With a £250, 000 prize money for business investment up for grabs, as well as partnership with Lord Sugar, the Apprentice is a huge business opportunity for the candidates. With only one week left of the battle to win Lord Sugar over, the show is coming to a close. The two finalists have been revealed, James White and Sarah Lynn, despite one of them being fired from their previous job.
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Running a business is no small feat, though with the right finances, support, and expertise, most challenges can be overcome. But while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owners might possess proficiency in their specialist field, how do they secure sufficient cash flow and support to setup a long-term and prosperous business model? These are the biggest challenges businesses faced in 2017 – but technology is making it easier to solve them.
Setting up a business venture is an exciting time. Armed with a solid business plan and the drive and determination to succeed, it’s time to see your ideas finally take shape. Whether your business is a local retail outlet, a graphic design consultancy or a mobile hairdresser, there’s a lot to think about and your start-up budget will be stretched every which way to get ready for launch.
One of the main balancing acts over the festive break is ensuring that as many staff as possible can have time off to enjoy Christmas and New Year with their families, whilst still maintaining customer service.
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As Brits, weather is not usually on our side. However, when you run a business and are faced with severe weather conditions such as several inches of snow, there are only certain things you can do. There are a few ways of mitigating the effects of bad weather on businesses, and of course they will vary. If you are a blogger, you might work from home and snow may have minimal effect on your day to day business. On the other hand, if you run a coffee shop on a high-street, then getting customers and staff through the door will pose a challenge.
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The end of the year is often a quiet time for non-retail focused companies, as staff and management look forward to Christmas and the New Year and begin to wind down in anticipation. This can mean that big decisions are left for January. By and large this makes sense; there’s little reason to institute changes which won’t really go into full effect until January or beyond.
Paternity leave is a hot topic in HR. This guide will help small business owners determine whether their employees are eligible for paternity leave, the statutory allowance and pay they are entitled to, as well as providing information on shared parental leave, extra pay or time off, and antenatal appointments. [continue reading…]
Over the last couple of years Instagram has become huge. Boasting 800 million active monthly users, it is the second most popular social media network, after Facebook. Instagram is already heavily utilised by businesses to attract new customers, clients and building connections, so small businesses definitely need to take note of this and get on Instagram as soon as possible to reap the benefits of their huge user base.
Twitter is one of the biggest social media platforms, competing with the likes of Instagram and Facebook. A presence on Twitter is essential for small businesses to have, and utilise, to extend the reach of their business. Twitter currently has 330 million monthly active users, that’s a huge pool of people to reach and share your business story with. From tweeting about current affairs to creating personalised hashtags, Twitter really does have something great to offer small businesses.
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Besides your usual marketing strategy, have you ever thought about alternative ways to drum up interest in your business? Holding a successful workshop to teach others your area of expertise could be just what you need to capture a new audience in your field, as well as meeting new people that could soon become colleagues.
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing any young tech company trying to grow its business, is to ensure that the enterprise is operating to the best of its ability – efficient, dynamic and prepared to make the most of market opportunities.
The price of leased lines is dropping – making them more accessible and affordable. A leased line is a permanent network connection between two points; typically the local telephone exchange (also known as the PoP – the Internet Service Providers Point of Presence) and a company’s premises, and they offer an ‘uncontended service’, i.e. the connection is completely dedicated to you.
Facebook is the biggest social media platform that’s in use today, and it’s growing in many ways. With 2 billion monthly active users, the potential reach for your business could be huge. A Facebook page for your small business will help you be found, as well as allowing you to connect with your customers and clients. What better way to get started on your social media marketing than joining the biggest social media network?
People can get angry anywhere, whether it’s on the street or at work, anger is a natural emotion. However, it is essential to diffuse anger in the workplace to avoid any irreparable damage that may occur. Anger is a normal reaction, it could be directed towards another employee, or an employee might be angry at themselves. In order to ensure minimum damage, its best to address the anger and use techniques of emotional intelligence to diffuse the anger in the work place.
The Brits have started adopting American retail/shopping holidays in the recent years, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday being huge hits with the shoppers. Another retail holiday is making its way in the UK, the Small Business Saturday. It has been inspired by the American Small Business Saturday, which takes place traditionally the Saturday after Thanksgiving. However in the UK, Small Business Saturday will be celebrated in the upcoming weekend, on Saturday 2nd of December.
Stand out from the crowd and bring something new and unique to the market is something that is essential for start-ups do. Making something different whether it is a product or the way you deliver a service will help you outshine and stand against your competitors. Small businesses have corporate giants as well as independent small businesses as competitors, therefore they have to work extra hard at being memorable and different. [continue reading…]
The coffee shop business industry in the UK is expanding, and it is expected to be worth around £15 billion by 2020. This will see the rise of about 10,000 outlets in the upcoming three years. With room for you to thrive, opening a coffee shop now could be ideal for you. Coffee shops are well in demand with sleep-deprived Brits inclined to purchase a cup of coffee or two throughout the day. There is, however, the stellar competition that coffee shops owners will face from large chains such as Costa and Starbucks as well as the many independent coffee shops who are offering a unique experience to stand out.
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As the festive season gets underway, many businesses will start to enter a few weeks of spending on items and events that were unplanned or not in their initial budgets. It can add a significant dent in your profitability if steps aren’t taken to ensure your company doesn’t let spending get out of control. Small business owners need to ensure that they keep Christmas costs in check.
As children, there was always time for naps, cloud-watching, or simply to lie around and just ‘be’. But as business owners it can feel as though there simply isn’t the time to kickback, explore, play, and dare we say, go on an adventure. There is always more work to do on the business!
Have you invested heavily in your website only to find that those leads you thought would be flowing in, are simply not coming? You are not alone. Tim Butler, the founder of Innovation Visual gives you 10 of the fastest ways to improve the performance of your website. Small business owners need to make sure that that their website is optimised so take note of these tips to make your website perform better.
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