Dave's Portal Blog

Swine Flu - Are you prepared?

For a few weeks now we have been watching with growing interest the news items and reports about Swine Flu.
 
Alarmingly, it appears that not many owner managers of small businesses have actually done anything about planning for the growth in Swine Flu cases and how that will impact on their own businesses.
 
Thankfully we have! When the last outbreak of flu, ("Bird Flu" ) was forecast as a potential pandemic we really started to look at how we would plan for that and any other problems that could befall us.
 
It was surprising (to us at least) what could have a major impact on our business, either directly or indirectly.
 
For example - You might be not hit with swine flu, but what if your suppliers are?
 
What if your clients are and they can't get payment of invoices to you in time?
 
What if your suppliers can't get products or materials to you - what will you do?
 
This then started us looking at a number of things...
 

What would we do if any of the following hit our area and us in particular (or our suppliers)

• Flood 
• Fire 
• Power Cuts 
• Theft 
• Loss of Key Employees 

Once you start thinking about it, the list can start to grow frighteningly large.
 
However, we didn't let that put us off...We realised that we could really safeguard our future if we gave a little bit of planning and that is just what we did.
 
If you would like to benefit from our efforts, then visit our Swine Flu page - why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already done some of the hard graft?

Internet Winners and Internet Losers!
 
Believe it or not, the way a website looks is not the main difference between winning and losing with the Internet. Yes it plays a big part, websites that look good are pleasing to the eye but all too often the message they are trying to get across is lost, because the website is being too busy at "Looking Good."
 
The visitor gets confused and the owner fails to get the responses he or she is expecting.

Recessions do take their toll on businesses large and small. Sometimes it is part of a natural life cycle of a business but more often than not it is due to the phenomenon of running out of cash.
 
If you have been in business for any length of time you will be aware that the minute you hit a cash flow problem, particularly in a recession – then that is usually the point that the bank wants to pull your overdraft from under you.
Whatever the reason for business slowdown be that lack of customers as money gets tighter, bank manager tightening the thumbscrews, loss of a main supplier or the collapse of a market, recessions sooner or later do present at least one or more silver linings.
 
Recessions tend to drive the week competitors out of your market place and those who usually survive are better at their job and at looking after their customers. Small business owners should always be aware that loyalty is a massive "oasis in the desert" of recession and customer retention can make all the difference between survival and failure. Those who look after their customers and provide excellent service and products usually survive and increase their market share as the dross falls away.
 
Of course even good companies go to the wall and despite looking after their customers well over many years the time comes when they fail. Is it a fault of management? Sadly, Yes it is - Very often! They become too reliant on the status quo and fail to look at some of the things I am going to bullet point below.
 
Over the years I have been fortunate enough (if you like to look at it that way) to live through many recessions and each one has made me think closely about what I do and how I do it and if I have learned one thing from all those hard times it is this;
 
"Life is about re-invention",
 
After all few species on earth have been as successful as the human race at re-invention or more commonly called evolution.

• What is it that I am not doing that my competitors are doing? 
• What could I do that my competitors don't do 
• What other areas could I be looking at to diversify as opportunities open or present themselves? 
• How would I recognise an opportunity? 
• How would I find out if it might be worth my while? 
• How can I add to my present service or product portfolio? 
• Can I look further afield for new customers and if so where could/should I look? 
• What new technologies would be easy to use/adopt to help me? 

Now I was brought up in an age of steam powered trains and some types of machinery. So don't get the impression that I was born with a computer in my lap and an understanding of how to use it effectively, even though I am a partner in an IT business and work daily with the Internet, websites and marketing.
 
What I know I have had to learn myself, sometimes by getting it wrong, reviewing what I did and trying it again differently! So I can never accept that you are too old or do not have the aptitude to take on new technologies. If you can't do the latter in this day and age you might as well curl up and wait for death now!
 
Technology has never moved so fast in the history of the planet. That is probably why we are facing global warming - because we have moved so far so fast without being able to control the what, why, when of what's going on around us. But that is for another day.
 
