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The 2012 Olympics - opportunity or threat to small businesses?
February 01, 2012
Recently, I read that 55 per cent of small-business owners in London do not think the Olympics will pose any disruption to their sales or operations. Only 14 per cent were concerned about transport issues and less than one in 10 business owners were worried about staff availability (according to research carried out for Deloitte).
This prompted me to investigate whether they are right not to be concerned, or whether contingency planning is advisable, by weighing up the opportunities and threats that the games may pose.
Opportunities
- 11 million spectators are expected to flock to Olympic and Paralympic events in the city, generating a huge source of potential customers and spending, particularly for the tourist, leisure and catering industries.
- 500,000 visitors are expected to arrive from abroad, creating an opportunity for small businesses to raise their profile among a brand new pool of customers and potentially unlock the door to a global market.
- The Olympics are expected to create a positive mood among consumers, driving them to spend more, which would open up a wealth of opportunities for innovative small businesses to increase their revenues.
Threats
- An additional three million journeys are forecast to take place in London over the seven-week games period, putting pressure on the tube and bus network and potentially making access difficult for small business staff and supply/distribution networks.
- Diversions, traffic and parking restrictions may also hinder accessibility to small business premises.
- Should the Olympic Games not run smoothly or generate negative publicity, small business revenue could drop (as in the case of the 2004 Greece games).
Overall, the opportunities and threats are roughly balanced, but they will vary from business to business. Therefore, to tip the scales towards ‘Opportunity’, I would advise each business to assess the risks in advance and devise a management plan, based on their location in relation to event venues and individual operational dependencies. Putting aside time now to prepare will minimise the threats and increase the chances to successfully reap the many rewards that will be available.
John Davis, managing director of Business Centric Services Group
Three no-cost ways to generate more profit
January 30, 2012
As a business-owner, keeping your head above water during tough economic times involves cutting costs. Unfortunately, for many businesses, the first thing that goes is the marketing budget – just at a time when they need to attract as much business as possible.
Businesses might not be able to afford to outsource their marketing, so it’s even more important that business owners learn how to generate as many leads as possible – and start adding money to their bottom line – without it costing a fortune.
That’s where the three no-cost ways to generate more profit and make selling easier can help businesses flourish – even during tough economic conditions.
1 Set up a referral system
This is where another business continually refers clients to you. Sometimes they are incentivised (ie you pay them for each referral) but the best ones are where you provide a solution for a problem they had that saves them time or money. This sounds great, but how do you convince someone to send their customers your way? The best way is to make an introductory offer so they can trial your products or services. Then once they have seen how great it is, they will happily refer customers to you. Using this system enabled my business to generate more than £30,000 from one phone call.
2 Conduct strategic ventures
A strategic venture is where you and another business agree to send an email out to your database to promote the other. This is usually a one-off and you should think very carefully about what you want to achieve. The offer you give to your strategic venture partner should be enticing enough that you get people taking action and ultimately adding profit to your business.
For both the above systems to work properly you must approach businesses who already sell to lots of your potential customers and then think about how you can solve their problems.
3 Offer a full money-back guarantee
You would probably already do this if you had an unhappy customer, so why not advertise the fact and reverse the buying risk for your customers? It will also make selling far easier. Imagine you were trying to give up smoking and were considering using a hypnotherapist. If they promised you they could help you quit and if it didn’t work within two sessions you didn’t have to pay anything – it would be a no-brainer.
Katie Boost is a business author and runs seminars for small businesses
Business success: your 2012 calendar launched
January 27, 2012
Surrounded by the brightest and best of the UK’s entrepreneurs, business minister Mark Prisk MP launched rather a useful tool for the UK’s small businesses at BIS HQ this week – a definitive calendar of events to help small business throughout Britain for every month in 2012.
Targeted at pre start ups as well as established and new businesses, the calendar marks the first time all Britain’s best business events feature on the same site in a searchable format. There are 600-plus events listed already – and Mark Prisk is aiming to get 1,000 online in the near future. He said:
“We want 2012 to be the year of enterprise, where entrepreneurs can unlock their business potential. Enterprise events don’t just take place on one day, or during one week, but they appear throughout the year and across the country.
“We need to make sure people know that there is support and advice available, that it is easy to get, and it is often on their doorstep.”
