Talkbusiness march2015

W W W . T A L K B U S I N E S S M A G A Z I N E . C O . U K

March 2015 £4.50

PRE-LOVED How to buy the perfect used vehicle for your business

SAUNAS, SLEEP, AND SMOOCHES Discover five of the most unusual business rituals

A CUT ABOVE From cutting hair at 12 years old in Italy, to running one of the world’s most famous hair salons, Toni Mascolo, co-founder of Toni & Guy, reveals how he did it

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Have a meaningful conversation with your local audience.

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In the past 24 hours, more people have seen advertising on a Bus than have visited a social networking site.

Source: Touchpoints 5

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inside 11 Editor’s letter 12 Contributors 15 News & events

STRATEGY 49 A bum deal

Rich With explains how to successfully engage with clients

50 Home is where the start is

Best places for start-ups in the UK 54 Still in hibernation?

Spring clean your business 57 Finding the perfect

pre-loved partner

Finding the perfect used vehicle 59 It’s all in your head

Powwownow

MARKETING 63 The psychology of colour

Marketing guru, Kim Davis

18 SUCCESS 18 A cut above

Toni & Guy co-founder, Toni Mascolo, reveals how he built his hairdressing empire

26 All together now

Recently voted one of Britain’s

most influential entrepreneurs, Darren Westlake

discovers what colour means to your brand

65

68

72

75

77

Social simplicity Basic guide to Twitter

Go big or go home

Clarke speaks to Dominic Lill about starting at 16

33 Book reviews

37 Bank of Mum and Dad

Funding expert Julian Smith looks at loans from family

39 Taking away the parachute How changes to sick pay rebates

Talk Money’s Adam Aiken

47 A day in the life Titus Learning

save you money?

106 Tech review

The Gadget Show’s Ortis Deley 108 Fancy being hacked?

110 Shop ‘til they drop

Designing a perfect on-line shop 115 I’ve got an app for that

Managing your multichannel communications Start communicating clearly

Increase your press release uptake

Picture perfect

VP of Shutterstock, Gerd Mittman, talks image selection

FRANCHISE 117 Franchise news 119 Is franchising the answer?

The questions you need to

PEOPLE

ask yourself

expanding your franchise overseas

79 What’s your vision?

81

85

88

91

Deborah Benson

ADVICE

Going virtual

Should you hire a virtual assistant?

Locked horns

Conflict resolution - HR Insight

Secret diary of an entrepreneur Tej Kohli

Femme fatal

127 Sales doctor

Your questions answered 129 Putting it out there

Five reasons to outsource IT 133 Legally speaking

Wright Hassell tackles design

Lee McQueen

are leaving SMEs in trouble

42 Make your business, not your wallet, lighter How to switch energy suppliers 45 When fine really isn’t fine

103 Building a city of

connectivity

Dragon’s Den’s Piers Linney 105 A different way of inking

Can print management services

122 Foreign franchises Dynamis’ Nicky Tatley explores

FINANCE

TECHNOLOGY

Using big data for big relevance

31 Sorry Miss, the dog ate my...app

My Study Life founder, Jamie

108

LIFESTYLE 93 We love... Top tech 94 Hotspots: Stratford-upon-Avon Locations for business stays,

copyright from a legal perspective

135 Accolades without the escapades

Tips for successful awards entry 136 End the dismay this May

Is Westminster working hard enough for SMEs?

139 Come fly with me

Examining corporate travel options 142 Directory

meets, and eats

68

97 Footnotes This season’s best shoes 98 Leave the office behind

Holiday Hypermarket 101 On the road: Lexus GS300H

Oliver Hammond’s car review

OPINION 145 Question of the month:

Are Sunday trading laws outdated?

146 He said/she said

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Scan this QR code to subscribe to Talk Business

LUKE GARNER

EDITOR

Luke Garner luke.garner@talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk

DESIGN

Louise Salisbury artwork@talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk

WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Mitchell Finlay mitchell.finlay@astongreenlake.com

SALES & MARKETING MANAGER Scott Hartley scott.hartley@talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk

SALES ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Chris Sheath chris.sheath@talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk Callam Hall callam.hall@talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk Andrew Wood andrew.wood@talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk

MANAGING DIRECTOR Stuart McCreery

Circulation/subscriptions: UK £40, EUROPE £60, REST OF WORLD £95 Circulation enquiries: Aston Greenlake Publishing Ltd T: 0203 617 4681 Talk Business is published 12 times a year

by Aston Greenlake Publishing Limited William Robinson Buildings, 3 Woodfield Terrace, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8AJ © Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

No part of Talk Business may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the editor.

Talk Business will make every effort to return picture material, but it is sent at owner’s risk.

Due to the nature of the printing process, images can be subject to a variation of up to 15 per cent, therefore Aston Greenlake Publishing Limited cannot be held responsible for such variation.

The opinions expressed by guests in this magazine are not necessarily the views held by Talk Business magazine, its publishers and its owners.

Printed by

The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream

Tommy Hilfiger

T

he American dream is a well-known concept across the world. This is the idea that anyone, from any background, can move to America and, if they want it badly enough and are prepared to work hard, they can achieve their dreams of money and success. But what about the British dream? For it could be argued that, as one of the more multi-cultural societies in the world, dreams of success by foreigners are just as attainable here as they are under the banner of the stars and stripes.

Yes, there may be those in the UK that look at the influx of immigration as a burden on our welfare system, and see many as scroungers resorting to ‘benefit tourism’, but this could not be further from the truth. In fact, recent studies show that migrants contributed £25 billion to the economy in the last decade, and were less likely to claim handouts or live in social housing than people already living in Britain.

So it is no surprise that a 14-year-old Italian boy, with zero knowledge of English, went from being a migrant in London to co-owning perhaps one of the most iconic high street brands in the world. That boy was Toni Mascolo, co-founder of the Toni & Guy hairdressing empire. His tale of how he started at such a young age, fought off two recessions on the high street by thinking outside of the box, and how he is bringing through the next generation of great entrepreneurs, is a testament to the prosperity, work ethic, and talents of those who come to the UK to pursue their dreams. Explore his story on page 18.

Elsewhere this month, Dragon’s Den’s Piers Linney tackles the idea of super connected tech cities (page 103), and Darren Westlake reveals the meteoric rise of his crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube – including some of the most insane projects they’re currently working on, such as a Zepplin airship (page 26).

We’re also looking at a change to Statutory Sick Pay legislation that is causing thousands of SMEs to struggle financially, and how you can try to soften the blow, on page 39, and finally, if you’re still stuck in that post-winter slumber, grab some tips on how to wake your business up this spring on page 54.

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the experts

RICH WITH

JAN DEKKER

TONY MORRIS

Rich has worked in a design environment since leaving college. After spending time in editorial, print, and web design, he began freelancing at agencies in London and the Caribbean.

He set up his own studio - Hoot Creative - last year.

Based near Southend, he works with MDs of established businesses and start-up SMEs, who have a problem getting noticed in an overcrowded market.

Rich likes Massive Attack, Jeff Buckley, smoothies, photography and wine-gums. He is not fond of Brussels sprouts.

You can follow him on Twitter @RichGrowCo

Jan is a creative director at The Writer, the UK’s biggest language consultancy. He makes confusing words make sense, and sensible words sound human, for banks, telecoms companies and utilities, among others. Inevitably, words like ‘leverage’, ‘solution’, and ‘optimise’ get a rough ride. Jan has worked on everything from bids and thought leadership for banks and telecoms businesses, to stories on tea packets. He’s also helped a couple of water companies, a frozen food giant, an online investment platform, and an energy company find their own way of writing.

Tony is a sales trainer and cofounder of The Sales Doctor.

He has more than 14 years’ experience in sales, both B2B and B2C, and has trained more than 1,500 sales professionals in a variety of industries.

Alongside his business partner, Tony set up The Sales Doctor in May 2006.

He started by cold calling to generate appointments, and within the first year, The Sales Doctor had 56 clients; this has continued to grow year on year.

Tony’s ethos: you can sell any product or service with the right attitude and a well planned call structure.

RICH TALKS ENGAGING YOUR CUSTOMERS ON TWITTER ON PAGE

READ JAN’S ARTICLE ON SUCCESSFULLY ENTERING AWARDS ON PAGE

READ TONY’S SALES DOCTOR ADVICE ON PAGE

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12 March 2015

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news SMEs bear brunt of UK’s £10bn hidden tax burden SMEs currently spend approximately £9.9bn each year on tax compliance compared to the £100m that larger firms pay

T

he UK tax system is costing businesses up to £10bn in hidden costs a year, with SMEs bearing the majority of this burden according to new research by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).

On average each of the UK’s 2.25m SMEs incurs £4,376 in tax compliance costs, just under half the £8,907 each of the 9,000-plus large businesses pay on average.

However, while the average tax burden for SMEs is lower, the vast majority (1.7 million) of these enterprises have no more than four employees compared to the 250 or more employees found in large businesses. This means that despite a lower headline cost, proportionately the impact is much higher on SMEs.

British is best at European Business Awards 16 UK-based business shortlisted for final at prestigious awards

16

successful businesses

from the United Kingdom

have been named as finalists and Ruban d’Honneur recipients in the 2014/15 European Business Awards sponsored by RSM. These companies will now go on to compete in the third and final round of judging resulting in eleven overall category winners to be announced later this year.

In total 110 Ruban d’Honneur recipients across Europe were chosen from 709 National Champions by an esteemed panel of judges consisting of European business and political leaders, academics and entrepreneurs.

Now in its 8th year, the European Business Awards has engaged with over 24,000 businesses from 33 European countries this year.

The list of British finalists includes insurers the Admiral Group, clothing manufacturer and retailer Charles Tyrwhitt, and Nottingham City Transport.

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards said: “To survive in this economic climate is hard enough, so to innovate, prosper and expand in the way this year’s Ruban D’Honneur

Mark Farrar, AAT, Chief Executive, said, “SMEs are the backbone of British businesses but some are being weakened by a £10bn tax burden. It’s a strong indicator of just how hard dealing with tax can be when 80% of our members, experts at navigating through the intricacies of tax compliance, state that the UK tax system is too complicated. Making the tax system simpler could help to lift this extraordinary weight, diminishing the costs that SMEs face. This would give SMEs the space they need to invest in growing their business and hiring more staff - a vital component for the UK’s economic recovery.”

Contact: www.aat.org.uk

recipients have is truly remarkable.

Europe needs more companies like these. Well done to them all.”

The European Business Awards was set up to recognise and reward excellence, best practice and innovation across the European business community. Winners will be announced on 3rd March 2015, after the public vote closes.

Contact: www.businessawardseurope.com

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news 65.2% of entrepreneurs who are planning to go into business with family members will do so in 2015

2015 to be the year of the ‘fampreneur’

A

recent survey by BusinessesForSale.com has revealed that 65.2% of entrepreneurs who are planning to go into business with family members will do so in 2015. The survey was commissioned following a rise in activity on the site of people in employment keen to set up a business with one or more family members.

In addition, a high proportion (75.4%) are willing or keen to relocate to enjoy the change in lifestyle they crave.

Rufus Bazley, marketing director at BusinessesForSale.com says:

“We expect more families to put the Monopoly board to one side last Christmas and put together their own business plans for 2015 instead.”

The survey also quizzed established ‘fampreneurs’, the majority of which had businesses established in the last four-year period. It found they too had small groups of family members enjoying the success of being the boss, thanks to a relevant blend of skills and experience acquired prior to start up.

Rufus adds: “This new breed of entrepreneur, the fampreneur, is not a third generation inheritor of an established bloodline business.

It’s someone who sees a new opportunity and recognises that the skills, trust, and finance he or she shares with one or more relatives, means their exposure to risk is reduced while the potential for success is far greater than going it alone.”

“Doubtless the zeitgeist of the age of the entrepreneur has been tempered in recent economic times, and the notion that family members can pool resources in this way makes business ownership more accessible to all.”

Contact: www.businessesforsale.com

DATES FOR THE DIARY Business Junction Networking Events 5 March TwoRuba, 5 More London Place, Tooley Street, SE1 2BY 12 March Drift Bar, 110 Bishopsgate, Heron Tower, Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY 18 March The Sign of the Don, The Courtyard, 20 St. Swithins Lane EC4N 8AD 25 March Dutch Hall, 7 Austin Friars, London, EC2N 2HA www.businessjunction.co.uk

Sterling Integrity 25 March - Solihull The Village Hotel, Solihull 2 July - Gloucester Kingsholm Rugby Stadium www.sterlingintegrity.co.uk The Small Business Debate 2 March The Great Hall, ICAEW, London www.enterprisenation.com/thedebate The London Bridal Show 8 - 10 March Olympia National, London www.thelondonbridalshow.co.uk

British & International Franchise Exhibition 13 - 14 March Olympia National, London www.franchiseinfo.co.uk The Newcastle Business Exhibition 2015 19 March Hilton Hotel, Newcastle-upon-Tyne www.ncbizexhibition.com Internet Retailing Expo 25 - 26 March NEC, Birmingham www.internetretailingexpo.com Growing Asian Businesses 30 March Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, Manchester www.eventbrite.co.uk

16 March 2015

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SUCCESS

Quality is the most important focus when running a business. If you’re thinking ‘money, money, money’ from day one, then you’ll never succeed because it causes you to cut corners

18 March 2015

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SUCCESS

A CUT ABOVE For 50 years, his name has stood proudly above the doors to the iconic Toni & Guy salons. Still cutting hair today, Toni Mascolo talks to editor, Luke Garner about his journey from family business to follicle fortune

H

alf a century ago he probably wouldn’t have dreamed for a moment that his name would adorn the entryways of salons, worldwide. It started as a family trade, with his father running a hair salon in Italy, but today with the help of his late brother, Gaetano (Guy) - the Toni & Guy empire boasts more than 400 outlets

worldwide, each adorned in that iconic white and black garb.

He got started in the hairdressing trade at the age of 12, helping his father out in the family salon. Back then, before all of the success and fame, Toni helped out because he enjoyed doing so - something which endures to this very day.

Despite his years, Toni still loves to get involved in his salons on a daily

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SUCCESS

basis, believing that it is this passion that has seen him prosper throughout the decades.

“My father was an entrepreneur.

He was the first to do perm waves in Italy, and I used to start to do perms at the age of 12, with ammonia and silver foil, for my dad. It was very interesting for me. By the age of 14, when I came to England, I was good at school but couldn’t speak a word of English, so what else could I do but what I already knew?”

“I still work in the salons very often, cutting hair. It is, and always has been, my passion, so that is why I still do it, even at my age. I’ll never retire from it because it is my hobby. I think that it is important to do something you love as a career, otherwise you’ll never succeed without the passion,” smiled Toni.

The fact that Toni & Guy has survived for so long is testament to doing things the right way, particularly given the trauma that the high street has suffered since the recession in 2007/08 (not to mention the

crash at the end of the 1980s). While stores such as Habitat, Woolworth’s, and Blockbuster have fallen by the wayside, Toni & Guy has emerged still strong, thanks in part, Toni believes, to focussing on quality and not cost.

“Quality is perhaps the most important thing you can focus on when running a business,” he explained. “You can’t cut corners, you need to provide a great service. Once you’ve achieved that, then the money will follow automatically. If you’re thinking ‘money, money, money’ from day one, then you’ll never succeed, because it causes you to cut corners. You might not think so, but this shows up to the customer.

They know when the service isn’t great, and then they won’t come back.”

“What a lot of people don’t realise about the recession and the struggles the high street has faced, is that a lot of it wasn’t to do with the products or services at all. Sure, in many cases if the product isn’t, or wasn’t, right for the consumer, then it was up to the store to adapt, and if they didn’t then they deserved to fail, but a big issue was the contracts people had signed themselves into with landlords when the going was good, without thought for the consequences if things turned sour. The structure of leases generally meant high rent and long leases, with no breaks. This meant people suddenly couldn’t cover the huge rents on places when consumer spending dipped. We negotiated and managed to open new stores at low rent, with five to ten year leases, including tenant breaks.

Why nobody ever thought of that before, I don’t know, but our attitude towards the landlords was ‘if they

What a lot of people don’t realise about the recession and the struggles the high street has faced, is that a lot of it wasn’t to do with the products or services at all

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SUCCESS

Apprentices are our future, our tomorrow.

They’re vital and the Government needs to be driving this.

Knowledge and experience passed down through generations is important don’t give you what you want, don’t accept it, and don’t open the salon’.”

As for the future of the high street experience, he thinks that there is definitely potential for improvement.

“The shopping centres are very expensive, and you have to pay service charges etc. The high street is still a good idea, but it needs to adapt.

While the internet is helping people to research things online, the city centres offer the enjoyment of shopping. The bottom line is, if you don’t change, you will never grow.”

The fate of the high street, and the economy in general, is a hot button issue in the media at the moment, with a general election on our doorstep. It could very well be make or break for many stores, depending on who grasps power in May, and the direction they choose to take the economy. One issue that has been at the forefront of talk by leading politicians is the need to bring the next generation of workers through into jobs. Whilst the two main political parties want to do this to stem the tide of benefits payments, Toni believes that we should be doing this for another reason, and he has practiced what he’s preached for decades - namely, supporting apprentices.

“The Government really needs to step up and do more for young people. Apprentices are our future, our tomorrow. They’re vital and the Government needs to be driving this. Knowledge and experience passed down through generations is important,” stressed the 72-year-old.

“I speak to, and try to mentor, our apprentices as much as possible. I always say ‘Do you love what you do, and does it come from your heart?’, and I ask ‘Where do you want to be?’, which are some of the most important things for them to understand. I also tell them to never stop growing or trying to grow, and to seize every opportunity - that’s great advice for any budding entrepreneur,” he beamed.

When he’s not bringing along the next generation in the salon, he’s putting his thoughts and learnings down on paper. His autobiography, detailing his rags-toriches story, Toni: My Story is out now. The Italian believes that it is a great read for anyone wanting to ‘learn about the true keys to business, and how to be successful’.

“There’s good ideas of how to run your business and how to be strong in my book, without it being boring,” he enthused. “I like to be an example to everyone else. It’s not easy, but it is very rewarding when it works well. I believe you should always be humble, and work hard towards what you want, and seize every opportunity.”

In his spare time - that’s the ‘other’ spare time when he’s not cutting hair in his salons of course - the entrepreneur still finds it hard to be too far away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and interaction with other people.

“I don’t get a lot of time to relax, but when I do unwind, I like to go and watch Chelsea football club. There are also a lot of charities that we’re involved in, and that are very close to my heart too, such as the Kings College Children’s Hospital Ward. It is important to give back and help others.”

When a business has been in a family for so long, it can often be a tough decision as to what to do with it when the owners do eventually retire, but Toni has faith in his family, that it’ll be in good hands for the next 50 years, and beyond.

“Nobody knows what will happen in life, but I’d like the business to remain in the family,” he explained. “My daughter is so talented, especially when it comes to fashion, and we work with London Fashion Week, so I think she would be an excellent leader of the company.

So would my son, Christian. They would work the family business well, I’d have no worries about it. It’s in safe hands.”

Contact: www.toniandguy.com

Toni: My Story by Toni Mascolo is out now in hardback from John Blake, £17.99

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Carey Corporate Pensions UK

Auto-enrolment ready?

Need a helping hand?

• Review and Implementation Program • Professional Auto-enrolment Portal • Qualifying Workplace Pension

Your end-to-end solution is ready and waiting Don’t delay – let the professionals take the strain T: +44 (0)1908 336010 E: autoenrolment@careypensions.co.uk

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WORKING TOGETHER

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The Carey Workplace Pension Trust is a UK registered Master Trust Occupational Defined Contribution Scheme, HMRC reference no: PSTR 00787450RX Carey Corporate Pensions UK Limited Registered Office: Ist Floor Lakeside House, Shirwell Crescent, Furzton Lake, Milton Keynes MK4 1GA Company Number 9358998

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Auto-enrolment through the eyes of Carey Pensions Carey Corporate Pensions has provided auto-enrolment and Workplace Pension solutions to both professional advisers and direct to employers since 2013.

Christine Hallett CEO, Carey Pensions comments: “The last two years have been a rollercoaster and those in the business of pension provision have had to develop their proposition to meet the changing needs of advisers and employers. We believe that those committed to delivering a solution, will need to be prepared to play the long game, providing the vehicles and platforms to enable this to be achieved. This is not a business for quick wins.”

Proposition

The Carey Corporate Pensions proposition is in two parts. The first part is the Auto-enrolment solution, which is either a bespoke assessment portal, or a self service portal which enables employers to assess their workforce, to provide communications as required to the workers, the Auto-enrolment solution takes the administrative overhead away from the employer and allows them to be compliant with the assessment and Auto-enrolment regulatory requirements.

The second part and the main part of our proposition is our workplace pension solution, as an administration and trustee specialist this is the part that we believe we can add value.

We have an occupational Defined Contribution Master Trust qualifying workplace pension scheme with a default fund well within the charge cap limit, it also has other approved investment managers that can be advised on or chosen as an alternative, bringing more flexibility and choice for our Qualifying Workplace Pension.

Our service proposition is centered around the needs of the clients. At the implementation stage, there is a dedicated administrator working with the employer, and/or their adviser to ensure they are established and set up with little stress and who will deal with all the servicing on an ongoing basis after the scheme is established.

Challenges

Some of the main providers have to date won the lion-share of the marketplace. However, some have already started cherry picking and being selective in the type of pension scheme they will take and have put in certain criteria before they will even give terms. The challenge is to ensure that our proposition offers something different. Carey Corporate Pensions will accept any employer size and allow them to participate in their Master Trust Pension Scheme.

Support

In the last 6 months there has been a very distinct change in the marketplace, which positions our company extremely well for the future.

The recent NEST research published suggests that smaller employers need support and don’t know where to go.

Contact us today 01908 336010

The Pensions Regulator has indicated that there are a number of firms that should already have staged but who have not.There is still a need for more communication and support; we will see a more direct delivery and simpler sign up process driven by technology in the next couple of years.

Prepare and Beware

Start talking to your preferred pension provider now, later into 2015 it may be too late. Make a decision early on Auto-enrolment processes, and whether these would be taken care of by the accountant, payroll company, or whether a bespoke portal would be required. Most SMEs may not understand the resource requirement needed in order to implement Autoenrolment and the procedures that need to be developed and the ongoing requirement to run these processes each payroll period. Getting specialists in early saves a whole lot of time and heartache on an ongoing basis.

The Pensions Regulator is now beginning to exercise its powers of enforcement where continued breaches occur by certain employers.

This will increase as the number increase.

Issues

SMEs will face the problem of capacity and they will find themselves being shoe-horned into a scheme that may not be the most appropriate for them if they have left the decision too late. Doors will be closed. So the sooner they establish and implement their chosen solution, the easier and better it will be.The numbers below will all be seeking a solution, there is not enough capacity in the pension industry to ensure that all companies will be compliant [Source The Pensions Regulator Report Sept 2014] 152,900 employers must stage in 2015 617,000 employers must stage in 2016 533,000 employers must stage in 2017

Solution

Carey Corporate Pensions UK will accept any employer size and allow them to participate in their Master Trust Pension Scheme.

Note: Because of the potential “capacity crunch” that is expected over the next two years, SMEs are being encouraged to secure their Auto-enrolment providers well in advance of their staging date, so that they know they are ready and prepared for when they are legally required to establish the scheme for their employees.

autoenrolment@careypensions.co.uk

The Carey Workplace Pension Trust is a UK registered Master Trust Occupational Defined Contribution Scheme, HMRC reference no: PSTR 00787450RX . Carey Corporate Pensions Ltd and Carey Corporate Trustees UK Ltd do not provide advice and always recommend that independent professional financial advice is sought prior to making any decision about pension arrangements.

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24/02/2015 11:33

SUCCESS

People genuinely want to support British businesses. A lot of our investors love feeling that they’re helping a business get off the ground, or just being a part of its future growth

All together now In just four years, Crowdcube has risen to prominence as the top crowdfunding resource on the internet. For his efforts, co-founder Darren Westlake was recently named as one of the esteemed ‘Debrett’s 500’, a list of Britain’s greatest entrepreneurs. We caught up with him to get an insight into crowdfunding, the finance sector, and his success

I

t’s 2011, the economy has been mired in a financial crisis for three years, and the banks have become increasingly stingy with their lending. SMEs have nowhere to turn in order to gain funding for their ideas and projects, leading to stagnation, and troubling times for the UK. Step forward Darren Westlake and co-

founder, Luke Lang, who had a bright idea of their own that would kick-start entrepreneurial creativity in the small business sector once more. And so it was that Crowdcube was born.

Fast forward to 2015, and Crowdcube sits as the leader in the alternative funding market, with 128,000 people having

invested more than £60 million, funding 193 businesses. But what exactly is Crowdcube, and what can such phenomenal success be attributed to?

“Crowdcube is an online platform that enables ordinary people to invest, alongside professional investors, in startup, early stage, and growth businesses through equity, debt

26 March 2015

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SUCCESS

and investment fund options,” clarified Darren.

“Investment opportunities in British private firms have - up until recently - been limited to a handful of wealthy angel investors or high net-worth individuals. Crowdfunding has made investment more accessible,” he continued. “I also think that people genuinely want to support British businesses. A lot of our investors love feeling that they’re helping a business get off the ground, or just being a part of its future growth.

They also enjoy the process of reviewing and selecting the pitches that most interest them as investments. Compared to other forms of investment, they are much closer to their investment choices.”

Perhaps surprisingly, it was a popular UK TV show that is

investor. Surely there were more people like me that would support the entrepreneur so that he or she didn’t have to put all of their eggs in one dragon’s nest? That was the ‘Eureka!’ moment. That’s when my co-founder, Luke Lang, and I founded Crowdcube.”

The traditional method of gaining finance - namely a bank loan - is clearly no longer a first port of call for many SMEs, but it may perhaps seem somewhat surprising to the layman that the big banks haven’t adapted their strategies to attract more people looking for investment.

