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Getting it right brings BIG Benefits
If you are reading this, the chances are that you are likely to be in business or perhaps thinking about creating a business. Being self employed can be very rewarding, it can also be soul destroying for the unwary or the undisciplined, so how can you make sure that you do the right things to make your business grow and prosper. If a small business fails, it is probably down to the fact that it ran out of cash and this can happen for many reasons. The first three years are probably the most difficult particularly if your business revolves around a service or product that you have created. Statistics tell us that around 90% of start ups fail within the first three years but if you have the right product or service, at the right price and you do all the things you should be doing then there is an excellent chance that you will survive and go on to create your own little empire. Running a successful business is often about what you don't do as what you do and it's the practices that should be done and are not that account for most failures. There can be plenty of advice out there for the budding entrepreneur but sadly what is available from a number of Enterprise Agencies and Government sponsored support tends to be from ex bank managers or from former middle and senior managers of large businesses. Small Businesses are not little Big Businesses! I have lost count how many times I have heard an advisor from one of the agencies commenting on the fact that so many small or micro business owners do not have a cash flow forecast to follow. This tells me two things, firstly that they have never thought the thing through and secondly that they have probably never run a small or micro business. Why? Because if they had they would know that those of us who run small businesses actually know what is in our bank accounts and what is due in so we would only be adding to our already overburdened workload if we were to start analysing cash week in week out on a spreadsheet. They are however correct in the fact that Cash is King for the small enterprise and we owners of small businesses who do not know our cash position or fail to get a grip of cash flow and money owed to us are doing so at our peril. You just can't run a business without cash! You can find out more about the marketing mix by using this link to visit the Artemis Media website It's Doers not thinkers that make the world go round You can strategise all you want when planning and starting a new business, the same if you are running an existing business; all the planning in the world will not bring in one jot of profit if you don't DO something about it. Alan Sugar in a recent episode of the Apprentice berated his prodigies and shouted at them "I want Doers not strategists" and he's right. Now I will go along with that statement most of the way, however where I won't is in the planning. I firmly believe that a little planning goes a long way and can save loads of miss-spent cash so by all means plan and plan well, but don't forget that at some point some one in the business is actually going to have to get out there and make the planning work. An unbelievable number of business plans lie on floors and in dusty drawers and cabinets because the plan had no one to take the idea and actually "Make It Happen!." Once you know what you are doing the planning is the easy bit. Getting out there and doing the business is the hard bit, so what are the failings that we should all be trying to avoid? Know your market: Probably the biggest failing with owner managers is lack of understanding their market and not carrying out market research to establish the potential for success or failure. Modern technology when used properly has removed the lack of foot-fall past a business or lack of buyers locally for the internet turns even the smallest of businesses into International Players. If you don't have any experience in marketing I would suggest that taking a Marketing course would be a sound investment. You can find some useful hints on marketing freely available if you visit the Cumbria Business Portal where a fee download can be found at www.cumbriabusinessportal.org.uk/ When we undertake marketing planning we adopt a seven P's approach so we follow a logical sequence and take into consideration the key factors that are essential. The seven P's are; Product, Price, Production, Place, Promotion, People, Performance This combination is known as The Marketing Mix and it might help if I give you a little information on these at this point. Product The use of the term product also means a service so wherever you see the word product if you are a service based business then assume that product and service are one and the same. It matters not a jot that you have the best product or service in the world - if there are not enough people around to buy whatever it is you have. A gap or niche in the market does not guarantee that there will be customers for the product and all too often owner managers forget this. Market research can help you sort out the wheat from the chaff and turn a potentially good idea or product in to a winner. Things to consider about your product Where is it in the Product Life Cycle? Who would buy it? How many potential customers do you have? How will it be sold? What "Shelf Life" does it have? How much competition is there? Who is the competition and where are they? How will they buy it from you? Price: Thousands of small businesses are giving their products away because they do not understand the concept of pricing. There are two types of pricing – a) Cost Plus b)Market Price and Cost Plus - Raw materials + labour + % profit required = Price to customer Market Price – Charge what the market will bear On market pricing decisions have to be made as to what the competition