With shows, talks, workshops, schemes and local networking events listed, the calendar does just that. And the country’s diverse business support organisations – ranging from teachers who inspire primary school children to mentors of hi-tech start ups - are showcasing their event offers on the site too. Rajeeb Dey, one of the founders of the Government’s StartUp Britain campaign, said:
“The Enterprise Calendar is about helping businesses go for it. It will shine a spotlight on the broad range of plentiful resources that exist for people wanting to start or grow a business in 2012.”
The most up-to-date version of the calendar is online to search or download – and even upload your own event. Many events are free, so the calendar could well become an invaluable tool for you – and at the very least should benefit you with a couple of days of advice, inspiration and a range of handy new contacts.
Do start-ups need accounting software?
January 26, 2012
There is an ever growing number of accounting software packages available to suit businesses of any size and many that are particularly suitable for small business accounting. Making accounting easy is crucial for those running their own business, at whatever stage of development. However, should you choose to purchase accounting software from the start or is it a cost that can wait?
Generally, it’s advisable to have an accounting system in place when you start running your business. Free advice is available online from Business Link (and other sources) and it’s a good idea to make the most of such resources. Additionally, I believe it’s important to employ an accountant, if only for advice, in the early days. As your business grows, using the right system for you and taking further advice is crucial.
Basic accounting systems
For the smallest of businesses a basic Excel spread-sheet is likely to be an adequate way to record your costs and income. You’ll need to know what costs can be included in this and if you are unsure, take professional advice. Setting up a spread-sheet that contains functions to calculate figures on an on-going basis will make the process simpler. If you don’t know how to do this, find someone who does. In addition to keeping the spread-sheet up to date you’ll need to create your own invoices, a Word document set up as a template is a simple way to do this. Keeping your own accounts in this way is certainly cost-effective, but is also probably the most time-consuming.
Accounting software
This usually comes in two types – desktop accounting software or online accounting software. Desktop packages come in the form of a CD or download that you install onto your computer. If your accounts are simple, a basic software package should be sufficient, although consider which features you will need in the future. Payroll and VAT functions may not be relevant now, but check to be sure that the package you buy can be updated with different elements as your business grows. Online accounting software is considered by many to offer more flexibility than desktop software. Accessing your accounting system via a web browser, your records and data are stored securely, which can combat any loss by theft of computer crashes, and can be accessed wherever you are or whenever you like.
Benefits of good financial record keeping
Accurate record keeping is essential when it comes to small business accounting. It’s also a legal requirement (you can be fined if you fail to keep truthful and accurate financial records).
Certainly even for the smallest business, online accounting software packages can help to ensure that records are available when needed. Accounting software of both varieties will also help you to prepare simple and professional accounts for your accountant, saving them time – while saving you money. Professionally prepared accounts, invoices and reports are also well received by banks and other potential sources of funding.
Start-ups and small businesses need to ensure the records they keep are accurate and up-to-date. They also need to give serious thought to the systems they will use as part of their business planning. Preparation and accuracy in the early stages of planning and running your business will pay dividends in the future and may well be the two most important tools that will help you to establish your business.
Neil Goddard blogs on accounting and small business matters for accounting software provider Intuit.
See the Tax Donut for more information on business finance
Is Richard Branson a typical entrepreneur?
January 16, 2012
The London launch of Sir Richard Branson's new book Screw Business As Usual was a very jolly affair. The man himself said all the right things and was ably supported by Jean Oelwang CEO of Virgin Unite, the not-for-profit foundation of the Virgin Group.
The audience included several notable social entrepreneurs, including John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue, whose scene-stealing cameo made my job of running the question and answer session very easy indeed.
The room was also packed with the world's press and media, but I was concerned that some might take a negative view of the proceedings. This was aptly demonstrated by Lucy Kellaway's review of Sir Richard's book in the FT. Her view was that Branson is an attention-seeking egomaniac prone to shameless name-dropping, and the book was unstructured, even if Sir Richard's charisma was undeniable.
Kellaway does have a point. Many of the very successful entrepreneurs I have met and interviewed were prone to attention seeking, name-dropping and the generation of unstructured books. I also think Kellaway's review is unlikely to change anyone's opinion of Branson himself, the Virgin Group or social enterprise, the key premise of the book.
There can be no argument about the general benefits of all three; Branson is successful, the economy needs driven entrepreneurs and social enterprise is now a proven vehicle for running businesses that have an overall benefit to society.
My own take on Screw Business As Usual is that between the anecdotes and name-checking in the book, there are real-life examples of every flavour of social enterprise.