The reason I mention it is so that those who use age and skills they don't have as an excuse for not changing can't fall back on that excuse. We all have the capacity and capability to learn new skills and technologies. Let's face it, we are all basically lazy and are more than happy if our customers continue to buy our stuff without bothering to work out if we could do it better, quicker or cheaper. All you have to do is set your mind to it and give it the time in needs, or buy those skills in.
 
If the recession is hurting you or has caused you to close, now is the time to start re-inventing yourself and learning new skills. Businesses fall by the wayside even in good times, so while it does not lessen the feeling of failure when your company goes to the wall, it does make you stronger if you work through things and get yourself going again.
 
If you want to take advantage of the recession then use the bullet points to help you and you will probably be surprised what comes out of it.
 
If you are serious about re-inventing yourself or using the Internet to consolidate your business position; grow your business and/or diversify your business then you would do well to talk to us at Cumbria Business Portal to look at the packages that membership brings.
 
Good Luck

Whilst we applaud any action that helps to get the country out of recession we can't help feeling that Mr Darling's budget was little more than a very expensive sticking plaster on a gaping wound.
 
The critical factor is to get cash moving again!
 
We as taxpayers have leant to the banks but in return they are not lending back to either small businesses or individuals and there's the rub. Fear of job losses is making those that have a little extra to spend keep it and reduce their borrowing - all because of loss of confidence.
 
The whole sorry mess has we all know has been created by greed and short term profit making. And now small business and individuals will pick up the lion's share of charges as banks recoup their profits.
 
The two factors that still need addressing then are lending to individuals and small businesses.
 
The mortgage market could be stimulated by giving local councils the power to lend where banks refuse borrowing for house purchases. Some fifty years ago local councils could lend money for mortgages....they should be allowed to use the cash tied up from the sale of council houses to fund house purchases locally.
 
Regional Development Agencies could be allowed to lend to small businesses.......
 
Let them take on the role of Regional Business Loans instead of putting the money into banks. Let's face it, there will soon be enough bankers available in the job market to run these operations and with the funds coming from the RDA's they will not be subject quick foreclosure at a whim.
 
Every small business we talk to is saying the same thing!
 
If the consumer is not buying there is no chance of us borrowing to fund growth or new product development. If the man or woman in the street is not spending we are all in it up to our necks!
 
If we are to "spend" our way out of recession then the things that need to be addressed are those above and also a curb on repossession and bailiffs powers which are being used proficiently by banks and other lenders too early and as a means to pull something back from the abyss that they perceive is waiting for them.
 
Credit cards and banks are reducing or removing borrowing from small firms and individuals arbitrarily, and by doing so are fuelling the recession.
 
Re-focus your thoughts Mr Darling and try again..........

Hello again,

Over the last year we have been working hard on additional features to the portal's software which can really help you bring visitors to your website and make them buy from you. In addition to working on new features we have also been looking at how we can help you to Scientifically market your websites better and raise your profit levels.
 
As we keep saying, it does not matter whether you sell products or your time. Retail, Manufacturing and Service based websites still need to attract people and keep them coming back.
 
If you sell products which you either make yourselves or buy from wholesalers or manufacturers. Look at our Landing Page on how to increase your profits by between 23% and 132%.
    
If your site is services orientated then have a look at our Landing Page for service companies and see how you can make sure you are getting the best from your Internet Presence.

Hello, good to be able to speak to you again...

New Pages

Similarly, with new pages it can take anything from a couple of days to four or five weeks to get your new page recognised and categorised by search engines which is why we put this message out every year coming up to one of the main "buying seasons" for the vast majority of websites.

New websites!

It takes around 6 to 9 months to get your new web site known by the search engines which will drive visitors (traffic and sales) to your site. The only way to circumvent this is to spend a considerable amount of cash on advertising with search engines and using pay per click tools like Google Adwords, but these can cost you quite a bit of cash if you are not careful.

"Get you on Page 1 on Google - Guaranteed!!!! - What a load of TOSH..."

Anyone who tells you that they can get you on the front pages of all the major search engines in a very short period of time without you spending a considerable amount of money is telling you "porkies". There are over 350 million websites out there on the Internet and around 80% of those can only be found by the person who owns the site and the designer who built it.
 
