Small Business Chat

Advice, Opinion & News for Entrepreneurs

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Better brainstorming – 6 techniques to make the most of your staff

Group brainstorming can be a highly effective way of using the power of the collective mind to address a business related issue. Bringing together all the different skills and experience of your employees in this way can help to inspire… Continue Reading →

Good Body Language: It’s Importance in Business

Body language is incredibly important and it is important we understand how important it is in relation to all aspects of our life and work. Here we look at the 8 different elements of body language.   Our body language… Continue Reading →

Small Business Guidelines for GDPR

The Data Protection Act 2018 enshrines in law new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), giving protection to EU residents on how companies and sole traders manage the collection, process and use of their personal and sensitive data.   The regulations apply… Continue Reading →

How To Become An Empathetic Leader

Whether you are the head of an organisation or leading a small team of employees – you need to have a strong yet gentle approach; especially when it comes to dealing with different personalities and emotions. Long gone are the… Continue Reading →

Does your business need a CRM?

The term CRM is one that is used quite a lot, however despite the frequency with which it is used not everyone really understand what they are or more importantly if they need one.  What is a CRM and what… Continue Reading →

What are the Best Online Marketing Strategies for Start-Up Businesses?

Starting a new business at any time is a risk but with the current crisis once again stalling the economy, every startup needs to have a strong marketing strategy. What online tools should be considered? Marketing is about sales and… Continue Reading →

A Beginners Guide to CRM

With virtually every business online, managing your website is important. You’ll have an understanding of managing customer relationships online and are encouraged to do so using a CRM product. But what is CRM? What benefits will it bring your business? … Continue Reading →

Small Business Help During The Coronavirus Pandemic

This is a worrying and confusing time for small businesses up and down the country with business owners perhaps not clear on where they stand with obligations to employees or whether help is available to access. Hopefully, our guide will… Continue Reading →

4 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Your Video Marketing

Video is a fantastically effective tool in marketing but only if it’s done right. Advances in video editing technology available to everyone with a smartphone has lead to an explosion of videos in every sphere you can think of and… Continue Reading →

How not to run a small project

Is a small project more or less likely to be successful than a large one? Whilst there are many explanations as to why projects fail, these reports rarely distinguish between Enterprise and SMBs, or between a mega-project and a pilot…. Continue Reading →

How Video can help you turn your Business into a Brand

Video is a highly engaging and versatile medium and, as such, developing a powerful video content strategy can help you to connect with your audience in deeper and more meaningful ways. From instructional and educational content to rather more overtly… Continue Reading →

Customer Retention Tips for Small Businesses

Did you know that the average company loses roughly 20 per cent of their customers on a yearly basis because they do not attend to customer relationships? In fact, in some industries, this can rise to as much as 80… Continue Reading →

A Small Business Guide to Digital Signage

Also known as Digital Out of Home Advertising (DOOH), according to a technical SEO audit service I was speaking to recently, digital signage is a display that utilises technology like LED, LCD, e-paper, and projection. It functions as a means… Continue Reading →

Promotional Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019

Remember, a promotional item doesn’t have to be expensive to be valued by your customers. To be of interest to today’s discerning, eco-conscious market, promos must be seen to offer value and utility. The following hot trends will satisfy both… Continue Reading →

Is Your Small Team Capable of Delivering Projects on Time

Quite a lot of businesses fail to deliver their projects on time. And many of them often experience project failure. According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, only 2.5% of companies successfully complete 100% of their projects.

One of the main reasons why most of the projects fail is poor planning. That’s because as many project managers simply jump in a project without taking the time to carefully plan every step of the way and ensure that everything is going to run smoothly.

How is your success rate when it comes to delivering your projects? Do you manage to deliver them on time and within budget? Are all of your projects actually reaching the finish line? Check the questions in the full article and if any one of your answers is negative, then there is definitely room for change and improvement in your project management skills and process.

A Guide For Small Business Owners On Hiring And Managing Staff

Running a small business will always have its ups and downs and whilst the failure rate is high – for instance in the UK 40% of all small businesses fail within the first 5 years the actual number of small businesses is high. With over 5 million SMEs in the UK the success rate means there are at least 3 million businesses running successfully.

Small business owners experience many challenges while building a business from scratch. Every action they take reflects on the business’s progress. This begins with selecting the right small business idea, setting up the right infrastructure, hiring talented staff members and making sure that the management of staff goes well. Anything can go wrong with any one of these tasks and it is unlikely the business owner will have experience in all these areas.

Increasingly too businesses are using freelancers and other self-employed personnel for critical business functions. That is nothing new and has worked well in many organisations over the years, whether on a temporary basis, for example agency staff in care homes to fill staffing gaps or on an introductory basis where a live-in care company introduces live-in carers to prospective clients but then the contract is between carer and client (see liveincarehub.co.uk)

So businesses can be successful, and one success factor is providing the right environment for the employees or those who work on a freelance/self-employed basis. This is why, we have produced a guide that will help you hire the best team members and manage them effectively for your business project.

The ultimate list of small business tax tips

If there is one thing that most business owners can agree on; it is the fact that they hate taxes. Of course, no one likes feeling like they are giving money away. However, this is not the only problem. Company… Continue Reading →

Don’t make these common start-up mistakes

When just starting up your business, it is not uncommon for mistakes to be made, especially if this is your first company. After all, you are on somewhat of a learning adventure. If you make a mistake, you simply need to acknowledge where you have gone wrong and do your best to rectify the problem. Nevertheless, there are some common start-up errors that can cause huge problems for your business. These are the types of problems that you really need to try and avoid altogether. With that being said, read on to discover some of the common start-up errors that could kill your business.

Selecting an unsuitable investor

You may discover a decrease in your cash reserves once your business begins to gain some traction. When in growth mode, you may need to apply for a loan or raise outside capital. There is one important rule to keep in mind, and this is the fact that not all cash is equal. There are a whole range of different types of loans available and other ways to raise funds and all have advantages and disadvantages so scrutinise all potential deals to make sure they are 100 per cent suitable for your situation.

Choosing the wrong premises

For some businesses it is essential to have a certain type of premises in the right location. For instance a high-end retail outlet is unlikely to be successful on an industrial estate, similarly the clients of a high value services company would expect to be able to visit suitable upmarket offices. But many businesses do not require these sorts of expensive premises and could save money by using self-storage units instead of expensive warehouses or be based in a business hub rather than committing to a long term rental of dedicated office space. There will be plenty of time for smart locations once your business is a success so don’t waste money now where you don’t need to.

Using Emotional Intelligence To Improve Your Leadership Skills

In order to be an excellent leader you must have a high degree of emotional intelligence. Here we look at using emotional intelligence to improve your leadership skills. To be able to set up and successfully grow a business, leadership… Continue Reading →

Challenges faced by small family businesses

While there are many benefits associated with running a family business, this type of firm also has its unique set of problems and challenges. People often like doing business with family firms, as they feel they get a more personal… Continue Reading →

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