The book explains how companies such as Virgin Atlantic are reducing their carbon footprint and details charitable entities that are bringing people out of poverty, as well as highly successful and profitable businesses that are improving rather than destroying the social fabric of the world.
If you are inspired by Branson and aspire to be a social entrepreneur, you will find a model in his book that suits your purpose. If you cannot stand him, you will probably continue to avoid his various products and services. If you are an entrepreneur in high dudgeon about unsympathetic press coverage, you need to get over it.
Twenty years ago I launched spoof ‘60s rock star Mike Fab-Gere on an unsuspecting public. I was thrilled to secure a major profile in a national newspaper, but incandescent with rage when the journalist, who had nodded sympathetically at my every utterance during the interview, then wrote what I considered to be a negative piece. Their argument was that my belief in 'peace and love' as a viable strategy for a happy and successful life was unrealistic and naïve.
Everyone else who read the piece took a different view, pointing out the number of column inches and the size of my photograph. The article certainly had no adverse effect on my musical or entrepreneurial career over the next twenty years.
As someone who successfully entertains and informs her readers, Kellaway is entitled to her opinion about Screw Business as Usual. I have also resisted the temptation to track down my journalist from twenty years ago and point out the subsequent error of their ways.
As we said in our own book, entrepreneurs are often over-sensitive and prone to insecurities, which can lead to an obsession with appearing on television and a desire for revenge against those who they feel have crossed them.
But as we also pointed out, the best revenge is not "a dish served cold", but "a happy life", and everyone agrees that Sir Richard does seem to be having very good fun indeed.
Screw Business As Usual by Sir Richard Branson is published by Virgin Books.
Originally published in The Financial Times. Copyright ©Mike Southon 2012. All Rights Reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission in writing.
Mike Southon is the co-author of The Beermat Entrepreneur and a business speaker.
Lessons to take forward into 2012
January 12, 2012
I don’t think that I am alone in thinking 2011 was a difficult year. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it was flippin’ hard work. So what have I learned from my experience during 2011 that will benefit me in 2012?
1 Don’t trust Government pronouncements…
I seem to remember the Royal Wedding being declared as an event that would stimulate growth and now it is being blamed for a poor second quarter!
There are two more big occasions in 2012 – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. The first gives us another four-day-long weekend, which isn’t great for employers because we have to pay staff for another day off. However, I say smile and take it with good grace – and use the opportunity for a themed promotion or sale.
What benefit will the Olympics bring to small firms? It could be two weeks of utter misery as everyone watches the telly and I’ve already got people queuing up to book time-off for the games. Again, you can market yourself around an Olympic theme, make it work for you, start planning what you will sell, how you will go to market and use the opportunity to boost your sales. Don’t forget to also think ‘against the flow’ by trying to appeal to those who are fed up with the Olympics.
2 Recession, bankruptcy, Euro zone collapse, blah, blah, blah…
These seemed to be the overriding media stories at the end of 2011, and this sort of stuff can really get you down. You can’t ignore it because it is important and if one thing is for certain – 2012 will be even worse – according to our leaders.
Robert Peston and Faisal Islam will be looking lugubrious on the BBC and Channel 4 news respectively and making hefty pronouncements, but I say – don’t let the b******s grind you down. Life will continue and people will still buy stuff, so stay focused and keep working. You might need to move out of your comfort zone and think ‘out of the box’, but both can be good things for business owners?
3 Christmas is a time to relax…
I’m an absolute idiot and a disgrace to my profession. I run an online business and have always considered the Christmas shutdown to be just that. We have a skeleton staff on and do enough business to justify opening the warehouse. In 2011, it was pointed out to me that Boxing Day is the busiest online shopping day of the year. So we held a warehouse clearance sale over the holiday and increased our turnover by five times. In 2012, I am going to be really looking forward to the Christmas break and will definitely NOT allow just a skeleton staff to be on duty.
So there you go, three opportunities for the coming year. The bigger picture on the economy is that small business closures – although climbing – aren’t climbing exponentially. Interest rates are non-existent and likely to stay that way. The Government can’t really cut much more. In fact, the only thing it can really do is tinker at the margins and try to make life better for us wealth and job creators. We are constantly told that we are the backbone of the nation – let Government forget that at its peril!
John Sollars, MD of printer ink retailer Stinkyink.com
Read more of John's published posts on his Google+ page
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