The Hertfordshire Business Independent Issue 7

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SIMON DOLAN Hertfordshire’s very own Twitter Dragon talks entrepreneurship BUSINESS MONEY

Interview with Ian Urquhart, Regional Commercial Director for HSBC’s Central and Eastern region

BUSINESS LAW

Everything you need to know before setting up your business

HEALTH FOCUS

Founder of RaphaYad Bioenergy Healing, Michael Cohen, looks back on his success in becoming an internationally-respected bioenergy healer CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS WITH NLP NLP expert Lindsey Agness gives her tips on how you can change your business for the better

BUSINESS SPECIAL HBI takes a look at some of Africa’s most successful business people to mark Nigeria’s 50th Anniversary of Independence

issue October 2010

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CONTENTS NEWS A roundup of the latest business news and stories from our region

INTERVIEW : SIMON DOLAN Hertfordshire’s very own Twitter Dragon talks entrepreneurship

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FOCUS This months focus is on Stevenage

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FEATURE Extraordinary Ones founder Leon Aarts tells HBI about the latest book he has just published with St Albans based Book Midwife® Mindy Gibbins-Klein

CAREER FOCUS Becoming a digital coach

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ASK THE EXPERTS This month our expert panel discuss some tips on building your business

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SALES COLUMN Andy Preston talks over things you can do to increase your sales right now

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TECHNOLOGY HBI takes a look at some of the latest gadgets on the market

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OUT OF HOURS Come inside, take a look, visit Fawsley Hall!

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NETWORKING Regular contributor Andy Lopata shares his thoughts on Networking

33 DRIVE

Take a spin in the brand new Squire Saab

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CONTRIBUTORS

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CONTACTS MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon George EDITOR Jenna Gould editor@businessindependent.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS Becky Lewis Terry Sullivan Jade Stoner Sandra Hart Andy Preston Andy Lopata Lindsey Agness Clare Waller Mindy Gibbins-Klein Leon Aarts Michael Cohen Sally Astling Ogo Ogbata DESIGNER Karen Birch www.velvetagency.com

ADVERTISING Terry Sullivan terry@businessindependent.co.uk

Sona Shah sona@businessindependent.co.uk TEL : 0844 358 5800 www.businessindependent.co.uk

Published by : Business Independent Ltd. Old Batford Mill Lower Luton Road Harpenden Hertfordshire AL5 5BZ

COPYRIGHT Copyright: 2010 Business Independent Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the publishers. The views expressed in any of the Business Independent series of regional magazines are not necessarily the views of the publishers Business Independent Ltd. Whilst Business Independent Ltd has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, neither they norany contributing author can accept any legal responsibility for any consequences that may arise from errors or omissions contained in this publication or from acting on any opinions or advice given.

In particular, this publication is general and not a substitute for professional advice and you should consult your own professional advisors where appropriate.

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EDITOR’S WELCOME Welcome to the October issue of The Hertfordshire Business Independent. With Christmas fast approaching, it can be tricky to keep your eye on the ball and stay focused on bringing in the business.

Many people claim that September to December is a ‘duff’ period for winning new business and generating sales. But many of the people I am speaking to are clearly saying otherwise. So in this issue, we are staying positive and looking towards business growth NOW and not just from January 2011! We are welcomed this issue by multi-millionaire businessman Simon Dolan, also known as the Twitter Dragon, who will be revealing his secrets to success! We also explore how to build a business from the ground up with the help of our experts in Ask The Experts. If you are already running a successful and thriving business, we look at how NLP can help boost your business and motivate your team. We also explore the potential for new careers and explore how to become a digital coach and hear first hand how one bio-energy practitioner was able to build a world-renowned business from scratch.

Have a great October and here’s to winning more business in time for Christmas!

Happy reading as always! - Jenna : Jenna Gould : Editor

LOCAL COMPANY LEADS THE WAY ON FLEXIBLE WORKING AND WINS NATIONAL AWARD TJL Marketing based in St Albans and Harpenden, Hertfordshire has been recognised for its groundbreaking business model in a national award.

Marketing Executive Tracy Light was named runner up in the prestigious Remote Worker Awards, in association with BT Business. The BlackBerry Remote Employer Award is aimed at identifying and honouring budding enterprisers who have proved how home working and remote working has improved their business.

Mum Tracy set up the business seven years ago to give highly skilled marketing and PR professionals the chance to work in an exciting and challenging industry without the constraints of a nine to five day.

Tracy is passionate about providing high level, flexible work opportunities: “There are many skilled individuals who want to work but are unable to do a traditional working day,” she said.

TJL Marketing does not just employ mothers. Tracy Light strongly believes that all employees, where possible, should be able to work flexibly including working dads and people without children. “We have some people in our team who run a business themselves too which is complementary to our work,” said Tracy Light.

The Awards are unique as they are the only business awards recognising employers for their flexible working solutions and employees for showing that remote and home based working can improve business productivity, improve work life balance and help the environment.

HSBC REVEALS BUSINESS THINKING FINALISTS Companies across the region are celebrating as they are announced as the regional finalists in an HSBC initiative to find the UK’s most innovative and forward-thinking companies.

The announcement brings the businesses one step closer to the prize of up to £5 million in lending, plus a financial reward of up to £100,000.

The regional finalists include Allied Comline Ltd, Bedfordshire and Teleadapt Group Ltd, Hertfordshire alongside 4 others. Finalists have been invited to attend an international Thought Exchange visit to one the worlds’ most dynamic areas of economic growth – China.

Following their return from China, the six regional finalists will take part in a second phase of the Business Thinking 2010 initiative which will see each of them present a refined business case based on insights gained on the Thought Exchange. The presentation will be judged by HSBC’s panel of experts, and two winners in the Central and Eastern region will receive up to £5 million in lending plus a financial reward of up to £100,000 each.

ST ALBANS WOMAN NAMED BUSINESS HERO IN BARCLAYS TRADING PLACES AWARDS Local entrepreneur, Anisha Koshal, has been named one of Britain’s most inspirational business women 17 months after setting up on her own.

In December 2008, Anisha was made redundant from her City job. Coming to terms with unemployment wasn’t easy but 28-year-old Anisha was determined to pick herself up by starting her own business.

The idea of opening her own spa began to take root. Anisha used her redundancy package for the initial investment, and with the support of her husband Amit, she launched The Cove Spa in April 2009, a relaxing holistic environment offering wellbeing, nutritional advice and advanced skin care treatments.

In its second year of trading, the business is well established and turning over a healthy profit. Now Anisha is hoping to win a share of the £50,000 prize package in the 2010 Barclays Trading Places Awards, which recognises people who have beaten the odds to succeed in business.

Barclays will present the overall winner with a cheque for £10,000, and the runner-up with £5,000 for their business, at a prestigious black-tie gala dinner at The Savoy in London on Tuesday 30th November to be attended by more than 300 VIP guests.

This year there is also a special award and a cheque for £3,500, courtesy of Barclays, for the Trading Places finalist whose business is helping local people by putting something back into the community.

LOCAL BUSINESS EXPANDING THROUGH RECESSION Hoddesson based agency and print specialist N2 Visual Communications has fared well throughout the recession, celebrating a successful expansion, ISO certification, a growth in its number of staff, and the purchase of new machinery.

Rustin Clark became part of the N2 Visual Communications Group at the end of 2009, bringing its prestigious clients, which include Faberge and The Royal College of Nursing, with it. This is a further expansion to the Group, which also includes Robert Martins.

N2 is proud to say that new clients also now include the Teenage Cancer Trust, which is the company’s chosen charity for 2010. N2’s creative team also created the identity for its newly launched fundraiser day, Rock Your Shades, which will take place each May. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 were gained in April this year, which relate to Quality and Environmental Management. We are incredibly proud of this achievement, especially as ISO 14001 Environmental Management is very hard to achieve as a print company.

Investment has also continued throughout this year, N2 having recruited four people locally to become part of the team, and purchasing two new items of state-of-the-art machinery; a Roland SolJET XC-540 PRO III Print and Cut for large format needs, and a Xerox 700 for the highest quality brochures, mailing and speciality products.

LOCAL BUSINESS HELPS WORKING PARENTS Local businesses in the Bedfordshire area are helping families who are feeling the pinch from the recent recession by offering their employees tax-saving Imagine Co-operative Childcare vouchers.

The vouchers enable each working parent to take up to £2916 per year tax and National Insurance free from their salary in order to pay for registered childcare.

Imagine Co-operative Childcare vouchers are exempt from both tax and National Insurance, which means any business no matter what its size can offer their staff access to high quality, affordable care for their child.

The voucher scheme enables each working parent to make a maximum saving per year of £1195, which significantly helps out with the annual childcare budget.

With the standard rate of VAT on the increase, the cost of childcare is set to rise by an average of £400 per year so voucher schemes like the Imagine Co-operative programme can really help local parents make big savings.

The vouchers are accepted nationally at a wide range of registered childcare providers for the care of children up to the age of 15, or 16 for those with disabilities.

70% of professionals in the financial and legal sectors believe the worst effects of the recession are still with us, according to a recent poll by FRP Advisory LLP, the restructuring, recovery and insolvency specialist with a location in St Albans. The firm surveyed more than 100 senior managers and partners from banks, commercial lenders and law firms over the summer.

Commenting on the findings, Mike Young, Location Head at FRP Advisory in St Albans, said: “The slow recovery, threat of spending cuts and general uncertainty are all taking their toll on business; and despite the better than expected growth in the second quarter the Treasury remains only “cautiously optimistic” The fragile nature of this recovery is leading many businesses to stay in “recessionary” mode; scrutinising spend and forecasting only modest growth.

“This means the worst effects of the recession: unemployment, low confidence and flattened performance remain, and are likely to linger for some time”.

The ever changing economic landscape makes it even more important that managers get the right advice at the first signs of any trading difficulties. With a still reticent lending community, companies need to be on the front-foot with sound business planning and cash flow forecasts, should they be making any approach for funding.

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NEWS

POST-RECESSION HANGOVER WILL LINGER

HALF OF BUSINESSES TO RECRUIT MORE STAFF AS CONFIDENCE GROWS

LOCAL FIRM SHORTLISTED AS FINALIST IN MAJOR AWARDS SCHEME One of Bishop’s Stortford’s best known lettings agents is hopeful for success in a prestigious awards scheme organised by the estate agency journal The Negotiator.

Belvoir Lettings, which has an office on Newtown Road in Bishop’s Stortford, is just one of six companies to be short listed in the ‘National Lettings Agency Of The Year’ category of The Negotiator Awards 2010. The scheme is recognised as the leading nationwide estate agency awards scheme in the UK and aims to recognise and reward excellence and best practice throughout the industry.

The winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony to be held at the Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane on Wednesday 10 November when the host for the evening will be TV and radio comedian Fred MacAulay.

Belvoir managing director Dorian Gonsalves said: “This is an extremely important awards scheme and merely to be short listed for the final is in itself recognition of the high standards maintained by the 140 plus nationwide network of Belvoir franchisees”.

Clare Bettelley, editor of The Negotiator, said: “The Negotiator Awards were designed to identify, reward and celebrate industry excellence and promote best practice, so we’re delighted to, once again, be able to organise and host a ceremony that continues to do just that”.