To have an effective Web Site strategy is critical to getting visitors (and especially those who will want to buy) to your site. If you want Christmas trade from your website - then you must start planning and acting now, delaying the issue for a month or longer will not help to bring a return from any investment you make! It simply won't give the search engines time to scan your site and categorise it correctly!

Marketing your website takes time or money or both.

There are no quick fixes; having said that, if you are dealing with a professional Internet marketeer then you should start to see returns reasonably quickly and on a growing upward curve over a few months. This is why you need to start on your site's promotions now if you want to be selling your goods or services for Christmas.
 
Getting Websites and web pages to attract visitors and more importantly "buyers" for your goods and services is a Scientific Process, it's not just chance; and it doesn't matter whether you sell products or services - the same principals apply.

Existing Websites!

If your existing website is not performing in the way you want, then it's quite possible your marketing of the site is not hitting the target and needs fine tuning. As we mentioned before, the vast majority of websites can't be seen because their owner does not have the necessary skills to promote the web site in the correct way or it has been dropped by search engines because it does not have updates done on a regular basis with fresh content and interesting facts or stories about what you do and how you do it.
 
Don't leave it to chance - Act now and get the best out of the Christmas seasons trade, it's even more important this year with the credit crunch impacting on incomes. The plan for Spring and so on..........

Ask yourself

• Do I want a Christmas seasonal look to the pages?  
• Should this seasonal theme stretch to promotions for next Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter?  
• What will the special offers or promotions be? 
• What can I do to make it easier for them to buy from me?  
• Who will my campaign be aimed at? 
• How do I reach them?  
• How can I create the buying signals? 
• How do I make the customer want to act now and purchase what I am offering? 
• How can I best optimise my web pages for special offers? 
• How can I increase visitors and turn them into buyers? 
• What can I do myself (think of your time and skills) , what do I need someone else to do? (think of how much time and effort you can save if you get a specialist to do this, which will leave you time to organise and deal with enquiries) 
• What can I do to keep them coming back to my website? 

Remember, a website is not just for Christmas, like the rest of your business you need customers all the time, don't just think that one you have set p a website that you can leave it alone for weeks or months on end and expect it to bring you regular incomes........It does not work that way.
 
Like all forms of business marketing you need to target and make you potential customer want to deal with you and not the competition! You will not achieve that by keeping the same tired old pages.

1. Make sure your visitors can find what they are looking for quickly and without too much effort, then give the opportunity to buy as quickly and as simply as you can. The easier you make it the more likely they are to buy from you. 
2. Build Relationships with your clients.....just because they don't buy this year, it does not mean that they won't buy next year. So keep in touch.  
3. Use the software in the content management system to collect leads for mailing lists and send them notices of when you change pages or bring in new stock, enhance existing lines or create new ones. This includes what we call brochure sites, websites for those who sell their time or expertise rather than products. Newsletters and the like can make sure you are always at the forefront of their minds - Make sure you stay there! 

Here's an early salutation to a Happy, Prosperous Christmas and New Year!
 
If you would like to discuss any of the above feel free to give us a call on 015395 31338 or send us an email and we'll get back to you.

Reading our blogs so far you might think that we were against a Labour government, for the record we are not.
 
However, we are against any kind of government that

• Tells you one thing and does another 
• Makes bad legislation on the hoof 
• Does not think through its legislation for its impact across the business spectrum 
• Changes its clothes to suite public opinion or curry favour 
• Fails to do its sums and then blames the unfortunate individuals in our society who are for whatever reason unable to work  

Here are some home truths on the Tory's record on taxation and support for families

• Margaret Thatcher decided that there was no such thing as "the family" or "Society" and so taxation should no longer favour families against the single members of our society and her Chancellors duly took up the challenge to remove the bias.
    
• Married Persons allowances in these days could be swapped between husband and wife, so if the wife wasn't working or earning significantly less than her husband, her husband could claim her full tax allowances or unused tax allowances against his own income. In today's terms that would mean that a married couple could afford to earn almost £10,000 before basic rate income tax was levied
    
• The husband of the wife could elect for either of them to claim the married persons allowance (then around £1,000 p/a) this took the non taxable items in this one parent working family to £11,000 before tax was levied. 

Get real Mr Cameron!
 