charge and how close you will come to them, what the customers will pay and what added value you give over and above the competitors. For example - On a cost plus basis you may be happy with a price of £50.00 per hour our article, but it could be that the market price is £75.00 per hour of per article, so why undercut by so much and give away the profit or reinvestment value. You should be aware that even when charging the market price for goods or services you should know your cost plus price option so you have room for manoeuvre! Production All business have something to produce for a customer. It could be a service by hourly rate or a component or finished good. You must consider the time and costs implicated in producing your sale, its availability to you and the client, the shelf life and the quality. To win an order for 100,000 units might be great as long as you can deliver that quantity, if you can't you will only get a bad name. Place Place is about the "where" of your business. Where will it be situated? Where will your main client base be? Can you reach them? Are they accessible to you? Are you accessible to them? What are distribution channels like? Are you able to distribute your product or service adequately to meet demand? Are your premises suitable? Promotion Mention to most owner managers the word marketing and immediately they will think of advertising and promotions. This is why we suggest you learn about marketing if you do not have any experience. Advertising and promotion is only one tool in the marketing mix but it is often where most waste occurs. All too often owner managers are swayed by sales calls to advertise their wares in local papers and magazines. Advertising is fine in its place and can have a benefit, but, too often we see small firms spending £3,000 plus on an advertising campaign which will go nowhere. This money could have been better spent on Public Relations activities like sponsorship, competitions, press releases, features, radio interviews and demonstrations. Bill Gates of Microsoft has been quoted as saying that "if he only had two dollars left he would spend one dollar on PR". I know of numerous others who have the same philosophy, needless to say - they are all successful. At the Cumbria Business Portal we can help you with everything from corporate identity to presenting yourself to the customer effectively through our TurnKey Solutions. People How often do you hear executives saying that their most important asset is "Their People". It must be the most over used phrase in business motivation today but just how true is it. There are major discrepancies in the word and the action in so many organisations large and small. Tomorrow's successful organisations will be successful only if their employees and managers are continuously trained or up-skilled in the effective use of the latest technologies and management/work practices. It's a fallacy that if you train your employees and managers that they will leave you at the earliest opportunity. The truth is you are more likely to retain good employees if you help them to keep their skills up to date and concurrent. Your employees should have the skills necessary to make decisions at appropriate levels in the business and not hanging on for their employer's word. Customers don't like waiting, empower those at the sharp end to make customer focussed decisions, but make sure they understand company policy and have the skills necessary to make relevant decisions. If you would like help on establishing your training needs contact us on www.cumbriabusinessportal.org.uk Performance Owner managers may well be aware of their cash flow the what is coming into their bank account and what is going out; but where the vast majority fall down is in being able to set objectives, goals and measure performance. Consider: - Why are you in business? What are the objectives of the business? How will you know if you are successful? How much will it cost me to grow profits? How will I measure these? For example start by asking What level of turnover you want for the next twelve months? How will that be achieved? What actions will have to be taken to achieve these goals? What time scales will be employed? What costs? By when? By Whom? Where will it be carried out? Do not set your sights too low however, if you set them too high you will always be disappointed so one good explanation of a well set goal is something that is just out of reach but not out of your grasp if you stretch yourself. The following factors both drive and compliment knowledge gained from the seven P's. Technology In all my years in business and in giving advise and mentoring to businesses there has always been one constant. That is this – That the owner managers and businesses that do not embrace technology as it is proven are doomed to failure, for they will not be able to cut costs, enhance profits, meet tighter deadlines, price competitively and survive. Using the Internet A recent survey by the North West Development Agency into the leisure, hospitality and catering sector found that 85% of people used the Internet as their first port of call to establish where they should stay when going away for the weekend, on holiday or on business. When they checked how many businesses in this sector had a presence on the Internet they found it was less than 43%. The Internet and modern communications technologies can save you money and make you more accessible to a wide range of potential customers…if you do it correctly. Don't take chances talk to us…the people who know. Here we are back to the beginning…..What was it I said? Understand your market! If you don't know how they look for your goods or services - how on earth are you going to meet their expectations and deliver with the immediacy they insist on in the 21st century? Artemis Media Cumbria Business Portal