It is for this reason that Crowdfunding has had the chance, along with other forms of alternative finance such as P2P lending, to grow so rapidly within the lending market. For example, the

we see raising finance on our site.

What is interesting though, now that we are financing a bigger percentage of more established, larger businesses, is that many of these firms could easily attract investment from a bank, but they choose not to. They are using crowdfunding to engage with their customers, and provide fans of their business with an opportunity to be part of their future success,” smiled the entrepreneur.

Crowdcube operates on an ‘all or nothing’ model; when a pitch reaches its target, the business receives the funding raised; if it doesn’t reach the target then all funds are returned to the investors, and no money is charged. So, with the revelation that just seven per cent of projects seeking £100,000-plus, actually gain funding, what does Darren feel it takes to create a

Surely there were more people like me that would support the entrepreneur so that he or she didn’t have to put all of their eggs in one Dragon’s nest? That was the ‘Eureka!’ moment all about helping businesses to gain funding and investment that caused enough chagrin in Darren’s mind to make him want to set up Crowdcube.

“The idea for Crowdcube was sparked by the frustration of watching Dragons’ Den and seeing great business ideas fall by the wayside if the ‘Dragons’ didn’t buy into the pitch. I’ve experienced the challenges of raising finance first hand, and it was clear my experience was not unique,” he explained.

“I imagined how great it would be if there was a way that 100 people could each invest £5,000, rather than the entrepreneur pitching his idea to one angel

alternative lending market grew by 161% from 2013 to 2014, and the UK alternative finance market as a whole, provided more than £1billion of growth and working capital to an estimated 7,180 SMEs - equivalent to 2.4% of bank lending to businesses - by the end of 2014. However, Darren doesn’t find the lack of effort to reverse this trend from the banking sector astounding at all.

“I’m not really shocked that the banks have stood still and done nothing. The banks are big institutions and, as such, they move slowly. They’ve a higher risk threshold, and so realistically are less likely to finance some of the smaller, start-up firms that

successful pitch?

“When pitching for investment, businesses need to have a clear proposition, which outlines what makes it unique, what the strategy for growth is, and therefore why people should invest. We’ve found that people are more likely to invest in a business if the proposition is something they are already passionate about, or if it’s just too interesting or compelling to ignore.

Lastly, and most importantly, investors will want to know about the potential for return on their investment, so it’s essential that the business can outline how and when that could happen.”

With entrepreneurs able to pitch for funding for just about

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SUCCESS

anything, Darren has seen some rather ‘interesting’ ideas put forward over the years.

Thankfully the initial vetting process by Crowdcube prevents too many zany ideas getting through, but from some of those that do, it is evident that the British spirit of invention is alive and well in the 21st Century.

“We do see a lot of crazy ideas, which don’t make it onto the platform after going through our due diligence process, but a crazy but amazing project we are working with at the moment is Hybrid Air Vehicles. It’s a modern day version of the zeppelin airship, which is incredible! Zero Carbon Food is a pitch that’s stuck in my mind too - it’s not crazy but it’s certainly unique.

They use redundant underground spaces in London to produce leafy greens and herbs, using LED lights and hydroponics. Their pitch on Crowdcube did really well, attracting 480 investors, who raised more than £500k,” beamed the entrepreneur with a background in telecoms, technology and the internet, adding; “If I had to pitch an idea to be crowdfunded myself, I’d love to see a music recommendation service that truly understood someone’s tastes, and could recommend new music tailored to each individual user.”

Obviously, as is often the case in any market, when a new idea or concept enters the market, there will soon be a number of imitators that emerge to try to steal its crown. So how do Darren and his co-founder, Luke Lang, manage to stay ahead of the competition?

to keep ahead of the game. We continue to innovate. Last year we launched the world’s first crowdfunded mini-bond product.

We also continue to review our investment offers, and provide investors with new ways to manage their investments. For example, if they prefer to have their investments managed, they can invest in our venture fund.”

Despite the great success of Crowdcube, Darren didn’t always have his eye on entering the financial sector. In fact, it was his feet he was hoping to use, rather than his head.

“Growing up, I always wanted to be a footballer,” laughed the

Exeter-based CEO, “but then I realised I wouldn’t get to the top level, so I decided to focus on computers and technology instead. Thankfully, it has paid off pretty well!”

So although his dreams of Premiership glory are longgone, and it’s a slightly different crowd to the one he expected to be succeeding in front of, the future looks bright for Darren and Crowdcube - and most importantly – the alternative funding sector. That’s one thing you can bank on!

Contact: www.crowdcube.com

A crazy but amazing project we are working with at the moment is Hybrid Air Vehicles. It’s a modern day version of the Zeppelin Airship “It’s important that you never sit still. Even though we were the world’s first equity crowdfunding platform, we know that we need

28 March 2015

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24/02/2015 13:09

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22/01/2015 12:26

SUCCESS

It’s all about work ethic - if you’re determined enough to do something, the chances are you probably can, and if you don’t, someone else will beat you to it

“Sorry Miss, the dog ate my…app?”

F

our years on from creating his app, My Study Life has more than 725,000 followers worldwide. Dominic Lill spoke to Jamie about his app, his success, and his hopes for the future.

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION AND MOTIVATION TO GET STARTED IN BUSINESS? I created My Study Life when I was 16 years old and studying for my A-levels, as I needed a digital solution for planning my class schedules. The high demand and positive feedback from users motivated me to transform it from a hobby into a viable business.

WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR APP, AND HOW DOES IT HELP PEOPLE? It’s a cross-platform student planner, designed to help organise the student’s

This month, we chat to Jamie Clarke, founder of My Study Life, a cross-platform planner app for anyone in education - meaning no more forgotten homework excuses!

academic life. The app allows the user to schedule their classes and exams, and to keep track of homework in a way that is specific for education; it’s not simply another calendar or ‘to do’ list. My Study Life was originally designed to replace the paper planners that schools across the UK issue to their students.

Being cross-platform, all of the student’s data is synced between devices, meaning you can add a piece of homework while in class on your phone, and then access it from your laptop when you get home.

innovation and new developments whilst remaining advert-free. This is why I have launched a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign to help provide the company with the resources needed to become a highly successful business.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE WANTING TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS? When I started My Study Life, the intention was never to turn it into a business. However, I was so passionate WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST about the app, it simply evolved from CHALLENGES YOU’VE there. I think if you find something you FACED, AND HOW DID YOU love and are determined to make it a OVERCOME THEM? success, that passion is a great starting The biggest challenge has probably point for a business. been transitioning My Study Life from It’s all about work ethic - if you’re a hobby project to a business. There’s determined enough to do something, so much more to do, aside from the chances are you probably can, developing the product, and only a and if you don’t, someone else will finite amount of hours in a single beat you to it. I spent as much time as day; it’s a completely different world! possible developing My Study Life in my spare time when I was a student.

HOW DO YOU EXPECT YOUR That meant staying up until the early BUSINESS TO DEVELOP IN hours of the morning, getting just a THE FUTURE? few hours sleep, and still having the I hope (and expect!) that by motivation to get up and go to sixth 2018, My Study Life users grow form and my part-time job! to around two million worldwide.

It’s very important to me that the Contact: app continues to grow through www.mystudylife.com

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24/02/2015 13:11

Why our award-winning services should get your vote

Whether your fleet consists of cars, vans or trucks you need those vehicles on the road helping your business succeed. And as the AA was recently voted number one for Vehicle Recovery, Risk Management and Accident Management by readers of Business Car magazine, you can be sure that AA Business Services can provide all the support you’ll need. After all, we don’t just have more of our own patrols* than all other UK breakdown services put together, we can help in a lot of other ways too. If you’ve just one commercial vehicle or several thousand, we’ll help keep the wheels of business turning. *Source: Mintel – UK Vehicle recovery report, September 2013

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LATEST releases

SUCCESS

BOOK reviews UnSelling

The New Customer Experience

by Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer Our verdict: About the authors: Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer are co-hosts, not only of the UnPodcast, but also of five children, two dogs and two cats. This is their fourth bestselling book together, which represents their thoughts on the changing world of business.

We say: From the top selling authors of Unmarketing comes UnSelling: The New Customer Experience. Their latest offering is about everything but the sell. We put all of our focus on the individual purchase

The Social Entrepreneur’s A to Z on Anxiety, Leadership and Getting Enough Sleep

by Liam Black Our verdict: About the author: Liam Black has been a social entrepreneur for 20 years.

He co-founded his current business, Wavelength, in 2008, and spends much of his time helping to pick winners for Impact Ventures UK, and Centrica’s Ignite Fund.

We say: Simple, concise and fun, The Social Entrepreneur’s A to Z provides a great guide for any start-up, on how to survive and thrive as an entrepreneur. This humorous

We’ve got one of each book to give away FREE. Be the first to follow and tweet us, quoting the book name @TalkBusinessMag and we’ll send you a free copy!

transaction, while putting the rest of our business actions second, and we’ve become blind to customer service, support, branding, experiences, and even product quality. 60% of a purchasing decision is made before a customer even contacts you.

We have funnel vision, and it needs to stop.

Through this book, you’ll learn the secrets of what really influences purchasing decisions, by taking a wider overview of the sales process. You’ll discover why one negative review can outweigh 1,000 great ones, or why a blog post with a catchy headline can actually be damaging if it isn’t written well.

So, take a different view, remove the ‘funnel vision’, and let the sales figures follow.

UnSelling is published by Wiley, priced at £16.99, and is available as a hardback and ebook.

offering draws on the author’s experiences in business, to educate and inform about all aspects of entrepreneurialism and the business world around us.

The A-Z, bitesize-chunk format of the book makes for easy reading, and allows you to soak up the interesting anecdotes and information without feeling bogged down in text. You’ll be laughing and smiling throughout, but the lessons you learn will stay with you forever on your business journey. Whether it is learning when to listen to your customers, or discovering what it is that drives you, before you set off on your quest, there’s something to get even the most experienced of entrepreneurs thinking.

The Social Entrepreneur’s A to Z is published

by London Fields Publishing Ltd., priced at £15, and is available as a hardback.

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24/02/2015 13:12

Maxwell 10.

The evolution of Unified Communications at your fingertips.

www.explore-maxwell.com

Contact Keith Jackson at: keith.jackson@gigaset.com

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BECAUSE IT’S YOUR BUSINESS. 25/02/2015 09:19

SPONSORED ARTICLE

Steve Davie and son Ben receiving their award from COO Simon Dalziel (right)

INVESTMENT LEVEL: FROM £37,500

A DECADE OF CARE Bluebird Care celebrates 10 years in business

B

luebird Care celebrated its 10-year anniversary in October.

The company has been caring for customers across the country since 2004 and building its reputation as one of the most trusted home care providers in the UK. The anniversary coincided perfectly with the 2014 Bluebird Care annual franchise owner conference and the milestone was celebrated with a two-day event in Warwickshire, where franchise owners around the country were recognised for their exceptional customer service and quality of care.

The prestigious Franchisee of the Year award was presented to father and son team Steve and Ben Davie of Bluebird Care Bromley for their exceptional customer service.

Steve said: “Bluebird Care has revolutionised the way care in the home is delivered across the country – not just to older people but those with specialist care needs, children and their families – and we’re proud to be part of that movement.”

“It’s incredibly important to us and all of our fantastic

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care workers here in Bromley that we provide people with the highest possible quality of care in their own homes, and I am hugely proud of our staff and customers who’ve helped us to contribute to a decade of success at Bluebird Care.”

With over 200 offices across the UK, providing over 20,000 care visits each day, Bluebird Care staff deliver the highest quality home care and the company recently won the Skillsoft Inspire Award for its new e-learning training programme for care workers.

The award for Best Compliance Initiative comes as a result of Bluebird Care’s continued investment in training and support for its staff, including implementing a new e-learning system providing new recruits and for current staff with a flexible and blended approach to learning that underpins the first-rate service they deliver. The e-learning programme has also been commended by the UK’s industry regulators.

The company’s committed and enthusiastic franchise owners have been instrumental

in helping Bluebird Care to establish itself as one of the fastest-growing home care franchise companies in the UK. Commenting, Bluebird Care chief operating officer Simon Dalziel said:“Bluebird Care has been delivering high quality care to thousands of customers at home for over a decade, and I’m thrilled to recognise the hard work that our franchise owners have been doing across the network. They provide the highest standards of care to our customers and are leading the field in delivering a service that goes above and beyond on every single visit.”

“As the largest provider of privately funded care in the UK, Bluebird Care are determined to maintain their marketleading status, excited by the opportunity that franchise owners have to grow successful and profitable businesses, whilst providing a vital service to their community.”

Website: www.bluebirdcare.co.uk email: franchises@bluebirdcare.co.uk Phone: 01730 260 026

24/02/2015 16:28

Invoice finance for your business

Let your imagination take flight At Simply Factoring Brokers we know that each enquiry is unique and no two businesses are the same. Each business has different requirements and we realise this. We can tailor the funding package to each individual prospective client getting it to fit perfectly. Above all we listen. Take a look at our scenarios below and see if any of them sound familiar, we really can help anyone so don’t be afraid to get in touch.

HAVE YOU LOOKED INTO THE MINEFIELD BEFORE Here at Simply Factoring Brokers we are one of the largest Invoice Finance Brokers in the UK and our depth and breadth of experience in the invoice finance sector is staggering. So if you have looked into this section of business finance before then don’t be afraid to get in touch and our friendly team of experienced brokers are waiting to take your call.

DO YOU ALREADY HAVE A FACILITY If this is the case then don’t be afraid to put us to the test, in fact if you do have a facility and you are reading this we bet you £500 that we will be able to find out a better priced facility by at least 20% against what you are currently paying.

Try to prove us wrong??

NEW TO THE GAME If you have never looked into this before and you think this maybe something of interest to you, then by all means get in touch as we have access to over 20 of the UK’s best funders allowing us to get the best deal every time no matter what the circumstances. We will hold your hand through the process and save you time and money.

We will take the strain of finding your company the right finance product at the right cost. Don’t waste your time doing something we are professionals at doing.

At the end of the day it won’t cost you a penny to use us to ensure you get the right funding.

Call now on 03301 346166

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23/02/2015 17:15

FINANCE

Bank of Mum and Dad

Sometimes the best source of funding is through family and friends, but this can be fraught with delicate issues. Funding expert, Julian Smith wades into the personal loan waters

A

ccording to recent research

by Everline, of the 1,000 small businesses surveyed, 10% gained access to cash through friends and family.

Whether for short term financing needs, or the early stages of pre-seed equity investment, access to funds from friends and family remains an important source.

There are many advantages to this, but these arrangements should be entered into with eyes wide open.

For the entrepreneur, the benefits include the relative speed, flexibility, and absence of bureaucracy. With so many other priorities and demands when trying to get the business off the ground, there is a real upside in not getting distracted with a lengthy fund raising and diligence process.

Also, there’s something to be said for the entrepreneur who can demonstrate the appeal in order to secure early-stage funding from friends of family. Or, put another way, if the entrepreneur couldn’t persuade those closest to them to back their business idea, then how could they ever convince a professional investor?

However, there are downsides.

Statistically, 72% of new businesses

fail within the first five years. One of the benefits of angel investment is to benefit from the knowledge, network, and counsel of the angel investors, which is unlikely to be achieved through inexperienced friends and family investors.

Taking the above into account, here are three simple points to consider to guide better decision making if you go down the route of family and friends investment:

1 LOOK FOR WELL CONNECTED FRIENDS AND FAMILY Think about the networks and experiences that might be available to you through this new contractual relationship. Any investor will want to help make the business a success, so try to partner with those who have the most to contribute.

2 TARGET THOSE WHO CAN AFFORD TO LOSE IT Statistically, failure remains the most likely outcome. Therefore you should approach people who understand the risks, and can afford to lose their

investment. If not prepared for this eventuality, you could see your personal relationship deteriorate rapidly at the point you need support most.

3 KEEP IT SIMPLE AND DOCUMENTED In terms of structure, there is no need at an early stage to start adopting the kinds of terms that you would see in a VC deal, but at the same time there’s value in finding a friendly lawyer to document the terms of the deal. This will avoid the risk of misunderstandings later on.

One approach often used is to structure a convertible loan that converts into equity, at a modest discount to the valuation agreed at the next funding round. It avoids a valuation discussion at this early stage, and provides some preference over founder capital.

If the entrepreneur couldn’t persuade those closest to them to back their business idea, then how could they ever convince a professional investor?

Like any decision, you should only choose to go down this path after considering the alternatives. And if you do, you should do your best to avoid the ‘fools’ who are frequently bracketed with the family and friends in the ‘three F’s’.

Contact: www.thefundingexpert.co.uk

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24/02/2015 13:14

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23/02/2015 14:09

FINANCE

Stephen Levinson, consultant solicitor at Keystone Law, looks at recent changes to statutory sick pay rebates, and how SMEs can try to soften the blow

T

he abolition of the rebate on statutory sick pay has hit some small businesses very hard. Until April last year, the Percentage Threshold Scheme allowed employers to reclaim payments as soon as the outlay reached 13% of National Insurance costs, but now this benefit has been abolished.

Employers now have to foot the bill for both the sick pay, and any cost of providing replacement workers. Large employers may not have noticed the change, but small businesses certainly have.

The first reason given for the removal was suspiciously high-minded. It was said that the existence of the scheme provided a perverse incentive for employers not to manage absence adequately.

Secondly, it was said that the scheme was cumbersome, and administratively complex to manage. In relation to the last point, it is tempting to ask why the complexity - presumably created by Government regulations - could not be simplified by better regulations? As for the first reason, it is perhaps not too cynical to think that the saving of £50 million was tempting

for a strapped-for-cash administration.

A further explanation was that the saved money was to be used to set up a new Health and Work Advisory Service, which would provide employers with guidance about the management of absence in the workplace. The way this scheme is intended to work is that workers, who have been off for more than four weeks, may be referred for a work assessment by an occupational health specialist. Internet and phone advice services will also be available to employers.

When the abolition was announced, it was said that,

to minimise the impact, Government would not remove PTS in isolation. The words used were that ‘Any timescale would be linked to the introduction of the Health and Work Service’. Any innocent who might have thought this meant the two things would happen at the same time needs a lesson in reading small print.

Although the rebate was ended last April, still no date has been announced for the new service, other than ‘sometime this year’. The idea is that the Assessment and Advisory

Avoid schemes that reward constant attendance. These encourage the genuinely sick to

work when they shouldn’t, and can land employers in difficulties on Health and Safety grounds

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FINANCE

Service will eventually save costs, as standards of sickness management will improve so much because of the availability of this service. We will have to see about that in due course, but in the meantime, cash flow for many SMEs will suffer.

There is something very odd about Government having stated its commitment to small businesses by relieving them from red tape and new regulation, then adding to their burden by removing cash benefits many found useful. Some gloomy calculations are that the new regime may drive businesses to the wall. Figures of the actual costs are not easy to calculate, but statutory sick pay is ÂŁ87.55 a week, so if a worker is off for a long period, the bill will be up to ÂŁ2,450 for 28 weeks or more of absence. This is a considerable cost for a small business, and of course there is often the added price of providing a replacement.

Whether the rationale given

by Government will work in macro terms is one thing, but in any individual case, everything will turn on the quality provided by the new service, which is untried. As things have panned out, the removal of the rebate

has not been coordinated with the availability of the service, so delivery of the new regime has been somewhat clumsy.

In the meantime, what is an employer to do? What should be avoided is to assume everyone is a hypochondriac, or swinging the lead. If everyone knows you think that, it will create avoidance tactics, and management difficulties will increase. Also avoid schemes that reward constant attendance. These encourage the genuinely sick to work when they should not, and can land employers in difficulties on Health and Safety grounds.

One of the key aspects is to be rigorous about speaking to those returning from short absences, every time it happens.

It doesn’t have to be aggressive or offensive, but make it plain that any absence will have to be explained on a face-to-face basis.

Filling in forms is well enough, and there is no harm in it being a requirement, but having to account personally to your manager will be more effective.

The standard distinction that has to be kept in mind is the difference between short-term absences and longer periods, and

they require different techniques.

For anything that is between a couple of days and two weeks, a return-to-work interview is advisable, to explore the reason and also to see if the cause is anything to do with the workplace, which can be removed or improved. Longer periods need careful handling, and it is best to keep in touch, with calls and even visits, if necessary.

Being too concerned not to be seen to be pressurising an individual to return too early, and keeping your distance, is generally a mistake. Free guidance is available from ACAS Publications, and all businesses should make sure they have, and follow, clear policy guidelines within the business. Ensuring these are available and known to all is essential.

Present policies have increased the cost of absence, and the promised changes will take time to have any effect, so adhering to the well-established policy guidelines for managing absence, and being as hands-on as possible, is even more important now than it has ever been.

Contact: www.keystonelaw.co.uk

Adhering to the well-established policy guidelines for managing absence, and being as hands-on as possible, is even more important now than it has ever been

40 March 2015

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10/02/2015 12:50

FINANCE

Make your business, not your wallet, lighter

Gazprom Energy’s Stephen Beard explains how to switch energy suppliers, without compromising service and quality

F

or many businesses, winter provides the perfect opportunity to switch energy suppliers in order to improve services and reduce costs. But some companies can be reluctant to change to a different contract because they’re fearful that their service may be compromised in the process.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be like that. With a little research and some forward planning, companies can ensure that there is a smooth transition between energy suppliers, and business continues to run as usual.

WHY SWITCH?

One of the biggest issues facing UK SMEs is the amount of money that they spend on energy use. On average, an SME will spend £2,500 on electricity each year, and £3,200 on gas. These high bills can sometimes hinder business growth and prevent a healthy cashflow.

Often, switching can ensure businesses are benefiting from more competitive rates, and greater flexibility and security in the length of contract, or contract type. For example, many business energy suppliers now offer fixedrate energy contracts, where you have security over the rate you are paying, making it easy to track and forecast how much you’ll be paying each year. Not only could this result in significant savings, but the more flexible terms could be particularly beneficial for many companies. In addition,

42 March 2015

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FINANCE

On average, an SME will spend £5,700 on gas and electricity each year. These high bills can sometimes hinder business growth and prevent a healthy cashflow a 2014 survey from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) revealed that 81% of businesses surveyed said that their energy suppliers don’t care about their needs.

Switching may be the answer for these customers.

However, it’s important that businesses do their research before making the changeover, so that when they switch, they do so to a supplier that does care. Gazprom Energy, for example, regularly monitors satisfaction levels with all of its corporate and SME customers to identify where changes to service need to be made.

HOW TO SWITCH

Firstly, businesses need to check that they are able to switch.

Business contracts, generally, can only be switched at the end of a contract, so customers need to give adequate notice to their supplier that they want to terminate their contract.

Businesses should then set time aside to do some research to find the right contract for them. Once a preferred supplier and deal has been identified, they’ll need to provide confirmation that they want to move to that supplier.

The new supplier will then capture the business registration details and will start the switching process, including taking meter readings and liaising with the relevant people and organisations to make the switch happen.

Once the switch has been made, the new supplier will provide confirmation, and issue any welcome information to the customer.

The industry standard in the UK, which came into effect on 10 November 2014, dictates that all suppliers must work to a minimum transfer time of 15 calendar days.

FINDING THE RIGHT SUPPLIER

Two-thirds of the small businesses surveyed by FSB believed that switching energy supplier can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. To ensure a seamless move between suppliers, it’s vital that businesses determine whether their new supplier is offering a level of service that will meet their requirements.

To do this, businesses should look at the support and services provided, including: • CUSTOMER SERVICE: It’s important to think about what you currently use, and what the level of service is like; will a new supplier provide you with a better and more responsive service?

Who will you speak to, and where are they based? You want to deal with someone who understands your needs and can quickly respond to resolve your query.

• ONLINE SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT: It’s becoming increasingly common for business energy suppliers to offer self-service access to account information so that customers can track usage and access their bills and accounts over time.

• ENERGY SERVICES: Likewise, many business energy suppliers now offer a series of energy services that allow their customers to track usage and bills over time, through online portals or software. This can make it easier to improve energy efficiency and avoid wastage by giving businesses valuable data that can be acted upon.

• ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT: Some energy customers prefer to have a personalised service, so that they can easily approach their supplier for information and advice. Depending on the supplier, levels of service range

from dealing with customer service via a call centre, to being assigned a dedicated account handler to oversee the contract from start to finish. It’s reasonable to expect that a higher level of service will incur a higher cost, but for many businesses, the additional expense for a more comprehensive service, is more than justifiable.

• MONITORING: As well as supplying customers with the technology necessary to record and monitor usage data, some suppliers will regularly review their customer’s usage on their behalf. Many also provide energy efficiency tools to enable customers to understand their usage patterns, along with guidance on how they can reduce wastage. For example, new electricity customers joining Gazprom Energy are provided with a smart meter, free of charge, which allows them to better monitor and manage consumption.

‘STATEMENT OF RENEWAL TERMS’

To help micro businesses better manage their energy procurement, suppliers must draw up a ‘Statement of Renewal Terms’ to clearly state when the contract begins and ends.

EASY SWITCHING

While many businesses are hesitant to switch because they fear a drop in service quality, or a power outage during the transition, switching energy contracts has never been easier. With plenty of forward planning, there is no need for any interruption. Switching can be quick, easy, and can save businesses a great deal of money in the long run, freeing up valuable cash to be used elsewhere in the company.

Contact: www.gazprom-energy.com/uk

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24/02/2015 13:20

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26/02/2015 13:11

FINANCE

T

he ongoing roll out of pension auto-enrolment is catching out a growing number of employers, and small businesses and entrepreneurs are amongst those most at risk.

Although the actual numbers of businesses being caught out remains fairly low, there has been a large increase proportionally in the number being fined for missing their deadlines.

The Pensions Regulator fined 166 employers during the last quarter of 2014, with penalties averaging around £400 per incident.

Previously, a total of only three fines had been dished out.

The rationale behind autoenrolment is to encourage more people to make provision for old age. Employers (and employees) will be forced to make pension contributions for virtually all their workers. Employees can opt out, but it’s important for bosses to know that they cannot encourage their staff to do so.