The nomination for Belvoir Lettings follows hot on the heels of the company receiving a Gold award in the Best Lettings Agency of the Year Awards scheme organised by The Times and Sunday Times.

66 PER CENT OF BUSINESSES IN THE EAST OF ENGLAND ARE NOT BEING PAID ON TIME

Almost half of businesses in the South East plan to increase their workforce over the next 12 months, according to new research issued by Clydesdale Bank.

According to the research, almost the same number of the companies surveyed are confident their business will grow during the next year while 39% believe their business will continue to operate at current levels.

The research also found that businesses recognise the importance of investing in their existing workforce with almost half identifying staff retention and recruitment as their key priority for the year with training following closely.

Will Lindsay, Regional Director South for Clydesdale Bank, commented: “The research appears to indicate that recruitment and training are beginning to re-emerge as key priorities for UK businesses as they look to the future and plan if, and how, they will take advantage of any emerging opportunities. By investing in their workforce when the time is right, businesses are helping to pave the way for growth and future success”.

A LIFELINE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE A-Level and GCSE results have been announced, with even higher grades, but unfortunately so is the number of young people in their teens and twenties disappointed and unhappy about their job/career prospects.

Places at university are more difficult than ever to achieve, students leaving universities cannot find suitable employment/careers and those with good GCSE results are wondering if the ‘A-Level to university’ route is worth the hassle.

The real education result this year is a bad one - over 100,000 students did not gain university places and there are many more young people who need valuable advice on what to do next, what career path to follow and whether to rethink their original plans.

Most school and college staff are under enormous pressure and simply do not have either the time or capability of giving in-depth career advice at this crucial stage.

A Hertfordshire based company, who celebrated its first birthday in business on September 29th is Kids2Work - an organisation that does precisely what its name implies - it provides a lifeline for work-searching young people across the county. It also helps people still in education by preparing them to make sure that when they leave school or university they really stand out from the crowd.

Sally Wells, who set up the company, is a professional business woman who has for 15 years worked for a major recruitment group and for the past 7, run her own recruitment business. During this period Sally has helped thousands of young people find their first jobs and has now sold the business to run her new company Kids2Work.

Sally has helped people into a range of professions from recruitment to IT and marketing to training as a Norland Nanny.

An independently commissioned survey has found that 66 per cent of businesses in the East of England are not getting paid on time, with 21 per cent stating that it is because they are now more likely to accept excuses from late paying customers than before the recession hit. It also found that 6 per cent of businesses would avoid chasing debts because they are worried about losing business.

The research commissioned by www.positivecollections. co.uk, the online debt recovery service for businesses and consumers, surveyed 260 business professionals across a number of industry sectors and also found that 28 per cent of businesses in the East of England would try to chase debts but avoid legal debt collection enforcement as it is expensive.

Small to medium sized businesses across the UK are the most prone to suffer from late payers with 74 per cent stating that they are likely to accept late payment excuses.

The fact that so many businesses in the UK, especially in the East of England, have become accepting of this ‘late payment culture’ is certainly a cause for concern as this has implications on the whole business community and economy.

In some cases, there will be genuine reasons for late payments which are unavoidable but businesses

shouldn’t accept this as somehow ‘inevitable’ or the ‘norm’ because there are ways to combat this and

keep your credit control in good shape. Chasing debts can be a frustrating and an often awkward

process for many business owners but, seeking legal action is rarely an option for some businesses due

to the costs associated with it.

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ST ALBANS CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS EXHIBIT LOCAL ARTWORK Williamson Morton Thornton (WMT), advisory, tax, audit, accounting and corporate finance specialists based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, are delighted that local artists Katharina Kubrick and Annie Larner have joined them in celebrating their recent management buyout and the formation of WMT by exhibiting a selection of their art and calligraphy collection.

Katharina, the daughter of Stanley Kubrick, has contributed to the exhibition a number of giclée prints of her original oil paintings, which are individually produced, high-resolution, high-fidelity reproductions done on a special large format printer, whilst Annie has produced a selection of thought provoking quotations in various free flowing styles of calligraphy.

MARKETING GURUS LAUNCH THE FUTURE OF CLIENT ATTRACTIONS

The Marketing Compass has launched an interactive website which enables small business owners to benefit from a complete customer attraction system. The online community is exclusively for independent professionals and small businesses: www.marketingcompass.co.uk Founder Nigel Temple says “Anyone running a small enterprise is busy! They need to attract more customers via proven techniques. Our new website is the place to discuss and ask marketing questions and receive expert advice. Topics include marketing strategy, internet marketing, websites, copywriting and customer attraction. The ability to ask questions and get expert answers is a considerable benefit of membership”.

Members have access to a goldmine of marketing knowledge and tools, such as an online marketing plan, monthly teleseminars, seminars, monthly marketing guides and nudges throughout the year to help them to keep focused on their marketing.

To celebrate the launch of the new interactive marketing community, The Marketing Compass is offering new Navigator members a series of additional benefits. There is also the chance to win tailored marketing advice with marketing guru Nigel Temple.

“As a business owner you have to be excellent at marketing. You can spend hours searching the web looking for the silver bullet. Or you can enlist the cost effective help of The Marketing Compass - who not only advise on what you should do, but demonstrate the effectiveness of their methods by doing it all themselves.” Dave Clarke, CEO, NRG Business Networks “I’ve found that being a member of The Marketing Compass has been like having a ‘marketing transplant’. Before I joined I didn’t have a marketing bone in my body! I feel that over the past year I’ve taken on board the help and guidance that has been offered and the transplant has been ‘taken’.” Margi Ross, The Conscious Feminine

The fifteenth Alworths store was opened in the former Woolworths premises at 16 Maidenhead Street on 22nd September, creating 10 jobs for the town.

Alworths is a general retailer that meets the demand for traditional high street shopping. It stocks a great range of products at value for money prices, including branded toys, games, DVDs and a huge variety of pic ‘n’ mix. Throughout the year it offers different seasonal lines and there’s also a wide choice of stationery, cards, party accessories and gift wrap. For the home and garden, it stocks an assortment of practical and decorative products, along with haberdashery and branded household convenience purchases.

Alworths Ltd has been created by Andy Latham, ex-Head of Store and Concessions Development at Woolworths, along with a team of 15, nine of whom are former Woolworths colleagues, working alongside him at Alworths’ Head Office in Redhill, Surrey.

Latham says: “We’re really excited to be launching in Hertford. This will be our fifteenth store and we hope it will be well received by the local community.

Alworths will be a local department store on the high street with a great range of products at value for money prices”.

HERTFORSDSHIRE COUPLE NAMED BUSINESS HERO IN BARCLAYS TRADING PLACES AWARDS Local husband and wife team, Stephen and Angela Nutt, have been named two of Britain’s most inspirational entrepreneurs after setting up on their own.

Now Stephen and Angela are hoping to win a share of the £50,000 prize package in the 2010 Barclays Trading Places Awards, which recognises people who have beaten the odds to succeed in business.

When Stephen was made redundant in March 1996, he and his wife Angela decided to start their own business. Becoming self-employed can be a major challenge for anyone, but for Stephen and Angela there is the added factor that they are both blind.

Stephen had always been interested in the technology that was available to improve the quality of life for people who are visually impaired. Turning that interest into a business led to the creation of Computer Room Services in October that year. The company provides computer support, software and hardware services, including voice enabled document readers, specifically designed for the blind.

The success of the company is down to Stephen and Angela’s determination and hard work alone, and they have not received any outside assistance in setting up and running their business.

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NEWS

‘ALWORTHS’ TO OPEN IN HERTFORD

SIMON DOLAN THE MILLION POUND JOURNEY HERTFORDSHIRE ENTREPRENEUR SIMON DOLAN STARTED OUT HIS LUCRATIVE CAREER IN THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND AGED JUST 13 NOW HE OWNS 17 COMPANIES WORTH OVER £65 MILLION FROM AN AIRLINE AND A MOTOR RACING TEAM TO AN ACCOUNTANCY FIRM HE HAS RECENTLY BEEN DESCRIBED AS A ‘TWITTER DRAGON,’ AS HE INVITES BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS TO PITCH HIM THEIR INITIAL BUSINESS IDEAS IN 140 CHARACTERS, THROUGH TWITTER

HBI caught up with Simon as he talks entrepreneurship, motor racing and his new book.

Now that you have been dubbed a ‘Dragon’, have you ever thought about teaming up with the others at Dragon’s Den?

It was when I was aged about 10 and had bought a large box of trading cards at a boot sale. These cards proved very popular at school so I sold them to my fellow pupils for 50p each. A mark-up of about 1000%! I also worked on the local market as a youth on the cheese and egg stall complete with 5AM starts! The owner was something of a mentor to me, and instilled a set of values I hold to this day. He knew every customer by name, and always had time for them. As a result there were queues around the block. The stall is still there to this day.

As you own a variety of different companies, do you have a favourite?

For pure fun I would have to say my motor racing team, Aston Martin Jota Sport. SJD Accountancy, which is based in Hemel Hempstead was my first company, and therefore holds a special place for me. The companies I have invested in recently are all exciting and have a real buzz about them so are fun to work on.

Tell us a little more about the concept of being a ‘Twitter Dragon’.

I announced last year that I was entering the angel investor arena and almost immediately I was inundated with proposals which had clearly taken a long time to put together and which I simply did not have time to read properly. This got me thinking about ways of simplifying the process which is when making use of Twitter came to mind. I decided to take the idea of the 30 second, ‘elevator pitch,’ to the next level by inviting entrepreneurs to grab my attention by pitching me their initial business idea through Twitter, in 140 characters. I have received hundreds of pitches to date including one for an oil field in Iraq, and have invested in a total of five companies.

Is supporting others with entrepreneurship something that is important to you and why?

Yes it is. When I was starting out, the only support I had was credit cards. There are plenty of support mechanisms in place today through entrepreneur support networks like RAW Business, but on the flip side lending from banks is difficult to come by for upcoming entrepreneurs. I’m working with the Shell Livewire Awards in October which is an event providing mentoring and funding to the brightest young entrepreneurs. It’s hard when you are starting out, which is why I’m always happy to provide support. .

Is there a particular area that you look out for, or do you tend to look out for projects that are the most daring or different?

The areas I have invested in so far have varied tremendously, from music, to publishing, to aviation, to lifestyle products. When looking at the projects on the table, I always look at the people behind it first, and then the product that they are offering. The people behind a business are the people that make it a success. I’d rather have an average idea and exceptional people, than an exceptional idea and average people any day.

If someone comes up with a unique idea, that’s fantastic. But a business can also be successful if there are rivals in the marketplace, as long as they are offering a better service than their rivals.

Which Dragon would you like to invest with and why?

I always admired Richard Farleigh when he was on the show. Of the current Dragons, I like the way Duncan Bannatyne conducts himself and he is a very savvy operator. I’m on the judging panel with him at an awards ceremony soon, so this will be a good opportunity to find out a bit more about him.

You are also a keen racing car driver.

What is your involvement with that and have you ever thought of a career change?

