High street retailers have relied on the Christmas period for a large portion of their yearly revenue ever since commercialism got its hands on the Christian celebration. The same can also be said for those businesses trading online, and this year sees the highest level of competition ever among websites in terms of visibility and sales. But which sites are best placed this year to make the most money? Read the full story

According to the EU Commission Vice-President, responsible for Company and Industry, the European union is enrolling a formidable programme for the cutback of administrative inconvenience and needs some help if they are to succeed. Help from companies, stakeholders and EU Member States. The European endeavours to speak to business owners, and, even more importantly, take into account their ideas.

The European Commission is prepared to make sure that new legislation does not augment the dilemma of small companies, however takes their needs into consideration. To try to to this the Commission has adopted the next principles:

1 – All new proposals with a control on business ought to be under thorough scrutiny regarding their potential impact on Small businesses.
2 – European regulations could set apart between micro, small, medium-sized and large companies so as to make sure that the inconvenience created is proportionate to the various sorts of companies.
3 – Specific support measures, reduced fees, or perhaps exemptions can be applied to protect Small businesses and ensure a level playing scope for all companies.

For instance:
The Commission has simplified the rules regarding SMEs within the pharmaceutical sector by reducing fees for micro-enterprises, enabling to postpone fees payment, giving administrative and regulatory assistance when submitting applications for the European Medicines Agency.

Within the European Commission, the SME Envoy acts as a dedicated ambassador for small company and maintains active dialogue with SME stakeholders to confirm that the interests of small businesses are properly addressed in new legislation. The SME Diplomat has been also active in proposing solutions for the barriers obstructing Small businesses.

Protecting SMEs from late payments
Late payments is a real issue for business. Twenty-five percent of all insolvencies represent late payments and European Small entreprises are notably weak when facing this vital hassle. To address this matter, the Commission has charged itself to review its 2000 Directive so as to simplify it and clarify issues like interest payments. This should dissuade late customers and guarantee that SMEs are paid within a reasonable time for all commercial transactions.

Make standardisation operate for Small businesses
It’s important that SMEs are attentive to European and international standards. And they need to combine them into their product specifications thus their services are competitive on international markets. To make sure that SME desires are taken into account when drafting standards, the Commission will double its money support for the promotion of SMEs’ interests.
Additionally, it’s counseled that standards bodies cut back the cost of access to standards for SMEs. Measures are planned to guide and support SMEs through the standardisation process.

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Starting up a business is never easy; it can be stressful and at often times energy draining. Things are uncertain and the risks may be too much to handle. For some people, making that jump from employee to boss seems so elusive. Different business owners have their own strategies and defining activities that would make there business marketing unique among others. But for those who made the hasty jump to the entrepreneurial world, two things should be kept in your mind, plan ahead and define your plans well.

A definite thing for those starting a business would be there market. To come up with the decision to start up a business would mean that you have convinced yourself and a handful of people that you have a profitable market. For you to define the different market segments would be the first step amongst the millions you take towards attaining success.

Being able to define the market segment is the key guide in business marketing. This enables business owners see on which aspects he should be focusing his advertising and promotions more. Like for instance, if you are a store selling wigs, it would be a bad idea to hand out brochures and leaflets to high school and teenagers which are less likely to use your products.

There are different kinds of low cost business marketing activities that you could undertake and it could only cost you a couple of dollars.

Business Alliances

Making that jump into the unknown world of entrepreneurship would be stressful for most and it would be a good idea to have a mentor who can guide you every step of the way. It would be best to build alliances with businesses who could be co-beneficiaries of your business. With this strategy you can attain leverage by having your product compliment other businesses products.

Another form of business alliance activity is by leaving information about your product at counters of high traffic areas. Have some brochures or leaflets printed or perhaps a poster that contains the information about your product and your contact details. A good example for this are car service or rental brochures left at hotel lobbies. This way if a guest would decide that he or she would want to drive they can have options.

Advertising

For start up business owners, do not be afraid of the cost of advertising. You may be overwhelmed by the cost of media advertising especially if it is done by professional advertising agencies. Advertising is essential and the core principle of business marketing. The main premise of advertising is getting your product known across your target market. There are traditional and non traditional advertising practices that would only cost a couple of hundred dollars and can have thousands of impact.

Focusing your advertising on your defined market segment would save you thousands of dollars. This is why it is important to define your market to have a marketing plan based on these data. Having extensive media coverage on a local event would be a waste of money since the reach of your media is further than your market circle.