You will have to move much more before you convince us and many more that your policies are truly family friendly and not a marketing ploy.

On the subject of Benefits
 
I would challenge these "born with a silver spoon in the mouth" holier than thou politicians to live on the benefits paid out each week to those in our society who for whatever reason don't or can't work.
 
Spend a month or two in their shoes mate, most of them they didn't go to public schools and have the benefit of family wealth behind them. But they are people not numbers!

Mr Darling and any Chancellor of the Exchequer that follows him should be aware of the following statistics.

• Small Businesses account for over 50% of the country's GDP 
• Small Businesses employ over 58% of the private sector workforce 
• Small Businesses make up 99% of UK businesses 
• Over 95% of these small businesses have less than 10 employees 
• Every piece of legislation that National Government and The European Commission passes costs small businesses far more than it does large organisations to implement 
• Current employment legislation is holding back the growth of small businesses 
• Rural small businesses have a harder time than urban small businesses due to poor infrastructure 

Ed

We often wonder what questions Government Minister's ask of their edicts and their legislative impact.
 
For example:

• Can anyone at the Treasury actually add up? 
• Are they aware of the wider implications of changes in legislation and taxation? 
• What is the impact on small firms of legislation brought to the statute book? 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has backed himself and his party into a corner.
 
Mr Darling clearly demonstrated the other day on the new rules regarding Capital Gains Tax that neither he or his predecessor Gordon Brown have any idea how to think laterally. The changes to CGT rules mean that many small business owners will now loose out on their retirement planning and the adverse impact on small firms will still be greater than on large corporates.
 
The new rules are little more than an exercise in increasing taxation for all rather than addressing specific capital gains like those of the highly paid in venture capital and investment companies. This knee jerk reaction had not been thought through and now millions of hard working owner managers in the small business sector will suffer as a result.
 
Both Brown and his Protégé Mr Darling had no idea that the stealing of the Troy's stance on tax and other policy aspects would have changed the Labour leads in the polls so dramatically; but in making laws and regulations without thinking them through serves only to reduce them further in the eyes of the voting public and in particular owner managers of small businesses.
 
Having said all that, are we being a little unkind?
 
Perhaps the whole thing was intentional; to bring in more revenue from all areas so that they can continue to manage the country's affairs so ineptly.

Ed

Mark our words, they latest plans on taxation and legislation will sign the death warrant for the Labour Government.
 
The first qualification (it appears) needed to run a Government Department is to have a complete indifference on what commerce and industry needs and in particular what the small business sector cries out for.
 
Legislation from Brussels and our own National edicts continue to weight our owner managers down and increasingly takes up more time for the Whitehall pen pushers to poor over reams of statistics on how well they can view our economy.
 
If it comes from Brussels you can bet that our own mandarins are going to egg up the wording and impact so that more and more time is taken up by complying with regulations rather than running a business.
 
Our thanks to the Federation of Small Businesses for the information below. In a recent survey nearly 3000 firms gave their verdict of regulation.
 
The FSB's press release goes on to say that - Nearly 80 percent of small businesses owners, who generate half of UK GDP, have to deal with increasing levels of employment law by themselves, a new Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) report shows.
 
The survey of 2,826 small firms showed that small business owners and entrepreneurs are facing an ever-increasing burden of employment law unaided – 78% deal with employment paperwork themselves and a third do not know where to get Government advice on legislation that affects small businesses. This does not mean less protection for employees – in fact simpler laws would increase the understanding of the laws by small firms and their ability to implement them.
 
In addition, nearly a third of small business owners (32%) said that they didn't take on new staff because of the complexity of employment law.
 

Ed

Over 50% of the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is produced by Britain's small businesses, yet every time the Government comes up with an idea to help small firms it usually ends up with an increase in taxes or paperwork.
 
Our small firms are treated like a Cash Cow by whatever government happens to be elected and we are abused constantly as unpaid tax collectors as the ranks of civil servants grow and we in the small business sector do more of their work.
 
Politicians are so lucky - they obviously couldn't run a business and the only reason they are still there is because we pick up the tab for all their incompetences.
 
Get a grip Westminster - you are here to serve us not the other way round!!!!!

Ed