I am in a fortunate position in that I own, as well as race for a team called Aston Martin Jota Sport. We participate in races all over Europe and beyond which is great fun. I got into it when my wife was struggling to find a Christmas present for me and ended up buying a track day. After that I was hooked. I would love to be a professional driver, but I also enjoy being an entrepreneur so the balance is just right at the moment! That said, if Lewis or Jensen decide to retire from Formula 1, the McLaren team know where I am!

Are there any secrets to a successful business?

Initially it comes down to passion and desire. Particularly in the early days of starting a business, you are likely to be working regular 18 hour days. You’ve got to really want it to put in that kind of graft, otherwise what would be the point?

Once you have established your business the next step is employing the right staff. It’s not easy to put your trust in other people when you have put in so much effort yourself in the early days, but if you employ people with a special spark, who you feel can take your business forward, it can be the making of a company.

What have you got planned for the next few months?

I’ve got a book coming out at the end of this month called ‘How to Make Millions Without a Degree’. It looks at my experience of education, and leaving school at 16, but also offers a guide for would be entrepreneurs, as well as parents about how it is still possible to make a success of oneself, even if you do not necessarily fit into the academic environment. I’ll be looking at making further investments in fledgling companies as well.

What is your motto?

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you are probably right.

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INTERVIEW : SIMON DOLAN

When did you first discover your entrepreneurial spirit?

I’m actually working with someone at the moment who found fame on Dragon’s Den. You may remember Rachel Lowe from the first series? She was a taxi driving, law student and single Mother from Portsmouth who came up with the idea for a board game called, ‘Destination.’ She was laughed out of the Den by the Dragons, but she went on to make a great success of the game, even making it Hamley’s number one Christmas seller. She signed a deal to make the official Harry Potter, ‘Destination Hogwarts,’ game, but when the film it was associated with was delayed by a year, she ran into financial difficulties and the company folded. After a very difficult period for her, she is now getting back on her feet and I am working with her on a project called, ‘She Who Dares,’ which is an inspirational women’s brand that says, ‘I believe in you’.

ACCESS TO FINANCE IAN URQUHART

REGIONAL COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN REGION, INCLUDING HERTFORDSHIRE

THE CURRENT CLIMATE

The economic climate has posed a number of challenges to businesses in Hertfordshire over the past two years and the financial support a business has is imperative to ensuring it can succeed on the road to recovery. Having sufficient financial resources available is a key factor for success and it is important for businesses to talk to their banks and to ensure they are prepared for the future.

The British Bankers Association (BBA) has recently released findings claiming that SMEs are finding it difficult to obtain bank loans. However, our research shows that appetite for lending is actually very low, with as little as 9 per cent of British SMEs currently seeking finance for growth (HSBC Global Confidence Index Monitor).

WHAT ARE WE SEEING?

Despite this, so far this year, HSBC’s new term lending to SMEs has grown by over 35 per cent compared to 2009 and we believe that businesses need to look for finance to succeed throughout the economic upturn. As such, we’re encouraging businesses in Hertfordshire to take a longer term approach, consider their plans for the future and ensure they have the right financial provision to help them achieve their plans.

One of our customers, home furnishing company Ashley Wilde Group, has done just that – using its appointment as a London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic licensee as a springboard for its future plans and growth. The company, based in Welham Green, wants to take advantage of opportunities in new markets as appetite for celebrity products increases overseas. We are working with the company to make sure it has the right financial provision in place to achieve this, providing it with working capital to support the manufacture and distribution of products as demand grows.

But what do other businesses in Hertfordshire need to think about when it comes to financial planning, and seeking support for future opportunities from their bank?

Banks are often asked the criteria for businesses gaining finance. When deciding on whether to lend to a business, HSBC looks at each company on a case-by-case basis. When making lending decisions we are looking to support firms with good cash flow management, a strong balance sheet, a sound business plan, a well-balanced management team, a good business record, and who are looking to develop and grow. There are a few main things the bank will be interested in seeing when making decisions about funding.

PERFECTING A BUSINESS PLAN

First and foremost, an up to date business plan is crucial. This is essential both for businesses that are established and seeking funding for further projects or expansion plans, or for those interested in start up finance. Business plans should be regularly updated and provide logical, clear rationale for funding requests.

Within the plan, it is particularly important to provide details of the business’ historical financial performance, highlighting key figures and trends and providing explanations of anything unusual. In addition, details should be provided of the current financial year and forecasts for the next few years. Banks will expect to see up to three year forecasts and a clear business strategy.

THE ROLE OF CASHFLOW

Businesses should always take cashflow into consideration. Cash flow budgets should be kept up to date and businesses should focus on when they will receive payment for invoices, to stay on top of budgets and plan ahead.

Cash flow needs to be sustainable and sufficient to cover funding costs, with an appropriate margin for safety. Plans often exclude ‘what if’ scenarios, but an ability to demonstrate the business can cope with emergencies will always be viewed positively by the bank.

IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE AND RELATIONSHIPS

A business should have a strong, ongoing relationship with their financial provider. It is a good idea to have a regular contact that knows the daily activities of the business and can advise as often as required. HSBC has a global network of 8,000 Relationship Managers, including 12 in our Hertfordshire Commercial Banking team, and each business we work with is assigned their own contact who can answer the ongoing and frank questions that a business may want to ask their bank.

HELP IS AT HAND

To find other assistance for finance there is a wide range of schemes providing help and finance for start-ups and small businesses.

The European Union, central and local government, Business Link, enterprise agencies, trade organisations and charities all offer assistance. There are also regional business support schemes and some regions offer financial incentives to attract start-ups to particular areas.

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The HSBC Knowledge Centre is also a great source of advice for people looking to start a business or for those who are already up and running www.knowledge.hsbc.co.uk.

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL RAISES ISSUE OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP, AS SHORTLIST OF ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ PEOPLE IS DOMINATED BY MEN The role of women in business may be growing, but why are we so short of exceptional female role models?

This was the question presented by Alastair Campbell to over 250 senior professionals from the finance and technology sectors at a prestigious networking event at No.1 Poultry’s Coq D’Argent in London last month.

The event was hosted by boutique executive search firm McSherry Brown, and as guest speaker Campbell revealed his top 12 exceptional people, of which only two were women.

Campbell was given a specific brief by McSherry Brown founder Claire-Louise McSherry to select twelve exceptional people he had worked with or, come into contact with and use each to give one or two indicators as to why they were exceptional, and how those qualities might be applied by others.

Campbell’s list of people he considered ‘exceptional’ included: Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela, Martin McGuinness, Bono and Bob Geldof (he counted them as one), Princess Diana Cathy Gilman (chief executive of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research), Tim Berners-Lee, Bill Gates, Alex Ferguson, Lance Armstrong and Diego Maradona.

MONEY

After the event, he blogged, “Unsurprisingly, the gender imbalance came up in the Q&A. ‘Why wasn’t Mrs Thatcher in there?’ I was asked. I found myself making a broader point, which didn’t go down well with the women in the room, but has a ring of truth to it. Whether you look at history, or the current day, most of the people who would be defined as the best and most exceptional in their field tend to be men”.

“If I had been asked to do a list of 12 exceptional women, I could have done so, and there are plenty to choose from. But there are more men to choose from, and I don’t think it is sexist to say so,” added Alastair.

Claire-Louise McSherry believes that there are many facets to being exceptional and that they aren’t gender-specific, such as courage, self-awareness, followership and being a visionary.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about what makes someone exceptional. At McSherry Brown, we’ve devised our own methodology for what makes people exceptional in the fields of financial services and technology. It’s a science for us and it is what has enabled us to excel at placing exceptional people in senior positions across the globe for some of the world’s most prestigious organisations”.

LEGAL COLUMN

In each issue Gillian Harding, a solicitor at HRJ Law, a legal firm with offices in Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City is on hand to answer your legal problems. Please email them to gillian.harding@hrjlaw.co.uk. We regret that no personal correspondence can be entered into.

I am looking to expand my business but some of my peers think I am mad to do it in the current economic climate.

What legal areas should I consider?

Although the prevailing mood in the media is still pessimistic, many businesses are looking at new opportunities for expansion especially by targeting new markets and launching new products and services. If your business is one of them, you could do so: • Directly through your existing business medium; or • Indirectly through an agency, distribution or franchise arrangement If you choose the direct route you will need to consider issues such as whether you need new premises and employees.

You might even consider taking over an existing business. If Fahy, Solicitor you choose the indirect route, your Bob business could appoint an Matthew Arnold & Baldwin agent, distributor or franchisee to sell your productsLLP or services outside of your normal area. Your www.mablaw.com business could also look at becoming an agent or distributor itself. Whichever route you

choose, it is important to take advice, to ensure that the agreement is clear and fair and that the arrangement will not fall foul of laws relating to matters such as competition and the rights of agents. Another alternative is working with another business to win a specific contract or to expand into one specific area. A joint venture could help you to achieve this but it is important to take advice from an Accountant and a Solicitor to ensure that you use the right medium for you (tax liability can be a crucial issue in this regard) and to ensure that your rights and responsibilities are carefully outlined in the Agreement. You both need to know who is responsible for what and how the calculation of your profit shares (and liability) is to be arranged.

For further information on HRJ Law LLP and for contact details, please visit www.hrjlaw.co.uk Please note that the answers provided are for general guidance only. If you have any legal problems you should always ensure that you obtain specific legal advice.

TAKING YOUR BUSINESS PERSONALLY

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GIVE DEALS THE RIGHT FISCAL TREATMENT!

BY ANDREW KNIGHT

Business transactions always need to have the correct corporate and fiscal treatment applied to them.

Most commonly the perception of business disputes is that Company A contracted with Company B for the sale of goods and products, there are allegations of late delivery or faulty products and the lawyers get invited to examine the contractual terms and a dispute follows.

That is an example of a dispute arising in the ordinary course of the company’s trading activities with an independent third party. The correct or appropriate contract-forming procedure may or may not have been followed, but essentially it is a transaction that, apart from being subject to the usual principles of contract law, would not require any special corporate or fiscal analysis.

In contrast, disputes that arise within a business such as a partnership or a company very often, whilst having regard to the area of applicable law, also have an extra layer of corporate and fiscal analysis which needs to be given the right treatment.

These types of disputes often arise when a business restructures, when shareholders depart or try to remove directors. The key point is to ensure that whenever change takes place in a business the correct corporate and fiscal treatment is applied to ensure there is no room for ambiguity and disputes later on.

CONSIDER THESE TWO SCENARIOS: A TRANSFER OF ASSETS

DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS

The owners of Company A, a profitable construction company with a proven track record with a loyal customer base, want to incentivise some of the key employees. They take professional advice from accountants and lawyers to set up a structure whereby key employees receive shares in the company. Certain unencumbered valuable assets of the company are transferred to a holding company as part of the transaction.

The whole transaction only involves the input of the directors and shareholders who are broadly the same people. The long standing professional advisers of the company also participate in the transaction.