Business marketing is not a perfect science. It would still depend on the hard work and determination of the business owner that would tip the scale between success and failure. Having a strategy would only mean a defined technique on how success could be achieved at a lesser cost.

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There are many types of business advisors—financial, legal, insurance, special projects, etc. —who can offer expertise in solving specific problems that inevitably face every business owner or budding entrepreneur.

Employing specialty advisors on an individual basis has value when the business owner has accurately determined what the specific problem is. However, many business owners struggle with the process of determining just exactly what that problem is!

Unlike most business owners who focus on the trees, the general business advisor focuses on the forest. The business owner may look at financial statements and decide that a cash flow crunch is caused by a problem with sales and marketing. So, he engages a sales and marketing specialist to come in and attack what he believes to be the problem. Unfortunately, sales and marketing may not be the root of the problem at all!

A business is a system, and any issue within the system is inextricably linked to other issues elsewhere in the system. Like a general practitioner in the field of medicine, a general business advisor can look at the big picture—the entire company—and see exactly how the various components are working together—from accounting to production to administration to sales, marketing, and IT. The business advisor understands how the components interrelate and where the true problem exists. Isolating one problem and bringing in a specialist to solve it is like putting a Band-Aid on a cut when you really need a complete physical. With a general business advisor, you obtain an accurate and an unbiased diagnosis on the entire enterprise. Only then can you develop and implement an effective strategy that will restore the business to optimal health.

How to Find a Business Advisor and What to look for: Choosing a general business advisor is a serious decision. It is important that you select a business advisor who is competent, experienced and has both integrity and expertise—an individual that you can trust in this newly formed fiduciary relationship.

The best way to find a good general business advisor is to reach out into your sphere of contacts. Talk to your other advisors—–your CPA, your attorney, your banker, and your insurance agent. Ask for referrals and set up appointments to meet with each candidate personally and look for the following:

• Sensitivity to the importance of confidentiality—–This is critical. Since an advisor will be privy to highly confidential information about you and your business, it is very important for you to discuss bonds of confidentiality with him. A signed confidentiality agreement is recommended.

• Non-compete policies—–Make sure that the candidate is willing to sign a non-compete agreement and to refrain from advising his direct competitors not only during the course of the engagement, but also for a certain period of time thereafter.

• Chemistry—–It’s not just for romantic relationships! There has to be certain chemistry with your advisor. This is someone you are going to work closely with to grow your business. You have to feel a connection and a sense of trust with this person. Never feel forced into making a decision at the first meeting. To gauge your level of comfort with your prospective advisor, meet with him more than once.

• Confidence—–Make sure that you have the level of confidence that you need in order to move forward, and that the person sitting across the desk from you is as passionate about what he or she is doing as you are about your business.

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The businessman performs a vital role in the community. This sounds like an obvious statement but they are often taken for granted by the people that work for them and the entire support structure, but without them there would be no need for any of the above.

Take for example a person who sets up a restaurant in a local community. Initially, it is necessary to gather capital together – people want to dine in a nice atmosphere thus it is necessary to spend heavily on this. What does this involve?

It may be necessary to convert a previously unused building so immediately the full range of trades is required through joinery, plastering, perhaps plumbing, tile fitters, painters, decorators’ etc. Additionally, a huge range of materials will need to be purchased from tiling, carpets, wallpaper, kitchen materials and cooking facilities etc.

So immediately the benefits to the local community are evident and suppliers of these trades and services benefit.

Going further back, when the idea was being formed, the chances are that an architect would be used to help form the final design and possibly a quantity surveyor to analyze the anticipated costs of the project, perhaps interior designers to help with the proposed theme. Additionally, an accountant’s services will probably be employed to prepare a business plan and cash flow projections.

Continuing down the line, once the restaurant is open it will require staff, again a benefit to the local community, and will require constant maintenance, taking us right back to square one.

Now, as we all know, each business has different requirements, but this gives a general idea of the necessity of entrepreneurs in the local community.

The businessman is proactive, takes financial and reputation risks, and, like other trades or professions, provides a valuable and necessary service.

In many communities, businessmen who do well are often scorned and questions abound throughout the community as to the morality of the individuals required, without taking stock of the above however this is perhaps a natural human emotional response.

It may be levied at the businessman that his goal is to maximize profit, but then of course he is or he wouldn’t have ploughed capital and taken the risks in the first place; indeed, is that not the goal of any profession or trade also? It would be absurd to imagine someone getting out of bed in the morning if the goal were not to maximize profit?