As with all red tape, you may not like the new system. But in the same way you can’t dodge your tax return, it’s important you don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to autoenrolment. You’ll have to do it eventually, whether you like it or not, and if you miss the deadline, you’ll be hit by a fine.

Your staff can sit back and let events take their course, but you don’t have the same luxury.

Every business has its own ‘staging date’, with auto-enrolment being introduced over a number of years.

Over the next two or three years, smaller businesses will reach their staging dates.

This means it is almost certain that more employers will fall foul of the new regime. Until now, it has been mostly larger employers who have had to take action - and these are businesses that are more likely to have mechanisms (such as HR departments) in place to cope with new regulations.

According to one provider, Now: Pensions, nearly one in five companies that signed up with it last year either left things to the

last minute, or missed the autoenrolment deadline.

And in a sign that auto-enrolment is too far down the list of many employers’ priorities, Now: Pensions said a significant number of the employers it worked with didn’t even make contact with it until after their staging dates had passed. Only 20% signed up six months or more in advance of their staging dates the timescale recommended by the Pensions Regulator.

Morten Nilsson, chief executive of Now Pensions, said: “While employers are being encouraged to get their auto-enrolment plans in place early, the reality is a large proportion are leaving it late, or missing the deadline altogether.”

“For some, this is simply due to lack of planning and preparation, while for others, it’s due to being let down at the eleventh hour by another provider.”

For more details on your obligations, visit the Pensions Regulator’s website www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk

MONEY

When fine really isn’t fine Make sure you know your obligations for pension autoenrolment, or you’ll get hit in the pocket, says Talk Money expert, Adam Aiken

www.talk-money.co.uk

According to Now: Pensions, nearly one in five companies that signed up with it last year either left things to the last minute, or missed the auto-enrolment deadline

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24/02/2015 13:22

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28/08/2014 07:58

FINANCE

Some people shy away from tele-working, but once you realise the benefits, such as avoiding the daily commute, increased productivity, and being able to work in your pyjamas (occasionally), most come round to the idea

6AM

To say I’m not the best at getting up in the morning is a bit of an understatement, hence the four alarms set between 6am and 10 past six to wake me up in time!

6:30AM

We provide customised online learning platforms to schools, so we’re lucky enough to be able to work from our home offices. Some people may shy away from teleworking, but once you realise the benefits, such as avoiding the daily commute, increased productivity, and being able to work in your pyjamas (occasionally), most come round to the idea.

The bulk of my day is made up of emails and calls. We’re now at the stage where certain tasks and duties can be delegated, but I am still very much involved with all aspects of the business. The early start allows me to cram in an extra couple of hours, but is also necessary to chat with clients in East Asia. This morning I have calls with Hong Kong, Beijing, and Kuala Lumpur. We do get the occasional 4am call or presentation, but that comes with the territory of working with international schools.

A day in the life Start-up loan recipient, Seb Francis, founder of Titus Learning, lets us delve into a day in his busy business life

In profile

We provide a customised version of a tool called Moodle, and need to look at how it can improved. We work through ideas around the design, functionality, and how it can be managed, and then filter this into our development roadmap.

Name: Seb Francis Business: Titus Learning Loan amount: £10,000 Website: www.tituslearning.com

5:30PM

8AM

At around 8am, the rest of the team log on. We’re now approaching 10 staff with a mixture of full-time, parttime, and contracted workers. We get the day cracking with an online ‘hangout’ to discuss the diary, and catch up on main customer accounts.

As we all currently tele-work it’s really important to have these daily calls and keep in touch regularly.

10AM

The middle of the day is usually filled with demos and calls to potential clients. We jump on Skype, share screens over the web, and discuss their eLearning requirements. Once we’ve got an idea of what they’re looking for,

we show how our system could work for their school. Each system we provide is tailored for the school, so we may change the design, functionality, training plans, support, etc.

Time to log off - for a bit anyway. As we work with a number of contractors, we usually hold meetings out of business hours as well. Today it’s with our graphic designer, to chat about upcoming designs, new schools we’re working with, company branding, and designs for mobile devices.

8PM

Time to chill - until I grab my phone and check my emails again that is!

1:30PM

The afternoon tends to be more customer focussed, and I work with our internal team looking at product development, support, and training.

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24/02/2015 13:23

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25/09/2014 17:55

STRATEGY

Andrex is having a conversation with its consumers that I’ve had with a two-year-old. Did anyone, at any point, suggest this may be both patronising and pointless?

We either know how to wipe our bums, or we don’t

W

e’ve all been banging on about how important it is for your brand to engage in conversations with your clients/audience/fans.

It’s a good way of humanising your product or service, and making the relevant parties feel that they are engaging in meaningful dialogue with a human, as opposed to a corporate automaton.

Clearly this is a thoughtful endeavour, and one we should all strive for, but in reality it’s slightly trickier, and very few people are doing it well. If you look at any social media stream of major brands - and it’s a constant stream of apologies and referrals - they’re doing their best, but who can have a meaningful conversation in 140-letter snippets?

Still, we carry on, asking questions of our online audience in what often seems like a futile attempt to get them to notice us, like the attention seeking idiot in the pub trying to get served. Sometimes it works - usually when we have some genuinely interesting content. However, it can be embarrassingly weird, as brands take the idea of conversations with consumers, and stretch credibility to the extreme.

Take Andrex’s current advertising campaign, for example; why its marketing team decided it should convey its true mission by having a

conversation with its audience about wiping bums is anyone’s guess! But, now we’re blessed with an advertising campaign that revolves around having a conversation about how we wipe, bottom hygiene, and whether it’s forward or back.

They’ve even produced a stepby-step guide offering pearls of wisdom such as ‘don’t forget to wash your hands afterwards’ (yes, really!).

Andrex is having a conversation with its consumers that I’ve had with a two-year-old. Did anyone, at any point, suggest this may be both patronising and frankly, pointless? We either know how to wipe, or we don’t. If we don’t (again - really?) then, thanks to Andrex, we’re a lot clearer on this matter, but unlikely to share this bum-related epiphany over the dinner table, panting on the treadmill, or when choosing a Brazilian fern at the garden centre.

Innocent engages its clients in good conversation through its social media streams, but the difference is the company actually has a conversation - and it’s not always about its products. It’ll post a picture of a knitted bottle top for its juice, or a cute story

about a man knitting jumpers for penguins. The difference is it’s actually conversing with its clients, not trying to sell, and not highlighting the benefits to your colon of its smoothies or juices.

Ultimately it comes down to the same themes as always. To build a meaningful relationship with your customers, they have to know, like, and trust you.

It’s not about patronising, or unnecessary selling. That’s why Andrex’s puppy was so popular - it didn’t remind you about going for a poo inbetween Broadchurch and News at 10, you just thought it was cute.

Either sell to someone or have a conversation - you can’t do both. One can lead to the other, but to do both simultaneously can, quite literally, lead to you talking out of your arse.

Contact: www.justgrow.co

A bum deal This month Rich With really doesn’t want to have this conversation

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24/02/2015 13:25

STRATEGY

Home is where the start is Has your business grown too big for your home, and needs somewhere to expand into? Talk Business takes a look at a handful of the best venues in the UK for emerging start-ups to call home.

WHERE?: SOUTH BANK, LONDON TYPICAL COSTS: £325pm for a dedicated desk WHY?: With office hubs based all across the US, WeWork has brought its successful format to the UK and now has three excellent locations in the capital. This location in the South Bank offers a unique design, and fun interior at excellent prices, with all the amenities you need to get your business up and running.

There’s all the usual - including high-speed internet, printing facilities, and private phone booths – but there’s also a great games room, which is perfect for relaxing and getting the creative juices flowing (and there’s even free beer – though try to restrict yourself to after work hours for that).

Additionally, WeWork provides all its members with free food and drink, free events, and also provides financial services, HR, and free training to help businesses develop and grow.

For the company that needs more than just a desk, dedicated offices start from an attractive £650 per month. Billed as a platform for creators, the company provides the space, community, and services you need to create your life’s work, allowing you to mingle and share ideas with other entrepreneurs on site.

CONTACT: www.wework.com

WHERE?: THE DIGITAL MEDIA CENTRE, BARNSLEY TYPICAL COSTS: From £175pm +VAT for a desk WHY?: Recent reports indicate that Yorkshire and the Humber is an area where employment in the creative economy is growing fast, so where better to spread your wings than at the Digital Media Centre in Barnsley?

The Centre is a £10.5 million landmark building situated in the creative heart of Barnsley, which offers a modern, vibrant office and meeting environment.

The eco-conscious will be glad to discover that the DMC is an environmentally friendly building, which uses several energy efficient systems, including underfloor heating, a biomass boiler and a sophisticated management system, to control services in the building.

It also offers super-fast broadband to clients, and virtual packages that are designed to provide the benefits of a professional business address, but without the cost of taking physical space.

In addition, all DMC-based businesses receive free access to the ‘Creative Lab’, which is all about innovation, experimentation, and forward-thinking. At the DMC, you can get as creative as you like using its suite of equipment and software, including Apple MacBooks with Adobe CS4, Final Cut Express, and Logic Express.

Perhaps best of all, for businesses that can’t afford (or simply don’t want) to tie themselves into lengthy, costly contracts, you can sign up for as little as a month at a time.

CONTACT: www.barnsleydmc.co.uk

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STRATEGY

WHERE?: THE MALTINGS, CARDIFF TYPICAL COSTS: £453.75pm +VAT for a 2-person office WHY?: The setting alone is inspirational enough to make you want to get out of your warm bed and go to work each morning. Set in a disused Victorian malt house, The Maltings is a Grade II listed building that offers self-managed and serviced office space, spanning 120 to 3,000 square feet, from as little as £453.75 per month for a two-person space.

An extremely popular choice for many start-up companies, due to its proximity to the city centre and close links to the M4, The Maltings offers all the usual amenities, including Wi-Fi, parking, and 24-hour onsite security.

You can even take a 360-degree tour of the offices on the website, and a nice bonus is that all tenants receive free membership to the on-site gym perfect for blowing off steam after a tough day!

CONTACT: www.themaltings.co.uk

WHERE?: MCLAREN, BIRMINGHAM TYPICAL COSTS: £94pm per person WHY?: Originally built as the headquarters of HSBC, Mclaren has undergone a dramatic refurbishment in recent years. With stunning views across the Birmingham landscape, and a city centre location, Mclaren, in the heart of the Black Country, is perfect for any budget conscious, growing, Midlands-based start-up. Prices start from a measly £94 per person, per month, providing access to some of the biggest businesses outside London at a fraction of the cost.

It also provides on-site parking (a godsend in any major city), plus its site on the edge of the city’s core business district means it is just a five minute walk from New Street transport interchange, as well as the rail stations at Moor Street and Snow Hill. In addition, the city’s shopping, leisure and cultural amenities are close at hand, with easy access onto the Aston Expressway and the wider motorway network, which puts the NEC and Birmingham Airport both within a 20-minute drive.

CONTACT: www.bruntwood.co.uk/Mclaren/

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

LEVEL39, LONDON Situated in the famous Canary Wharf, Europe’s largest tech accelerator was designed by Google and Facebook architect, Gensler.

Level39 offers unrivalled access to high-spec office and event space, in addition to a mentoring programme that puts growing companies in touch with industry leading investors, mentors, and experts. www.level39.co

THE HUB, PACIFIC QUAY, GLASGOW Ideal for media-based businesses, Pacific Quay is home to several of Scotland’s most iconic buildings and media organisations, making the surrounding neighbourhood (home to the likes of BBC Scotland) a hotbed of creative activity.

All the basics for modern business are covered - power, connectivity, high specification, functional space, and the ability to occupy within a matter of days. www.thehub-pacificquay.com

SURREY INCUBATION, GUILDFORD With 150 entrepreneurs already, and a whopping 75% success rate, the incubator at the University of Surrey is an ideal place for any entrepreneur - especially younger ones - to take their first leap. At just £160 +VAT per desk for residential members, it is tailored towards tech start-ups.

You’ll be surrounded by mentors and other entrepreneurs who have ‘been there and done that’, which helps to breed creativity, thought-sharing, and -ultimately - success. www.surreyincubation.co.uk

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Effective Solutions for Auto Enrolment you can trust

Planning for Auto Enrolment Are you ready?

As Auto Enrolment reaches the one million mark, many SME’s are now facing this new challenge and the additional workload it creates. esl and Friendly Pensions have together developed a complete auto enrolment solution which is simple, cost effective and efficient.

The stress free way to prepare for Auto Enrolment • • • •

Prepare well in advance Check your existing pension qualifies Be aware payroll will be at the heart of auto enrolment Develop a communications strategy

Let esl and Friendly Pensions provide you with guidance on your own Auto Enrolment Journey. This is your opportunity to engage your employees and help provide for their future.

01628 230656 526304 To find out more contact esl call 01277 or email us at marketing@employerservices.co.uk

www.employerservices.co.uk

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10/02/2015 29/05/2014 14:34 15:18

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address  Mail sorting and forwarding  Half-price hire of meeting rooms  Call handling to suit your brief

Many newly self-employed people work from home and opt for virtual office support as this allows them to have a registered business address to add integrity and respectability. Professionals and those offering business services are entering a market which is already full of organisations working hard to find new clients and secure contracts.

Anything you can use to set yourself apart from the crowd can make a real difference.

Virtual office packages come with virtual assistant options, such as call handling which allow busy people to delegate some of their work.

Freelance designers, solicitors, architects and other professionals may find securing work difficult without a designated business address and this can make or break a business.

Virtual office support

STYLED TO SUIT YOUR TYPICAL WORKDAY A Virtual office can help support your business, taking calls when you are busy, or you simply want some downtime.

Project a professional business image from a prestigious business address, whilst keeping overheads to a minimum.

ADDRESS WITH MAILBOX OPTIONS

INCLUDES A VIRTUAL RECEPTIONIST

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people to get the best of both worlds. The flexible benefits of working from home are now enhanced with the respect that a registered business address generates along with any additional support services you may choose to complement your virtual package.

CapitalSpace offers virtual office business addresses at many of our centres across the South East – see www.capitalspace.co.uk for the best location choice for you. A registered business address sets you up with the prestige that you need, then it’s up to you to truly sell your talents and make the most of your specialist skill set.

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0800 107 3667 26/01/2015 10:05

STRATEGY

Still in hibernation?

With spring in the air, business analyst and director of Spring Partnerships, Stephen Archer gives his top ten tips on how to wake your business from its slumber

T

he birds are fluttering, the flowers are flowering, and the lambs are frolicking, yet your business is still stuck in that post-winter malaise, and shows no signs of getting out of the grind. But never fear, there is something you can do to give it a kick-start this spring.

So, here are my tips for giving your business a spring clean and getting it running efficiently once more.

01

PULL APART YESTERDAY’S BUSINESS AND BUILD FOR TOMORROW

To achieve growth, business leaders need to question the status quo, and encourage challenges from their colleagues and senior management team. Among those challenges will be the secret of future growth and success. In reality, they need to pull apart yesterday’s business and build tomorrow’s model, as this is where innovation lies.

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STRATEGY

This sounds crazy, but examine the bottom 20% of your customer base and ask what it costs to serve them. If customers don’t offer real potential to grow beyond today’s revenues, then get rid Successful businesses are flexible, lean, energised, fluid, and innovative - however, very few really live up to these ideals. To achieve growth, change is often required, and so a successful business tends to be one where all assumptions are challenged.

Another important factor is to steal ideas from other industries. The world is full of gold nuggets, and most are ignored because a silly neuron says that what Starbucks or Virgin does is not relevant - it is. Companies need to open their eyes and broaden their horizons.

02 REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES

05 FIRE SOME CUSTOMERS

The business world is littered with warehouses full of stock that no one wants to buy. Companies need to ruthlessly narrow their offering, and put their sales and marketing efforts behind those that customers want, and those you most profit from. This focus will ensure that growth, and a better reputation, will follow, as well as profit.

03 TALK TO EVERY CUSTOMER - BUT NOT ABOUT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Successful companies are those where executives have regular dialogue with their customers about the challenges they face. This enables a far better understanding of their client’s business and where they can truly add value. By doing this, they can ensure that they will sell customers value, not simply products and services. Selling value will ensure a company grows and differentiates itself.

04 ADD 25% TO THE QUALITY OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Does this seem a bit optimistic?

One way of achieving it is for companies to mystery shop themselves to understand how their customers are treated, and how the services could be improved.

Business leaders need to maximise the team’s customer focus, from the top to the bottom of the organisation, inside out. Everyone must be trained in commercial excellence so they enhance the company’s sales, quality of service, profit, and delivery.

This sounds crazy, but companies need to examine the bottom 20% of their customers, and ask what it is costing to serve them. Are they growing? Some customers cost too much to serve because they don’t buy enough, and some cost too much because they are unreasonably demanding. If customers don’t offer a real potential to grow beyond today’s revenues, then get rid of them - but remember to do it nicely, as reputation is everything. Put the prices up and stiffen terms; they may become profitable. The bottom tier of customers is like the bottom tier of products: the only way is exit.

06 KEEP YOUR COMPETITORS CLOSE

Everyone knows the saying, ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer’, but it really does ring true in business. By understanding the competition, companies can see where, and how they can take a competitive advantage early. They will also be more aware when their competitors make mistakes, and there are as many lessons in failure as there are in success.

Forget taking satisfaction in other’s failure though - companies need to learn from the mistakes and take action, not copy them.

07 LOOK AT HOW TO RETAIN CUSTOMERS

Businesses need to look at lapsed customers, and how to recover them. There is always a customer churn rate, but don’t accept that customers cannot be brought back.

They can, and the cost of sales to

make this happen can be very low. Everyone likes to feel loved, including customers.

08 FOCUS ON DOING SOCIAL MEDIA WELL

Social media might seem to be ‘so 2010’ but, for many companies, it’s not co-ordinated and it’s an illthought-through mess of ‘Follow us on Facebook’ and ‘subscribe to our electrifying Twitter feed’.

This medium is rarely done well, hence its inclusion in this list. Get it right, and companies will gain market presence and reputation for very little (and often no) financial outlay.

09 CHAMPION INNOVATION

Companies need to create a culture where employees are encouraged to perform, evolve, and innovate. Everyone in a company should see themselves as supplier and customer to others. If done without blame, then this is a really healthy dynamic, and will create innovation and growth with little effort. Beware people who are comfortable - they are not trying, and not trying is not contributing.

10 ENCOURAGE A WINNING TEAM

To lead is to empower. It’s the whole team that will make success happen. Companies need to encourage staff to use their insight and create improvements.

The journey of 100 miles starts with a small step. If everyone is making that step in unison, then the organisation is moving forward. Only the free culture with supportive leadership will make that happen.

Contact: www.spring-partnerships.com

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24/02/2015 13:31

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16/02/2015 23/02/2015 12:47 09:56

STRATEGY

Finding the perfect pre-loved partner Motoring expert, Oliver Hammond provides this handy guide to finding the perfect used vehicle for your business needs

O

wning a vehicle as quirky as Del Boy and Rodney’s may appeal on certain levels, but if your business is your livelihood, the first aspect to address is what type of vehicle meets your needs.

I once covered a story on a florist who branded a Renault Avantime, an unusual vehicle, proving effective as a marketing

trips, petrol makes sense. Better still, electric vans are gradually entering the used market, such as Nissan’s e-NV200 Combi and the Peugeot Partner Electric.

Once you’ve established what type of vehicle meets your business needs, whether it’s a luxury saloon or a tipper truck, you then need to look at where to buy it. Auctions may throw up bargains but can prove risky, while privately

An advantage of buying rather than leasing, a commercial vehicle is that it can be sign-written and modified uninhibitedly, with no mileage restriction tool. Many businesses, though, rely on commercial vehicles for transporting goods and equipment, from bakeries driving car-based vans like a Volkswagen Caddy, and couriers driving panel vans, such as a Ford Transit, to construction contractors who drive pickup trucks like a Nissan Navara.

Evaluating your finances and researching online are important steps in ensuring that the used car or van you purchase will deliver the economy and resale value for it to be a viable investment. Diesels are currently penalised on tax, and cost more to fill at the pump, so for frequent short

sold vehicles advertised online and in newspapers are typically cheaper, but aren’t covered by warranties. Vehicles sold by independent or main dealers are better protected financially and legally, but are typically pricier. An advantage of buying, rather than leasing, a commercial vehicle is that it can be signwritten and modified uninhibitedly, with no mileage restrictions.

To minimise the chance of buying an unsound vehicle, it’s important to inspect the one(s) you’ve shortlisted.

Even private sellers should clean and empty their vehicles prior to your visit, so you can examine them, warts and

all. Look for signs of rust, bodywork damage, uneven tyre wear, neglect, or abuse, and inspect the interior to see that it has been cared for. Once you and the seller are happy about insurance arrangements, take it for a test drive to see if the gear changes and engine are smooth, the exhaust doesn’t smoke or rattle, and the vehicle generally seems to drive straight and true.

If a hydraulic platform, winch, crane, or refrigeration unit is fitted, ask to see it in operation, and ensure your payload requirements are feasible. If you need a vehicle for towing, research its abilities first and see if a tow bar is already fitted.

Checking the identity of the vehicle is also important, using the VIN, V5 log book and MoT certificates. Ask the seller about the vehicle’s history and usage. These days, many ‘car finder’ businesses are springing up, their knowledgeable consultants ready to undertake the whole shortlisting, inspection, and buying process for you even for vans. Finally, taking out a thirdparty warranty is sensible if buying a used vehicle privately, as it will provide business continuity through a courtesy vehicle, should anything go wrong.

Contact: oliver@petroleumvitae.com talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 57

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25/02/2015 10:32

STRATEGY

It’s all in your head

W

hen you’re striving to be successful, your mentality is equally as important as the work you put in. Success is not something that just falls into your lap. No successful entrepreneur will tell you that it all came easily. Success requires perseverance, and the mentality of success depends on a multitude of factors.

A prevailing aspect that I’ve found to be integral for success is to keep the ‘end-game’ in mind. By being mindful of the results you want to attain, it reduces distractions and stops you getting caught up in minor details. Instead, it motivates you to prioritise what is important. Many people make the mistake of becoming too engrossed in inconsequential problems, and subsequently lose their momentum, but focussing on the solutions rather than the problems allows you to learn from what didn’t work, and move forward.

PERFECTION DOESN’T PRODUCE SUCCESS

It’s important not let past setbacks cloud your judgement.

There are always going to be obstacles that arise, but what separates those who succeed from those who fail, is staying focussed on what’s required to add value to the task.

If there’s one key to the mentality of success, I would say don’t be complacent, and do embrace change. To be able to evolve as a company as well as an individual, change needs to

be something that is encouraged, rather than suppressed. Being receptive to alternative ways of thinking ensures you remain dynamic, particularly when working in a team environment.

There’s nothing worse than someone who can’t take feedback, or fails to see things from a different perspective.

DON’T MICRO MANAGE

I believe that employees should be able to work without constant scrutiny over every decision.

They should have autonomy over their work and the decisions they make. It’s important to trust the people you work with, and allow them to have the freedom to pursue their ideas.

By empowering staff, it drives them to be successful.

That drive towards being successful is very much a mental game, so ultimately, you need to genuinely enjoy what you do. Choosing a passion over a pay check can be one of the most valuable decisions an individual can make, as it directly affects your attitude towards your job.

HAVE A GOOD WORK-LIFE BALANCE

It’s important not to let work completely consume your life. This is one of the reasons that we encourage our staff to embrace flexible working. We see the value in allowing employees the option of being flexible with their working environment and, in return, they can avoid some of the unnecessary

What mentality does it take to achieve success? Jason Downes, managing director of Powwownow, explains

stresses of commuting, and realise how productive they can be with a change of location.

Ultimately, there is an enormous variance in the way people work, but one constant is the importance in an individual’s mentality.

Although it’s essential to work hard, your mindset is ultimately where your perseverance derives from, so focussing on the mentality of success is always paramount, and isn’t something that should be easily overlooked.

Contact: www.powwownow.co.uk

Many people make the mistake of becoming too engrossed in inconsequential problems, and subsequently lose their momentum

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24/02/2015 13:36

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25/02/2015 11:47

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30/07/2014 12:41

MARKETING

O

The Psychology of Colour Among the business name, advertising slogans, and budget spend debates, one thing that can often be overlooked is colour choices.

Marketing guru and founder of Sarsaparilla Marketing, Kim Davis looks at the importance of colour in your marketing

ne of the things that makes my company, Sarsaparilla, and me different, is that we believe marketing is more science than art. While creativity is important, you have to ensure that your marketing has function, and converts your leads into sales, otherwise it doesn’t work. We work on creating proven formulas that ensure every penny you put in gets you a pound in return.

One of the most fascinating examples of that science is the psychology of colour in your marketing. You might be amazed to learn that a simple change of colour on something as basic as a button or a logo, can be the difference between whether someone buys your product or not. In fact, a recent [US] study called ‘Impact of Color In Marketing’ revealed that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products by customers, can be based on colour alone.

If you’re in the process of branding (or rebranding) your company, you may want to consider the following facts about what each colour conveys before choosing your final palette: l YELLOW Optimism, clarity, warmth l ORANGE - Friendly, cheerful, confident l RED - Excitement, youthful, bold l PURPLE - Creative, imaginative, wise l BLUE - Trust, dependable, strength l GREEN - Peaceful, growth, health l GREY- Balance, neutral, calm.

However, there are still several other major factors to consider. For example, your prospect’s personal environment, experiences, etc. all completely change their perspective. Someone who lives in the city will have a different perspective than someone who lives in the countryside.

Someone devoted to a certain

A recent study revealed that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products by customers can be based on colour alone football team will be more likely to be attracted to his team colours, as it evokes a happy memory.

It’s for this reason that we always emphasise the importance of knowing exactly who your target market really is. After all, what appeals to women is not necessarily what attracts men.