Family businesses in the main operate on trust, long standing relationships and goodwill and are typically good at continuing the successful trade built up over the generations. What they are sometimes not good at is ensuring that the correct corporate and fiscal treatment is applied to the basics of the running of the company and ensuring that simple matters such as statutory books, register of members, directors appointments, Board Minutes and Resolutions, etc. are all in order.

Long after the event when the transaction was scrutinised in the context of a dispute, it became evident that those concerned had good intentions about the nature of the transaction, and it was perfectly lawful, but the absence of the correct corporate and fiscal treatment meant the transaction could quite easily be unravelled.

The net effect was that the transfer of a valuable asset into a holding company had not, as a matter of law, taken place.

From a “moral” point of view, the transaction worked and everyone was in agreement as to what should happen, but from a strictly legal and corporate and fiscal perspective, certain steps had not been taken thus negating the effect of one important aspect of the transaction.

The moral of these two examples is all too simple and, to a degree, self explanatory: • If you are involved in the internal running of a business, make sure someone has responsibility for ensuring that “internal” transactions or changes are dealt with properly; • If you rely on professional advisers to document items, such as the appointment of a director, filing annual returns or minutes, make sure those tasks are followed up and completed. Good documentary records eliminate uncertainty.

• If the transaction involves one the sale or transfer of a business asset , seek proper advice and document the restructuring.

In recessionary times with fragile recovery on the horizon, opportunism thrives. If you want to make sure that you or your business is not caught out, make sure that your business “gets the right treatment” in relation to its corporate and fiscal transactions.

Andrew Knight is Head of Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution at Taylor Walton LLP, which has offices in Luton, Harpenden and St Albans and provides effective legal solutions to businesses and individuals across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and the South East. Andrew can be contacted on tel. 01582 731161 or email andrew.knight@taylorwalton.co.uk

LEGAL

However the scheme as devised was not actually implemented so far as the detailed paperwork was concerned in relation to corporate and fiscal transactions. Certain Board meetings and Minutes of Resolutions were required; as were specific accounting entries relating to the transfer of assets. Whilst everyone knew what was to be done, insufficient attention was paid to ensuring that the necessary corporate and fiscal treatment was carried out.

Courts will assist in rectifying matters where all concerned are agreed on what the position was intended to be. However, the absence of proper procedures and correct paperwork provides a fertile breeding ground for uncertainty. An aggrieved director or shareholder may not need much encouragement to exploit that uncertainty.

STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE

ANYONE CAN LEAR BUT NOT MANY CAN PUT IT INTO PRACTICAL US MICHAEL COHEN, FOUNDER OF RAPHAYAD BIOENERGY HEA INTERNATIONALLY-RESPECT

Eight years ago, training and networking mentor for a well- known CAM organisatio full-time and pay the bills”. I replied “Yes I will”. I had such clarity and focus I just ne and I knew this was what I was meant to be doing. Without hesitation Within 2 years I had an established full-time clinic in central London and I have nev practitioner, as I didn’t have to go through the arduous indecisiveness that a lot of s the right route for me. I knew from the onset that this was what I was meant to be d introduced me to some primary Bioenergy Healing techniques. Immediately I had knew I had acce

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

I was my first client (and guinea-pig) and from day one I was working on myself every day. There was a fair bit of work, well actually a lot, bearing in mind I had 16 years of major spinal injuries and ailments as well as 14 years of hypersensitivities and food intolerances.

It was through working on myself with Bioenergy Healing techniques that I not only began to experience the powerful aspects to the technique, but gained a fuller understanding of what it was like to be a client with debilitating long-term symptoms; how one goes through the different stage of treatment; but most importantly coming out the other side of it, and defying all the orthopaedic and gastro- enterologist consultants.

For the first time in my life I started to function on a level I had never envisaged. I began to not just understand but experience those gallant words “full potential”, and I am still surpassing them to this very day.

Most importantly I was a testament and example to my clients.

This process is just as vitally important today to me being a successful practitioner and a teacher; being able to “practice what you preach” is totally defining.

A WEEKEND IS TOO SHORT

Having been a RaphaYad Bioenergy Healing teacher for many years, one thing that has stood out to me from all the students I have worked with, and other practitioners I have met on the way, is that anyone can learn a new skill but, not many can put it into practical use to develop a successful practice of their own.

For this reason I held back from undertaking practitioner training for many years. I was also flabbergasted by how easy it was to become a practitioner. You can look through many advertisements and find courses that qualify you as a practitioner after only a weekend or two of training. Even doing a weekend course once a month for a year is questionable. What you find is the student doesn’t spend enough time in training mode to be able to take on all the aspects of working and living with the technique.

Through experience I can say that a student needs to be training for two days every week over a consistent period of say six months.

This way they start to live it and breathe it. Additionally the training cannot just be in workshops, it needs to incorporate the clinic environment, because the clinic is reality and so are the clients.

This is the optimum learning environment.

When the Government launched the Voluntary Self-Regulation scheme (VSR) for practitioners I was delighted. This was going to sift out the charlatans and the under-trained or inexperienced so-called practitioners. Although VSR is voluntary, I think it is necessary for our industry to have rules and guidelines to make sure that practitioners are fully trained and are able to provide the public with a service and expertise second to none. Standards of ex pertise and therapeutic relationships are essential in order for CAM practitioners to be further integrated and work alongside mainstream medicine.

THE BUSINESS ACUMEN

The other important aspect of my success as a practitioner and teacher is the marketing and business management skills that I had from previous careers. It is these skills that have enabled me to establish, build and develop the school and clinic. These skills are going to make or break a practitioner’s ability to market themselves out there alongside other practitioners in their field.

I knew from the moment of launching our practitioner training course that this aspect had to play an equal part alongside technique training. The students will have the benefit of my 25 years of business experience and specifically 8 years running a successful clinic.

This important element of training gives the newly qualified practitioner the business and clinic management, knowledge base and acumen from day one of opening their own clinic; with the peace of mind that all the tried and tested templates and systems are in place.

RN A NEW SKILL SE AND DEVELOP A SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE ALING, LOOKS BACK ON HIS SUCCESS IN BECOMING AN TED BIOENERGY HEALER

on said to me, “You can’t be a full-time practitioner, you won’t be able to do it ew that I could and I would. It was the first time in 7 years that I had such clarity n I closed our organic food shop and set about building a clinic. er looked back. I was in a very fortunate position when I decided to become a students go through. There was no need to deliberate and determine what was doing. I wasn’t even looking at changing my career when I first met a man who d awareness inside me that these techniques and tools were there, but I never ess to them.

THE NICHE

diluted like so many others. In particular those where practitioners have received just basic training or those who have integrated other techniques but still call it the same name. Integration is fine, but then it needs a new identity. In so many cases the public do not really know what they are getting.

I remember when I had an organic food shop and one of my staff offered to give me a shoulder massage. As we went through the session I realised that she was doing something else. In this case some Reiki as well. It wasn’t that I had a problem with Reiki, it was the fact that she was giving me treatment without telling me.

One thing that made me laugh when I was working at one of my first clinics in Ladbroke Grove where there was just me, with just the one skill, was when I was given a leaflet for a practitioner who could do healing, Reiki, light therapy, massage, Indian head massage, meditation...the list just went on and on about 12 different techniques in all. What was so apparent was that although she had all these skills, she was not a specialist in any.

Dilution and misrepresentation are the two main things that have held me back for years from training practitioners. Myself and my wife Joanne, who is a senior practitioner and administrator of the foundation, have invested so much into our clinic, school and reputation we just didn’t wanted ill-guided, poorly managed and trained practitioners going out there and living off what we had strived for years to build up. Then for the rug to be pulled from below our feet for the sake of earning a few extra bucks and giving out certificates.

Working in a niche but ever-expanding field of treatment is why we have been able to build a reputation and gain a good corporate identity that has lead to our successes. I feel that a growing marketplace is better than a saturated one.

The other aspect of working in a niche field is the type of work that you do. It is important that the technique has the ability to provide a good, lasting affect that inspires the client to make positive changes in their lives thereafter. The specific type of client or ailments that you specialise in is equally important. For us, having worked with difficult and debilitating illnesses and symptoms with both children and adults is what makes the work defined and very rewarding.

DILUTION OR INTEGRATION?

The other important aspect to not being saturated is that it is imperative that we do not allow our technique to become

STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE

As the founder of a technique and training school I feel that not only do I have a role but a responsibility to make sure that all practitioner students and newly-qualified practitioners have the skills, experience and knowledge base to represent themselves and their school/ foundation. Most importantly that the practitioner adheres to the standards of excellence, as the public deserve no less.

For this reason not only do the students need to receive the training but, thereafter once qualified it is a necessity that they receive a mentoring and support system to be in place, to maintain such standards of excellence and to develop and fine tune the techniques and knowledge base thereafter.

For more info visit www.bioenergyhealing.org.uk

HEALTH FOCUS

A niche market can mean success or failure in developing and running a successful clinic. When you look at some of the most common treatment techniques you need to consider the advantage of it being a well-known household name or not. On one level the familiarity is good but, as a practitioner it can work against you. Everyone using the same modality is your competition and they are competing for the same customers. So before determining whether a modality needs another practitioner in your area, consider if there is a saturation point.

STEVENAGE Stevenage is a town and borough located in Hertfordshire and was designated as one of Britain’s first new towns. Stevenage is well situated to give easy access to London Luton, London Stansted and London Heathrow Airports and is convenient for all forms of transport with excellent road links to London and the North, situated just off the A1M motorway.

With a population of over 84,000, Stevenage is still growing and is set to expand west of the A1M. Being just one of the few town centres in Britain designed for ease of access by the car with dual carriageway roads on all sides of the Town Centre, Stevenage makes for a superb location. It was also the first purpose built traffic-free shopping zone in Britain which was officially opened by the Queen in 1959.

The town boasts its own railway station, which is a busy stop on the East Coast Mainline with regular trains to London making the commute to work easy and practical, or ideal for a fun filled day in London City.

There is plenty to do in Stevenage and its nearby areas, one of which is taking a visit to the town gardens which were developed in the mid-1960’s, and are the primary formal and ornamental public gardens in Stevenage. These gardens are currently undergoing a £2million regeneration which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People Programme to preserve and enhance the rich heritage of these important Gardens.

Knebworth House, a gothic stately home and venue of globally well-known rock concerts is close by where the likes of Robbie Williams, Oasis and Queen have played to thousands since 1974.

It is also the home of the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre which houses the Gordon Craig Theatre. In addition to these attractive sites, Stevenage hosts many annual events including the Stevenage Day, Rock in the Park and Stevenage Carnival. There are also some great events going on this month, one of which is held by Stevenage Museum called ‘On the Box’.

This event runs up until 30th October and will display a history of childrens TV since the 1950s.

IN FOCUS : STEVENAGE

This is the perfect event to come and revisit the childrens TV programmes of your childhood where you can sit in a 1960s sitting room and enjoy some old favourites.

Stevenage is also on top for sport having many top class sporting heroes coming from Stevenage, the most notable being Ashley Young and Lewis Hamilton.