Of course there are unscrupulous businessmen and unfair employers, but are there are there not also unscrupulous tradesmen, professionals, or indeed politicians and heads of multi national corporations?

The average community, if there is such a thing, would greatly struggle without the businessmen; indeed, the argument could be put forth that the community as we all know it, would perhaps cease to exist – someone can only get employment if someone else takes the risk to set up a firm.

Every trade or profession is dependent on the businessman to a degree, they may even be businessmen themselves by definition and the community ticks round as we know it due to the businessmen taking risks, employing local advice and inputting capital to whatever venture is involved.

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Temp agencies have taken on the role as mediators between businesses and potential employees, striving to provide quality workers to help businesses in their times of need. Due to the unique relationship between these two structures, it is often difficult to determine which structure is in charge and whose rules to follow. In response to this problem, many temp agencies have started to sponsor both temps and businesses, taking the guesswork out of the equation. These super agencies then have the ability to hire more people at a faster rate, while providing helpful networking to their clients.

The American Staffing Association (ASA), which was founded in 1966 to promote the legal and ethical practices of all companies in the staffing industry, spells out all of the rules and regulations pertaining to temp agency companies. The ASA has over 15,000 members who account for more than eighty-five percent of the staffing industry sales in the U.S. The ASA website also allows potential temps to search through companies, helping them find employment through an accredited agency. Another accredited organization that sponsors various staffing companies is the Independent Staffing Alliance (ISA). Founded in 1962, the ISA is the oldest independently owned staffing firm in the U.S. The website allows visitors to search through members and includes detailed services that are provided.

There are some clear front-runners who are known to provide quality employees to businesses around the country. SKILLED Group is one of the largest providers of staffing to businesses today. The Group is the industry leader in providing specialty workers to businesses in need of part-time workers for special projects or high-traffic times. SKILLED provides workers in a variety of fields, including manufacturing, government and defense, pharmaceuticals, and logistics. The agency works on a global level, allowing networking with companies all over the world and providing a solid clientele.

Kelly Services is another company that provides temporary staffing to businesses in need. Founded in 1946, Kelly places over 750,000 employees in positions each year. There are offices in thirty-three countries used to find work nearly anywhere in the world. Kelly Services specializes in finding work in accounting, engineering, law, science, education, health care, and other fields. This Fortune 500 Company was ranked number 407 on Forbes list and has received high recognition from some of the biggest companies around, including Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and the American Red Cross.

Manpower is also a popular provider in the part-time staffing industry. The agency works in over seventy countries to lend their sixty years experience to businesses in need of workers. Manpower has nearly 400,000 clients from all over the world who use its services each year. The agency has the unique opportunity to hire workers abroad rather than limiting them to one particular area and claims to place 312 people in jobs every minute.

There are also smaller companies that provide high-quality workers on a lesser scale. Advantage Recruitment is a well-known provider of employment in the industrial sector, manufacturing, trade, construction, and many other fields. Advantage looks for both part-time and full-time work for their clients and offers many services to fit their clients’ needs.

Complete Staff Solutions is another company that provides workers to businesses on a smaller scale. The agency sponsors both employers looking for workers and employees, resulting in easy transactions and clearly defined rules.

Nowadays temp agency companies are working hard to provide quality employees to businesses all over the world. With great efforts from organizations like ASA and ISA, temps and temp agencies are given more protection and better rights, thus providing better services. Whether it is a large corporation or a small start-up, temp agencies are becoming more efficient business structures that provide work to thousands of previously unemployed people in the U.S.

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Summary: In team building you have to help each member learn to work with other members of the team. There is no way you will find a complete team that looks at everything the exact same way. In fact, if you did find a group of workers that held identical views on everything you would likely discover this to be a liability and not an asset.

There are so many different ways to go about helping business owners understand the concept of personality dynamics in the workplace. For the purpose of this article I’ve chosen to look at vegetarians in context of team building.

On the surface there would appear to be one prevailing view on vegetarianism. This places all vegetarians on one team, right?

Wrong.

Apparently not all vegetarians are created equal. For instance the most traditional form of vegetarianism is called ‘vegan’. These individuals only consume vegetable matter.

A second group of vegetarians is known as lacto-vegetarians because they will also consume milk products in their diet along with vegetables, but devoid of meat.

Yet another group of vegetarians are known as ovo-vegetarians and they will include poultry eggs in their diet along with vegetables, but again – no meat.

Then there are laco-ovo-vegetarians. As you might suspect they consume milk, eggs and vegetables, but no meat.