A study called ‘Colour Assignments’ revealed that men’s favourite colours are blue, green, and black, while women’s favourites are blue, purple, and green. The same study revealed that men’s least favourite colours are brown, purple, and orange, while women’s least favourite colours are orange, brown, grey, and yellow.

Colour can also be used to evoke action. When designing your website, you’ll undoubtedly want visitors to take an action, whether it’s to buy your product or just leave behind their details. If you create action buttons that really stand out, you’re far more likely to increase conversions. For example, an orange button on a blue background will really stand out.

Yes, any designer and developer can slap together a pretty colour palette and convince you it’s going to work, but the true marketer knows that it’s vital to fully understand what the client is trying to achieve, and use colour psychology to increase the potential for success.

Contact: www.sarsaparillamarketing.com

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24/02/2015 15:13

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25/02/2015 11:50

MARKETING

Social simplicity For many SMEs, social media can be a confusing minefield. So here, Gavin Hammar, founder and CEO at Sendible, breaks down the basics, with the layman’s guide to using Twitter to promote your business

T

here’s no disputing the power of Twitter as a marketing tool.

Every month sees 271 million active users take to their keyboards to comment on everything from public figures and politics, to celebrity banter and company complaints.

In 2012, there were 50 million tweets a day, and in 2014 that multiplied ten-fold to 500 million daily tweets. Not surprising then, that so many marketers are using its immense power to drive traffic to their brand’s sites. But how can we maximise its potential, and tap into its far reaching capabilities?

Used for personal reasons, it’s a straightforward matter of signing up and signing in, but using Twitter as a marketing method

needs a strategy that goes beyond getting an account. It’s not just simply creating a presence, it’s about making your presence known, and taking several essential steps that will help you to build a solid reputation for your brand.

TWITTER STRATEGY

Before you hit the tweet button, it’s vital to take a more strategic approach, and firstly look at why and how your business and brand can benefit from using Twitter. At this point, it’s really about going back to basics. As marketers, we are constantly exploring new ways to use social platforms, and striving for more advanced methods. Focusing on the basics, such as how to use Twitter to reach your target market, and researching what you can expect to gain from it, will help you to set a strategic plan with specific goals.

Look at the fundamentals, such as who will manage the account; should it be marketing or the CEO? How many users will you have? Too many and you may lose the consistency of

tone; too few and you may fail to make an impact. If you’re a growing business and just starting out on Twitter, research is vital - see what your competitors are tweeting about, or search for industry keywords to gather market intelligence. It’s an easy way to get insights that you can use to inform your strategy.

GETTING STARTED:

• Choose a suitable username, ie the @username, which is what the business will be known as on Twitter. Try and keep the username short and memorable, so it doesn’t take up too much of Twitter’s 140-character limit.

• Make sure the general header image is engaging. The finer details make a difference, and basics, such as colour schemes, should be taken into consideration. Images and videos are also important for engagement - studies have shown that including photos can increase the number of retweets by 35%.

• Right from the initial stages

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MARKETING

get your brand integrated into the Twitter community. Follow customers, prospects, industry influencers, and look at who is following your competitors.

• Creating and sharing lists will ensure you keep up-to-date with specific groups and target audiences, and will help to position your company as an authority in its field. These can be set to public or private, so you could monitor your competitors in a private list, and demonstrate your impressive list of brand advocates in a public list.

• Update your profile with tweets consistently, with your latest events, including any new images and videos, to enhance your marketing message.

with your business-related tweets will keep the balance, and make it more natural and engaging.

• You have the option to favourite a tweet - businesses and brands can favourite tweets to acknowledge everyone who mentions them, rather than responding to each individually.

• Given the immediacy of Twitter, it’s vital to respond to any questions and comments in a timely fashion. Start replies with @username if you want to limit the number of people who can see a conversation. Alternatively, if you want to shout about a compliment, place the @username further into the text so the tweet reaches as wide an audience as possible.

tweeting, with a form visitors have to complete to download a piece of collateral - for example a white paper, case study, video, or free trial. This will enable you to see the real ROI from Twitter to lead capture.

Add UTM tracking values to your URL’s, and shorten them too, as this will enable you to track a visitor’s journey through your website and see its success.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

There are successful social media management solutions that will allow you to monitor your brand, including any mentions and retweets. Rather than relying on multiple tools to effectively

Using Twitter as a marketing method needs a strategy that goes beyond getting an account. It’s not just simply creating a presence, it’s about making your presence known, and building a solid reputation for your brand

CONTENT IS KING

It may sound obvious, but any content that is posted has to be engaging to encourage interaction from other users. Include links to articles, relevant news stories, special promotions, and testimonials. The biggest mistake businesses make is being too sales orientated - including interesting links and general thought-provoking content is far more likely to drive visitors to your website than a ‘salesy’ tweet. The same goes for retweets: make sure it’s relevant content from other Twitter users (but not your direct competitors).

• Give the company tweets a personality and a real voice to avoid being robotic.

Mixing a couple of ‘human’ tweets in

• Use hashtags to start conversations, make your tweet relevant to conversations, and try to get involved with appropriate hashtags that are trending.

CAPTURING INFORMATION AND MEASURING SUCCESS

Having all this data at your fingertips is no good if you don’t harness it.

You can measure engagement within Twitter itself, via its own free analytics tool. This will provide you with basic, statistics-driven information, such as number of click-throughs and replies, and measure the reach of your tweets.

Another method is to create landing pages specific to the campaign you are

manage different elements of social media, you could use a solution to engage with your audience, monitor your brand, and track results from one dashboard. For Twitter alone, it will enable you to schedule your tweets, auto-retweet, auto-follow when people mention a specific keyword, and deliver relevant content from third party websites and other sources. These types of solutions also give you full reporting capabilities, including geographical location of followers, measuring the engagement of your tweets.

Contact: www.sendible.com

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23/02/2015 10:31

MARKETING

Go BIG or go home How can you use ‘Big data’ to achieve big relevance? Professor Stephen Van Bellingham, author of When Digital Becomes Human, reveals the keys to success

B

usiness leaders today are increasingly aware of the crucial value of data, and according to a recent McKinsey study, senior managers now see data as the key to ensuring digital success for their business.

With this, ‘Big data’ has become an industry buzzword but strangely, investment in data isn’t as forthcoming as you would expect, and only half of the top managers believed that their company is investing enough in big data to guarantee the success of their digital transformation. So just what is Big data, and how should businesses be using it for their future success?

BIG RELEVANCE

The primary objective of a data strategy should always focus on increasing levels of relevancy in the customer relationship, rather than short-term revenue goals. On the whole, modern consumers don’t mind providing data as long as they receive added value in return, and a three-

step pyramid model has been developed to show how data can be used to heighten customer relevance.

The first step, which forms the base of everything else, is the need for greater knowledge of the customer (Big wisdom), and the wealth of digital technology available means the possibilities to acquire better information about your customers have never been so great. The second step of the pyramid is using any data collected to provide better service to your customers (Big help). The third and final step is using data to personalise products, services and communication (Big personalisation). Over time, the combination of effects that result from applying each of these three steps correctly will indirectly lead to increased turnover for the company.

BIG WISDOM

First and foremost, Big data is a new way for businesses to obtain information about consumers. In the not too distant future, traditional

Amazon has already taken out a copyright on a service that can send products to customers before they even know the product exists, predicting what customers want before they know it themselves

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MARKETING

The marketing dictum that ‘half of the marketing budget is always wasted; the trick is to find out which half’ is certainly true when you’re failing to pay attention to the wants of individual customers market research will be replaced by real-time data, which will allow companies to make quicker and better decisions. Today, every bank or insurance company already possess the most of the crucial information they could ever need to know about their customers’ lives; if a child is born, if they move house, or if they change jobs, banks and insurers will always be among the first to know.

This information can be extremely useful for gaining deeper insights into the wants and needs of consumers, and can form the basis of a modern data strategy.

BIG HELP

The second step of the data strategy pyramid aims to use data to proactively assist customers, which can both encourage certain behaviour for returning customers, and help to convert prospects into sales. Smart websites remember personal data so the sales process is much more efficient for returning customers, and studies show 81% of consumers will happily share data with companies if it really does help to speed up the service process.

In future, companies will be able to solve problems before their customers are

even aware of them. Online retail giant, Amazon, has already taken out a copyright on a service that can send products to customers before they even know that particular product exists, predicting what customers want before the customers know it themselves. Your mobile provider telling you that you are not on the best plan for your pattern of use is another good example of Big help based on Big data.

BIG PERSONALISATION Amazon reports 35% of all sales result from personalised recommendations, while for Netflix the percentage is as high as 75%. This highlights how personalisation is the logical next step in your data strategy, in order to raise your digital customer relationship to a higher level.

Many consumers are happy with the idea of receiving a targeted promotional message at the right time. Consumers like to buy products, and therefore like to have information about products, but the key is making sure only relevant information is provided at the moment when they most need it. However, consumer expectations will continue to evolve, and they will almost certainly get less and less tolerant about receiving the wrong message at the wrong time.

The challenge for modern marketeers is therefore to focus on the individual customer, rather than the average customer. Drawing up a profile of an average customer, such as ‘sporting males aged between 25 and 45’ is now too generalised, and becomes almost meaningless.

The classic marketing dictum that ‘half of the marketing budget is always wasted; the trick is to find out which half’ is certainly true, when you are failing to pay sufficient attention to the wants and needs of individual customers.

THE BIG QUESTION

Whether you are a business leader or a marketing intern, I would strongly urge you to stop, and ask your colleagues about the reason they are going to use Big data, and exactly what they are going to use it for.

If the answer is linked to direct, short-term financial results, I suggest you need to think again. The strategy businesses should be working towards must be ‘Big data = big relevance’, putting the individual customer at the heart of what you do, because relevance can only be created in the long term through wisdom, help, and personalisation.

Contact: www.stevenvanbelleghem.com

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24/02/2015 15:18

SPONSORED ARTICLE

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randing your business can be an expensive and lengthy process, but it doesn’t have to be. 99designs makes it easy for startups across the UK to get affordable, high-quality designs in just one week.

Your logo represents your company to the world. It’s a big job to do in just a few seconds, but we all know how much first impressions count. A memorable design will help you attract new customers, stand out from the competition and build brand loyalty. To start-ups with a budget that’s stretched thin and a calendar that’s booked solid, creating a logo

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SPONSORED ARTICLE SPONSORED ARTICLE

5 Characteristics of a Great Logo 1 Simple: When it comes to logo design, less is more 2 Original: Unique graphics and fonts will help you stand out from the crowd 3 Memorable: Be instantly recognisable and break through the noise.

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99designs makes quality 5 You’re not proud of designs accessible to everyone. your logo Visit 99designs.co.uk to get a When you look at your logo, design you love – guaranteed. does it give you an immediate from others. Ask your friends, sense of pride in the business family and staff to help you you’ve built? It should. choose the winning design by A great logo reveals your rating your finalists. industry, personality and point of difference—and looks It’s Fast incredible doing it. That might Running a small business or sound intimidating if you’re in start up is about getting things the market for a logo, but it done and launching a minimal doesn’t have to be.

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22/01/2015 15:52

MARKETING

Start communicating clearly Erwan Kernevez, digital solutions director at Neopost, tackles how to manage your multi-channel communications efficiently and successfully

I

f you went back thirty years, business communications were relatively straightforward.

Business critical documents, such as letters, invoices, and contracts, were sent and received through the post, which meant offices were often filled with large filing cabinets and folders. However, as technology progressed - from the introduction of the fax machine in the 1980s, and email in the 1990s, to mobile devices, and social media in more recent years - it has increasingly influenced how businesses communicate, and today, digital communication is playing a much more prominent role.

Of course, physical mail still remains a popular and effective means of communication, but the benefits of taking a paperless, or paper-light, approach including cost cutting, time saving, and flexibility - has seen many businesses embrace a multi-channel communication strategy. Indeed, according to our most recent survey, more than 40% of SMEs rely on email and physical mail to reach their customers and suppliers.

Other than the cost benefits, the adoption of digital communication channels is being driven by the customer. While inevitably, some will continue to want correspondence sent to them through traditional means, others prefer the immediacy and interactivity of digital correspondence. As such, forward looking businesses are

being encouraged to change their communication strategies in order to cater for all.

However, smaller businesses often adopt digital technology in an ad-hoc fashion, grabbing new opportunities as they come about, without much care, or thought for complete integration.

As such, managing multiple communication channels isn’t without its challenges, and only by adopting the right attitude, and putting the right tools in place, can SMEs avoid the most frequent pitfalls of a multi-channel communication strategy.

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

While SMEs need to adapt to a quickly evolving market in order to survive, one of the biggest risks organisations face when adopting a multi-channel approach to business communications, is time wasting. Indeed, 47% of SMEs consider this to be their biggest challenge. Businesses are increasingly faced with a process that involves the sending and receiving of digital documents in a variety of formats, before being adapted and physically posted, for example when invoicing. Documents, including invoices, may start as an Excel spreadsheet, which is processed onto another Excel spreadsheet for consolidation, then turned into an actual invoice or pdf that needs to be printed, and finally sent to the customer via email, mail, or both.

Manually typing, copying and

processing important documents in that way can add a lot of time to an individual’s already stretched workload.

Human error is another challenge to be considered. With paper and digital documents often needing manual intervention, it only takes one person to make a mistake that impacts, not only a company’s reputation, but also its bank balance. Indeed, Newcastle City Council provides a good example of how damaging human error can be when it sent the wrong letter to 180,000 residents by mistake, costing it £50,000. While it’s likely most SMEs will not deal with outgoing communications of that quantity, the potential for human error only intensifies as businesses grow and more people become involved in the process. As the complexity of documents and the data they contain continues to increase, the need for technology, and a more autonomous process, becomes more apparent.

Unsurprisingly, when using both physical and digital mail, businesses also struggle to track processes and documents. In fact, vital documents, such as invoices, contracts and quotes, are rarely fully tracked, with a third of SMEs revealing that they struggle to stay on top of who has which document, and at what stage it is at in the process. Not being able to trace

Unsurprisingly, some businesses struggle to track processes and documents. A third of SMEs revealed that they struggle with who has which document, and at what stage it’s at in the process 72 March 2015

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MARKETING

Newcastle City Council provides a good example of how damaging human error can be when it sent the wrong letter to 180,000 residents by mistake, costing it £50,000

important correspondence can make resolving customer queries much more difficult, which can lead to damaged reputations.

Additionally, the inability to prove where a document has been sent, particularly important documents that require fast response times, means some businesses fail to comply with increasingly stringent regulations.

For example, EU legislation states that all invoices must have an electronic traceable pathway, and be retrievable in a timely fashion when requested.

automatically digitises, forwards, and stores incoming mail. Moreover, such systems can stamp documents with a permanent traceable pathway. This means a document can be retrieved immediately with the use of the advanced integrated search engine, and it will be electronically stamped with who it was retrieved from, the action it required, and who it was then sent to. These benefits can help small businesses save money as well as improve MANAGING THE efficiency and profitability.

MULTI-CHANNEL Ultimately, it’s imperative In order to cope with that businesses look at this increasingly complex the bigger picture during communication flow, businesses adoption, and don’t further must make sure they have a complicate an already well thought out plan in place. disjointed process with Furthermore, while many are incompatible systems still reluctant to incorporate or programs. Instead, a new technology, due to cost centralised process should and perceived complexity, it’s integrate directly into their becoming increasingly clear existing communication that they can no longer shy strategy, empowering them away from its importance in to contend with whichever the business world. As such, communication method they need to start considering or format they choose. By tools that will complement increasing visibility, reducing the information management the risk of blunders, and systems they already use. For saving time that can then example, output management be spent on maintaining software (OMS) can be and growing the business used to automate outgoing elsewhere, they can take full communication; ensuring advantage of the benefits correspondence is always going digital has to offer. sent to the intended recipient, Contact: while an electronic document www.neopost.co.uk management system (EDM)

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24/02/2015 15:20

G NNIN PLA

WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

As technology improves, the use of online and offline channels to communicate with target customers is becoming an ever more increasing consumer demand.

Neopost and The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have combined their extensive industry knowledge to create a guide for creating Multi-Channel Communication Campaigns.

HOW TO

1

To find out how to get more from your database go to: www.dma.org.uk/guide/data-guide

DATA RULES! •

Inaccurate data costs businesses and fundamentally impacts on their performance

•

The average organisation loses 12% of its income because of bad contact data, through wasted marketing spend and resources as well as lost productivity

•

But the hidden costs may be even greater – 28% of those who have had problems delivering email because of bad data say that customer service has suffered as a result, while 21% experienced reputational damage

data should be collected based on your business goals

of businesses dependent on databases have reported that they believe some aspect of the data they hold is:

94%

ED FLAW MOST THINK THIS IS MORE THAN A QUARTER

SOURCE: Experian - Global Data Quality Research (2013)

Accurate customer data is critical to the successful implementation of a Multi-Channel Communication programme. It is also a must have for all businesses. The Experian Global Data Report 2014 found the following:

‘ONE PIECE OF DATA CAN CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE OR COMMUNICATE WITH A CUSTOMER’

ASSESS what customer

where you can obtain data

DATA COLLECTION

RULES

3

at the point of entry

DATABASE

1

in-house?

DATA

£1

PROFITS INCREASE

per year

last year

*Over £940,000

3 to ensure each record is complete

*Over £940,000

SOURCE: Experian - Global Data Quality Research (2012)

If email becomes your customers’ preferred means of communication – do you have an accurate email address for ALL contacts? Does your database enable you to maintain this?

WOW

HOW TO

58% MORE LIKELY TO CLICK A LINK IF THEY RECEIVED SOMETHING IN THE POST

67% REFER TO MAIL WHEN SEARCHING FOR A PRODUCT OR SERVICE ONLINE

2/3

rds

KEEP MAIL OF PEOPLE REFERENCE FOR FUTURE

BUD GET

A

PRACTICAL

DIRECT MAIL

DATA

RESP ON SE

G NNIN PLA

GET TAR

T POS

GUIDE TO CREATING EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNS

PROD UCT ION

Neopost and the DMA produced the ‘Practical Guide to Creating Effective Direct Mail Campaigns’ - go to www.neopost.co.uk/dmaguide to download your free copy.

SMART IDEAS FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION

fullpageadbase.indd 29

T POS

• How adopting a Multi-Channel strategy can result in increased efficiency and cost savings • The best combinations of different channels to utilise successfully • Examples of successful campaigns

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH EMAIL? 1. INCREASE SALES CONVERSIONS Prospects may require up to nine ‘touches’ before making a buying decision.

TO GET YOUR FREE GUIDE TO CREATING EFFECTIVE MULTI-CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS SIMPLY VISIT: www.neopost.co.uk/MCCTB

83% more when shopping

Keeping in touch on a regular basis can generate repeat sales and improve customer loyalty.

CALL US ON: 0800 731 1334

3. UP-SELL AND CROSS-SELL YOUR PRODUCTS Email provides a great opportunity for you to help customers order “one more” product while they’re in the mood to buy.

4. GAIN FEEDBACK FROM YOUR VISITORS

VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/neopost

Email in particular provides your customers with a unique opportunity to give honest feedback.

90% of consumers subscribe to emails from trusted brands

5. DRIVE WEB USERS TO OFFLINE PURCHASES Email marketing is often a catalyst for web users to purchase offline. More than half of users in one survey had made a purchase offline after receiving an email promotion.

Receiving response – email enables responders to get to you quickly.

Ensure you are set up to receive response and capture important information.

OR CONTACT US AT: www.twitter.com/neopost_uk

ATIVE CRE

79%

• What a Multi-Channel Communications campaign actually is!

2. GENERATE REPEAT SALES Consumers who receive email spend

OF CONSUMERS REACT TO DIRECT MAIL IMMEDIATELY

4925 Neopost DMA Multi-channel comms A5_REBRAND_PRESS.indd 12-13

EM@IL There has been an obvious growth in email traffic over the last 10 years.

It can be a very cost-effective method of contacting customers with offers and links to websites. There are a number of email service providers and also packages that can be purchased to implement campaigns in-house.

SOURCE: DMA - Direct Mail Drives Digital Response (2011)

SOURCE: DMA - Why Direct Mail Still Matters (2013)

hello!

WOW

DIRECT MAIL TRIGGERS AN ONLINE RESPONSE

PEOPLE TAKE DIRECT MAIL SERIOUSLY

WHAT’S IN THE GUIDE?

to amend your data collection regime to support business requirements

Visit the DMA website to find out to construct a successful email campaign www.dma.org.uk/guide/email-guide

DIRECT MAIL

It is most effective at: l Providing information l Generating a response

27/01/2015 15:20

BE PREPARED

27/01/2015 15:20

HOW TO

Direct mail remains a vital component in any communication programme and is welcomed by customers.

4925 Neopost DMA Multi-channel comms A5_REBRAND_PRESS.indd 1

SOURCE: Experian - Data quality, The Key to Unlocking Cross Channel Returns (2013)

To find out how to get the best from direct mail go to: www.neopost.co.uk/dmaguide

People continue to value direct mail and printed communications from brands, finding that it plays a seamless role within their connected worlds, offers some qualities not found in other comms and is an essential part of the overall brand experience.

SMART WAYS TO MANAGE MULTI-CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONS

4

RULES

STRIVE

*

4925 Neopost DMA Multi-channel comms A5_REBRAND_PRESS.indd 10-11

Direct mail has long played a key role in communication with customers. This could be for marketing or transactional mail such as invoices, statements, etc. There is a perception that mail has fallen out of favour and has been superseded by the ostensibly cheaper alternative of email, however recent research by the DMA dispels that theory.

SMS

MAINTENANCE

MILLION

of companies that

INVESTED in better data quality saw their

REMITTANCE

2 ASSESS what you can do

INSTIGATE a data

Investment in improving data accuracy has the power to more than compensate.

Worldwide, the average increase in profits was almost

INVOICE

4 CAPTURE data accurately

AUDIT

your data and identify where errors are occurring

maintenance regime

90%

2 IDENTIFY within the business

PRO D U CTI ON

COMMUNICATIONS GUIDE

DATA

MULTI-CHANNEL

WOW

GET TAR

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE

BUD GET

ATIVE CRE

CONNECT

HOW TO REALLY CONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

SOURCE: DMA - Email Tracking Report (2013)

27/01/2015 15:20

Neopost Limited, Neopost House, South Street, Romford, Essex RM1 2AR.

23/02/2015 10:23

MARKETING

Making headlines Fed up with getting no response from your press releases? Journolink’s Gemma Guise examines how you can increase your chances of being noticed

I

f only we could invent ‘Harry Potter-like’ tools to make a headline lift from the page and hit the reader between the eyes, life would be so much easier. As it is, we have to rely on the words to do the job on their own. So what are the secrets?

Here’s my tried and tested fivepoint plan to get your headline noticed, and ultimately, have your email opened by the recipient:

BE PROVOCATIVE

Make sure your headline really grabs attention. The test is whether it has the sufficient wow-factor to drag a teenager away from his iPhone and read on. Really challenge yourself on why it might hook a reader.

Surprisingly, your headline doesn’t necessarily have to explain what the article is about. In fact, mainstream news headlines often bear no relation to what follows. They do, however, make you want to read on; they often exaggerate, provoke, and stimulate, and that’s what you are aiming for.

HEIGHTEN THE INTEREST

Include big names in the headline, such as a politician, a sports personality, or an entertainment personality. Be careful not to libel anyone, but including a big name will attract the attention of a researcher or journalist, so if you can legitimately do so, it will help.

In the same way, think what keywords journalists may be looking for. Words like ‘obesity’, ‘unemployment’, ‘awards’, or ‘entrepreneurs’, will be of more interest than ‘new product launch’.

LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA

Use social media to push out your headline. Some journalists use social media, such as Twitter or Facebook, to pick up their stories, rather than relying on the traditional press release news wires.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

If you can piggyback on a story that’s already running and overtly link your headline to that, you will already be in the mix of people that journalists covering the initial story will want to talk to. Include the keywords that relate to the running story, or the name of the company to which it relates.

BE SUCCINCT

Use as few words as possible, ideally no more than eight. This has two benefits: it reduces the effort you are asking the journalist to put in when reading it, and it makes you really concentrate on it, so that it creates the greatest impact.

It makes you concentrate on specific keywords and avoids a rambling and uninteresting first impression.

Create your draft headline as you start your release, but when you have

written the detail, go back to it and really challenge yourself on whether it includes the keywords, whether it is a powerful hook, and whether it tickles the hairs on the back of your neck.

Remember, your headline has to get past the journalist before the main press release content is read, so this is your biggest chance to get noticed - don’t neglect it!

Surprisingly, your headline doesn’t necessarily have to explain what the article is about. In fact, mainstream news headlines often bear no relation to what follows.

They do, however, make you want to read on Contact: www.journolink.com

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MARKETING

Gerd Mittman, vice president, international at Shutterstock, looks at how to select a perfect image for your advertising campaign

I

f you take a close look at successful advertising campaigns, one thing stands out - they feature loud and proud imagery. In recent years, businesses understand they must be emotive storytellers if they wish to connect with audiences and stand out from the competition. In an era dominated by social media, when sites like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram are people’s internet homepages, companies must appeal to the same emotional instincts with strong visual imagery.

FIND YOUR NARRATIVE

Whether you’re designing for print or digital media, the same rules apply.

Commit to a concept and showcase that story. Luckily, there are a lot of tools available online to help you experiment. Canva, for instance, helps turn every small business owner or blogger into a graphic designer. Many designers will tell you that, through the process of making an advert, their initial idea will morph into something bigger and better. The concept will usually be improved upon once you see drafts and results.

Many images can look very similar but tell very different stories that may appeal to a very different group of consumers and customers. Only you can select the picture that declares the story for your company.

Picture perfect

The truth is, there are no hard and fast rules about what works and what doesn’t work for imagery in advertisements.

It’s what we don’t know that keeps us on our toes and producing great work.

