Product development is an essential part of any business. Big businesses normally have dedicated teams for product development, whereas small businesses won’t often have the funds for this. However it is essential that small businesses still invest in product development as it will help the business grow and expand.
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Updates
A franchise agreement is a binding contract between the franchisor and the franchisee of a franchise. It’s a lengthy document of around 40/50 pages and it requires a thorough inspection as you need to make sure you fully understand all terms and conditions of the agreement, to avoid any surprises. The agreement will highlight all the expectations and obligations that your franchisor will have of you.
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Having a good working environment and invoking team spirit in your staff will allow you to have a more successful business and a strong team. Teamwork and being a team player is becoming increasingly important as working with others can produce better results and ideas to innovate businesses.
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It’s energy saving week this week and in honour of this we have compiled a list of ways you can help save energy. You can also save money for your small business by making some of these small changes. So saving energy is a win win situation, enabling you to save the planet as well as money.
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Lots of businesses want to raise funds – very few are actually successful. This is because the job of fundraising is poorly understood. And to make matters worse, raising funds is more of an art than a science. Before you start on the fundraising journey the most important step is to identify whether you need equity or debt – or a combination. Clive Hyman FCA, the founder of Hyman Capital Services explains the difference between the two and what is suitable to your business.
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Access to funding is a major concern for many small businesses. At a time when there is so much uncertainty about the direction of the UK’s economy, not having the money needed to keep going or grow can cause anxiety for a lot of companies. One of the most common reasons behind a lack of money is reluctance from banks to offer business loans.
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Pricing your products and services may seem pretty simple and straightforward, however you have to put in research and time in order to get it right. You will need to make sure that your product and service are priced at an optimum level, in order to get the best profit. There needs to be a balance of quality and affordability in what you are selling to attract the right customers.
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Working from home may be a distant dream for many, however if you are lucky enough to be living that dream of working at home, then you will need a good office space. More and more people are starting to take advantage of working from home, and deciding to ditch chaotic commutes.
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So you’re starting a new business? What a crazy thing! I mean, you’re up against established brands, multi-million pound budgets, vast resources and a retail and supply network that’s well entrenched. What makes you think you can succeed? Rafael Rozenson, the CEO & Founder of Vieve (a protein water brand), answers all these questions from personal experience and gives his top five tips to compete with the big companies.
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Forecasting sales is essential, from the very beginning of your business venture. You will need to forecast sales at the stages of when you are putting together your business plan. Any potential investors will need to see the sales forecasts to see how well a business is predicted to perform.
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In our latest success story, we talk to Temi Alanamy co-founder of a nutrition based app called Whatsinit?. She talks about the biggest lessons learnt and how having a partner can challenge you to do better.
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When you are trying to expand your small business, money can be tight and yet you know that you need to market your company to help reach your goals. Some small businesses and start-ups spend a fortune on their marketing strategy but when you don’t have that luxury, there are some low budget ideas that could inject some life into your marketing campaigns.
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Starting a business requires vision, determination and careful planning. Unless you are a one-man band, you’ll need people to help take your business forward. Get workforce planning wrong and you could end up going nowhere.
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Once you have surpassed the point of starting up your business you will want to start growing it. You can do this by increasing and improving your revenue growth, which will lead to an increase in profits, allowing you to expand by reinvesting in your business.
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You can consider a contingency plan as a plan B or a course of actions to take if disaster strikes. You could be hit with a natural disaster such as a hurricane or a flood or it could be a technical disaster like loss of data or a data breach. Creating a contingency plan will help you prepare you and your business for any potential risks/dangers.
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Smartphones have become a necessity in today’s society, for some they have become an extension of the body. From waking you up in the morning with alarm apps to having a late night scroll through your social media. Small businesses need to take into consideration how much time people spend on their phones, especially shopping via smartphones.
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To run a business and to do it well you need to have a certain skill set. Being an entrepreneur is rewarding, and although you may not have all these skills it doesn’t mean you can’t start your own business. The list of skills will give you an idea of what is needed to run a business successfully. Also, running a business is a continuous learning process, and you are bound to pick up skills on the journey of being a business owner.
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Theresa May made a speech at the Conservative party conference, which some have labelled as ‘disastrous’, however she did manage to address the contribution of small businesses to the UK economy briefly.
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Starting up can be a very expensive endeavour and you need to keep costs low so you don’t overspend. This will decide the survival of your business so ensuring that you are cutting costs where possible and just keeping costs low in general will ensure the business is kept afloat. In this article you will be given manageable tips to make sure that you are spending on necessities rather than extra luxuries (unless you can really afford them).
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Unless you’re an expert or very good at using computers, you might have heard the term ‘web hosting’ but not quite understood what it means. However, if you run a website, it’s important that you do. In essence, you can imagine it a bit like this: your website is a book, and in order for anyone to come across it and read it, you’ll need it to be hosted on a shelf. That’s what you can think of your host as – a very high-tech shelf.
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