Stay with me, there is two more vegetarian types left.

Another form of vegetarian is Pescetarians. These individuals will add fish to their list of acceptable foods. Of course by doing this they are often viewed as non-vegetarians.

Finally there are vegetarian sympathizers. These individuals may eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but have no problem consuming meat from time to time.

To someone who is not a vegetarian it can appear that there is little difference among the majority of these vegetarian ideals, yet those who are vegetarians know the difference and will defend their point of view.

All right, now think about the differences in vegetarians with the differences in your business. In team building you have to help each member learn to work with other members of the team. There is no way you will find a complete team that looks at everything the exact same way. In fact, if you did find a group of workers that held identical views on everything you would likely discover this to be a liability and not an asset.

Diversity among the team helps drive certain strengths to offset certain weaknesses on the team. When divergent personalities work together it brings about a certain dynamic that may be hard to duplicate with similar temperaments.

This article is not intended to single out vegetarians. The truth is I could have chosen various types of sports players or members in a quilting bee. The point remains the same, your team will not always agree on what needs to be done, which is why they have a team leader to help guide them in a definitive direction.

Explore the weaknesses of your team and find ways to allow their strengths to find a mutually beneficial vent. Your tem member will be happier and your business will benefit from diversity.

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One of the biggest dangers I’ve seen with people and business is how they move forward when they have already experienced success. Not that success itself is the problem, but in some cases it’s the attitude it can bring. Many of those who have succeeded approach their business with a learners mentality. They want to find out about the business, try things out and if it works, they feel pretty good about themselves.

However, once some have had a taste of that success, they start to feel “overly optimistic” about their prospects, they forget about everything that gave them their initial prosperity and feel that they can do no wrong. They’ve already succeeded, the belief: “I can do it again.”

You’re probably familiar with the statistic that 9 out of every 10 businesses fail in the first 5 years. In my unscientific view I would completely agree with that. If you think that your success will be a continuous unending string of “King Midas touches”, that is when you’d better take a step back and take a good hard look at yourself. Just because you’ve had success in one venture doesn’t mean that it will become a streak.

However, if your approach to business starts with a little humility for the success you’ve already had, I believe that you maintain and in fact GAIN and edge on your competitors. It helps keep you fighting for your business and allows you to stay in the game longer.

So how can you develop this attitude? Here are the 5 critical traits that you need:

1. “Listen, don’t just hear” – One of the best lessons I ever learned early on was to open up your ears and shut your mouth. If you listen to your customers and prospects, they will tell you what they want and need. By listening, you can shift and change what you may have thought to be the correct approach to your business , when in fact you may have been wrong.

2. “Yesterday’s lessons may not be helpful today” – Experience is one of the best forms of capital you bring to a business, however, just because something worked yesterday doesn’t mean it will work today. Ask yourself, “How can I bring it to the next level?” Think about the camera film manufacturers now that digital cameras are so popular. Does yesterday’s experience tell you that they should invest more money and build a better film or should you invest in trying to take advantage of the new digital camera craze?

3. “Take a look at your business with fresh eyes” – If you continuously review your business and pretend that you have to sell yourself over again, are you still relevant? Does your business plan make sense? If you continuously reassess your business you won’t be caught flat-footed if things change or you next venture is launched.

4. “Be grateful” – Have you ever walked into a retail store or a restaurant where you were treated as if was an honor for you to be giving them your money? I hate those places, and I only visit them once. I’ll bet I’m not alone either. If you were on the receiving end of your business, would you do business with you? Honestly, ask yourself that very question. If you don’t value your customers then forget about them wanting to help you.

5. “Ignore the kudos” – I enjoy being complimented for a job well done as much as anyone, but if you dwell on those things, what do you really gain? Ever walked into an executive office where the walls were covered with awards, plaques, photos of them with well known people and over the top “look at me and what I’ve done” trinkets? When you walk into an office like that you definitely form an opinion about that person. Personally, I think you’re better off appreciating the thanks, understand what got you there and moving on.

Every business owner’s goal is to become successful, once you’ve reached that goal make sure that you remember you’ll get to the next level and become even more successful without arrogance than assume you can do it because you’re behind the wheel.

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For many people, the dream of pursuing a small business opportunity has come true. What are some of the best ways to ensure that your small business opportunity flourishes? Here are a few guidelines to remember when beginning with your own small business opportunity.