TEST YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS

Over the course of several years, your brand can establish its unique identity and messaging. It takes time though. We live in an era of entrepreneurs, when everyone is vying for the same attention (and devotion) inside a crowded marketplace. The right images and the right types of communication help brands with great products to stand out.

The best way to discover what works for your brand is through testing. In digital media, you can pick up lessons along the way from what you see clicking with your audience. To increase the chances of making a lasting impact, you must test a few options, which can be relatively inexpensive in social and online marketing.

STICK WITH THE PLAN

Only you can select the picture that declares the story for your company and, the truth is, there are no hard and fast rules about what works and what doesn’t In fact, don’t stop testing once you have a winner for one campaign.

Trial and error will inform how to proceed on a particular project, but the choice of medium and the media will affect results elsewhere. Don’t be surprised if what works in one place doesn’t translate to another. That’s actually good news to take home.

Re-test to stay current, based on a data trend and other trends you’re seeing happening around the world.

There’s something to be said for the million-pound budgets, but today the playing field has been leveled. It’s easier than ever for newcomers to add royalty-free photos to an advert, and achieve the same big results. The traditional rules of readability and communication apply: be smart and let experimentation make you smarter.

Contact: www.shutterstock.com

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24/02/2015 15:22

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23/02/2015 10:09

PEOPLE

What’s your vision?

Leadership expert, Dr Deborah Benson examines what having ‘vision’ really means, and how to use it to be a success

B

usiness schools like to talk about ‘visionary leaders’.

There are a fair few books, and thousands of academic articles written about vision and visionary leaders. In fact, most large corporations have ‘vision’ in their annual report and accounts, embodied in the company mission statement and, at first glance, it appears you can’t be much of a leader if you don’t have it.

But what is this ‘vision’ and why do you need it?

I like to think of vision as wellinformed insight and creativity. It’s the ability to have a new idea, see its potential, and the way forward for your company - a view of how the future could be. And we do need vision. The modern business world has so much competition and so many aggressive marketplaces. We operate in everchanging business and economic environments and, if a company does not innovate, grow, and evolve, it can rapidly decline. So, vision is essential.

Indeed, the ability to embrace new ideas, and generate and exploit new technologies, is critical. We have to drive forward just to stand still in a tough commercial world,

and much of the innovation in this country comes from SMEs and the lonely entrepreneurs who strive to do something better. Such vision goes beyond just having a good business strategy, because it’s about passion, a passion that infuses staff with energy to innovate and deliver. Vision has a transforming effect on leaders and staff.

Feeling you have to be the company’s ‘visionary’ can, however, be a real burden, and as Kouzes and Posner say: “...many leaders have reached the unfortunate conclusion that they alone, as individuals, must be visionaries.”

However, the good news is that you don’t have to be there running the business, and coming up with all these endless, amazing new concepts, products, or services yourself. You don’t have to be that great visionary, as vision can come from anyone and often the people out there on the front line, serving the customers, or working on a production line have amazing ground breaking ideas - we just have to give them a voice and listen to them occasionally. The role of the leader, then, is not just to have vision, but to recognise the good visions being offered, support them, and get them

Being an entrepreneur is all about lighting those small fires of imagination and, just occasionally, changing the world as a result

acted upon - spread the passion.

Great visions are no use if the leader cannot communicate them and inspire others to deliver them.

So, don’t worry if sometimes you feel too exhausted to be a great visionary - as Charles Handy, (who, among other things, was co-founder of London Business School) said: “We cannot wait for great visions from great people for they are in short supply. It is up to us to light our own small fires in the darkness.”

It’s what being an entrepreneur is all about, lighting those small fires of imagination and, just occasionally, changing the world as a result.

Contact: www.leadersforleadership.co.uk

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24/02/2015 15:12

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The same document also showed 40% of organisations devolving more responsibility to managers to support business growth. If you’re thinking about growth right now call for a free consultation and find out how we can help.

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25/02/2015 09:22

PEOPLE

Going virtual Jenny Biggam, co-founder of the7stars, looks at whether it is time to ditch your personal assistant for a virtual one

M

any business leaders would see the perfect personal assistant as something of a pipe dream.

From administrative support, arranging travel, and booking meetings, to occasionally delegating and decision-making in the boss’ absence, finding someone to fulfil this myriad

I once worked with someone who asked his PA to print out his important emails so he could read them of daily duties makes PAs one of the hardest employees to hire; so is it time to take things virtual?

While tell-all books from former City PAs, and onscreen office sagas like The Devil Wears Prada have perpetuated an image of disgruntled lackeys and their tempestuous bosses, hiring a PA can actually be a big

relief, and extremely rewarding.

The best PAs become the very cornerstone of their boss’ dayto-day work life (and often the entire office).

I have had a few PAs throughout my career, and thankfully, can say my experiences have been good.

It’s great to have someone to hand when I need help ensuring my day goes smoothly. The problem is that the amount of work I have for a PA goes through peaks and troughs.

I either spend lots of time updating them on what I’m up to, or struggle to find them work. It isn’t economical when you’re running a business to have staff twiddling their thumbs and it certainly isn’t fulfilling for them.

To overcome this, PAs will often be shared by managers within a business or their job role will be twinned with other responsibilities, such as office manager, which results in them being spread too thinly.

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24/02/2015 15:24

PEOPLE

Most work communication these days is over email and phone, so what difference does it make if your assistant is in your office or in their own home?

As most communication is done by phone and email anyway, a colleague suggested I try outsourcing my work to a virtual assistant, or VA. I’d never even have to meet them and, after granting permission to my emails, calendar, and contacts, they’d be available as and when I needed them.

After explaining exactly what I was looking for to a specialist agency, they interviewed a number of candidates and put me in touch with my new VA, Donna. It was as easy as that!

With access to my emails and calendars, Donna works remotely, and keeps things

While onscreen office sagas like The Devil Wears Prada have perpetuated an image of disgruntled lackeys and their tempestuous bosses, hiring a PA can actually be extremely rewarding under control by deleting junk, forwarding important diary invitations to me directly, and doing everything else you’d expect an in-house PA to do. I simply receive an email notification that a meeting has been set up and it appears in my diary. She checks in most days, and helps with travel and liaising with clients and suppliers as and when I need her to.

The company is based in Soho, which has some of the most expensive office rates in the country, so with a VA, we can keep costs down on unnecessary overheads, such as office space and IT support. The paperwork and legal issues in hiring virtually are also much reduced.

At the agency, we are big advocates of flexible and remote working, and give each of our team access to a laptop; the VA has their own equipment, so that’s another cost instantly saved.

People often wonder what makes good PAs great ones, and I think it depends just as much on what kind of boss you are, especially in the case of VAs. You must be reasonably forwardthinking and self-sufficient. At my old agency, I worked with someone who asked his PA to print out his important emails so he could read them, and I even know of an agency MD who doesn’t have his own computer.

For obvious reasons, a VA just wouldn’t work.

I do 90% of my own admin, emails, and sorting my diary out daily, but the 10% that Donna does makes such a huge difference. It might seem very impersonal, but I don’t see that as a problem. It’s a straightforward relationship, and you just need to agree the ground rules. Most work communication these days is over email and phone, so what difference does it make if your assistant is in your office or in their own home?

VAs are not for everyone though. They likely work best in small to medium companies,

which are growing. Personally, I think a VA could complete almost any task you would also give to a PA, but if you need your assistant to handle highvalue work, which is a little more complex, then face-toface communication usually trumps a virtual relationship.

You also need to have a good level of trust. For some managers, not being able to actually see what their assistants are working on is a deal breaker. But in this age of flexible working, managers do need to put more trust within their team, and if you’re micromanaging your VA’s time, then you may as well do the work yourself. Always establish a clear set of deliverables, and ask for daily progress reports, if you need them. There is a huge choice of time-tracking software and apps if you need real detail - Toggl, TimeCamp, and Harvest are popular and reliable choices.

Obviously you are unlikely to develop a personal relationship you may have with an in-house PA, but on the up side, you don’t find yourself physically managing another member of the team. Put simply, hiring a VA makes full use of the fantastic technology available to us to decrease workloads, and ensures work admin is managed efficiently and cost-effectively.

In the age of flexible and remote working, virtual assistants make more sense than ever.

Contact: www.the7stars.co.uk

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24/02/2015 15:24

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Business Junction, London’s premier Business network, invites you to a Free networkinG event Business Junction is offering all Talk Business readers a complimentary invitation to one of Business Junction is offering all talk Business readers a complimentary invitation to one of our our 4 March networking events in London which are all listed below (and on our website).

5 august networking events in London which are all listed below (and on our website).

5 March 2015 12.30-2.30pm

Networking lunch in London Bridge Nearest tube: London Bridge TwoRuba, 5 More London Place, Tooley Street, SE1 2BY networking lunch at the Grange Hotel at tower Hill More information and booking: http://businessjunction.co.uk/events/networking-lunch-in-london-bridge

12 March 2015 Thurs 8th Aug 12.30-2.30pm

Networking lunch in Bishopsgate networking lunch at the roof Gardens & Babylon restaurant at High st. kensington Drift Bar, 110 Bishopsgate, Heron Tower, Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY Nearest tube: Liverpool Street 99 High Street Kensington, W8 5SA Nearest tube: High Street Kensington More information and booking: http://businessjunction.co.uk/events/networking-lunch-in-bishopsgate

Thurs 1st Aug

Wed 14th Aug

45 Prescot Street, E1 8GP

Nearest tube: Tower Hill

networking lunch at Freemasons Hall at covent Garden

18 March 2015 8.00-10am

Networking in Street, CannonWC2B Street 60breakfast Great Queen 5AZ Nearest tube: Holborn The Sign of the Don, The Courtyard, 20 St. Swithins Lane EC4N 8AD Nearest tube: Bank networking lunch at the Happenstance at st. paul’s More information and booking: http://businessjunction.co.uk/events/networking-breakfast-at-cannon-street

25 March 2015 Thurs 29th Aug 5.30-9pm

London Business Directory 2015 Launch Evening dirty Dutch Hall,networking 7 Austin Friars,lunch London,at EC2N 2HAdicks at Liverpool streetNearest tube: Bank/Liverpool Street 202 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4NR Nearest tube: Liverpool Street More information and booking: http://businessjunction.co.uk/events/london-business-directory-2015-launch-evening

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Please email Fiona@businessjunction.co.uk with the event you would like to attend and quoting the reference: talkbusiness2/13 now in its 12 year and with over 450 member companies, Business Junction is London’s leading independent business network. we run 80+ pan-London networking events each year including a weekly lunch, a monthly champagne taittinger breakfast and 6 evening events, all at different high quality central London venues.

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25/02/2015 10:47

PEOPLE

HR Insight’s Rich Cummings looks at the fallout - and solution - when personalities collide

I

’ve genuinely always got on with colleagues throughout my career, and I could never understand why some employees just couldn’t get along with each other in the workplace. Then, well into my 30s, I met her: my arch nemesis. I truly couldn’t abide her, but what made it worse, everyone else loved her.

Was it just me or was it a personality clash?

There are individuals within any workplace that simply get on better with some than others, but just because employees are not best buddies, is no reason to tolerate a working relationship within your team that has become disruptive or unprofessional.

Workplace conflict can stem from a simple, single incident between two individuals, or a more fundamental clash of principles and values. This can manifest itself in ways that range from nit-picking to outand-out mutual loathing!

Workplace conflict is damaging, and not just to the individuals embroiled in the dispute. There will be effects on the wider team, as well as a potential commercial impact, such as a decline in productivity, absenteeism, resignations, grievances etc.

Not all conflict is negative though; sometimes it brings about creativity and change when properly channelled, but in the main it can be draining and expensive.

For some time, mediation has been a tool for resolving workplace conflict.

Locked horns SO WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE?

It’s important that the parties are fully briefed as to the purpose of mediation, are willing to come to the process voluntarily, and genuinely want to resolve the dispute with their colleague(s).

A mediation process will commence with individual meetings with each employee, before there is any attempt to bring the parties together. This allows the parties to share their concerns with the mediator, and to really explore what they

with the assistance of a trained mediator. It allows employees to gain insights into each other’s world, and to gain more empathy with one another’s situation.

OTHER BENEFITS OF MEDIATION

Mediation can save an immense amount of time that goes into managing a formal grievance, disciplinary, or performance management process. It’s informal in nature, and doesn’t prevent the employer from reverting back to one of

There are individuals that simply get on better with some than others, but just because employees are not best buddies, is no reason to tolerate a working relationship that has become disruptive want to gain from the mediation process. A joint meeting follows with the two parties, the aim of which is for the parties to arrive at a meaningful and workable agreement that is written down, owned, and signed by them both.

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF MEDIATION?

In essence, mediation is a confidential, non-judgmental, independent, and future-focused tool, that gives employees an opportunity to explore and resolve their differences in a ‘safe space’

these processes if it becomes necessary to do so.

Mediation is not a panacea for all workplace relationship ills, but most situations do lend themselves to this type of intervention. In summary, used appropriately, it can be a cost effective and positive way of allowing two individuals to understand the differences (personality or otherwise) between them, and to get to the other side.

Contact: www.hrinsight.co.uk

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24/02/2015 15:26

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24/02/2015 11:31

PEOPLE

DAY ONE THE BIG SMOKE

Secret diary of an entrepreneur One of the philanthropic aims of the Foundation is to focus on projects relating to sight. Sadly, India has 7.8 million people who suffer from blindness - approximately 20% of the world’s total blind population

From a very young age, I’ve tended to start my days very early. Running a global venture capital firm is not a part-time commitment, and working around the clock is part of the job. Therefore it’s important for any entrepreneur to maximise his or her productivity in any day. My first meeting of the day is a 5.00am conference call with colleagues in India.

Before breakfast I like to catch up on the latest prices for my stocks and shares around the world. I take pride in the success I have had as a long term investor - I am of the firm belief that it’s important to regularly check the performance of the markets in order to maintain success.

Without question, the most important part of my daily routine is taking my children to school (or to pick them up at the end of the day).

Tej Kohli, billionaire and philanthropist, offers insight into what a typical week looks like for the serial entrepreneur After dropping off the children, I head straight to the new London headquarters of Kohli Ventures, a global venture capital firm that invests in innovative ideas, disruptive technology, and dynamic businesses. I believe that a strong work ethic is in the DNA of every successful entrepreneur, and I like to immerse myself in the projects and companies that Kohli Ventures works with.

One of our recent success stories is Dynacart Solutions, a Dublin-based online payments processing company, and I have lunch with the founder

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PEOPLE

in the West End. Dynacart is a classic investment for Kohli Ventures - disruptive technology with the potential to have a global impact.

DAY TWO SUPPORTING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

This morning kicks off with another early morning conference call with the Abu Dhabi office, followed by a breakfast meeting with a young delegation leading the way in data analytics, that we are looking to work with. We agreed that they should come in over the next few weeks to present their business, which specialises in mobile payments. I love hearing about new technologies that could be the next big thing, and I find that meeting with the entrepreneurs behind these ideas is most rewarding.

This evening I attend a round table event organised by the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, which provides advice and support to young people in running their own businesses. I believe that it’s never too early to think like a businessman. After all, some of the best known and most successful entrepreneurs of the last few decades started their businesses in their late teens or early twenties. It is always worthwhile to hear from young talent, and the fresh ideas that they bring to the table.

I return home late at night and at around midnight I have a catch-up call with the management in Costa Rica, a team of very talented, young, and hard working individuals.

DAY THREE PROPERTY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

With seven offices around the world, the global nature of the business means that my role requires a lot of travel. Early this morning, I leave on my private

5G is set to revolutionise the way the world is connected, with network speeds in excess of 800GB per second - the equivalent of downloading 33 HD films in a single second! jet and fly to Abu Dhabi. I try to be as productive as possible, so I use the flight as an opportunity to catch up on some work.

When I land, I head straight to a meeting with the team from Ozone Real Estate, a company that partners with investors to develop prestigious properties across the UAE, mostly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The UAE property market has been a real success story and provides a great opportunity for investors.

However, to realise this potential, it is best that investors work with local experts who understand the market and legal environment.

DAY FOUR ONWARD TO INDIA

I am back in the jet and overnight I fly to India. I grab a little sleep on the flight, but I use much of the time to pen a few blog ideas around the implications of 5G technology, which is one of my current obsessions.

Without a doubt, 5G is set to revolutionise the way the world is connected and how we interact with the mobile internet.

It is thought that 5G network speeds will be running in excess of 800GB per second - the equivalent of downloading 33 HD films in a single second. It is an astonishing prospect for the not too distant future.

After landing in New Delhi, I go to our local office where I meet with the management team of an innovative payments and technology service provider. We have a great discussion about the new developments in this dynamic market, and I share my thoughts on how the company might be able to raise the finance

necessary to expand into other Asian countries.

DAY FIVE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The purpose of the India trip is not just about business, but to devote time to one of my most important projects, the Tej Kohli Foundation, which my wife, Wendy and I set up in 2002.

Today I travel to the Niramaya Hospital in Gurgaon, about an hour’s drive from New Delhi.

One of the philanthropic aims of the Foundation is to focus on projects relating to sight. Sadly, India has 7.8 million people that suffer from blindness approximately 20% of the world’s total blind population.

Corneal blindness is one of the most common causes of blindness in India, and it’s thought that 4.8 million blind Indians - including 2.9 million children under the age of 12 - could be cured through having corneal transplants.

The Foundation has an open-ended commitment to the Niramaya Hospital and, since 2007, the programme has already helped more than 1,000 people with sight problems and, with the infrastructure and procedures now in place, aims to help a further 1,000 every year something I am very proud of.

In the evening I start the journey back to London.

As an entrepreneur, it’s sometimes difficult to not let work take over, but I endeavour to spend as much time as possible at the weekend with my young children and my wife.

Contact: www.kohliventures.com

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24/02/2015 15:27

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25/02/2015 10:50

PEOPLE

Femme fatal?

Lee McQueen, founder of the Raw Talent Academy and season-four winner of BBC’s The Apprentice, says employers who are not women-friendly risk missing out on the best people

T Women are still seriously under-represented at the top end of the corporate world - only five of the FTSE100 companies have women as chief executives

he role of women in the Church of England was back in the news recently, with the first female bishop ordained in York Minster.

Of course, this issue goes well beyond a typical workplace debate, and it’s one that has brought out huge amounts of passion on both sides.

The good news is that women’s roles in the workplace in general are less controversial than in the Church, and we have come a long way since the days when most people thought women should stay at home.

Women are still seriously underrepresented at the top end of the corporate world though - only five of the FTSE100 companies have women as chief executives. Fortunately, noncorporates have a better track record when it comes to the gender gap, and I’d like to think it’s because they realise that being female-friendly isn’t just about fairness - it also makes good business sense.

But for all your good intentions, are you certain that your organisation makes it clear just how geared up it is for your women employees?

One of the biggest pinch points comes with starting a family. A woman is at a disadvantage in the workplace, in the sense that she has to take time off, even if it’s just for a short period.

A man, although he might want to take time off, does not have to do so. That should never be a rationale for not employing a woman. You

risk missing out on some fantastic colleagues if that is your attitude.

Later, when the woman returns to work, she might experience genderbias - even if it’s something that you, as her boss, are unaware of.

Does she immediately feel part of the team again? Does she feel there’s a stigma attached to her because she’s got things such as childcare to worry about now? You might offer remote working, which can be a great help to a new parent, but does she know that’s an option?

My wife took time off work after she became a mother. She’s now gone back and is as good at her job as ever, but it took a little bit of time for her to get back into the groove, and to feel she had the same status as before. Her position and title were the same, it was just a feeling that she had some catching up to do, and that’s something that a male employee doesn’t experience.

I don’t believe in quotas. The idea that someone should employ a woman simply because she’s a woman is as misguided as insisting on a male-only workforce. The best person should get the job, regardless of gender - it’s talent that we should always look for.

You might be the most open minded employer in the world, but if your women-friendly policies aren’t obvious, you could be missing out on a huge pool of untapped talent.

Contact: www.rawtalentacademy.com

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24/02/2015 15:29

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28/01/2015 09:29

LIFESTYLE

MILWAUKEE M12 CORDLESS BLACK HEATED JACKET KIT

Spring is in the air – which means the British weather is on the up. Now, instead of snow and rain, we can expect… erm, wind and rain. But fear not – here are a few weather-proof gadgets and gizmos that we’re excited about this month

KNIRPS X1 PRINTS UMBRELLA – WHITE PAINTDROPS This may look like an ordinary umbrella, but the technology and design that has gone into it makes it one of the best you can buy for standing up to the gale force onslaught of spring.

The practical Knirps “X1 Prints” umbrella in Paintdrops White, is a winner of the Design Award and is the smallest patented umbrella from Knirps. Extensively wind-tested, it features fibre ribs with springs to avoid blowouts, meaning it will survive some of the heaviest gales you’ll experience.

We can’t promise the same for your hair-do though.

PRICE: £44.95 AVAILABLE FROM: WWW.BROLLIED.COM

Forget hot water bottles, those disposable hand warmers that last all of two minutes, and the ridiculous ‘snood’ - stay warm and stylish this year with this marvel of engineering from Milwaukee. The M12 Cordless Black Heated Jacket distributes heat across core body areas, and stops cold dead in its tracks.

Durable carbon fibre heating elements woven in between rugged exterior materials and thermal insulating liners generate, and maintain heat - and it is even water resistant!

Three heat settings (high, medium, low) allow the user to select the right amount of warmth for all weather conditions.

It’s fully machine washable, and a USB charging power port conveniently charges all portable electronic devices, while displaying remaining run time for the battery.

Whether for the journey to the office, or hours spent outside on site, this jacket is a must-have for the unpredictable British weather.

PRICE: £149.99 AVAILABLE FROM: UK.MILWAUKEETOOL.EU/ HEATED-GEAR

OUTERBORO STEALTH SHIRT How often do you find yourself out of the office for a moment, only for an unexpected shower to hit, soaking you through to the bone? Well, while you can’t stop the weather, you can minimise its effects. The Stealth Shirt is ideal for a day at the office and anything else that follows, as it features fabric treated with DuPont Teflon fabric protector. This means it should repel those annoying water droplets long enough for you to find cover and stay dry.

Billed as ‘water, dirt, and mild stain repellent’ it is even handy for keeping those miscellaneous tea and coffee spills at bay.

PRICE: £60 AVAILABLE FROM: WWW.OUTERBORO.CC

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24/02/2015 15:30

LIFESTYLE

Hotspots This month we discover some of the best places to eat, greet, and lay your head in Shakespeare’s home town, Stratford-upon-Avon

AWAY ON BUSINESS THE ARDEN HOTEL WHERE? Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon WHY? This hotel’s idyllic countryside exterior belies the chic and modern decor that it contains within, as luxury and style combine to create a wonderful hotel experience in the bustling centre of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Set among the delightfully quaint Tudor houses of Shakespeare’s town, and within walking distance of the main shops, butterfly farm, and RSC theatre, The Arden Hotel features 45 suites and rooms. Each room is generous in size, with marbled bathrooms and bright, airy interiors, finished with the kind of quality furnishings you would expect of an Eden Collection hotel, and many rooms have stunning views out across the River Avon and of the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre.

The Waterside Brasserie within the hotel makes a great place to chat and eat in an informal, yet still elegant setting too. The delights on offer are of the highest quality, and dishes such as the exquisite pan-seared scallop and Jerusalem artichoke veloute, and the braised and roasted venison haunch, will make your mouth water and you’ll want to indulge to the point where the short distance back to your room may seem an impossible task.

Should you wish to incorporate a little bit of business within your stay, the Arden also features a conference room that will hold up to 40 delegates theatre-style, or 25 boardroom-style, for your event or meeting.

CONTACT: www.theardenhotelstratford.com

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24/02/2015 15:31

LIFESTYLE

MEET AND EAT THE VINTNER WHERE? Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon WHY? Wine and dine in relaxed surroundings and share in Stratford’s rich and famous heritage.

This genuine example of timber-framed architecture has remained largely unaltered since its construction in the late 1400s. The sense of history in this ancient building remains intact, from the flagstone floors to the fabulous expanse of oak beams.

It is more than likely that William Shakespeare purchased his wine from here!

If the architecture and typically Stratford-esque setting doesn’t impress your business clients, the food certainly will. Serving hearty meals and fresh produce, much of it acquired from local sources, there is a smorgasbord of fine tastes on offer. Classics, such as roast rib-eye of beef with Yorkshire pudding, or braised lamb shank with dauphinoise potatoes, are not to be missed!

There’s also an excellent wine menu, and selection of ales for those perhaps looking to unwind after a hard day of work, featuring a fantastic Chateau Le Pey Cru Bourgeois from France, and a light and fruity Rioja Crianza, Cerro Añon from Spain.

CONTACT: www.the-vintner.co.uk

EVENTS, GATHERINGS & HUBS HOLIDAY INN WHERE? Bridgefoot, Stratford-upon-Avon WHY? The hotel recently completed a £1.5 million refurbishment programme, which saw an extraordinary transformation of its ground floor area, including the event space that is on offer, which is certainly impressive. The hotel has 15 air-conditioned meeting and conference rooms, which include The Grand Ballroom; a modern and stylish suite that can comfortably host more than 500 guests theatre-style, or 440 for a sit-down dinner. It also boasts its own exclusive reception area and bar, and can be divided into two smaller spaces.

There are also two conference cafés within the hotel; dedicated areas where delegates can relax with complimentary coffee and snacks, allowing conversation to continually flow between colleagues.

Further to all, this the hotel also benefits from a 24-hour business centre, and two self-contained meeting areas; the Avon, and East Wing meeting centres, which include their own smaller suites, four in the Avon and five in East Wing, ideal for training days or meetings. There is also a conference café exclusive to each suite, serving teas, coffees, and snacks throughout the day for all delegates to enjoy.

The hotel has 233 modern bedrooms, and the Riverside restaurant with heated outdoor terrace overlooking the River Avon, meaning guests really can mix business with pleasure.