EXTRAORDINARY FOUNDATION WRITES EXTRAORDINARY BOOK

IT HAS BEEN A GOOD YEAR FOR LONDON BASED ENTREPRENEURIAL FOUNDATION, EXTRAORDINARY ONES AS FOUNDER LEON AARTS WAS THE LUCKY WINNER OF A MILLION POUND PRIZE CHOSEN BY A PANEL OF JUDGES OVER MANY OTHER ENTRANTS TO WIN THE PRIZE OF A LIFE TIME OF FREE BUSINESS COACHING WITH ST ALBANS BASED MINDY GIBBINS-KLEIN.

Extraordinary Ones is an organisation that provides food and education to children in all deprived nations, locally and globally. The organisation believes in the philosophy that providing food not only feeds an empty stomach, but also feeds the mind. It is built strongly around the idea that sustainability relies on education, entrepreneurship and energy.

Extraordinary Ones relies on donations from restaurant owners, of just 15 pence for every meal they serve. That may sound a tiny amount, but over 1 billion meals were served last year in London alone – this would have fed over 4 million children!

With Mindy’s help, Leon has written and published his first book entitled ‘Feeding People’ which is all about giving to and helping others. In this poignant and timely book Leon shows us what happens when we all become truly connected to each other again and with ourselves, we make a huge difference. Capture a vision where nobody goes to bed hungry – and it is not just about food, hunger is also about feeding our minds. Those who agree we can make this planet a better place to live will find inspiration in these pages. Others may find themselves reconsidering parts of their world view.

“The response to the competition was phenomenal. Alongside myself I had other judges, Academy for Chief Executives founder Brian Chernett, bestselling author and Financial Times columnist Mike Southon and highly acclaimed business mentor and author Judith Germain. We all felt that Leon showed real thought leader potential and was by far the most deserving of the prize. I am looking forward to helping Leon take his business forward and to become the ‘thought leader’ he deserves to be” Explains Mindy.

Leon was very grateful to Mindy for this opportunity, who over the years, has helped over 300 people achieve their dream of writing and publishing their own books.

Leon says: “I am proud and honored that I have won the competition, it is great to be called a ‘thought leader’ and that Mindy and the judges see the potential in me. Mindy’s coaching will be hugely beneficial and invaluable to get my ideas out and grow Extraordinary Ones. Having Mindy on board all the time is something which is normally not available for smaller companies like myself and I can’t wait to build Extraordinary Ones to the big concept it will be. The help we are getting ensures that we can grow much faster, achieve our goals quicker and create huge change”.

www.businessindependent.co.uk

17

FEATURE : EXTRAORDINARY ONES

Mindy has worked with senior executives and business leaders from across the globe and has a wealth of experience and expertise under her belt. Mindy Gibbins-Klein is the co-founder of book publishing company Ecademy Press. She is also a best-selling author, and has established herself as The Book Midwife®. Her expert profile also includes helping hundreds of business leaders gain recognition as true experts in their field, by showing them how to write the best possible books, ebooks and articles.

YOUR BUSINES

BY LINDSEY AGNESS What is meant by change management? Simply, change management means changing people as well as things.

The really interesting question is why do some change projects fail whilst others succeed? What can be learned from experience that can benefit you and where does NLP fit into all of this?

Let’s first explore what we mean by change management and explore the people side of change management. That means helping staff and customers through change. It is the processes, tools and techniques for proactively changing people’s thinking and their behaviour in order to realise the anticipated benefits of the change programme.

HOW NLP CAN HELP

There are many NLP tools that can help to build your leadership competency. I’ve chosen the following as a powerful package where I’ve had amazing results: Setting clear outcomes and business benefits for the project Modelling the organisation itself to find out how it has managed change before Using the language of success to influence others using: firstly, the Meta Model – an exquisite model of questioning techniques secondly, the Milton Model to manage resistance Building sponsorship and managing stakeholders using ‘perceptual positions’ or ‘stepping into another’s shoes’ Using the ‘Logical Levels of Change’ framework to achieve sustainable results.

SETTING CLEAR OUTCOMES AND BUSINESS BENEFITS FOR THE PROJECT

One of the biggest mistakes made by change leaders is to define the benefits of the change only for senior executives, shareholders and customers, missing out middle and front-line staff. The disbenefits to these levels of staff are often fudged or mis-communicated. In many, if not all cases, the real impact on the individual members of staff in the organisation is overlooked, or insufficiently recognised. The most effective programmes define the benefits on a number of levels – for the senior executives, shareholders, customers and for middle and front-line staff. These levels then drive the communications strategy and plan for the programme.

USING NLP TO REALISE HARD BUSINESS BENEFITS

The client is a London company providing Legal Document Management Services with 20 staff and a turnover of £1,500,000.

The presenting problem was a lack of motivation in the sales team and the timing also happened to be March 2009 (the beginning of the worst recession ever to hit businesses in the UK). The target was to grow the business by 33%, in spite of the recession. An NLPbased coaching and training programme with the sales team and directors was designed as follows: • Profile sales staff and directors • Provide Meta Programme and MBTI report for the board and sales team and explain the implications to them as leaders of the business Each member of the sales team and board to attend a 4-day NLP Business Diploma One-to-one coaching and follow-on training days provided

18

• •

One-to-one coaching and follow-on training days provided The focus of the work was to change inflexible behaviours and limiting beliefs. Staff now recognise that there is no failure, there’s just results. If the results aren’t what they want, they’ll keep modifying their behaviours until they find the model that works.

The results from this are impressive and new client acquisitions were up by 240% with new business meetings up from an average of 16 per month to an average of 40.

When the Government launched the Voluntary Self-Regulation scheme (VSR) for practitioners I was delighted. This was going to sift out the charlatans and the under-trained or inexperienced so-called practitioners. Although VSR is voluntary, I think it is necessary for our industry to have rules and guidelines to make sure that practitioners are fully trained and are able to provide the public with a service and expertise second to none. Standards of ex pertise and therapeutic relationships are essential in order for CAM practitioners to be further integrated and work alongside mainstream medicine.

USING THE LANGUAGE OF SUCCESS

The ‘L’ in NLP stands for linguistic and there are two powerful models of language that we are going to apply to the area of managing change. The first is the Meta Model – an exquisite model of questioning techniques. The second is the Milton Model – an equally exquisite model to engage with staff, build support and manage resistance.

THE META MODEL

Have you ever been chatting to someone about some aspect of your change programme and you find yourself wondering what on earth they are talking about? There seems to be some important information missing from their language or they are making massive assumptions. For example, they might say to you, ‘It’s a bad idea to implement this change in the business.’ You might be left wondering, ‘who says’. People distort, generalise and delete their use of language all the time. This can be a particular challenge when implementing change as staff constantly mind-read what’s going on, attach meanings to things that are not true and delete information that they do not want to hear.

Change leaders often make the common mistake that their staff attach the expected meaning to their communication.

PUTTING THE META MODEL INTO PRACTICE Step 1: For the next week, pay attention to the language used by your staff. You might find it easier to focus on one pattern at a time.

For example, pay attention to the mind-reads first.

They believe that because something has been communicated it has been understood. This very often is not the case. The Meta Model enables us to check and challenge what staff say by using a series of powerful questioning techniques.

The Meta Model’s patterns were designed for the express purpose of challenging the limitations in the mental maps of others. Grinder said that the Meta Model pattern consisted of two components – the identification of the pattern and the challenge questions designed to help that individual expand his or her map of possibilities. Put simply, the Meta Model is designed to recover information and new choices that the receiver has not yet noticed because of the way that they experience the world. For example, a staff member who believes their job to be at risk is likely to filter any communication through a mental map which is anxious, suspicious and fearful. We can use the Meta Model questions to help them notice other more positive possibilities.

There are some principles that are important to use with this model as it can be experienced as very direct by the receiver. First of all, it’s important to have a good relationship or rapport with the person (or team) making these comments. The receiver will be much more open to your questions if this is in place. Secondly, you can soften your approach by starting with ‘I’m wondering . . .’ or ‘I’m curious . . .’

For example, the last challenge question would then become ‘That’s interesting. How specifically are you uncomfortable?’

THE MILTON MODEL

The other language model we are going to explore is the Milton Model, named after Milton Erickson whom Bandler and Grinder modelled. This became the third major NLP model.

They noticed that Erickson’s use of language bore a relationship to the Meta Model in that he seemed to be using similar patterns but in an inverse way. Tosey and Mathison described that ‘while the emphasis of the Meta Model was on recovering deleted material, Erickson would introduce deletions purposefully’.

Erickson used language in a way that managed the potential resistance of his clients. He used words in an artfully vague fashion so his clients could fit their mental maps into what he was saying. That got Erickson the agreement from his client that he needed to be able to get the best results for them.

Clearly this has ethical implications, but Erickson used these techniques as a means to elicit and facilitate a client’s positive change and not to impose his own will. t is important to bear this in mind when using these tools in the business environment.

As with the Meta Model, it’s important to have a good relationship or rapport with the person (or team) to which you are making these comments. Remember the beauty of the Milton Model is that it is artfully vague so everyone can fit their own mental maps inside it. You might wonder what place this has in business, yet if you listen to the conversations going on all around you, you will start to notice that ambiguous language is used all the time with great effect.

Step 3: Make a note of the results that you get.

PUTTING THE MILTON MODEL INTO PRACTICE Step 1: For the next week, use the patterns with your staff.

As before, you might find it easier to focus on one pattern at a time. For example, pay attention to using mind reads first.

Step 2: Notice the impact your statement has on the receiver.

Step 3: Make a note of the results that you get below: This time it’s a tool to build staff engagement. Help your staff to become more positive and motivated and encourage them to get involved.

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER Often business leaders are frustrated when change programmes do not deliver the benefits that were promised at the start. NLP gives us a range of tools that can help with the ‘people side of change’ by building engagement and commitment. If you want true sponsorship, engagement and commitment from leaders and staff you have to invest time and energy into helping them: Understand the compelling case for change Be clear about the business benefits and WIIFM Identify the readiness and the ability of the business to deal with the changes Influence others by using your communications with purpose and volition Resolve challenging situations and relationships Align changes with their values and beliefs and get them to feel part of the identity of the business.

That’s when the real magic of change starts!

Extract from Lindsey Agness’s new book Change Your Business with NLP (£14.99, Capstone). Available from Amazon, selected WHSmiths and other good bookstores.

For more information visit www.thechangecorporation.com

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INTERVIEW ASK BUSINESS THE EXPERTS SUPPORT : CLAIRE : NLP YOUNG FEATURE

SS WITH NLP

Step 2: When you hear the pattern, use a challenge question in response. Make sure you are in rapport and that you use a softening frame as well.

CAREERS

BECOMING A DIGITAL COACH “In the internet age, we need to ensure that people aren’t being left behind as more and more services and business move online. But this issue isn’t just about fairness, promoting digital inclusion is essential for a dynamic modern economy and can help to make government more efficient and effective.”

The Prime Minister - David Cameron It seems even David Cameron sees the importance of the online world in the future of business, so at HBI, we decided to investigate a new career that has emerged in recent months, that of The Digital Coach.

We are all better off when everyone is online

Race Online 2010 is calling for urgent action to inspire, encourage and support millions more people online by the end of the Olympic year 2012 through partnership with government, industry, charities and individuals.