Getting it right brings BIG Benefits

If you are reading this, the chances are that you are likely to be in business or perhaps thinking about creating a business.

Being self employed can be very rewarding, it can also be soul destroying for the unwary or the undisciplined, so how can you make sure that you do the right things to make your business grow and prosper.

If a small business fails, it is probably down to the fact that it ran out of cash and this can happen for many reasons. The first three years are probably the most difficult particularly if your business revolves around a service or product that you have created. Statistics tell us that around 90% of start ups fail within the first three years but if you have the right product or service, at the right price and you do all the things you should be doing then there is an excellent chance that you will survive and go on to create your own little empire. Running a successful business is often about what you don't do as what you do and it's the practices that should be done and are not that account for most failures.

There can be plenty of advice out there for the budding entrepreneur but sadly what is available from a number of Enterprise Agencies and Government sponsored support tends to be from ex bank managers or from former middle and senior managers of large businesses.

Small Businesses are not little Big Businesses!

I have lost count how many times I have heard an advisor from one of the agencies commenting on the fact that so many small or micro business owners do not have a cash flow forecast to follow. This tells me two things, firstly that they have never thought the thing through and secondly that they have probably never run a small or micro business. Why? Because if they had they would know that those of us who run small businesses actually know what is in our bank accounts and what is due in so we would only be adding to our already overburdened workload if we were to start analysing cash week in week out on a spreadsheet.

They are however correct in the fact that Cash is King for the small enterprise and we owners of small businesses who do not know our cash position or fail to get a grip of cash flow and money owed to us are doing so at our peril. You just can't run a business without cash!

You can find out more about the marketing mix by using this link to visit the Artemis Media website

It's Doers not thinkers that make the world go round

You can strategise all you want when planning and starting a new business, the same if you are running an existing business; all the planning in the world will not bring in one jot of profit if you don't DO something about it. Alan Sugar in a recent episode of the Apprentice berated his prodigies and shouted at them "I want Doers not strategists" and he's right.

Now I will go along with that statement most of the way, however where I won't is in the planning. I firmly believe that a little planning goes a long way and can save loads of miss-spent cash so by all means plan and plan well, but don't forget that at some point some one in the business is actually going to have to get out there and make the planning work.
An unbelievable number of business plans lie on floors and in dusty drawers and cabinets because the plan had no one to take the idea and actually "Make It Happen!." Once you know what you are doing the planning is the easy bit. Getting out there and doing the business is the hard bit, so what are the failings that we should all be trying to avoid?

Know your market:

Probably the biggest failing with owner managers is lack of understanding their market and not carrying out market research to establish the potential for success or failure.

Modern technology when used properly has removed the lack of foot-fall past a business or lack of buyers locally for the internet turns even the smallest of businesses into International Players. If you don't have any experience in marketing I would suggest that taking a Marketing course would be a sound investment. You can find some useful hints on marketing freely available if you visit the Cumbria Business Portal where a fee download can be found at www.cumbriabusinessportal.org.uk/

When we undertake marketing planning we adopt a seven P's approach so we follow a logical sequence and take into consideration the key factors that are essential. The seven P's are; Product, Price, Production, Place, Promotion, People, Performance

This combination is known as The Marketing Mix and it might help if I give you a little information on these at this point.

Product
The use of the term product also means a service so wherever you see the word product if you are a service based business then assume that product and service are one and the same.

It matters not a jot that you have the best product or service in the world - if there are not enough people around to buy whatever it is you have. A gap or niche in the market does not guarantee that there will be customers for the product and all too often owner managers forget this. Market research can help you sort out the wheat from the chaff and turn a potentially good idea or product in to a winner. Things to consider about your product

Where is it in the Product Life Cycle?
Who would buy it?
How many potential customers do you have?
How will it be sold?
What "Shelf Life" does it have?
How much competition is there?
Who is the competition and where are they?
How will they buy it from you?

Price:
Thousands of small businesses are giving their products away because they do not understand the concept of pricing. There are two types of pricing –

a) Cost Plus
b)Market Price and

Cost Plus - Raw materials + labour + % profit required = Price to customer
Market Price – Charge what the market will bear

On market pricing decisions have to be made as to what the competition charge and how close you will come to them, what the customers will pay and what added value you give over and above the competitors. For example - On a cost plus basis you may be happy with a price of £50.00 per hour our article, but it could be that the market price is £75.00 per hour of per article, so why undercut by so much and give away the profit or reinvestment value. You should be aware that even when charging the market price for goods or services you should know your cost plus price option so you have room for manoeuvre!