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24/02/2015 15:31

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25/02/2015 16:55

LIFESTYLE

STEMAR MODENA LEATHER MONK SHOE £385 www.harrods.com

BERTIE ASTON 2 SUEDE BROGUE DERBY SHOES £85

ITALIA TWO TONE LACE-UP £75

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Foot notes Dressing the part means focussing on everything from head to toe, so this month we’re starting at the bottom – or more precisely, the shoe. Here are some of our favourite suave soles to get your toes looking dapper this spring

JEFFERY WEST J221 DIAMOND EMBOSSED LACE UP £160 www.houseoffraser.co.uk

PAUL SMITH NAVY DIP-DYED CALF LEATHER FILLMORE BOOTS £320 www.paulsmith.co.uk

ASOS CHELSEA BOOTS IN LEATHER £40

TOD’S SUEDE CHUKKA BOOT £290 www.harrods.com

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24/02/2015 15:33

LIFESTYLE

Saunas, sleep, and smooches

Each country has its own business culture, though some are quirkier than others.

Holiday Hypermarket examines five of the more unusual ones

I

n some countries, it only takes the wrong kind of gift, or the incorrect greeting to break a business relationship. So, let’s take a trip around the world as we list five of the strangest business customs on the planet.

JAPAN

I don’t think any of us will be surprised by the first country on the list - Japan. This destination is known for its quirky, and often misunderstood, culture, so who would expect any less from its business customs? The Japanese believe that business relationships are secured over mass amounts of alcohol. They also believe in ‘inemuri’ - a nap at work to recharge your batteries. As crazy as this may sound, the Japanese see this as a sign of hard work and commitment. The handing over of the business card has its rules too, and all cards should be passed from one employer to another using both hands.

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24/02/2015 15:34

LIFESTYLE

BELGIUM

THAILAND

In true Thai style, first business meetings usually involve plenty of smiles, a light-hearted conversation, and respect from all attendees. But business meetings don’t always take place in buildings. With Bangkok’s heavy traffic flow, foreign executives never schedule more than two meetings in any one day. This means that Thai business officials are often forced to take meetings in their cars via a mobile phone or laptop.

Now that’s impressive!

It’s safe to say that the Belgians like to do things a little bit differently. A handshake may be the correct way to greet our colleagues, but our Belgian counterparts would disagree. A kiss or air kiss are preferred in this country - and we don’t mean one either! Belgian business professionals greet one another with three air kisses, once a relationship has developed. But it’s not that simple, there’s an order to which the kisses must be given. The kiss should start on the right cheek, then the left and back to the right.

If the three kisses are not given properly, in the correct order, it is seen as disrespectful.

Finland has taken things one step further with its steam-filled business meetings. That’s right, in Finland, a sauna is often seen as a place to relax and get to know your colleagues

So, if you’re travelling for business, we suggest you do your research to avoid any cultural faux pas.

FINLAND

CHINA

If you’re attending a business meeting in China, make sure you have a gift at the ready. Then again, don’t expect the present to seal the deal. The gift is likely to be refused a number of times, as Chinese etiquette prevents them from doing anything that will display signs of greed. So, make sure you keep on offering the gift until it is accepted. And never greet Chinese business people with only their first name. This may be the norm in Britain, but the Chinese will be highly offended, and will expect you to use their last name as well as their title.

As I’m sure you’re aware, doing business doesn’t always mean employers have to stick to the confines of the office. Business is often followed up in restaurants, bars, and, particularly if you’re American, over a game of golf. But Finland has taken things one step further with its steam-filled business meetings. That’s right, in Finland a sauna is often seen as a place to relax in, and get to know your colleagues. For most, a sauna may seem like an odd place to talk business, and many of us would feel obligated to decline such an offer, but not in Finland. In fact, an invitation to your local sauna is a sign that your business meeting went well.

WWW.HOLIDAYHYPERMARKET.CO.UK

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23/02/2015 12:08

LIFESTYLE

On the road

Whether you’re looking to get from A to B, or arrive in style, your car is part of your business image. So each month, motoring expert, Oliver Hammond checks out the latest in executive travel, helping you to decipher the market for business drivers

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: LEXUS GS300H PRICE: FROM £31,495 WWW.LEXUS.CO.UK

W

hen droves of people do the same thing, it may be for good reason, or because they’re somewhat blinkered and haven’t considered the alternatives. With executive fleet cars, ordering from the German menu seems like the nobrainer thing to do, as does plumping for diesel. Lexus’ march down the petrol hybrid path raises an intriguing question - does the GS make sense in the market? To investigate, I spent a week with a GS300h F Sport.

It may not be ultimately quite as svelte as an Audi A6 or exude the elegance a Mercedes E-Class does, but I found the GS300h F Sport’s styling rather magnetising. Goodness me, I almost forgot the BMW 5-Series, perhaps showing how aesthetically banal the ubiquitous and dominant German trio are. The Lexus looks hewn from precious stone, and its strikingly aggressive face, imposing side profile, and sleek rear lights make it an unarguably attractive car with tremendous road presence.

The Lexus GS300h’s handling belies its size, but doesn’t trouble the BMW or Audi on country roads, even in F Sport guise with Adaptive Variable

Suspension. The CVT transmission is also much more suited to urbanity and motorways, where the Lexus is absolutely marvellous, providing a smooth, whisper-quiet ride.

Value is another area where the Lexus GS300h shines, dispelling the notion that tax and environmentally friendly executive mile munchers end up being Spartan, options lists snatched away to achieve the best bottom lines.

My test F Sport weighed in at £44,355 with 19” alloys, sensational Mark Levinson stereo, leather interior, 12.3” screen and some other goodies, but the headline act is the base SE version.

Granted, leather makes way for cloth, and 12.3” for 8”, but the screen still plays DVDs, there’s a 10-way electric driver’s memory seat, easy access, dual climate, parking sensors, reversing camera, DAB, Bluetooth and 17” alloys, all for £31,495. When you factor in the Lexus’ 220bhp and automatic gearbox, its price is significantly cheaper than equivalent German diesels, and much less than comparable petrol hybrids.

Debate rages over the future of diesel, concerns over nitrogen oxides, and other public health fears only partly soothed by the latest Euro 6 emissions regulations. Diesels currently still attract a 3% tax penalty, so the

Lexus GS300h makes a resounding argument for business drivers covering around 20,000 annual miles or less.

The F Sport itself still holds its head high with a claimed 56.5mpg combined (I averaged 41.4mpg after 350 mixed miles), 115g/km CO2, and 15% BIK; but the real star of the show is the SE with 109g, 60.1mpg, and 14% BIK (2014/15), meaning savings of a few grand over three years compared to equivalent German diesels. Serene, generously specified, and keenly priced, the GS300h is indeed credible.

VERDICT: Serene, generously specified and financially appealing.

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24/02/2015 15:37

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25/02/2015 10:54

TECHNOLOGY

Building a city of connectivity Dragon’s Den star and co-CEO of Outsourcery, Piers Linney looks at how smart cities will shape our future

G

overnments, businesses, and citizens are investing more in the benefits that new developments in technology are able to provide, enabling them to achieve a greater understanding of how cities operate and adapt to improve how these cities function.

The use of smart technology to improve how cities function is being seen already with governments using innovations that include footfall data from CCTV footage to inspect problem areas for crime, traffic congestion, and health hazards. Businesses are also revolutionising the way they operate and engage with the world, using the latest innovations of social media and apps to learn more from their audiences.

The increasing adoption of these technologies is leading the way for cities to become powerhouses of technological innovation, and what many people are describing as ‘smart cities’.

The dawn of the smart city is already upon us, but it’s how consumers choose to use technology in the future that will influence how these cities develop. The increasing uptake of smart devices has transformed how people operate in work, and bring your own device (BYOD) schemes are now a common facet in many businesses. Supported by cloud technology, businesses can now provide employees with access to company servers when they’re out of the office, enabling them to achieve greater flexibility and productivity. Further to this, the rising demand from consumers to keep connected while they’re out and about has been supported by the implementation of public Wi-Fi availability.

Younger generations, who have been brought up in the digital era, are used to the ease of relying on technology for their everyday lives, and will soon begin to enter the workforce, expecting a more innovative and efficient way of managing tasks. In the future, the need for more flexibility and mobility will shake businesses and governments to introduce innovative methods to satisfy consumers, which will essentially impact on how cities operate.

Technology companies are continuously exploring new ways to improve the lives of consumers, with a key objective being to enhance their lifestyle, and improve the issues that are causing problems in cities.

The time is now for governments and businesses to communicate with people living in cities, to gain a greater understanding of how they can achieve these objectives with the

help of new technology.

The solution to a more sustainable, and improved environment in cities will encompass a combination of innovation, imagination, and key requirements from governments, businesses and citizens. In this sense, it’ll help us all think more about what certain technology innovations would contribute to our everyday lives, and help strengthen cities to become more secure and well-functioning environments. With developments in smart technology, the Cloud, and IT infrastructures, people living in cities will benefit from increased productivity, flexibility, efficiency, and reduced costs to lead the way to, not only a smarter city, but a city with happier and better communities.

Contact: www.outsourcery.co.uk

The dawn of the smart city is already upon us, but it’s how consumers choose to use technology in the future that will influence how these cities develop

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24/02/2015 15:38

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25/02/2015 10:22

TECHNOLOGY

A different way of inking Could print management services save you a costly headache? Andrew Hall, marketing manager, Oki Systems UK, explains

P

rinting is one of the most uncontrolled areas of expenditure within businesses.

Few organisations have an accurate concept of the total amount they spend.

Even fewer have implemented practical steps to track, and control it. That’s why they often need support from specialist print services providers.

Businesses can now buy printers and printing as a service, which can develop alongside their expansion.

Doing it this way involves working closely with a managed print or document services provider, to devise a print policy that minimises downtime and ensures optimum use of technology.

Instead of making a large upfront investment, businesses can buy printers, supplies, maintenance, and support in one all-inclusive and ongoing contract. This arrangement enables ongoing tracking of costs, and helps control budgets. It’s based on the principle of ongoing support, but the level and nature of that support depends on the organisation’s specific requirements.

These requirements will become clear at the outset of the contract when the services provider audits its customer’s existing printer stock and output volume. Typically, providers ask - what printers does a business own? Where are they? Who uses them, and for what? They will also look at volumes, types of paper used, and its size.

A key element of the support function within each managed service implementation, is the highlevel consultancy that the best service providers deliver.

They may recommend replacing several different printers with a small footprint, multi-function device to save money, space, and improve efficiencies. They’ll also advise some simple, but effective measures, such as ensuring devices are configured correctly to help reduce wastage, suggesting that double-sided is the default option, and that solutions have ‘auto-off’ modes to save energy. Once the recommendation and subsequent implementation phases are complete, the next stage is the management of the print solutions themselves.

The level of support provided will be dependent, at least to some extent, on the volume of printing being conducted.

Through continuous remote monitoring, the provider can ensure consumables are delivered as they are needed, identify faults before, or as they happen, and react immediately to minimise downtime.

Critically, this approach involves constant reevaluation. It’s vital that all print processes are continually assessed and improved. This ensures that print processes can adapt and keep pace with changes across the organisation, while costs are kept to a minimum.

For example, increasingly, employees need to be able to print from mobiles and tablets, especially if the business has a ‘bring your own device’ policy. A managed services provider will be able to advise them on this, as well as uncover additional opportunities for savings.

Ultimately, the exact level of support a business receives as part of a managed services implementation depends on the type and volume of printing it conducts. But in any implementation, support will be extensive. It’s a key element of what’s increasingly seen as a flexible service that brings major efficiencies and savings - and is well worth considering for your business.

Contact: www.oki.co.uk

It’s vital that all print processes are continually assessed and improved.

This ensures that print processes can adapt, and keep pace with changes across the organisation, while costs are kept to a minimum

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25/02/2015 16:57

TECHNOLOGY

ORTIS DELEY

Tech Review

Each month we give Ortis Deley, from Channel 5’s The Gadget Show a gorgeous piece of tech to test drive. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, he’ll give you the lowdown on the best gadgets money can buy GIGASET MAXWELL 10 PRICE: £499.99 AVAILABLE FROM: www.gigaset.com/en_UK

T

his was never going to be an easy sell for me, and when I received the box containing the Gigaset Pro Maxwell 10, I wasn’t sure my mind would be swayed to the positive. You

see, I’m used to telecoms devices weighing next to nothing, and I struggled to carry this office phone comfortably home without a bag on the tube. However, always striving to be the professional, I wanted to let the

tech do the talking; handy, what with it being a phone and all!

As I stated earlier, the Maxwell 10 is an office phone - with a difference: it comes with an android tablet attached. It can make DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) or corded calls over a landline, or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocols) calls, like Viber.

Video conference calls can be made to similar office phones and conference devices, or you can just download apps like Skype, and make video calls.

Part of the winning is in the choices you have at call time: handset or hands free; video call or voice call; regular landline or VoIP call.

The Maxwell 10 is - by virtue of it having an android tablet attached - a customisable office phone. One which you can choose to interact with in your

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TECHNOLOGY

own unique manner and/or that which is ideal for your business, be it through how you handle your calls, or use any of the myriad business apps available through Google Play.

So, breaking down what the device comes with, we have: • 10.1 HD touchscreen (1280x800 res) • Jelly Bean (android 4.2.2) customised for Gigaset phoning functionality • Gigaset apps, including Directory, Helper, and Programmable Keys • HD front-facing camera capable of 720p HD video and 1.2MP pics • 2 tweeters, 1 bass speaker • Choice of handset colours • Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth and HDMI connectivity • 2 USB 2.0 ports, Micro SD (up to 32Gb) to expand memory As an office phone/computer, there’s very little this gadget can’t do, and that’s what makes it such a nice bit of kit. The simple notion of combining two office must-haves and giving the result a world of connectivity options, goes a long way: external cameras, keyboards, mouse, and monitors are just some of the many bedfellows for the Maxwell 10. Or you can choose to just use it as it comes. It can also be wall mounted which, for me, makes it even sexier: I confess to having used the handset whilst sharing content from the tablet, and feeling quite epic at the time. I felt more streamlined in my productivity, and anyone I was video-conferencing with didn’t have to contend with me juggling too much tech whilst communicating with them.

So, my initial issue of weight was made into a molehill by virtue of how all-encompassing this device can be. I still prefer my tablets and phones a tad more mobile, but, as an office tool, it’ll be hard to compete with the Maxwell 10

VERDICT: So, my initial issue of weight was made into a molehill by virtue of how all-encompassing this device can be. I still prefer my tablets and phones a tad more mobile, but, as an office tool, it’ll be hard to compete with the Maxwell 10.

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24/02/2015 15:41

TECHNOLOGY

Fancy being hacked?

Riverbank IT Management’s Malcolm Newdick looks at how you can avoid a business disaster, and keep your website safe

REMEMBER WHEN ATTACKS ON NETWORKS WERE EASIER TO SPOT?

IT

security is hitting the

headlines. In the past few

months we have seen two

seriously embarrassing

security breaches, at Sony and at the US Central Command.

So, what do these hacks mean for the rest of us? What can we do, running our own businesses, if the biggest organisations in the world can be hacked?

The Sony hack last November could be a long term disaster for the company.

It’s not only a serious security breach, but the consequences of it could have a major impact on Sony. The company had to delay the announcement of its financial results before admitting that the hack had cost an estimated $15 million.

A few weeks later, one of its co-chairs resigned, because the hack had revealed the content of her emails.

Imagine if all your HR records, staff salary details, confidential documents, and e-mails were put in the public domain.

Now think about the consequences for a company like Sony that employs 6,500 people. The lawyers must be lining up their discrimination and breach of contract cases right now.

The implication for us in our businesses is that we have to be sure that we have rock solid HR processes and IT management, so we protect ourselves against the enemy within. It is never going to be 100% safe because, ultimately, you have to trust the people you employ.

Edward Snowden proved that even the security services get it wrong sometimes.

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18/02/2015 12:25

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TECHNOLOGY

Introducing SecureConnect from Riverbank IT Management

Imagine if all your HR records, staff salary details, confidential documents, and e-mails were put in the public domain. Now think about the consequences for a company like Sony that employs 6,500 people Meanwhile, the January hack of US Central Command’s Twitter account was just acutely embarrassing. It was only a Twitter account, and nothing confidential or secret was leaked. But if your military central command creates the impression of being staffed by bumbling idiots, it could be time to take cover.

This hack appears to be a simple security lapse, otherwise known by the technical term of ‘stupidity’. It’s quite likely that a member of staff received a phishing e-mail asking them to confirm their Twitter account details. The trouble is that they responded to it.

The lessons to be applied in our businesses relate to staff awareness.

Education and awareness are half the battle with IT security. If people know what the security risks are, and how to identify them, you are much less likely to fall victim to an attack. Making sure that everyone is aware and alert is the best way to prepare yourself - after all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

Our SecureConnect service will take over your network’s defences, zapping threats and providing you with complete IT security. It’s proactively managed and monitored externally by our 30-strong team, all specialists in supporting small and medium sized businesses. And based locally in the Thames Valley and London.

Up your IT Security from just £80 a month** Enquire before 31st March 2015, and we’ll give you your first 6 months at 1/2 price*.

SecureConnect gives you: • Detection and mitigation of security risks before they impact your network • Bespoke security settings

• Detailed monthly reporting

• Protection from external security threats • Network connection management • No admin requirements

To find out more call 0845 680 9680 or visit www.riverbank.co.uk

*Offer available until 31st March 2015. Terms and Conditions apply. **Based on an Internet connection speed of up to 20Mbps throughput.

Contact: www.riverbank.co.uk talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 109 MM9658_In_Business_Bookend_Ad_04.indd 2

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24/02/2015 15:42

TECHNOLOGY

Shop ’til they drop Simon Yeoman of Fasthosts Internet guides you through designing the perfect online shop to sell your products and services

R

ecent figures from the IMRG-Capgemini eRetail Sales Index revealed that £104 billion was spent online in the UK last year, with approximately £810 million spent on Black Friday alone. With year-on-year growth of the UK e-commerce market, it’s no doubt that many small business owners are turning to the internet to sell their goods and services online.

Yet many often struggle to design a site optimised for sales conversions.

However it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Just remember these rules when designing your online shop:

1

OPTIMISE YOUR ESHOP DESIGN

When it comes to first impressions, there are no second chances. So it’s important to design a website that achieves the following elements; creates trust, provides a user-friendly buying experience, sets the scene for products, allows brand recognition, and suggests reassuring speed and modernity. There’s nothing worse than an overcrowded, busy website. Don’t ignore basic layout rules - if in doubt, keep things minimal.

User flow, the interaction your website visitors have with each page, is a key process in website design, which is often undervalued or ignored. If you’re seeking to optimise your e-commerce, think about the overall checkout flow to ensure you are making the experience quick, simple, and safe for customers.

Can they navigate the site to either find the content they are looking for, or be guided towards a call to action (making a purchase)?

The first step is to create a visual map of the site. This starts at the homepage, and shows all the pages linking from it, the pages linking from those, and so on. The categories of your eShop are like aisles in a supermarket, so make it

easy to find products and avoid setting a maze of endless pages for customers to navigate through.

The search functionality of your shop is critical too. Ensure your search box works, and promotes the latest, best products for your customer needs.

2

THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT MOBILE

Changes in consumer behaviour and technology are drivers for the growth of eCommerce. According to the IMRGCapgemini eRetail Sales Index, sales via a smartphone or mobile device grew by 55% in 2014, totalling 37% of all online sales in the UK. Mobile compatibility is key, and website owners need to think about how they’ll serve the large, and growing, mobile segment. New research from BrightEdge found that on average, 27% of websites were misconfigured for smartphone usage, which resulted in an average 68% loss of smartphone traffic to those websites. Could your eShop be missing out?

Dynamically responsive design can meet consumer demand for clear and attractive web pages on any sized screen, as well as faster loading times.

Mobile consumers have proven to be more impatient than those using traditional devices, resulting in a seven per cent loss in conversion for every one second delay in website load time, according to research firm, Aberdeen Group Inc. Look for a solution that offers built in mobile and tablet compatibility, such as Fasthosts’ Website Builders.

3

INTEGRATE WIDGETS, SUCH AS SOCIAL MEDIA

More than a billion people use social networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as e-commerce websites, like Amazon and eBay. Connecting your website to your

company’s social media is great way to strengthen your online engagement.

Many website packages offer drag and drop functionality of popular widgets, such as Facebook, YouTube and PayPal. Customers are more responsive to pictures and videos, rather than reams of text. According to traffic analysis firm, Chartbeat, most visitors only read about 50% of any piece of content they click on. Conversely, most will view all content delivered via videos and pictures. Small online retailers should take advantage of multimedia for maximum impact. Include a variety of pictures, or a video, under product listings to give customers a good understanding of the product.

Customers always seek convenience, and meeting them closer toward their existing shopping outlets or habits is key. Leveraging marketplaces, such as eBay and Amazon will not only increase sales channels, but also offer you context. The more marketplaces you are visible in, the more access you will have to online communities, and the more likely your eShop will be referred to online between shoppers.

4

OPTIMISE YOUR SHIPPING AND PAYMENT LOGISTICS

The more shipping and payment methods you can offer, the more likely customers are to order. Choose a reputable payment processor, such as PayPal, to keep all your customer payment data secure and offer trust.

In retailing, trust means everything, so always support the customer with a brisk and solid user experience.

Research from Baymard Institute, has found that 68% of consumers abandon their online shopping cart.

The main reasons for online purchase abandonment include slow loading websites and lengthy checkout processes. Optimise your store as best you can to ensure the checkout process

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TECHNOLOGY

is quick and seamless. Of course, always ensure you’re using a trusted web host to maximise uptime and website speed.

Also consider allowing customers to purchase without having to create an account, as this adds a further barrier to purchase.

Mobile consumers have proven to be more impatient than those using traditional devices, resulting in a 7%loss in conversion for every one-second delay in website loadtime

5

REMEMBER PEOPLE AND SEARCH ENGINES

While it’s important to have a fully functioning eShop with good design, a key aspect of online retail is getting customers to your web page. A lot more sales can be won by making sure you are truly match fit for consumer expectations and search engines.

Firstly, check that you have all the domains that you need to capture your audience. As always, aim for a catchy, easy to remember name.

For longer names, use hyphens to improve readability.

Website visitors often misspell words, switch, or miss letters. Check how your domain name could be misspelled and consider securing these as additional domains. The more keywords referenced in your domain name, the more search engines will rate your website, and position it higher in results, meaning more visitors. With TopLevel Domains, such as .boutique, .forsale and .website, online visitors can instantly identify with your business.

Follow these simple tips and you’ll soon see your online orders come flooding in.

The categories of your eShop are like aisles in a supermarket, so make it easy to find products and avoid setting a maze of endless pages for customers to navigate through

Contact: www.fasthosts.co.uk

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SPONSORED ARTICLE

How good is YOUR content marketing?

A

s more and more business owners are realising, making your company a success by creating brand awareness online is key. Today, it’s imperative your business can build relationships with its audience and customers, both potential and loyal, wherever they may be accessing the Internet from.

To do this a business needs to constantly evolve and improve to keep up with the ever–changing world of content engagement.

The year ahead has been tipped to focus on more personalised content, supported by bettertargeted social media and content marketing campaigns.

To be successful in these areas its essential content is tailored to your readers and potential customers’ tastes and interests or, at the very least, related to relevant topics trending elsewhere online.

Brands that continue to focus on what they want to tell customers instead of what customers want to hear are quickly being overtaken by their content-savvy competition.

With 90% of B2B marketers continuing to put their capital into content creation, you can’t afford to be left behind.

Publishing high-quality content will put your website on the map.

Consistently producing useful and share-worthy information is the key element of content marketing in order to remain above your competitors – both in search engine rankings and your customers’ mindset.

000_TB42_ContentNetwork.indd 29

If your content is easily accessible, interesting or relevant, people will want more of it. They’ll share it on social media, discuss it with their friends and colleagues, and return to read more.

Given how much we are all bombarded whilst online, if you’re not providing valuable content to your audience, why should they take time to find out what your business offers?

Successful content marketing is based on a long-term strategy.

Those that take into account the ever-changing appetite of audiences far and wide will be most effective.

The brands that have the most success realise different channels require a different tone – the same customer behaves and reacts very differently on Tumbler and Twitter than they might on LinkedIn or Google+.

Building on content marketing, a huge part of the success of your business is cementing the sale before your competitor does. To achieve this you must understand your customers in terms of what they want to hear and how often they want to hear it. Failing to cover these needs effectively will put you on the back foot as more and more businesses, including your competitors, embrace content marketing and its benefits in 2015 and beyond.

Writing excellent quality content is a skill, and a time-consuming one at that. Many companies have tried creating content in-house only to find that this is not a job one writer can manage alone and hiring a team is simply not cost

effective as you don’t know what your content needs will be from one month to the next.

The more sensible route that many brands are taking is to outsource creation to a team of specialist writers that understand their business and industry well enough to produce content they can publish as their own.

Outsourcing creation to specialists also offers the opportunity to cover more variable topics in different tones and even languages where necessary. It also means your digital marketing team stay focused on coming up with ideas, with the time consuming creation being left to people more comfortable to producing quality in quantity, and keeping to a deadline.

The need for semantically relevant, engaging content isn’t going away – in fact with the likes of Google and other search engines ranking quality content higher than anything else it’s set to continue increasing.

With over 80% of all online activity beginning at a search engine, it’s no surprise content marketing has quickly become the basis of nearly all digital marketing. The question is no longer, “Does my business need content marketing” but more, “Does my business produce content that will engage our audience?”

Charlie McGhee, Content Network.

