internet is a constantly changing environment so you must, must
update your site regularly
...
Start your own antiques business
If you have a passion and enthusiasm for collecting antique items, why not turn your
knowledge and experience into a worthwhile business? The great benefit of becoming
an antiques dealer is that you can run your business to suit yourself
...
Once you’re up and
running and have a feel for the business you could then move on to a full-time
operation where you can either rent part of an existing shop or open your own business
...
For example, let’s say you have a
special interest in china and glassware
...
Once you’ve bought your
stock you’re then free to sell it
...
Unlike other retail models, when you price your pieces you will base
your price on two very important criteria, which are:
1
...
2
...
Provided you’ve purchased wisely, you should incorporate these two selling features
in everything you purchase
...
On the other hand the prudent, careful eye of the antiques dealer means they will buy
only what they know they can sell for a profit and also relatively quickly
...
Larger items, which would include things like furniture
...
An advantage with the larger items is that they’ll usually have greater profit margins
than smaller pieces, however this also means they’ll cost more for you to buy per item
...
Your success and profitability
will depend on a number of factors:
o
Your ability to negotiate and seek out antiques
...
236
T
o
EN
G
RE AT
B
USINESSES
Y
OU CAN
R
UN
FROM
H
OME
How much profit you make on all your transactions and not just the one lucky
sale or the one lucky find
...
While I’m
sure these sorts of tales have indeed happened and do still occasionally happen, a
single, potentially lucky find isn’t the way to run a profitable, sustainable
business
...
o
Antiques fairs
...
o
Online auction sites (e
...
eBay) where items come up for sale without anyone
really knowing their true value
...
As with every other small business, the secret to successfully sourcing your stock
should be for you to specialise in a small line of certain items
...
You’ll get to know which auction houses you can do
business with, and those that don’t suit your specialist market
...
How much stock you carry at any one given time will be largely down how much
money you have available to tie up in that stock
...
For example, let’s say you trade in specialist china pieces and that initially you have
£1,000 available to invest in start-up stock
...
However, if you get to the point where you are making no
reinvestment in stock but are spending all the revenues from the items sold you will
be left with nothing
...
237
S
TART AND
R
UN A
B USINESS
FROM
H OME
HOW DO YOU SELL YOUR GOODS?
The first thing to note here is that you can sell anywhere in the UK that you wish to,
but in some areas (or possibly all areas, depending on what the Home Office is
currently planning to introduce) you may have to register
...
The only reliable
way to find out is for you to check with the local council’s trading office on where it is
you’re planning to sell
...
For example, I live near Arundel in
West Sussex where there are a number of antiques shops, many of whom
advertise space to rent in their shops
...
The benefit of
this to you, the trader, is that you’re free to buy and sell your stock elsewhere
while others are selling your goods for you
...
o
Opening your own antiques shop
...
It’s always difficult to start a new antiques shop
on a high street as you will need time to build up a reputation and you will also
need to be in the right area
...
You’ll find details of all the various fairs,
dates, times, locations, and so on online by searching on Google and buying
magazines relating to the antiques trade
...
You could create your own website and sell your antiques online,
however the disadvantage of this is that not every antique line will be suitable
...
On the other hand, pop or theatre memorabilia are ideally
suited to being posted
...
This is where you build up your reputation in your chosen field
and regulars buy from your latest collection, which you could market by sending
them lists of what’s available or they could check out your website
...
238
T
EN
G
RE AT
B
USINESSES
Y
OU CAN
R
UN
FROM
H
OME
o
Online auction sites such as eBay
...
o
Specialist websites
...
abebooks
...
To be successful, you must have a genuine passion for antiques
...
What you cannot do is
become passionate about something that really doesn’t interest you
...
Don’t rush, take your time, and build your business slowly and
carefully
...
Antique dealing is a business where haggling over prices is expected
...
239
INDEX
advertising, 101, 102, 104, 106
adwords, 153
affiliate programmes, 153
antiques business, 235–8
Articles of Association, 194
bank loan, 60
banks, 34, 45, 56
bed and breakfast, 221–6
blogs, 233
bootfairs, 136
brochures, 39
budgets, 41, 104, 106
business
angels, 60
cards, 115
debts, 191
identity, 37
models, 24–6
names, 30, 31, 32
plans, 22, 49, 50, 62–4
cash flow forecasts, 63
catering business, 226–30
child minding business, 208–12
cleaning business, 203–6
closing techniques, 82
compensation, 48
competitions, 25, 55, 56, 93, 156
concessions, 128
contingency plan, 63
cooperative, 186, 196
County Court, 62
craft fairs, 54
credit cards, 54
currency, 52
Data Protection Act, 45–7
debit cards, 89
240
eBay, 168
Enterprise Centre, 19
exhibition, 54, 130
feasibility, 20, 21
finance, 60
Food Safety Act, 45
Food Safety Regulations, 45
footfall, 175
freehold
numbers, 37
shop, 183, 185
gardening business, 206–8
goals, 4, 11
greeting card business, 215–18
health and safety, 45, 46
HTML, 154, 168
Inland Revenue, 188
insurance, 42, 59
Internet, 141
business, 230–5
leaflets, 119, 120
leaseholders shop, 183
legislation, 45
lifestyle, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20
limited company, 186, 193, 194
local authority, 42, 136
mailing list, 93, 160
mail order, 54, 90
market
place, 57, 58
research, 55
stalls, 136
marketing, 21, 100, 129, 148, 155
I
media
pack, 105
stunts, 114
Memorandum of Association, 194
merchandising, 135
National Insurance, 188
networking, 117
newsletter, 92, 161
non-payers, 61
packaging, 54
partnership, 186, 189, 190
pet sitting, 212, 214
press release, 109, 110, 112, 156
product, 51, 52, 53, 90, 96, 172
public company, 193
record keeping, 189
referral schemes, 91, 92
research, 49, 51
retailing, 170, 183
sales agents, 118
search engines, 149
selling, 66–7, 68, 69, 76
NDEX
shipping costs, 52
social network sites, 233
sole trader, 186, 187, 188
sponsorship, 104, 113
staff, 188
stationery, 38, 59
survey, 57
survival plan, 63
SWOT analysis, 64
taxation, 192, 195
telephone, 37
trade fair, 130
trading identity, 30, 186
tutoring agency, 218, 220
Unique Selling Point (USP), 72, 75
VAT, 30, 189, 197, 198, 199, 201
webrings, 152
website, 33, 93, 126, 127, 142–69, 234
wholesale, 54
working capital, 59, 181
Written Statement of Employment, 45
241
Title: Start your on business
Description: Friends, in this you will learn how a business is done and what problems can we face in it, by improving all this, you can grow a good business.
Description: Friends, in this you will learn how a business is done and what problems can we face in it, by improving all this, you can grow a good business.