Production
All business have something to produce for a customer. It could be a service by hourly rate or a component or finished good. You must consider the time and costs implicated in producing your sale, its availability to you and the client, the shelf life and the quality. To win an order for 100,000 units might be great as long as you can deliver that quantity, if you can't you will only get a bad name.

Place
Place is about the "where" of your business.

Where will it be situated?
Where will your main client base be?
Can you reach them?
Are they accessible to you?
Are you accessible to them?
What are distribution channels like?
Are you able to distribute your product or service adequately to meet demand?
Are your premises suitable?

Promotion
Mention to most owner managers the word marketing and immediately they will think of advertising and promotions. This is why we suggest you learn about marketing if you do not have any experience. Advertising and promotion is only one tool in the marketing mix but it is often where most waste occurs.

All too often owner managers are swayed by sales calls to advertise their wares in local papers and magazines. Advertising is fine in its place and can have a benefit, but, too often we see small firms spending £3,000 plus on an advertising campaign which will go nowhere. This money could have been better spent on Public Relations activities like sponsorship, competitions, press releases, features, radio interviews and demonstrations. Bill Gates of Microsoft has been quoted as saying that "if he only had two dollars left he would spend one dollar on PR". I know of numerous others who have the same philosophy, needless to say - they are all successful.

At the Cumbria Business Portal we can help you with everything from corporate identity to presenting yourself to the customer effectively through our TurnKey Solutions.

People
How often do you hear executives saying that their most important asset is "Their People". It must be the most over used phrase in business motivation today but just how true is it. There are major discrepancies in the word and the action in so many organisations large and small. Tomorrow's successful organisations will be successful only if their employees and managers are continuously trained or up-skilled in the effective use of the latest technologies and management/work practices.

It's a fallacy that if you train your employees and managers that they will leave you at the earliest opportunity. The truth is you are more likely to retain good employees if you help them to keep their skills up to date and concurrent.

Your employees should have the skills necessary to make decisions at appropriate levels in the business and not hanging on for their employer's word. Customers don't like waiting, empower those at the sharp end to make customer focussed decisions, but make sure they understand company policy and have the skills necessary to make relevant decisions.

If you would like help on establishing your training needs contact us on www.cumbriabusinessportal.org.uk

Performance
Owner managers may well be aware of their cash flow the what is coming into their bank account and what is going out; but where the vast majority fall down is in being able to set objectives, goals and measure performance.

Consider: -
Why are you in business?
What are the objectives of the business?
How will you know if you are successful?
How much will it cost me to grow profits?
How will I measure these?

For example start by asking

What level of turnover you want for the next twelve months?
How will that be achieved?
What actions will have to be taken to achieve these goals?
What time scales will be employed?
What costs?
By when?
By Whom?
Where will it be carried out?

Do not set your sights too low however, if you set them too high you will always be disappointed so one good explanation of a well set goal is something that is just out of reach but not out of your grasp if you stretch yourself.

The following factors both drive and compliment knowledge gained from the seven P's.

Technology
In all my years in business and in giving advise and mentoring to businesses there has always been one constant. That is this – That the owner managers and businesses that do not embrace technology as it is proven are doomed to failure, for they will not be able to cut costs, enhance profits, meet tighter deadlines, price competitively and survive.

Using the Internet
A recent survey by the North West Development Agency into the leisure, hospitality and catering sector found that 85% of people used the Internet as their first port of call to establish where they should stay when going away for the weekend, on holiday or on business. When they checked how many businesses in this sector had a presence on the Internet they found it was less than 43%.

The Internet and modern communications technologies can save you money and make you more accessible to a wide range of potential customers…if you do it correctly. Don't take chances talk to us…the people who know.

Here we are back to the beginning…..What was it I said?

Understand your market!

If you don't know how they look for your goods or services - how on earth are you going to meet their expectations and deliver with the immediacy they insist on in the 21st century?

Artemis Media
Cumbria Business Portal

Gain BIG Business benefits from doing the right thing!