Martha Lane Fox was reappointed UK Digital Champion by the new government in June 2010. Her remit includes advising government how to provide better, more efficient online public services and accelerating efforts to help more people benefit from the power of the internet.

Race Online 2010 launched in March and already have over 600 partners. Collectively, they have pledged to help more than 1.7 million people get online.

So, why become a Digital Coach?

The demand for life and business coaching indicates that digital coaching will be the next growth area. Internet Skills are being taught across the world but there is no recognised framework and the system being taught through Digital Coaches to create a standard that the industry and business consumers can rely and trust upon.

What does a Digital Coach actually do?

A Digital Coach is a single point of reference for anyone wanting to understand how to better use the internet for business growth. We are seeing advancements in the way we use the web on a daily basis and many struggle to find one source of information, advice and guidance and how to get the very best from your digital strategies. Digital coaches will provide that via consultancy work, training and mentoring.

Who does a Digital Coach work with?

A Digital Coach primarily works with both small businesses and entrepreneurs and large corporate organisations. However, for those wanting to help their communities, they could also work with the local groups such as the unemployed, the elderly, or give talks to schools and colleges, helping them to understand how to make use of the digital world.

What could a Digital Coach earn?

This will ultimately depend on the type of clients you attract and win and also the services you offer. You are likely to be able to secure a mixture of project work and ongoing consultancy work, helping businesses to continuously refine and build on their use of the online world to maximise sales.

In addition to consultancy work, you could potentially become a trainer yourself and hold workshops or training sessions and even become a business speaker on the subject after you’ve gained some practical and proven experience. So the possibilities really are endless!

How can I become a Digital Coach?

Many business consultants who are well versed in the area of social media and the use of internet for business will be moving into the digital coaching space, however social business network Ecademy is the only company that is currently offering formal training in the field via The Ecademy Digital School.

The Ecademy Digital School will teach and spread the reality of how to make money in the ‘social world’. It will teach a philosophy, a method and provide coaching tools. It will accredit Coaches and it will build a Global Digital Coaching program enabling people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the online world to brand themselves as Ecademy Digital Coaches, stay up to date and display their skills.

20

We are all better off when everyone is online

Race Online 2010 is calling for urgent action to inspire, encourage and support millions more people online by the end of the Olympic year 2012 through partnership with government, indus try, charities and individuals.

Race Online 2010 launched in March and already have over 600 partners. Collectively, they have pledged to help more than 1.7 million people get online. So why not consider becoming a Digital Coach and help ensure this campaign becomes a reality!

ASK THE EXPERTS

HOW TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS FROM THE GROUND UP Here at HBI we bring you all the latest answers from our team of experts. This month we have been inundated with requests for some of the best tips for setting up a business, getting started and what to do with websites. If you have a burning question for our experts, why not get in touch by emailing us? editor@businessindependent.co.uk

JAMES WICKES I have always wanted to start a business, but am put off by the number of people I know who have been unsuccessful. What can I do to ensure mine works out better than theirs?

Choose a market in where you can add value either through introducing a product that gets rid of a headache (Bagless vacuum cleaner) or by making the process of acquisition or use easier (Direct Line Insurance) but, most importantly choose something that you feel passionate about. Throughout your entrepreneurial career loads of seemingly bad stuff may happen but, always remain positive. Remember, pancakes are essentially cakes that have not risen and there is a big market for pancakes! Once you’ve nailed down the essence of your business - what it is you do that is unique, different or better than the rest, focus on associating this with your brand. The human mind uses brands as short-cuts to trusted products and services. Be kind and thoughtful to your employees and your customers – treat them as you would want to be treated. If you are like me, I want to tell everyone about my good or bad experiences.

James Wickes is Ceo And Inventor Of New Technology Company Jabbakam

BEATRICE BARTLAY So I have an idea for my business, now what?

You need to think of what you want to do, with whom and why you want to do it. You then need to prepare a business plan with contingencies for the unexpected. It’s important that this good plan is implemented consistently. Then set yourself achievable long-term and short-term goals and take expert advice. Having perseverance is key and also a back-up source of revenue. It’s vital you create a positive image of the company, have the ability to win people over and create work ethics that will serve as an example to others. Success in business means working 14 hour-days and sometimes nights. When you’re ill, you end up working from your bed with a laptop in your lap and a telephone by your ear. You can forget about holidays and other pleasures. When you’re running a company, you don’t clock out at 6pm. Success in business is like a beast - you need to feed it with your creativity, commitment and perseverance. Not many people will admit that.

Beatrice Bartlay is Founder and Managing Director of 2B Interface

I’ve got my business all planned out, now I need a website. How do I go about choosing the right domain name?

You have done your business plan, your competitor and customer research and designed your marketing plan. Hands up who thought about the simple matter of a domain name?

If you want your business to thrive online then the right domain name is essential. The first .com was registered 25 years ago and since then virtually all of the “good” names have been taken. So you really have a couple of choices. First is to try and buy the name you want. This is not as hard as you might think, as long as you have deep pockets. Domain names are commodities just like shares, houses and antiques - they are tradable assets and as such unless a name is a brand name or has a trademark against it, you may be able to agree a price to buy it.

Just a word of caution here, once you have found a domain name, write it down and make sure it reads OK. There are numerous tales of woe for companies such as Powergen Italia, Pen Island and Speed of Art who didn’t really think about this before they launched their websites. One final check is also to see who owns simple mistypes of the domain name.

With so much “adult” content freely available on the internet, you do not want to be a misspelling away from presenting your potential customers with inappropriate content.

Stuart Fuller is Business Manager of Easily.co.uk

www.businessindependent.co.uk

21 19

INTERVIEW ASK THE EXPERTS : CLAIRE YOUNG

STUART FULLER

7 THINGS YOU CAN

DO TO INCREASE SALES RIGHT NOW...

BY ANDY PRESTON In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains that if you want more sales, here are 7 things you can do RIGHT NOW to increase your sales - fast!…..

Whether you’re a business owner, a salesperson, a manager or a director, one thing a lot of people are asking me at the minute is ‘Andy, how can I increase my sales?’

And that of course is a very important question!

For those of you that are keen to improve your sales figures, want to grow your business, or are just sick and tired of all the ‘doom and gloom’ about the recession and ‘double dip’ stuff you keep hearing in the media, here is some good news for you.

Here are 7 things that you can do to increase sales, right now!

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 1 GET MORE NEW CUSTOMERS

One of the easiest ways to increase your sales is to increase your number of new customers. Increase your prospecting activities to bring in the right sort of new customers to see a quick improvement in your sales.

In order to make sure they’re the ‘right’ sort of customers, why not look at the profile of your existing customer base?

Look at ones that are the easiest to deal with, complain the least, pay you the most money and seem to appreciate what you do more than some others do. And then set out to win more of those sorts of customers.

If you’re increasing the amount of prospecting you’re currently doing, as well as making sure you’re prospecting the ‘right’ sort of customers, then you’ll see an improvement in your sales figures pretty quickly!

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 2 SELL AN ADDITIONAL PRODUCT TO YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMER BASE

Here’s a second idea that you can use to increase your sales right now. Think about what additional product (or products) you can sell into your existing customer base.

This may mean introducing a ‘new’ product or, simply looking at which customers are not buying EVERY product line you offer and looking to increase the range of items you sell to each account.

I remember looking at this exact topic when I was a newlyappointed sales director and I requested the information on this from our sales support department. After getting this information, I was horrified to learn that NO client was buying more than 2 product lines from us – and we had 12 different product lines available!

Often when I talk to business owners or salespeople about this and look at their product set more closely, they’re actually shocked how few customers buy multiple product lines from them. Make sure you don’t fall into the same trap….

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 3 INCREASE YOUR PRICES

Now whenever I mention the third way, I can almost ‘hear’ an intake of breath amongst the seminar attendees and I can imagine you thinking a similar thing, right now! Plenty of people tell me ‘Oh but Andy, I can’t do that.

My customers wouldn’t accept it’.

Yet when I ask them ‘have you tried it?’, the answer that normally comes back is ‘no’. In most cases what they mean is ‘I’m scared of trying it’ which normally results in them saying something like, ‘we’re in a competitive market, it’ll never work’ – or something similar! Yet when I show them the potential figures, they suddenly change their viewpoint in the majority of cases!

By increasing your prices slightly, the total price will only slightly increase but, depending on your profit margin, you could see an immediate impact in your profits – particularly if you implement it across your entire customer base or, lots of people who buy regularly from you.

Well worth considering….

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 4 INCREASE YOUR NUMBER OF INCOMING ‘SALES ENQUIRIES’

Another way to increase your sales quickly is to take steps to increase your number of incoming sales enquiries. In order to do this, you need to understand what is driving your incoming sales enquiries currently – Advertising? Marketing?

Networking? Online and Social Media? The activity of your Sales Team?

Whatever it is, increasing what is working will quickly increase your sales figures. Of course you may need to invest some money in that activity first but, depending on the length of your sales cycle, you’ll see a quick return on your investment.

It might be worth talking to some of your friends that have their own businesses as well. Ask them what’s worked for them in the past? Any category of advertising that they’d recommend? What brings them the most incoming sales enquiries?

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 5 IMPROVE YOUR CONVERSION RATES

A further way to increase your sales figures fast is to look at improving your conversion rates. Most people don’t track these accurately, so if you’re NOT doing so, make sure you start to do this straightaway!

The key conversion rates to look at here are enquiries to meetings, meetings to quotes, and quotes to orders.

Once you have worked out what your conversion rates are, the next step is to improve them - by better qualification of the opportunity in the first place, better needs analysis and better management of the sales process.

For example, a quick way to improve your conversion rate from enquiries to appointments, is simply to ask more questions!

Show some more interest in them, their role and their business; ask about their motivation for calling you or talking to you; and ask what exactly it is that they want you to help them achieve.

The best way to move forward is to meet face-to-face, put this into practice then look at what a difference it makes to your conversion rates, your number of meetings, and your number of orders!

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 6 LOOK AT A ‘JOINT VENTURE’

Another way to increase your sales figures quickly is to look at a ‘joint venture’ with another organisation that is noncompetitive with you, but is prospecting the same market.

The advantage of this is that it needs little additional sales and marketing effort, and you can ‘tap into’ an alreadytrusted customer base of your joint venture partner.

Good examples would be an office furniture company with a printing company (they’ll both know when customers are moving) and an office supplies company and a commercial temps recruitment agency (as they will both know administrative decision makers).

Perhaps that non-salesperson is you!

How much have you invested in their training over the last 12 months to ensure they convert as many enquiries as possible? How many good quality courses have you sent them on to help them close more of those deals? How much time do you dedicate every day, every week, or every month to ensure those people that are VITAL to the sales success of your organisation are continually learning and honing their sales skills, rather than just doing the same old things?

A lack of good sales skills training will mean people continually losing out on business to their competition – often business they could have won!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

Andy Preston is a leading expert on Sales and Selling, and helps individuals and companies increase their sales.

You can see more about Andy at www.andy-preston.com

Have a think about who else is approaching the same prospects as you but, with a non-competing product.

Someone who is prepared to listen to ideas of doing a joint venture and someone who is looking for new business opportunities.

