Essential Advice for Business Startups (Audio)
CVP.s0103 Essential Business Startup Advice
Some essential advice for anyone staring a business or social enterprise
Starts with a quick mention of the recent Business Startup exhibition in Londons and the interviews to be played in the next broadcast with exhibitors and entrepreneurs including Levi Roots of dragons Den fame with his Reggae Reggae Sauce.
Also looks forward to the new series of Podcasting for Business events being launched next month (http://podcastingforbusiness.wordpress.com)
Essential business startup tips include?
Testing and Research
Developing the Business Plan, and
Hitting the Ground Running
Comments are invited at: http://consultantsview.co.uk
Gift Aid – Getting Something Back from the Taxman (Audio)
CVP.s0102 Gift Aid, Getting Something Back from the Taxman
Senior Consultant and member of the Institute of Fundraising, Amal Douglas of the Norfolk based DMC Consultancy looks at how new charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises can avoid the early pitfalls that are unfortunately all too commonplace within the third sector by giving his five point plan for getting new organisations fit for fundraising. Other issues to be tackled in the near future include, building an organisation’s corporate identity, self-employment issues, and charity and company registrations. Comments are invited at: http://consultantsview.co.uk
Fundraising Basics for New Enterprises (Audio)
Fundraising Basic for new Enterprises
DMC’s Senior Consultant, Amal Douglas delivers a 5 point plan explaining how UK based charities can get an extra 25-30% % on top of their income without asking donors for any more money, but first he gives us his views on why he thinks slavery is alive and kicking and that the tax collector is the new overseer. Also discussed briefly is the new audio tool on the DMC website (http://www.dmcconsultancy.co.uk) from www.evoca.com which allows browsers to record an audio message straight off the website.
The exclusive scoop of the day is that DMC Consultancy in association with Community Media will be launching their Introduction to Podcasting workshops within the next month.
Fundraising Events, Aren’t They Just Wonderful?
Imagine this. You organise some abasailing down the tallest building in your town or city (or village) as a charity stunt. The owners of the building not only give permission but cover the cost and encourage some of their own staff to take part. A good start.
You charge participants a big fee to take part and you insist that they also get additional sponsorship which you will help them with. It’s getting better but we’re not done yet.
You involve the press who run with the story weeks before the jump which gives you additional absailors (all paying to take part), more sponsorship options and so donations begin to flood in. Not only that but it ensures a crowd on the day who will also be asked to donate. The local radio interviews participants prior to the event who all explain their selfless reasons for wanting to absail down this building. More enquiries, more donations and the TV station hasn’t even showed up yet. Of course you ensure that all absailors will be given a certificate to be awarded at a fundraising auction or dinner to be held, coincidentally, one week after this event and which you unashamedly plug at every opportunity, making use of this extended press coverage
You ensure that all sponsorship forms are gift aid proofed meaning an extra 28p or so, for perhaps the majority of donations which you can claim from the government.
That’s what’s great about fundraising events, every step of the way is a fundraising event in itself. The venue, things to auction, catering, entertainment, cash collectors etc. Nothing should be paid for, you get everything covered through donations and sponsorship long before the event starts. That is the secret of a successful fundraising event, it should cost you absolutely nothing.
DMC’s Best of the Year Awards (part 1)
Mainstream Politician
One might think the obvious choice would be Barak Obama, although I have to admit Thabo Mbeki & Hugo Chavez were also under consideration and a few lesser known names as well. However, despite this “award” my contempt for politicians in general remain unabated, particularly those named Blair or Brown and i’m certain that very little (if anything) will change for the better under Obama. I in fact saw very little of the American leadership contest even the Clinton/Obama bit, and I was shocked when I woke up to the news that Obama had won because i’d though the election was on the Thursday, not the Tuesday.
So the award actually goes to another American Congressman, Ron Paul who set up the Campaign for Liberty after pulling out of the race to be Republican candidate for the American Presidential Election. His 2006 speech to congress “The End of Dollar hegemony,” detailing the detrimental effects of banking and paper money has really been “under-reported” but remains unique in it’s analysis and clarity for something delivered by a main stream western politician in recent times.
Sportsman/Sportswoman
It’s Usain Bolt vs Michael Phelps and despite the magnificent achievement of Phelps and some other great olympic performances that took place I have to give it to the Jamaican Bolt. Firstly i’m a big athletics (track & field) fan, and lets face it, everybody has a 100 metre sprint champion with no special equipment needed or fast suits, so it’s a true test. Many observers also feel that with the American crackdown on performance enhancing drugs that this is the first time in years that there has been a level playing field. Of course just watching some people fulfil their dreams and others having theirs shattered makes for great stories one way or another, and noting just how much time and effort great sportsmen put into training and preparation is a great motivational lesson for all of us. Formula 1 racing champion Lewis Hamilton was also in the frame.
Entrepreneur
As a business plan you can’t get any better than this. Invent some investment scheme, attract some investors, borrow money to give them returns like they’ve never had before and let the word spread. The bank.s making money, you’re making money and your investors are making money. The ultimate pyramid scheme. So the award must go to Bernard Madoff who managed a feat of entrepreneurial genius in keep it going for so long before finally confessing to fraud. However the story doesn’t end there as we find that the “confession” may be part of the biggest insurance scandal in modern history (see article).