Charlie works for Content Network, a cloud-based platform that connects clients with a trusted network of over 500 specialist writers able to create custom content in just about any language. To find out more about how they could help kick start your company’s content marketing visit – www. contentquality. co.uk

www.contentquality.co.uk

23/02/2015 10:18

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Blackburn Visit our Showroom M65 Whitebirk, Blackburn BB1 3NU Open 7 days a week Visit our Showroom Whitebirk, Blackburn BB1 3NU Open 7 days a week

01254 919 000 01254 919 000 Experienced Friendly Advice • www.hippomotorgroup.com Experienced Friendly Advice • www.hippomotorgroup.com

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06/10/2014 12:30

TECHNOLOGY

I’ve got an app for that Each month we bring you a selection of our favourite apps for business or pleasure. This month we’re looking at an app to allow quick note taking on the go, and an app to enable you to speak any language – instantly!

SayHi TRANSLATE

LETTERSPACE

Price: £3.99 Compatability: iOS, Android The gist: Learning a language can take years of hard work, dedication, and monotonous memorisation, but for business travellers it is invaluable to be able to speak in the native tongue.

Thankfully, thanks to modern technology, you can put away those dodgy travel guides and phrase books, and communicate with others in whatever language you choose, all through an app on your phone.

Simply speak into your phone through the SayHi Translate app, and it will translate whatever you say into the language of your choosing, and speak it back to you. Conversations abroad will never be the same again, and the app has received glowing reports from current users, so you know it can be trusted.

Downloadable from: www.sayhitranslate.com

Price: Free Compatability: iOS The gist: Think about all of the notes you have to take on a daily basis. It’s something we all do. Good note taking is based on being able to get your thoughts and ideas on the page quickly and efficiently. Letterspace doesn’t distract you, it provides a noise-free space to jot things down.

Letterspace allows you to create easy ‘to do’ lists, and update them on the go. Once you’re up and running it is also possible to organise your notes using hashtags, which makes for easy retrieval of specific notes - especially handy if you’re in a meeting and need information fast!

Perhaps best of all, you can sync your notes with iCloud, meaning you can access them on the go, wherever you are.

Downloadable from: www.programmerbird.com/letterspace/

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24/02/2015 15:52

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10/02/2015 12:52

FRANCHISE

franchise

NEWS bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards open for entries

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he British Franchise Association (bfa) is shining the spotlight on the finest franchisors in the country, as the oldest and most prestigious awards in franchising are now open for entries. The bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards are back for a 26th year to recognise the most ethical operators in the business for their exceptional franchising practices.

The awards are positioned to showcase the diversity and excellence found in the franchise sector,

2014 double winner, Auto Smart receiving the award

Five brands were successful last year. The race is now on for the 2015 honours

encouraging businesses of all sizes and sectors to demonstrate their outstanding achievements. There are five categories in 2015: bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year, Emerging Franchisor of the Year, Award for Innovation, Franchisee Recruitment Award, and the Award for Customer Focus.

Pip Wilkins, bfa head of operations, said: “We work hard to ensure that our awards correctly recognise the ethical standards found throughout the bfa franchisor community. After

an exceptional number of high quality entries last year, I’m pleased to announce the return of the Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades within the main bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Award.

This will properly reflect the breadth of quality demonstrated by entrants.”

Finalists will be named in mid-April, with winners honoured on 25 June at a black tie dinner at the ICC, Birmingham.

Contact: www.thebfa.org

Tutor Doctor gives soldiers a helping hand Home-based tuition franchise launches fast-track franchise scheme for UK military personnel

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utor Doctor - the world’s fastest growing provider of one-to-one, home-based tuition - has launched a scheme to make it easier for ex-military personnel to invest in a franchise. The Franchise 500 company is offering a two-year, interest free loan to cover the £29,700 franchise fee for former members of the armed forces who qualify for the scheme.

Rogelio Martinez, VP of international development said: “Members of the armed forces have

many of the qualities we look for in our franchisees, such as discipline, leadership, and organisation. We have been running a similar scheme for US military personnel for number of years and it has been hugely successful.”

Someone who is already reaping the rewards is Bob Rosedale, a former US Air Force squadron commander with 26 years’ service turning young lieutenants into pilots. Bob became a Tutor Doctor franchisee in 2011. Since then he has provided 10,000 tutoring sessions to 500 families.

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Rosedale said: “The support I have received from head office and other franchise owners has been incredible.

Coming out of the military, I wondered if I could find a comparable support structure and sense of purpose, and I have found it with Tutor Doctor. They made setting up my own business very easy, and I have never looked back since starting up.”

To find out more about the interestfree scheme please visit www.info. tutordoctoropportunity.com/ veterans-franchise-program talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 117

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26/01/2015 10:02

FRANCHISE

Is franchising the answer?

Brian Whitford from Bartercard, looks at the questions you need to ask before making the franchising decision

M

ost people who inquire about franchise business opportunities are usually at a crossroads with their life, and looking to make critical decisions for their future. There are many reasons that someone might start looking at becoming their own boss, such as a lack of job satisfaction, lack of opportunities for personal or career growth, or even simply wanting to make more money and not feeling that their current career offers such chances.

In evaluating such issues, many people come to realise that the franchise sector offers opportunities with proven business systems and defined investment.

Here a few tips to consider before taking the first step:

Upfront costs might look enticing, but as with any contract, there can sometimes be surprises lurking in the small print. Find out the key terms, length of tenure, and the conditions of any future termination

THE PROCESS STARTS WITH YOU What are your strengths and weaknesses? Do you want to use familiar skills, or try something totally new? If you’re going to make a career change, you need to be happy on the job every day, not seeing work as a chore because success is always hard work.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Is it job satisfaction, independence, money, to provide jobs for the family, security? Before taking the plunge, also ask yourself the following questions: • Does self-employment suit you?

• What hours are you prepared to work?

• What is the extent of investment you are prepared to make?

• To what extent are you prepared to risk your assets?

• What skills and experience do you have in selling or marketing?

• Are you a team player?

• Can you manage people?

• Will this allow you the lifestyle you desire?

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Once you’ve come up with these answers and are satisfied that franchising is for you, it’s time to focus on finding the right franchise. When looking to narrow the field, it’s important to get all the information you can about each franchise. Some of the questions that you should ask the franchisor are: • How long has the franchisor been in business?

• How much are the upfront and ongoing fees?

• Is the brand trademarked and protected?

• What will be my competitive advantage?

• What training is available?

• How is advertising and marketing support managed?

• Is there an operation manual?

It’s also important to check out the fine print. The upfront costs and training might look enticing, but as with any contract, there can sometimes be surprises lurking in the small print.

Find out the key terms, what the length of tenure and renewals are, whether it is an exclusive or non-exclusive agreement, and what conditions must be met at termination and posttermination of the agreement?

Perhaps most importantly of all are the cost implications. Consider everything as a whole, not just the attractive headline prices used to lure in franchisees. Take into account the franchise fee, fit-out and equipment costs, the working capital required, cost of training, the cost of opening promotions, legal fees, and office supplies.

As with anything in business, if you take the appropriate steps beforehand,you’ll find success in your franchising venture.

Contact: www.bartercard.co.uk

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Unprecedented Success For Thames Valley Expo

From ShipYard to ZipYards

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here is a latent desire in British people, particularly in unsettled times, to create jobs rather than tackle the employment market from the outside.

Franchising gives people the opportunity to work for themselves, reducing the risk but at the same time it brings all the benefits of running your own business. It also acts as a springboard into markets and alleviates the laborious aspects of disrupting them; probably one of the most daunting prospects of going at it alone.

Nigel Toplis, Managing Director of The Bardon Group, says: “Where you have a good franchise system, you really

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have a marriage, whereby you have a proven business system, collateral, support and training from the franchisor, and you have the dynamism, the ambition, the drive and the skillset of the franchisee.

“Put them together and you really have a husband and wife; two people with two distinct set of skills, but one distinct objective.”

ZipYard is one such success story. After a botched tailoring job, two entrepreneurs saw a gap in the market and used an empty shop opposite Belfast ship yard to set up their own business, which duly inspired the name.

“From there they decided to franchise the concept in

Northern Ireland, then master licence in Southern Ireland and then we took the Master Licence from them to run Great Britain and we started trading in 2011,” Toplis says. ‘ZipYard has an ‘open kitchen’ approach, in that the store is open plan and workers are very much out in the open, rather than confined in a back room. There is also fitting rooms on site and an automated processing service, where the garment are tracked by barcode throughout the process and a text message is delivered to the customer upon completion’.

Toplis believes it has “professionalised the industry”, adding an extra element of

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Experienced in Sales and marketing, Graeme Mulheron took the decision to buy the ZipYard franchise for Bedford in summer 2014 and hasn’t looked back since.

By the time local Mayor Dave Hodgson unzipped a six foot giant zip to declare the specialist garment alterations and repair centre officially open, the business was trading at almost full capacity and recruitment was underway to add a third seamstress to the team.

Graeme is no stranger to the franchising business model. authority to an already He was previously an award talented workforce. winning Cash Generator owner “We’ve very much made it running multiple branches. a professional, open, high “The time was right to move street operation,” Toplis adds, on and give my career a new which explains growth of 15 direction. I was proud of the new centres in the last two #TVExpo Cash Generator businesses that years and an expectation of I had built up. but as a marketer, getting 50 Centres open I am always on the look out for within three years. innovative ideas and the ZipYard model ticked all of the boxes.”

Richard McConnell opened www.thamesvalleyexpo.co.uk The Bedford ZipYard is ideally The ZipYard in Altrincham located in the town centre and in September 2011 and in 2013 was a finalist in the bfa Franchise of the Year awards At the time of writing there – having won numerous local are 16 ZipYard Centres in the business accolades.

UK and a plan to have 50 within From a turnover of £174,000 three years. ZipYard Centres in his first year to £270,000 carry distinctive yellow and plus in his second, growth has black branding and offer a top been exceptional and such quality garment alterations has been the progress of the and repairs to members of the business that this one-time public as well as local retailers, driving instructor has opened businesses with uniformed staff, a second Centre (Wilmslow) – hire and bridal shops and even which is also doing very well. schools in a clean and purpose

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within days of opening its doors, customers began flocking in.

He said: “ I had read about the ZipYard’s arrival in the UK and was vaguely interested, but it wasn’t until I had to get a suit altered to go to a business awards dinner that I realised just how much the local area needed a top quality alterations and repair service “I searched high and low for someone to carry out the repair and eventually ended up in the middle of an indoor market at a stall having the alterations pinned in full view of other shoppers’’ It dawned on me that there must be lots of other people out there just like me with clothes needing altered and nowhere to take them so I decided bring the ZipYard to Bedford.

“I have been extremely pleased by the success of our ZipYard store so far. As with any business if you can combine excellence in service with excellence of products you @thamesvalleyexp have a winning formula and we certainly have that here at the ZipYard Bedford.” designed retail environment with on-site seamstresses and private changing rooms.

Territories are being snapped up fast but there are still opportunities available for the right candidates.

Contact: Emma Downes T: 01530 513307 E: info@thezipyard.co.uk W: www.thezipyard.co.uk

28/10/2014 16:09

FRANCHISE

T

he general principle on which franchising operates - recycling a proven business model - already lends itself to multiple outlets in one country or region. Therefore, in theory, there should be plenty of scope for expanding a franchise overseas in a similar way.

A foreign foray is indeed possible, but there are specific issues that should be carefully addressed by franchisors to avoid expensive mistakes.

There are two main options available for this venture: direct franchising, and master franchising. Let’s take a closer look at the attendant issues for both:

DIRECT FRANCHISING

Establishing a business presence in another country is a bold step that won’t succeed without full commitment at senior management level. The enterprise must be founded on a desire to at least replicate the home market success, and be underpinned by a good strategic awareness of how such a move will be achieved.

DUE DILIGENCE

What do you do if you’ve achieved success in the UK and want to expand your franchise further afield? Dynamis’ franchising expert, Nicky Tatley explores the best ways to conquer foreign shores

Develop realistic goals for your business plan, and make certain your budget accommodates the international nature of your franchise project. It’s unwise to commit to franchise deals before your planning phase has been completed. With a long distance business relationship, it can be difficult, but never impossible, to develop confidence and mutual trust. Most of the day-to-day routines will be the same as in the home market, but nothing should be left to chance. Though unearthing and collating the details

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FRANCHISE

You can simply replicate your UK franchise model by granting exclusive master franchise rights to an appropriate master franchisee in your target country. This individual or organisation is

then tasked with adapting the model to local conditions

you need may be more expensive, not doing the job properly could prove even more costly.

BRAND PROTECTION

All trademarks are subject to ‘territoriality’ so, just like laws, where they apply must be clearly defined. Franchisors must prioritise early applications, well before any marketing campaigns, and should never risk delegating this job to a potential franchisee.

IDENTIFY YOUR MARKET AND SHARPEN YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE

In order to attract candidates, and convince them that your business model will succeed in their environment, your own market research and analysis must be thorough and comprehensive. If you can’t sell your concept to potential franchisees, you will have to think again.

POLISH YOUR HOME REPUTATION

You can be sure the candidates you most want to attract will check out your track record, and have the details at their fingertips. Would you even countenance working with those who didn’t? Make sure all is ship-shape in your existing franchise network before heading overseas.

CREATE A DOCUMENTED SYSTEM FOR EACH NEW OVERSEAS TERRITORY

In all probability, many aspects of your franchise will have to be ‘localised’ - for example, employment contracts in your target country won’t be based on UK law.

Marketing, business support systems and many other areas will also be strongly influenced by the prevailing culture and applicable legislation. How your model will adapt to these considerations must be specified in your documentation.

CREATE AN INTRANET FOR YOUR ORGANISATION

It’s hard to imagine how a contemporary international organisation could function without intranet facilities.

In addition to the obvious cost benefits, management, training, and support services can be delivered more effectively, and any access and timezone problems are minimised.

ADVICE AND SUPPORT

Experienced professionals with local knowledge and contacts should be utilised to inform your market research, and to help execute your due diligence. The information and insights gained will strengthen your planning, and thus help spread confidence to potential franchisees.

REGIONAL FRANCHISE

SYSTEM MONITORING AND REGULATION

FRANCHISING VIA AREA DEVELOPMENT

Having planned and located your foreign franchise network, monitoring its effectiveness, and evaluating outcomes is just as important to your success as it is at home - except the consequences of getting this aspect wrong are potentially more serious.

A foreign foray is indeed possible but there are specific issues that should be carefully addressed by franchisors to avoid expensive mistakes MASTER FRANCHISE

Via the master franchise system, you can simply expand and replicate your UK franchise model

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by granting exclusive master franchise rights to an appropriate master franchisee in your target country. This individual or organisation is then tasked with adapting the model to local conditions, including legal compliance, and will develop the franchise brand through subfranchising, master franchisee networks, or a blend of each.

Where a master franchisee is unable to handle a large territory, as often happens in the US, a small consortium of master franchisees is appointed. They will usually collaborate on overarching issues, such as marketing campaigns.

Where sub-franchising is not permitted in a large territory, the area is still subdivided, though each area will have the same master franchisee, who must own all locations. This specific arrangement is termed ‘area development franchising’.

LEGAL ISSUES

When expanding abroad, a master franchisor must be absolutely clear about all applicable legislation. To give a flavour of the issues that can arise: franchising in some countries is often governed by the same laws covering general commerce, without any special distinction.

On the other hand, Australia, Canada, the US, and some other jurisdictions, have franchise-specific legislation, whilst five EU states have ‘pre-contractual disclosure obligations’ relating to franchise contracts.

Contact: www.dynamis.co.uk

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SPONSORED ARTICLE

STEAK ’N SHAKE ARE ‘STEAK’ING’ THEIR CLAIM!

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he Steak ‘n Shake brand is a pioneer of one of America’s most popular gourmet burgers - 100% certified premium Steakburgers made from the top grade of the finest meat with no preservatives, hormones or antibiotics. Their hand-cut fries are thin, crisp, never frozen and made to order from only the freshest potatoes, and now, all this and their awardwinning, hand-dipped milkshakes, is heading to the UK as part of their international expansion plan.

Steak ‘n Shake have over 530 restaurants and more than 20,000 employees in the USA where the concept has already proven to be a massive success; they fully intend to replicate this success in the UK and on the international stage.

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THE STEAK ‘N SHAKE HISTORY In 1934, Steak ‘n Shake founder, Gus Belt, pioneered the concept of a better burger by hand-crafting burgers made with cuts of steak - the steakburger.

Today they continue to source, slice, grind, and create the choicest quality ingredients and to serve customers with a fresh, quality product - made in front of them to ensure cleanliness, freshness, quality and wholesomeness.

Today, Steak ‘n Shake is one of the most recognised and loyal brands in the U.S. restaurant industry. Over 350,000 patrons visit Steak ‘n Shake daily.

Steak ‘n Shake generates system-wide sales of nearly $1 bn by selling more than 110 million steakburgers annually, as well as more than 80 million portions of fries and 60 million hand-dipped milkshakes.

A GROWING SUCCESS In 2008, the company was purchased

by Sardar Biglari, chairman and CEO of Biglari Holdings, a diversified holding company engaged in a number of business activities with significant operations in the restaurant and investment management business.

The company immediately experienced dynamic growth in sales, and earnings even in the midst of a long-term global economic recession.

Biglari Holdings’ commitment to Steak ‘n Shake, its partners and franchisees is unprecedented. Mr. Biglari promises that Steak ‘n Shake will never be sold.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TEAM In 2013, Steak ‘n Shake opened a dedicated European office, in Monte Carlo, and have since opened key units in Cannes and Ibiza – plus they now have more than 120 International units committed for development.

They have built operational capabilities to support their partners during the expansion process, to ensure fast learning and rapid success by providing support in all the key areas.

DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS, PARTNERS OR BUSINESSES The Steak ‘n Shake brand is actively looking for ambitious people to partner with the brand and help to develop the UK and European markets.

As an internationally expanding brand,

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they are looking to work with people who share their values - and who can lead their success in this new, exciting market.

Potential partners will need to be as passionate about their mission as they are: “To constantly serve our patrons the highest quality burgers and shakes along with extending them great service at the lowest possible prices.”

A SOLID FINANCIAL BACKGROUND The investment required will vary depending on factors such as size and location. The total investment would be between £550,000 and £1,170,000.

A personal investment in the region of £240,000 would be required in order to qualify for a bank loan* that would cover the full investment. (*Subject to financial checks and status) WHAT ARE STEAK ‘N SHAKE OFFERING? As a Steak ‘n Shake Franchise owner and you will receive all the support and expertise you need for success.

FULL SUPPORT & TRAINING A qualified support team will help you to set up your restaurant and train your staff.

The dedicated head office support team will always be available in order to address any issues you may have, for the entire term of development.

PROVEN SUPPLY CHAIN Steak ‘n Shake have over 80-years experience in cost efficiency. They carefully devise a full supply chain solution for every market they open in.

Steak ’n Shake’s First French Franchisee

F

rank Alvarez was a successful industrial director in the food sector and not thinking about changing careers at all, however during one of his business trips to the United States, he came across, and fell in love with, the Steak ‘n Shake brand.

He was actually so impressed with the concept that he decided to approach them regarding the possibility of opening a Steak ‘n Shake in Plan de Campagne, Marseille.

By happy coincidence the Commercial Barnéoud center, a

huge shopping centre in Plan-deCampagne, had also approached Steak ‘n Shake in 2013, at a franchise show in Paris, asking about opening an outlet in their centre, so they were able to offer Frank a prime location at a most opportune time.

Steak ‘n Shake, who were beginning the expansion of their operations, into Europe, could see the extraordinary potential of the Plan de Campagne location for Steak ‘n Shake so did not hesitate in agreeing to move forward with Frank.

Steak ‘n Shake and Frank Alvarez opened the first franchise in France, covering an area of 400 m2, on 20th November 2014.

To date the restaurant has provided 27 jobs in the local area and is aiming for 150,000 customers per year.

OPERATIONAL SUPPORT You will be supplied with state-of-the-art tools to increase your efficiency, both before and after opening.

FLEXIBILITY IN DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION A Steak ‘n Shake restaurant can be constructed in many different types of size and city areas and Steak ‘n Shake provides full design concept drawings.

A SET-UP CONSULTANT Steak ‘n Shake will ensure you have full support from their key specialists throughout the development process.

FULL MARKETING EXPERTISE They have an extensive catalogue of marketing programs and will help by supporting you on every step of the opening process; and provide you with all necessary tools for outstanding continuity.

‘STEAK’ YOUR CLAIM IN THE BURGER REVOLUTION ‘N ‘SHAKE’ THINGS UP! This is your opportunity to capitalise on the ever-growing worldwide hunger for premium, hand-made burgers and milkshakes - as a highly successful, classic American brand expands in the UK & Europe.

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For more information about the Steak ‘n Shake franchise opportunity, or to arrange a meeting, contact Steak ‘n Shake at UKFranchise@steaknshake.mc or apply directly via the website: www.steaknshakefranchise.eu

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23/02/2015 10:13

ADVICE

The sales DOCTOR This month Sales Doctor, Tony Morris, takes us back to the basics of selling for the uninitiated

Dear Sales Doctor, I’ve started my own business with a great product but now I need to get it out to suppliers. The trouble is, I’m not a salesperson and I don’t have the budget to hire one. What are the basics I need to know in order to sell successfully?

O

ne of the wonderful things about sales is, you can be taught it and there is a science to it. Some people are born with a natural ability, which makes it easier for them to become a great sales person, but there are systems and procedures required to be a great sales person, and they can definitely be trained.

The first thing you need to identify is who your target market is. You need to invest time collating the data on your market, get the decision makers name and number, and then import that data into Excel or a CRM (customer relationship management) system. This will enable you to be organised, and keep notes on each lead that you speak with.

The second thing is you need to have worked out your pricing structure and margins in order to break even, and then make profit. You may have different packages, so

this needs to be planned and structured accordingly.

The third thing you need to do is understand the benefits of your product to the suppliers you will be contacting. I call this the ‘WIIFME’ statement What’s In It For Me? In order to be able to engage them on the phone, and create a need and desire for your product, you have to quickly highlight the reasons they’d want to become a supplier of your product.

Only then can you prepare a call structure and be truly ready to pick up the phone.

The fourth thing is to plan some questions to ask the supplier when you engage them on the phone. You need to write down a list of information you want to obtain, and then create the questions to help you uncover the information.

The final step is to keep a record of all the objections that will inevitably arise when making calls. Write them down word for word, and then you can go away and get the right answers for them.

You need to understand the benefits of your product to the suppliers you will be contacting. I call this the ‘WIIFME’ statement What’s In It For Me? To help you on your way, why not create a LinkedIn profile for your new business and join ‘Sales Doctor Q&A group’ - which is free - and post every objection and challenge you face. We’ll endeavour to answer them within 12 hours. This is a free resource and will be invaluable, especially as sales is new to you.

You will tend to hear the same objections repeated, and will build up the knowledge of how to handle them.

Contact: www.wedosalestraining.com

NEED A DIAGNOSIS? Send your sales problems to the editor, marked ’FAO the sales doctor’: editor@talk businessmagazine.co.uk

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24/02/2015 16:04

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23/02/2015 11:30

ADVICE

Atech Support provides five good reasons why you should consider outsourcing your IT department

Putting it out there

E

very business needs some level of IT support. A crucial choice you must make as the leader of your company, is whether or not to outsource your IT department to a managed service provider (MSP). Before you disregard or discard outsourcing, take a look at the numerous potential benefits:

1 GAIN ACCESS TO A WIDER RANGE OF EXPERTISE Outsourcing allows you to create an IT department embodying experts in every area.

Whether you work with a single outsourcing company, or contract with multiple companies for various systems, you’ll find a wider range of expertise to provide a more well-rounded technical support

package for your company.

Normally, the IT supplier will assign engineers that are best suited to your business’ requirements. You might need a qualified Cisco engineer to cater to your networking infrastructure needs, along with a VoIP certified technician to look after your telecommunications, not to mention someone to cater for the desktop needs of endusers. This would require multilevelled line engineers, trained to deal with all of the day-to-day IT desktop queries.

It is impossible to find an in-house IT engineer that has this entire range of experience, along with certifications, with significant business experience.

An IT team outside your business will have hired engineers from many different business sectors.

Between them, they will have

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experienced many different systems and seen all of the issues under the sun, written a book on them, and got the T-shirt!

2 REDUCE THE RISK OF IMPLEMENTING OUTDATED TECHNOLOGIES Managed service providers are in the business of IT. It’s their job to stay up to date on the latest technologies.

Their reputation depends on understanding how to make systems perform better, and stay secure.

An in-house IT department may not always know about the latest advances, and might leave your business performing at sub-par levels.

Outsourcing creates a more dynamic technology infrastructure for optimal performance.

Someone within your team handling your IT may lack the ability to track emerging trends in the IT industry. If they’re with you day in, day out, there will be no way they can follow what is happening in the world of IT.

salaries, equipment, training, and more, which could amount to thousands yearly.

An external IT team will have all of this covered, giving you a chance to focus on what you do best; business.

The bigger topic here is efficiency.

When choosing to outsource, you have the huge benefit of a permanent employee that will never be sick, never take a holiday, and can cater to multiple people simultaneously - this is a dream for most business owners.

4 PROVIDE SUPPORT TO MULTIPLE LOCATIONS AND MOBILE EASILY Outsourcing allows you to provide support to any location easily, including mobile device management services. Many IT support firms have technicians located around the world for your convenience.

You might have some employees travelling often, such as your sales team. Only an outsourced team can assist everyone inside the office, in conjunction with the employees who are on the move.

An IT team outside your business will have hired engineers from many different business sectors. Between them, they’ll have seen all the issues under the sun, written a book on them, and got the T-shirt!

Therefore, you run a huge risk of possibly implementing the wrong solution for your business.

A company that provides managed services should have the industry knowledge needed to deploy only the latest and greatest in technologies for your business. On top of this, they will be deploying it to multiple clients, having tested the system on a huge variety of networks before even thinking of taking it anywhere near your network.

3 REDUCE OPERATING COSTS One of the most obvious benefits is cost. Hiring in-house employees equals regular, and possibly overtime, pay, vacation time, insurance, and any other benefits you choose to offer.

Outsourcing will save you money on

If you own a business with various offices in the UK and/or abroad, it’s easier to allow an outsourced team to handle the workload, instead of hiring an individual based at each office.