If you’re a business owner, perhaps you can set up an arrangement with someone to do a joint venture to their customer database, or promote your products and services to their customers (and vice- versa).

If you’re a salesperson, you can still benefit! Why not find other salespeople who are approaching the same prospects (with a non-competing product/service) and share leads and information? It’s an easy way to build up your prospect list!

ANDY’S SALES TIP NUMBER 7 IMPROVE YOUR SALES SKILLS

FREE AUDIO

WITH OUR COMPLIMENTS As a special gift for readers of HBI, Andy has agreed to send you his audio version of this article – 7 Things You Can Do To Increase Sales Right Now, free-of-charge!

To request your copy, simply go to www.andy-preston.com/ask-andy/ and fill in your details, quoting ‘Free 7 Things Article – HBI’ and it will be sent to you.

Please note, because of spam filters, please use a work email address, (rather than hotmail etc) to ensure your audio reaches you. We hope you enjoy your free audio with our compliments!

23

BUSINESS SUPPORT : SALES COLUMN

Sales skills are VITAL to the success of any organisation – whether it’s the business owner themselves that has to sell as part of their role or, they have a sales team in place to do it for them.

Most professional salespeople don’t receive enough sales skills training, let alone business owners. Some business owners I’ve met have NEVER had any sales skills training – and that’s scary!

And think about your staff for a moment. Perhaps you have some non-salespeople in positions that deal with customers – maybe that handle your incoming sales enquiries for example.

TITLE

CELEBRATING ENTREPRENEURSHIP THE AFRICAN WAY Much has been said and written about Africa – the people, the culture and the economy. We also consider the tourist attractions and the sites to see nestled among rainforests and amid rivers. However, very few people consider the journey that it has endured to become what it is today and countries such as Nigeria have become well recognised as an emerging market with its mixed economy and abundant supply of natural resources, well developed financial and legal communications.

To celebrate Nigeria’s 50th Anniversary of Independence and to acknowledge the development of business within the country and what Africa has to offer itself, HBI caught up with some inspiring entrepreneurs and business people from the region.

PATRICIA IKIRIKO, AUTHOR OF ‘YOU CAN BE RICHER THAN YOUR PARENTS’ Patricia Ikiriko, originally from Nigeria, is a trained Guidance Counsellor, Global Trainer and member of the British Psychological Society. She has helped many people improve their lives financially, physically, personally, spiritually and professionally. Children and young adolescents have always been an important part of her life from teaching other parents to harness their children’s potential to her own growing family.

Patricia’s latest book You Can Be Richer Than Your Parents is designed for young people.

Why did you write this book?

I wrote this book to help young people in particular take charge of their lives and learn how to develop the right mindset, possibility thinking, cultivation of habits and development of a proper action plan, which would help them attain greatness. This is particularly pertinent for the tens of thousands of graduates who are struggling to find work at the moment but, the book really applies to people from all walks of life.

I hope that this book will reach many young people and show them that no matter where they are starting from, they can attain success.

You mention lots of well-known names within the book.

Yes. I believe that the best reinforcement of my ideas is to show how they work in real life.

Drawing on the successes of famous names who have succeeded in the face of sometimes extreme adversity such as Oprah Winfrey, Jim Carrey and even Susan Boyle, was something which I felt young people would not only find interesting but, be able to relate to as well. The problems faced by these well known people are no different to the problems facing many every day but, the way they chose not to let their circumstances become their future is something we can all take on board and apply to our own lives.

How about your own personal challenges.

Did you find it easy to write this book?

I had always wanted to write a book but couldn’t since I was too busy in the business world and never had time to write. I was not computer literate, I do not even know how to use the Internet. I just depend on my secretary, personal assistance and all others to do all the write ups for me.

Even though I had all the latest computerised systems money could buy I couldn’t use them, I lost touch with constructing my words and putting ideas together. I had no time to learn any of these things that would have improved my ability to become a better writer to reach my desired goals. So l decided and dared to step out of my comfort zone to learn and make a change in myself and difference in my generation. I know this can only be achieved through education and moving away from all my business in order to concentrate.

RICHARD WHITE FOUNDED THE DAKAR DRAGONS PROJECT ALONGSIDE HIS COLLEAGUE MARIEME JAMME A Surrey businessman who helped found a project bringing entrepreneurial skills to hundreds of African women has awarded a tea making business, a bakery, a school and a sewing business with valuable funding and business skills after travelling to Senegal last month for a Dragons’ Den style assessment.

Businessman Richard White and Marieme Jamme founded the Dakar Dragons project after being inspired by the story of Viola Vaughan and her own 10,000 Girls Project.

Retired American, Viola is currently living and working in Senegal with the aim of improving the lives of 10,000 African girls through giving them education and sustainable life skills.

OGO OGBATA WROTE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE INSPIRING TALE ‘EGG-LAVA-PUPA-WOMAN’ Ogo Ogbata is a well established writer originally from a town in Enugu State, Nigeria. African culture is something that is very close to Ogo’s heart and her humble beginning gave her the inspiration to write her novel Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman.

Despite receiving a major from the University of Nigeria in Computer Science, Ogo’s heart has always belonged to writing, creating stories from the tender age of just four. After graduating she wrote for The African Guardian as a regular socio-political columnist.

As well as an author, Ogo also delivers her own creativity training as well as coaching and consulting programmes to professionals and other large scale organisations, to help them realise their full potential.

What inspired you to write the book?

What many people don’t know is that Nigerians are their own worst critics. In the months leading up to Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary, I heard a lot of negative comments about the country’s viability. It seemed that a lot of people had lost hope. The global economic recession which has affected Britain and other developed countries also meant that many people around me had lost their jobs, their homes, the spring in their steps... I began to ask myself how come some people are able to defy the odds while others just give up and cry. What I discovered moved me to write a story that shows what is possible with faith, focus and fortitude.

Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is not just a book about Africa. This is the story of a woman who holds on to her dignity despite her loss and a celebration of the indomitable spirit with which she recreates her reality. This is also a love story - a celebration of the important relationships that define who we are.

Did you draw your inspiration from any existing books?

As a young girl living in Nigeria, I remember watching snippets of the movie series based on Barbara Taylor Bradford’s best-selling novel ‘A Woman of Substance’ and wondering why there were not more stories about African women who are doing extraordinary things against all odds.

Was there a message that you hoped to convey in this book?

I wanted to write a story that would show the love, courage, creativity and entrepreneurial instincts of the African woman whilst celebrating the hope, culture and tenacity that people of all races have in common. I sincerely hope that my readers will be inspired to defy the odds in their own lives - economically, emotionally and socially.

Ten of the girls from the Senegal programme have just been accepted into the University of Suffolk and this shows just how much of difference projects like Viola’s are making to the lives of African women.

But the support they wanted to provide was not in the form of charity, the Dakar Dragons wanted to provide grass roots business knowledge, to help the girls take the practical skills they had acquired and turn this into sustainable and self-supporting businesses, producing items that people genuinely wanted to buy. During their trip to Senegal, the Surrey Dragons spent time in a school which raised money to fund the education of young girls, a tea making business and a sewing business. They also had a productive meeting with the Citizenship Manager of Microsoft West & Central Africa, who agreed to put up the vital software needed and literacy training for a bakery business.

The School

At the school, the girls were running two projects; one made highly sort after Senegalese fabrics and the other was a restaurant business. This second business was not thriving due to basic lack of equipment, even though the demand for their produce was very high. When the team met the girls they already had a shopping list of basic equipment they needed. They also had a good grasp of the local market and they were ideally located as a pit stop for passing trade.

The Bakery & Sewing Business

At the bakery, which was situated in the Kaolack Village, the Dragons were met with a request for assistance with accountancy skills as well as funding to supply a sewing business with 12 extra sewing machines. This would triple the capacity of the business, making it much more able to cope with the demand better in the future.

The Bissap Tea Project

Based in a region close to the border of Gambia, the girls of The Bissap Tea Project make and sell an organic tea made from the flowers of the bissap plant. There are five different flavours of the tea, and there is high demand for it in the US especially. The Dragons helped the project by putting together a business plan, containing all processes from the planting and harvesting of the tea to the harvesting and bagging stages.

For more information visit www.dakardragons.org and www.10000girls.org

www.businessindependent.co.uk

25

FEATURE : ENTREPRENEURSHIP THE AFRICAN WAY

Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is available to buy from Amazon. Or for autographed copies please visit her website: www.ogoogbata.com

NEW WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY COULD MEAN THE END OF A TANGLE OF CHARGERS? Wireless technology has upped its game with this latest gadget which can wirelessly charge your mobile phone. We have all done it – left the house and realised that our phone is still out of battery. Sometimes you really need to make a call and decide to kill two birds with one stone and schedule it in for that long car or train journey that you have to make to your meeting on a Tuesday morning, only to realise that you have no way of charging your phone.

Just imagine what wireless technology could do for your business? Next you will be able to wirelessly charge your laptop and perhaps the next thing will be that you will not need wires for anything!

This is a true technological breakthrough. Bulky chargers take up valuable suitcase space for the avid tech-savvy jet setter never mind weight allowance. Pretty soon it seems you will be able to take all your favourite things anywhere without ever worrying that you cannot charge your DS – you could even take your fridge!

Its always a pain when you get to your foreign destination, only to be met with a wall socket which does not match your plug. This wireless gadget is quite simply the solution to any problem.

Whether you are off abroad, commuting or making your way to a far away meeting, the wireless charger allows complete felxibility. Despite the undoubted convenience of the MP3 Player, the Laptop, satnavs and mobile phones, they all need charging at your most inconvenient moment. That and the charger is inextricably linked to the device and not with any other device or charger, the thought of hours spent hunting them down is just too much to handle. So we get around this by leaving them plugged in at the wall but, this just wastes valuable energy and money spent on paying the electricity bill. Charging a battery really should be simpler, like filling up a car with fuel.

One consumer electronics company have finally taken on the resposibility of recognising that this is a problem for many consumers, especially as more and more gadgets rely on battery power. This could be great news for businesses all over the world, especially as more and more people are able to go remote and can work from home, the train or aeroplane.

WHILE THIS ALL SOUNDS GREAT, JUST DON’T GO INVESTING LOADS IN THE CONCEPT JUST YET – WELL AT LEAST UNTIL IT HAS BEEN TRIED AND TESTED! While the temptation is there to launch even further into the cyber century with this new gadget, one leading Bioenergy expert is warning of the potential damage this could cause to the body’s natural body frequency.

Michael Cohen, founder of the RaphaYad Bioenergy healing clinic in London is seriously concerned that this innovation could do more harm than good.

“Whilst it is accepted that the external natural and man-made transmissions can affect the human body, the extent to which this interferes with the natural balance of the body is harder to determine. But what is clear”, says Mr Cohen, “is that it does have an effect on the body and just because we can’t measure this impact, doesn’t mean it isn’t potentially damaging and dangerous”.

Mr Cohen explains; “Our body has its own energy channels (bioelectromagnetic fields) which are affected by the everyday man-made technologies by damaging the body’s natural process”.