First, no matter what your small business opportunity is, keep in mind that it is very important to educate yourself. Make sure you are as knowledgeable as possible about any products or services that you will be providing as you begin your small business opportunity. As well, take the time to educate yourself about running a business itself, so that when you do begin to pursue your small business opportunity, you are armed with knowledge that will help keep you from wasting valuable time and energy. When looking for success with your small business opportunity, another important thing to remember is that education needs to be ongoing. As your business expands and the world around you progresses, there will always be new changes and challenges in the world of your small business opportunity. The best way to protect yourself against failure is to learn all you can before and during your small business opportunity pursuits.

Also, when deciding on which products or services to offer within your small business opportunity, be sure that you research thoroughly. Do your best to find out what people really need and want, and make that the focus of your small business opportunity. Remember, satisfied customers are the key to success in your small business opportunity. After you have done this, take care to develop a strategy for your small business opportunity that lets others know exactly why your product or service is perfectly suited to their needs.

Another good piece of advice for those beginning a small business opportunity is to work deliberately, taking care to build a foundation that will last. When you find customers for your small business opportunity, spend time listening to them and finding out what it truly is that they want and need. Realize that if you can develop a quality relationship with your customers, this will bring great benefits to your small business opportunity for many years in the future.

As always, it is important to promote your small business opportunity and get the word out as much as possible. There are many inexpensive ways to market and make the most of your small business opportunity. While trying to be friendly and not obnoxious, still always be on the lookout for a potential client or customer who may be interested in what your small business opportunity has to offer. Carry professional business cards with you at all times, and make sure your friends and family have extra cards promoting your small business opportunity as well.

Finally, when building your small business opportunity, be sure to work on one aspect at a time. Branching out too fast may spread you too think and weaken the entire operation of your small business opportunity. Rather, work diligently until one area is strong. In time, building upon that will yield excellent results for your small business opportunity.

Pursuing and constructing your own small business opportunity does take a fair amount of planning and work. However, reaching the goals you have set for your very own small business opportunity can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime.

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Many small businesses hemorrhage money – often by not spending it. It can be seductive to start spending business management money. The scam and con artists know that many new business owners have a few thousand dollars to invest. They create large websites, impressive looking campaigns, and other ‘tools’ to help them separate small business owners from their investment capital.

There are hundreds of stories where a small business owners paid for SEO optimized websites and shopping carts, or had a media company make them a professional looking front page, or maybe they spent thousands of dollars to bring traffic to their site. None of this generated any sales.

Yes, these things are valuable, but they are a waste of the businesses resources.

Revenue Generating

When a business starts out, every dollar spent should expect a return. A desk is an office expense, but it will not return any revenue. It is vitally important to make sure that every dollar spent is capable of generating revenue.

Getting traffic to a website does not generate revenue. One million visitors to your site will not generate wealth. However, hiring a forum poster to create a reputable image and build a buzz, without actually selling, may bring in 1000 visitors, producing 100 sales. Difference? One is spam generated, the second is target market focused.

Take link building. Thousands of small business owners will spend $1000 to have a web site optimized. A Search Engine Optimized (SEO) website will not generate revenue. It is like putting an ad in the newspaper, or handing out business cards. This will not increase traffic. There is no ‘Return On Investment’ value. But, these same companies will not invest in a forum where potential clients can have their concerns addressed, receive insightful answers to questions, and learn about unexpected benefits available in the product for sale.

Capital vs Money

Businesses also need to learn how to differentiate between capital and cash on hand. A business owner may spend more than six months building a web portal/community, while making minimum sales. However, they now have a platform worth $10 000. This Capital may not pay the expenses, but it is valuable. It can be used to obtain a business loan, magnetize Joint Venture partners, attract advertisers, and create bartering possibilities.

Capital building does not last forever. Once the platforms are in place, the business owner can focus on marketing and start promoting their platforms – attracting a target market – increasing the revenue generating possibilities.

Making Sales vs. Generating Profits

Another confusing aspect of business management is the difference between making a sale and generating revenue. There are three parts of a business’s development. The first part is where sales do not cover the expenses. The business manager must invest their own money to keep the business afloat. The second is where the business generates excessive money, but the business owner can only withdraw those funds at the peril of the business. The third is where the business is generating a profit, and the business owner can withdraw the money without worrying about damaging the business.

Too many small business owners start drawing money from their business because there are no current expenses to pay. However, they forget that the company needs marketing and promotion money, so in effect, the business owner is withdrawing money from the advertising budget.

A good three month budget, and a marketing plan will help business owners stop the gaps and prevent wasting their valuable resources.

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