5 REDUCE OVERALL TECH DOWNTIME WITH 24/7 SUPPORT Getting quick support when your IT team goes home for the day is often difficult. Every minute a server or network is offline is lost revenue or business potential.

Outsourcing gives you access to 24/7 IT support, should you decide to partner with a firm that has technicians available 24/7 for both on, and off site support.

The result is faster support with less overall downtime due to

inevitable tech problems, such as computer crashes and software glitches. On top of that, managed service providers tend to partner with Network operations centres.

These centres provide round-theclock network monitoring to spot potential issues with your systems before they even happen - great for added piece of mind!

These are just a few of the benefits to outsourcing.

Before making a decision, you should carefully audit the cost effectiveness, and overall support needs for your business, to visualise if outsourcing your IT is the right option for you.

Contact: www.atechsupport.com

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17/12/2014 17:33

ADVICE

Legally speaking Each month an expert from solicitor, Wright Hassall, takes a look at a different dilemma for small businesses from a legal perspective. This month, Rhys Jarman, examines what you can do if you think a competitor has copied your designs

Q A

I think one of my competitors has copied my product design. Is there anything I can do to stop them from selling this product?

I can already hear you shout: “Nothing!” You may also be saying: “And, even if I could, it would be too costly and time consuming for me anyway”.

Well, then this answer may be a pleasant surprise to you.

There are design laws in both the UK and the EU, which should be able to help you. In general terms, if the overall appearance of your product is different from designs that have gone before then the look of your product will automatically be protected by law.

Perhaps, surprisingly, if you’re in a business which is not focussed on intellectual property, there is no need to register your design with any organisation. You also don’t need to mark the design of your product in any particular way. The protection arises without you having to do so, and will last for either three or ten years.

The good news does not end there. For a long time, the costs and time associated with bringing a claim through the courts have frustrated many smaller businesses, with the result that strong claims are not pursued.

This has now been recognised and a specialist Intellectual Property

Court in London has been revamped to cater for the needs of SMEs. The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court has rules to keep the cost and time of the process to a minimum, and to enable business owners to budget sensibly for the cost and time involved. As a result, claims have been brought successfully and commercially, when the losses to the businesses concerned have been significantly less than £10,000.

Often the biggest prize, however, remains your ability to prevent your competitor from carrying on using the design.

Here are some further tips for you to consider: • Keep copies of your design drawings, and date them as you go. These will be very useful if you need to protect the look of your product.

• Be very careful about making an allegation before taking advice. If you make an allegation, which is proven to be wrong, then your competitor may have a claim against you.

• Do take advice from a specialist solicitor as soon as

“

Be very careful about making an allegation before taking advice. If you make an allegation, which is proven to be wrong, then your competitor may have a claim against you

”

possible; intellectual property protection and enforcement remains a complex area, and it’ll pay in the long run.

• If you believe a design has particular value to you, then speak to an IP professional about registering that design.

By doing so, you could get longer and more focussed protection - it’s not as expensive as you may think!

• If your competitor has copied the way your product(s) works, the look of your website, or your name or branding, then other areas of intellectual property law may be able to help you too.

Contact: www.wrighthassall.co.uk Got a question you want answered by the legal team? Email editor@ talkbusinessmagazine. co.uk with the subject line “Legally speaking”

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24/02/2015 16:06

‘ Mobile e-commerce is growing at three times the rate of computerbased purchase’* ... is your business ready?

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We are specialists in responsive e-commerce website design Call us to today on 020 7351 4083 www.richardpchapman.com

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16:36 24/02/2015 14:49

ADVICE

Accolades without the escapades The allure of awards is obvious. But don’t get carried away - there’s a judge to convince before you carry off the trophy, says Jan Dekker from The Writer

E

veryone loves an award, and it’s easy to see why.

It’s a handy shortcut to prestige. It’s a dollop of long-lasting, clientimpressing, staff-motivating publicity. And just occasionally, it’s free to enter (if not to go to the slapup dinner). What’s not to like?

Just one snag. Between you and glory stands a judge - perhaps a whole panel of them. So before you start hammering that keyboard, and clearing shelf space for the trophy, remember a cardinal rule of business writing: think of your reader.

The only dead cert here is that your reader is a captive audience.

They’ve got to read your entry.

But they haven’t got to like it, be impressed by it, or get excited about it.

Fresh from a stint of awards judging myself, I can exclusively reveal the main things to remember about the people deciding your fate:

THEY’RE INNATELY SCEPTICAL

Give them evidence, not adjectives.

Instead of talking about ‘exemplary client service’, ‘world leading solutions’ and ‘unrivalled expertise’, give the judge reasons to draw that conclusion for themselves. Say what makes the service exemplary instead of asking the judge to take your word for it. In other words: show, don’t tell.

THEY LOVE A STORY

We all do. It’s part of our DNA. We’re also more likely to accept, and respond well, to information when it’s packaged as a story, so tell them one. Give it some suspense - a challenge overcome, a problem solved. Make it easy to imagine; instead of ‘e-commerce facilitation’, try ‘helping people shop from their living room’ - and don’t forget to include the impact you’ve made.

THEY’RE HUMAN BEINGS

You’re in business, your judge probably is too, but you’ll stand out from the rest if you tone down the business speak. Use the sort of language you would if you were talking to them face to face. It helps you make a connection with the judge. They’ll be silently thanking you for making their job easier, and that makes them a lot more likely to nudge you into the ‘shortlist’ pile.

Contact: www.thewriter.com

THEY WANT AN EASY LIFE

Making your entry easy to read will rack up brownie points. So break up the 50-word sentences and hit the return key a few more times.

Make the information easy to scan at a glance, with subheadings and bullet points, and be careful about jargon; your judge may be an expert in cloud-based analytics, but don’t bank on it.

THEY’RE SHORT OF TIME

Awards judges’ diaries are probably as packed as yours. They’ll be squeezing the job into evenings, weekends, and commutes. So grab them by the lapels from the off.

Put the most important things at the start; don’t build up to them, or tuck them away in supporting documents. And if the section of the form you’re filling in says ‘350 words’, don’t write 600.

Before you start hammering that keyboard and clearing shelf space for the trophy, remember a cardinal rule of business writing: think of your reader talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 135

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ADVICE

End the dismay this May Simply Business’ Hugo Topping asks whether Westminster is really working hard enough for the smallest businesses, ahead of the General Election in May

A

landmark study from Simply Business suggests that current policy isn’t up to scratch, and that our smallest businesses aren’t being catered for.

In late 2014, we put a set of questions to our customers, asking them for their views on the current state of play for British micro-businesses and sole traders. With around 2,000 responses in hand, we launched a landmark report - Simply Britain: Backing Business - providing challenging but vital insight into the (often misinterpreted) views and needs of the UK’s microbusiness community.

So what did we ask? We asked what the biggest challenges are; whether recent Government policy changes had helped, or had any affect; and what their hopes and outlook were for the next few years.

We wanted to discover the day-to-day realities of running a small business, and to see if the Government had been successful in supporting and championing entrepreneurialism. After all, it’s sole traders and microbusinesses that account for 95% of the UK’s 4.9 million small

business population.

THE REALITIES The results were remarkable - NEED RECOGNISING here’s what they told us: Instead, our research suggested that sole traders and microWESTMINSTER businesses are more concerned WON’T LISTEN about day-to-day realities of According to our research, self-employment. Petrol costs a staggering 50% of sole ranked first amongst our traders and micro-businesses customers’ priorities, with believe that no political business rates and tax, red tape, party understands their and utility costs rounding out needs, suggesting a serious the top four. disconnect between our These concerns are a mere smallest businesses and the few of many, with much more biggest parties. 56%, suggested outlined in the Simply Business: that both local and general Backing Britain report itself.

Government are out of touch The message we received loud with their requirements. Based and clear, was that all parties on 2,000 responses - from must do more. bakers to personal trainers Debbie Grant, a self-employed these are worrying findings that food producer, currently based can’t be taken lightly. in Buckinghamshire, told us of the troubles she faced in taking POLICIES AREN’T on her first employee.

FIT FOR PURPOSE “All the regulations about Many Government headline leave and sickness puts me off policy announcements made taking that leap,” she explained. no difference to these firms Elsewhere, Andy and Angela or individuals, with at least Walsh, owners of The Coffee 50% suggesting that every area Kitchen in Cumbria, suggested of recent policy change had that “Many policies which favour no impact on their business. big business can have a negative Elsewhere, some 80% suggested impact on small businesses”. In that changes to export rules their case, local Government made no difference to them, decisions had impacted on their despite the fact this was one cashflow, with recent works of the Government’s bestto their main street seeing publicised schemes. local businesses lose around

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24/02/2015 16:09

ADVICE

A staggering 50% of sole traders and micro-businesses believe that no political party understands their needs, suggesting a serious disconnect between our smallest businesses and the biggest parties

£4 million in takings - a quite outrageous amount!

Small businesses and startups don’t appear to be getting the support they need, and we see this as deeply worrying, given their economic value.

So for the upcoming election, we’ve made five recommendations aimed at every party and politician.

Based on our findings, here’s what we think is vital for the success of the UK’s smallest businesses:

1

The establishment of a Minister for micro-business

2

A reduction in the small profits rate of corporation tax

3

A further increase in the rate of mileage tax relief

4

The extension and

enhancement of the Government-backed

Growth Voucher programme

5

Further funding for, and clearer signposting of, local authority business support

At the tail end of last year, we saw some positive steps taken in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement; the doubling of rate relief, and increased investment spelling nothing but good news for many businesses. But Westminster can still do more to help Britain’s smallest businesses.

99% of the UK’s business community is made up of micro-businesses and SMEs which, if backed correctly, could build a more resilient economy.

Yet it’s clear that many existing and aspiring entrepreneurs still aren’t getting the support they need. Our customers aren’t the only ones saying this after all we’re continually seeing similar claims being made by the likes of the FSB. The antidote is easy increased engagement, and more tailored policies - and the party that gets it right could see the support of a revitalised small business community.

With election season drawing ever closer, let’s hope our political parties are taking heed.

With the right support, there’s no limit to what our small businesses can achieve.

GET YOUR SIMPLY BRITAIN: BACKING BUSINESS REPORT For a quick, free download of the report, go to www.simplybusiness.co.uk/ simplybritain/

99% of the UK’s business community is made up of microbusinesses and SMEs which, if backed correctly, could build a more resilient economy. Yet it’s clear that many entrepreneurs still aren’t getting the support they need

Contact: www.simplybusiness.co.uk

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23/02/2015 10:57

ADVICE

Come fly with me Jonathan Gordon, MD of Atlantic Bridge Aviation Group (ABA), examines the executive air travel options available to corporate travellers

G

one are the days when meeting your corporate aviation needs was a simple choice between owning your own aircraft or chartering one. Now there are a multitude of options, ranging from leasing and chartering, to shared or full ownership and management. So how do you determine which is best suited to your business?

There’s little doubt that flying in an executive aircraft has major benefits for today’s busy executives. You can work to your own schedule, fly in and out of smaller airports, and save a lot of precious time There can be little doubt that flying in an executive aircraft has major benefits for today’s busy executives. It offers you the flexibility to work to your own schedule, enables you to fly in and out of smaller airports,

which may be much closer to where you need to be and, perhaps most important of all, it can save a lot of precious time.

Using an executive aircraft can also be extremely cost-effective if you go for the right package - but given the multitude of choices, it’s not surprising that there’s a lot of confusion about what’s best for your business or personal transport.

If your time is worth money, or you’re wealthy enough to value your time, use of an executive aircraft may work for you. The question then is which method works best?

There are four main options to choose from: • Ad-hoc on-demand charter • Block-hours purchase • Fractional ownership • Full ownership If you’re looking for the option with the least commitment, then ad-hoc on-demand charter is the way to go, since there’s no need to purchase or maintain an aircraft, or enter into a longterm contract.

It gives you the freedom to choose the aircraft that suits your trip, but it’s by far the most

expensive way of chartering, so it’s best suited to clients who only have occasional travel needs.

If you still favour charter services, but you know you have a minimum number of hours to fly in a year, then block-hours purchase is a better option. It’s cheaper than on-demand charter but still offers all the benefits of using an executive aircraft.

It basically does what it says on the tin - you pay for blocks of hours in advance, and there’s usually a minimum number of hours you have to purchase.

The block-hour fee covers all aircraft and crew costs, and is measured from engine start to engine stop. You’ll need to pay external costs, such as landing and handling fees, in addition.

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ADVICE

Many clients utilise their aircraft for ondemand charter to third parties. This supplies revenue to you as the owner, and provides a legitimate commercial relationship, which can offset ownership costs

Block-hours purchase gives you the freedom to specify what type of aircraft you want from the start, and there are often other benefits, which you wouldn’t enjoy with on-demand charter. Our clients, for example, can offer their friends and colleagues a sub-charter at preferential rates, and earn commission towards their flying.

We often recommend blockhours purchase as a good starting point for those who want to eventually move on to fractional, or even full ownership.

Most successful businesses depend on efficient travel for their executives and senior management, which is why many have turned to owning and operating their own aircraft as an alternative to using commercial airlines. Sometimes however, businesses feel they are too small to justify sole ownership of an aircraft, and hesitate to commit the additional resources needed to manage them.

If you’re put off by the cost and organisational hurdles of owning and operating your own aircraft, you should consider fractional ownership, especially if you fly on a regular basis and want the many benefits of ownership, without all the capital outlay.

The cost varies depending on the type of programme you go for and which operator you choose.

Our Air Share programme, for example, offers a low-cost entrylevel option of a Piper PA-31 Chieftain, which enables clients to own a one-eighth share in an executive aircraft for less than £30,000, while still having the flexibility to use other aircraft types in our fleet at preferential rates. This low-cost entry level means you can ‘test the water’ without any significant exposure.

The ultimate option, for those who can afford the capital outlay of course, is total ownership and management.

Total ownership is obviously the most expensive option in terms of capital outlay, but as your annual demand grows to around 200-250 flight hours, it becomes economically viable.

Best of all, there are no limitations - you can choose the optimum aircraft to suit your regular mission profile, and decide on colour, logo, interior layout, and amenities. When you plan your

trips, you have your aircraft at your call and available at short notice.

You can change plans, leave luggage on board, and use the aircraft to pick up friends and colleagues.

Once you have purchased your own aircraft, ‘the more you fly, the cheaper it is’ really is true.

What’s more, depending on the management package, it offers many financial and tax benefits.

Placing your aircraft under management gives you several major advantages: you don’t have to worry about the time consuming administrative burden; the aircraft is maintained and operated to the highest industry standards; aircrew are fully trained to the highest airline standards and are a financial burden on the management company, not you; and the cost of ownership can be significantly offset through thirdparty income.

Of course you might want your aircraft to be yours alone with no other people travelling in it, but many clients ask their management company to utilise their aircraft for on-demand charter to third parties. This supplies revenue to you as the owner, and provides a legitimate commercial relationship, which can maximise tax benefits as well as offset ownership costs.

At the end of the day, whatever option you go for, the formula needs to be right for you. The most important thing is to get objective and honest advice right at the outset, so that you end up with a made-to-measure solution that suits all your travel expectations.

Contact: www.aba.aero

140 March 2015

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24/02/2015 16:12

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23/02/2015 12:12 17:11 26/01/2015

ADVICE

Here at Business Hands, we believe that high quality marketing services should not just be the preserve of larger organisations with big budgets.

We’re committed to working exclusively with small and mid-sized organisations, providing affordable, fixed price, monthly packages to help your business raise its game and stay ahead of the competition.

T: 0208 458 4788 E: info@businesshands.co.uk

Clothes2order.com is a leading online supplier of printed and embroidered clothing offering quality, flexibility and speed since 2002 T: 08456 522 655 W: www.clothes2order.com

M2 Computing provide reliable, flexible managed IT support and consultancy across London and the South East.

T: 01293 871971 E: enquiries@m2computing.co.uk W: www.m2computing.co.uk

Building Fabulous Business Relationships Learn techniques to develop meaningful partnerships with your clients Book now at http://www.businesshelpforyou.co.uk/ fabulouslifeladder.php T: 020 7863 7977 E: support@businesshelpforyou.co.uk W: www.businesshelpforyou.co.uk

Each Belvoir office will provide you with a professional lettings and property management service that embraces our core principles of quality service and customer care.

T: 01476 570000 E: franchising@belvoirlettings.com W: www.belvoirlettings.com

Solicitors for you, your business and your family with our offices on Fleet Street plus locations around Essex. Working with an innovative, flexible approach, we always put your business first.

T: 0845 543 5700 E: Info@fjg.co.uk W: www.fjg.co.uk

Need more sales? Through expertly managed Pay per Click and digital marketing services we capture demand and drive profitable growth. We’re a trusted Google Partner with a pedigree for success.

T: 0333 344 7771 E: action@midasclick.co.uk W: www.midasclick.co.uk

We work with ambitious businesses to help build revenues, slash costs, improve margins, and deliver compelling customer experiences – by implementing innovative CRM solutions on the world’s leading cloud platform: Salesforce.com.

T: 0207 608 5671 E: team@hyphen8.com W: www.hyphen8.com

Direct Numbers are specialists in providing quality numbers and virtual call handling services to businesses of all sizes in the UK. Our numbers and services are all hosted in the cloud so this means no expensive in-house kit is needed. You can access all our cloud services by using our online management tool to give you full access to your numbers, services and call stats.

T: 08000 755 755 M: 0330 333 8755 W: www.directnumbers.co.uk

Enghouse Interactive develops and supplies the widest range of customer contact solutions on the market. Through our extensive network of reseller partners, we are helping thousands of organisations of all sizes, industries and complexity across the world to improve their service, productivity and operational efficiency.

T: 0118 943 9200 W: www.enghouseinteractive.co.uk

FranchiseSales.com is a directory of over 1,000 franchises, containing everything need to get into business through investing in a franchise.

W: www.franchisesales.com

A leader in innovation, esl works with many of the best known UK companies, providing more than just a payroll service.

Our expertise is in understanding our clients’ objectives and providing sustainable processes through our Payroll and HR solutions.

T: 01628 526304 E: marketing@employerservices.co.uk W: www.employerservices.co.uk

142 March 2015

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ADVICE

We offer the full spectrum of creative services from design and artwork, web design and build through to reproduction and photography to get your campaign live.

Whether it’s a standalone project – initial concept » design through to finished media, overflow of current work or part of a bigger campaign, we are happy to jump » creative concepts in anywhere in the process to help you get the most of your spend, time andproduction within budget. » on artwork T: 020 3328 5777 » repro W: www.purewhitecreative.com

Are you tired of working for someone else?

If so, then why not consider running your own accountancy practice with our Award Winning franchise, which will give you brand credibility from day one, mixed with professional training and full support. We are looking for individuals who can develop and grow their business and become part of our successful network T: 0800 0188 297 W: www.taxassistfranchise.co.uk

With some 50 Centre Owners Kall Kwik is the UK’s leading business print and design franchise and has been delivering business services on the high street since 1979. Now through the introduction of a new high street concept with multiple income streams we are looking to double the estate over the next few years.

T: 01530 513300 E: edownes@kallkwik.co.uk W: www.kallkwik.co.uk

» retouching

ecreative.com 8 5777

» print management » website design and build

T:

» tv / video production

Steak ’n Shake - a classic American brand serving steakburgers,»hand-cut & hand-dipped milkdigital fries media production shakes are actively looking for franchise partners to be part of our successful UK expansion programme.

A minimum of circa £240K (liquid capital) is required to own and operate your first Steak ’n Shake outlet in the UK and Eire, with a view to opening more.

We offer: • Brand strength and longevity • Superb systems and support • Striking, yet flexible, new outlet designs...and more W: www.www.steaknshakefranchise.eu E: UKFranchise@steaknshake.mc

Basepoint has 30 centres offering high quality workspaces with flexible terms, meeting rooms, virtual office space, free membership and more.

T: 01753 853515 E: hq@basepoint.co.uk W: www.basepoint.co.uk f: facebook.com/basepointbusinesscentres t: twitter.com/@Basepoint_Cntrs

Through working in partnership with you, and by understanding your business and providing bespoke support, we add value and provide commercial HR solutions that contribute to your bottom-line.

T: 07973 958149 or 01604 688757 W: www.hrbespokesolutions.co.uk E: phil@hrbespokesolutions.co.uk

VMhosts VMware Cloud Iaas Platform.

Multiple UK based Data Centre locations powered by Flexiant T: 020 3397 1233 W: www.vmhosts.co.uk

In business since 1979 supplying branded merchandise to businesses.

Our 50 franchisees provide everything from personalised badges to signage; Staff awards to business gifts and promotional products to a wide range of leisure clothing and work wear.

T: 01530 513300 E: edownes@recognition-express.com W: www.recognition-express.com

Become a part of a company that has helped over 171,200 people succeed – while you earn profits for yourself and your children. We worked tirelessly to figure out a way to give business owners who were interested in making a difference in the lives of children and their families a means to do just that, without actually being a tutor themselves. Find out more: W: www.tutordoctoropportunity.com/UK T: 0208 144 5678

ComputerXplorers is the leading provider of quality technology education for children from the ages of 3 to 13.The clubs and classes we deliver are engaging, educational and fun, and are run in a variety of settings, such as after school clubs, pre-school and nurseries, summer camps and in-curriculum time classes.

T: 01530 513300 E: edownes@recognition-express.com W: www. computerxplorers.co.uk

i2 Office provide serviced offices, virtual offices, meeting rooms and business lounges with the latest technology and the highest quality fit-out in Grade A buildings across the UK. T: 0203 440 5000 W: www.i2office.co.uk

The ZipYard is the UK’s most successful and fastest growing garment alteration franchise in the UK. Established in Ireland since 2005 ZipYard Centres are now springing up on High Streets across the UK. T: 01530 513300 E: edownes@recognition-express.com W: www.thezipyard.com

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25/02/2015 11:19

OPINION

HOT TOPICS Q

Is it time to end the restrictive Sunday Trading laws (these are the laws that prevent UK stores from trading for more than six hours on Sunday)?

THE NUMBERS GAME HERE’S WHAT THE REST OF YOU THOUGHT:

YES

100%

NO

0%

Each month we ask a selection of business leaders for their views on an aspect of business. This month, we’re discussing shop opening hours

PETER O’TOOLE, CEO, Retail Merchandising Services (RMS) Sunday Trading laws are outdated. Established when we were a mostly Christian country, Sunday trading hours encouraged a ‘day of rest’, but there are more people in stores than in churches now. Times have changed. Instead of a day of rest, Sundays are now the day to get things done. Few of us work a 9-5, five-day week any more, and our trading laws need to reflect that.

We’re working longer hours during the week, so weekends become the only time we have available to shop.

CAROLINE HEDLEY, solicitor, Cripps Yes I think they should be looked at. My reason is based on consistency and logic. Why should a customer be able to order from an online shop and get this delivered at home at 9am on a Sunday, but have to wait until 10am or 11am to buy those same goods in the shop? Allowing shops to open for six hours means they’re effectively open for most of the trading day anyway. ‘Browsing’ time extends this still further and, to my mind, there’s no logic to allowing ‘browsing’ but making customers wait for the store to be able to accept payments before completing their shop.

TROY TAPPENDEN, MD, Dream Doors Sunday Trading laws are out of sync with both business owners and consumers. That’s no surprise, given they haven’t been properly addressed for more than 20 years. If a shop wants to open for longer on a Sunday, why on earth shouldn’t they be allowed to? Consumers have demonstrated a desire to shop at times that are most convenient for them, and for many this means on a Sunday. We have just opened our 50th showroom, and each one of our franchisees would at least want the option of being allowed to trade without restrictions on a Sunday, should they so wish.

Kim Reason, sales and marketing manager, Anno Distillers In the past, Sunday was seen as a family day, but this is no longer the case. You only need to stand in a shop to realise that trading on Sundays is big business. With the high street struggling to keep up with booming 24/7 internet sales, surely it’s nonsensical not to give them every chance to make all the sales they can. The 30-minute browsing period in shops also shows customers want to shop earlier on a Sunday, so why should we allow the minority to dictate what the masses want?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS ON TWITTER @TALKBUSINESSMAG *Talk Business magazine and its staff are in no way linked to, condone, or agree with, any opinions expressed in this article.

Opinions are solely those of the named individuals.

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OPINION

He said / she said This month the entrepreneurs are tweeting about hi-fives, hi-tech, and have-nots.

Opinions (and spelling mistakes) are all their own Richard Branson @Richardbranson High-fives spread about half as many germs as handshakes – fist-bumps are even more hygienic http://virg.in/hi5

Piers Linney @Pierslinney This morning I asked 60 @gmchamber members if their ICT suppliers had explained the power and benefits of cloud & 2 said yes! #travesty

The Virgin Galactic entrepreneur takes a moment to examine the smaller things in life. As long as you’re not licking your hands after you greet someone, you should be okay though, right Richard?

Dragon’s Den expert, Piers Linney can’t quite believe how many are uninformed about the benefits of cloud services. Read his latest views and advice on page 101.

Tessa Jowell @Jowellt

Mark Pearson @markpearson

London most unequal city in West richest 10th have average wealth 273x lowest 10th. Crisis of two Londons The Labour MP and potential London Mayoral candidate in 2016 highlights the growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots in our capital city. But what does she plan to do about it?

Deborah Meaden @DeborahMeaden Interesting how we all see Biz from different angles.

Piers sees this as a software Biz I see retail #dragonsden Deborah and Piers Linney disagree on a business in the Den, showing that even the experts sometimes don’t agree, and you should never give up because of one opinion.

Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.

Myvouchercodes.co.uk founder, Mark knows a little something about tough times.

Wise words for every budding entrepreneur!

Ed Miliband @Ed_Miliband Many fathers want to play a hands-on role in childcare in the first crucial weeks of a child’s life. This will help.

With the election just months away, the Labour leader wades in with a promise to double paternity leave - a contentious issue for fathers and business owners alike.

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