“Before 1900, the Earth’s electromagnetic field was composed simply of the fields and its associated micro pulsations, visible light and random discharges of lightening. Today, we swim in a sea of energy that is almost totally man-made.

These include commercial telephone and television satellites, FM stations, mobile phones and microware radiation”.

“Today we live with man-made energies as well as a concoction of man-made products and pollution that our body has to ingest, breathe and absorb. Most scientific research into the affects of individual frequencies does not take into account the more concerning issue of the unknown cumulative affect on the human body, from the combination of the ever expanding range of man-made frequencies in the environment that we live and work in. Our exposure and susceptibility to them is worsened as most are invisible and have no smells. Their effect on the human body is usually manifested through heightened levels of hyper sensitivity resulting in unprecedented high levels of illness, disease, allergies and susceptibility to injury,” says Mr Cohen.

The power of innovation Innovation drives business. New technologies, processes and ways of working can make your company fitter, more productive and ultimately more profitable.

A part-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership is an excellent, cost-effective way to increase innovation by tapping into University of Hertfordshire’s research, expertise and skills.

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KTPs typically last between 1 and 3 years, or 10 – 40 weeks for a shorter project. They involve a talented graduate, employed by the University and mentored by an experienced academic, working on a strategic project of real importance to your company.

To find out more about how we can help your business become more innovative and competitive,

visit go.herts.ac.uk/businessservices, call 01707 286 406 or email be@herts.ac.uk.

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If you are thinking about your Christmas break already, this year, like the twelve days of Christmas, Fawsley Hall has created twelve ways to eat, stay celebrate and relax this year. To take part in all the festivities, why not join the Christmas House Party, arriving on Christmas Eve and staying three nights’ costs from £720pp. Or beat the rush, arriving on the 23rd and easing into the Christmas spirit early, staying in one of the stylish rooms, dining in the Brasserie and enjoying a full English breakfast costs an additional £69.95. Fawsley has also arranged festive afternoon teas, evening parties, banquets and spa breaks, so there is something to suit every taste and pocket this Christmas.

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• Stage/Dance floor/Catwalk • Changing rooms • Multi-storey public car park for 700 cars adjacent to venue

CALL: 01923 218 553 / 07896 272 586 OR VISIT: www.langleybanqueting.co.uk E: info@langleybanqueting.co.uk | Gade House, 38-42 The Parade, High Street, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD17 1AZ

“Excellence to the Plate” since 1988.

‘Quality & Taste’ Always Matter!

6-10 Fore Street Hertford SG14 1BZ Booking / 01992 554828 / 554461 www.shahenshahrestaurant.co.uk

Brickwall Close, Ayot Green, Welwyn AL6 9AA t: 01707 324241 Email: laurent@thewaggoners.co.uk www.thewaggoners.co.uk

Restaurant: Private Function Room : Takeaway Delivery Service

OUT OF HOURS

The Waggoners is set in Ayot Green near Welwyn, between pretty houses and cottages around a beautiful nglish green. It is a refurbished 17th century coaching Inn run by Aude and Laurent Brydniak who have a wealth of experience and have run successful restaurants for the last 16 years.

The Waggoners offers three private rooms ranging from 10, 15 or 25 guests.

The private room can be use for breakfast, lunch or dinner or just as a meeting room.

DECLUTTER YOUR OFFICE

NETWORKING OFFICE ORGANISATION CAN BE A BIG CHALLENGE.

WHETHER YOUR OFFICE IS AWAY FROM YOUR HOME, IN A SHED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN OR, SIMPLY A CORNER OF YOUR HOME, MAKE SURE YOU MAKE THE BEST OF THE SPACE YOU HAVE.

THE RIGHT CARD TRICK?

BY ANDY LOPATA

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR ANY BUSINESS WHEN NETWORKING IS HOW TO GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS EFFECTIVELY ABOUT WHAT YOU DO. THIS IS PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT WHEN YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE PROPOSITION FOR MORE THAN ONE AUDIENCE. This is a challenge that presented itself to a colleague of mine, John Hotowka, when he called me recently. John is an excellent speaker and magician and is a member of a Mastermind group with me. The group is a collective of professional speakers who meet regularly to support each other and offer feedback and advice.

John called me to ask for my advice. Should he have one business card or two? He offers both after dinner and conference talks, although often his customer can be the same person. John was worried about confusing prospective clients and making sure they remember him for the right reasons.

We chatted for quite a while. I always recommend not confusing the people with whom you network by carrying around a collection of business cards and asking them to pick one. Although that might seem more natural for John than for others!

It is very easy to both confuse your network by sharing mixed messages and also damaging your credibility by promoting unrelated interests.

In John’s case I felt that the solution to his business card dilemma is relatively simple. His talks are, after all, part of the same business and solution. There is no reason why they can’t be represented on the same card, just as mine says ‘Keynote speeches. Training. Consultancy’.

The talks, whether conference keynotes or after dinner entertainment are, after all, John’s means of delivery. They are not what he does for his clients.

NETWORKING

This is a trap that many of us fall into. I used to describe myself rather grandly as a ‘professional speaker’. I could equally say I’m an ‘author’ or a ‘trainer’ or a range of other labels. The truth is that I am both, all and none of these. Speaking, writing and training are the means of delivering my service, not necessarily the service themselves.

The same applied to John. People will hire a magician to entertain or a speaker to educate. Or vice versa. The key is what sets John apart. What his expertise is.

I asked John why a client would book him rather than another magician or speaker. Why ask John to talk about Leadership, for example, rather than an expert in the subject?

The answer is in the impact his presentations have. John loves the ‘graveyard slot’ for speakers after lunch. They are a meeting planner’s nightmare. Their audience comes back in after their lunch, and occasionally a drink or two, the momentum of the morning session broken. If they choose the wrong speaker they run the risk of their audience members nodding off and the momentum of the event fading.

Similarly, an after dinner speaker can easily fall flat if they can’t make the right impact after a boozy meal. Increasingly, business conference organisers are looking for relevant after dinner speakers who can carry on the theme of the event, but the audience isn’t always fully receptive at that stage of proceedings.

With his blend of humour and magic and his ability to draw out key messages, John can revitalise his audience, capture their attention and get the meeting buzzing in that difficult period. THAT sets him apart from others and THAT is the message that he needs to share.

When you look at the message you want to share, don’t get too hung up on labels. Understand what impact you have for your customers, why they buy your product or service and the problems you resolve for them. Those are the messages you want to share, not simply what you ‘do’.

If you can get that message across effectively, whether on your business card or in conversation, you can wrap different offerings under the same banner without confusing your audience and resulting in more referrals and more business.

32

Andy Lopata is one of the UK’s leading business networking strategists and co-author of the Amazon.co.uk bestselling book ‘and Death Came Third! The Definitive Guide to Networking and Speaking in Public’. For more information visit www.lopata.co.uk

VISIT OUR WEBSITE, www.businessindependent.co.uk FOR A FULL ROUND-UP OF THE REGION’S NETWORKING EVENTS.

SAAB 9-5

BY TERRY SULLIVAN

THE RETURN OF THE SWEDISH BRAND TO THE IDIOSYNCRATIC ROOTS THAT MADE IT SUCH A POPULAR NICHE CHOICE WITH PEOPLE TIRED OF THE STANDARD EXECUTIVE FARE. THE NEW CAR HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING (ITS PREDECESSOR IS 13 YEARS OLD) AND, BOY, IS IT BIG! I RECENTLY TOOK THE NEW SAAB 9-5 OUT ON A TEST DRIVE. The 9-5 uses the long-wheelbase version of the platform that underpins the Insignia and it lends the car some serious heft. Inside there is the usual Saab dash, it’s presentable enough and feels hardy to touch. The 9-5 is be available in vector SE and Aero trim levels, the latter adding extras like electrically adjustable leather seats, 19-inch wheels and sports suspension as standard.

Stabbing the new starter button on the centre console fires up either a 157bhp, 2.0-litre diesel, with a wonderfully smooth 6-speed gear box, offering a combined fuel economy of 53.2mpg. You can choose to use the drive sense system which monitors the car’s handling and adjusts the suspension, steering, engine and rear wheel torque distibution for a smooth economic drive.

It also features a keyless entry system which alows you to open the car whilst you approach it even with your key in your pocket. I loved the heads up display that projects the speed, navigation, temperature and driver alert messages onto the windscreen as you can keep your eyes fully on the road in front.

Thanks to oodles of room and decent seats, the 9-5 is certainly not an uncomfortable prospect by any standard. However, you do feel suitably sheltered from the road in that cavernous interior, and there’s enough room in the back to stage a basketball tournament!

The 9-5’s sheer size guarantees it plenty of presence on the road and handles well the rigors of driving both in town and on the open road. Priced between £26,494 for the basic 158bhp, 2.0-litre turbo diesel in Vector trim, to £37,795 for the 4x4, 296bhp, 2.8-litre V6 turbo in top Aero guise. I would suggest it is a very good purchase at that price.

Fuel consumption figures for the Saab 9-5 Saloon range in mpg (litres/100km): Urban 17.4–40.9 (16.2–6.9), Extra-urban 38.6–64.1 (7.3–4.4), Combined 26.6–53.2 (10.6–5.3). CO2 emissions 244–139g/km. Model shown Saab 9-5 Aero 2.0T manual at £31,195 Man. Rec. OTR plus optional metallic paint at £525.

The all new Saab 9-5.

It’s arrived.

The all new Saab 9-5 is now available at your local dealer. Marking the dawn of a new and exciting era of independent Saab production, it blends purity in form with responsibility in function. Our 30 years of turbocharging expertise have been put to full use in developing a range of engines that combine outstanding overtaking power with impressive fuel consumption and emissions. Add effortlessly sleek aerodynamics and a clean Scandinavian design, and this is unmistakably Saab. Anything but ordinary.

Squire Furneaux Dunstable www.squirefurneauxsaab.co.uk 0844 209 8031

Squire Furneaux Welwyn www.squirefurneauxsaab.co.uk 0843 316 0333

DRIVE

The all new Saab 9-5 from £26,495 OTR. Contact your local dealer to reserve your priority test drive.

BUSINESS DIRECTORY 



 YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS GUIDE 

 



HRJ Law The Langley Banqueting & Conference   Suites 01462 628 888 01923 218 553 www.hrjlaw.co.uk  www.langleybanqueting.co.uk

TEN TIPS TO GET YOUR REFERRAL MESSAGE ACROSS (PART ONE)   

The Langley

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Tap into our talent

Squire Furneaux Saab Dunstable : 0844 209 8031 Welwyn : 0843 316 0333 www.squirefurneauxsaab.co.uk

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aab 9-5 from £26,495 OTR. Profile the company’s ocal dealer to reserve your priority test drive.

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As the UK’s commitment to thetheCharity and someleading business-focused university, we thing of the values held by your business to the wider community. ensure our students have the practical skills and commercial

today’s employers need. neaux Dunstable Gain the Squire Furneaux Welwyn satisfaction that you are makingunderstanding a positivethat difference within www.squirefurneauxsaab.co.uk the community by giving back to that same 0843 316 0333 where you do business Plug into a real business network. community and helping those most in need.

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