Now, in these pages we are not advocating that type of criminal or dishonest behaviour but perhaps we can take the lesson to THINK BIG in 2009 with some really groundbreaking projects, schemes and approaches to business.
Please feel free to share your own alternative suggestions for award winners
Beating the Blogfade Bug
Would you believe that i’ve got half a dozen great blog articles in draft mode? Why, I ask myself. The answer is probably the same reason I’m not great at text messaging. I want it to be written well, complete and giving readers clear options etc.
So, from now on, shorter blogs except when absolutely necesssary and not trying to cover everything in one go. Let’s see what happens.
I’ve discovered some great websites and software which i’ll be mentioning from time to time, not least of all WordPress which continues to offer a great service and for the main part absolutely free of charge.
I also like Mogulus which allows you to become a TV station from your desktop (or even laptop for that matter).
The eBook “Seven Secrets of Successful Fundraising ” will be launched very soon, so watch this space.
The Advantages of Being a Small Business
Good things come in small packages. Here are some of the advantages of a small business over a large company.
Quick response time:–
A small business is very quick to respond to problems and solve them due to a smaller chain of command. Top management is usually available at once and so are the relevant people to be able to handle the situation in a short period of time. On the contrary, larger businesses are notoriously slow to respond to problems and have a long complex chain of command. Additionally, they have a number of policies to be adhered to and practices that must be followed at many steps along the way. This makes them slow to solve problems and snags that come up in the course of even routine work.
Flexibility in making decisions:–
A small business has the flexibility to bend, manipulate and change the rules depending on the need of the hour, whereas a large company is stuck in a quagmire of policies and legalities. There are no exceptions to the rule for a large company whereas there may not be that many rules for a small business. This allows employees, managers and owners the flexibility to make decisions on the spot, instead of waiting for a long chain of command to get to the person who is able to make a decision. The decision can be made faster, at times instantly, in a small business and work can carry on. This increases the productivity of the employees as well.
Personal Attention:–
The small business is able to give time and attention to its customers and this is the foundation of a successful business. Why do people love their favorite little coffee place as opposed to a huge chain like Starbucks? Because the waitress is not in a rush and the guy at the counter knows your name and because of those lovely little quiches they make at 6 o’clock every evening. Customer service has the ability to make decisions and change the rules depending on who they are serving, which is simply not possible in a large company that has to standardize its approach.
Specialized:–
A lot of small businesses are small because they are specialists. Some are boutiques. This gives them a major competitive edge over the large companies that form the competition. They can do well at tasks that are ignored or under-serviced by big busy companies.
Flat structure means easy communication:–
There is often a single point of contact offered by a small business to its customers and this person is able to service the client better for it. The person is more likely to know the customer’s history with the company, better able to make a judgment call and well versed with each section within the small business. This is mainly due to the flatter organization structure of the small business.
Change with times:–
The small business is more geared towards change due to its smaller size. Less training is required and the change has better reach throughout the organization. A large company requires a lot of time, money and effort to make even the smallest change due to its sheer size and complex organization structure. The small business therefore, has more future-readiness.
About the Author:
William King is the director of Wholesale Pages: http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk, Aid and Trade: http://www.aidandtrade.com, Daily Trader: http://www.dailytrader.com, and Australia Wholesalers: http://australiawholesalers.com. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries.
A New Year Treat
2011 is now upon us
So let’s make a success of the year
I wish you success for all your projects and endeavours
So some advice you must now hear
To start I will quote from Rudyard Kipling
He said it so very well
As soon as I heard it, I got immediately thinking
This advice to you all I must tell
“I keep six honest serving men
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are what and why and when
And where and how and who.”
So these are the questions you must answer
When making the business plan
These are the things that if explained correctly
Potential funders will readily understand
Also, building a team is absolutely essential
Don’t be tempted to go it alone
One-man projects rarely reach their potential
And stay in the twilight zone
Here at DMC we do lots of training
And for you we’ll always go that extra mile
So we advise you to spend some time in 2008
Building your corporate profile
I mean fax numbers, phone numbers, web and email
As well as, how your phone gets answered
I mean office address and dealing with mail
To avoid embarrassing disasters
So I wish you a happy and prosperous new year
That brings you a wealth beyond just money
So my cryptic wish for those with an ear
Is that you get both the milk and also the honey
The True Power of Networking
Many people involved in the running or setting up a business, charitable organisation or social enterprise will have been repeatedly told about the necessity and great benefits of “networking.“
Of course, in many instances this is simply people trying to recruit others into one network marketing scheme or another. Many of these are quite legitimate, while in certain schemes the riches promised are almost impossible to achieve for most people.
However, the networking many of us should be involved with is much more simple and effective. The key to this effective networking is not to necessarily focus on recruiting clients/customers or even funders or donors. What we should concentrate on is first of all establishing links with people who can benefit from what ‘you’ can do for them, and secondly meet people you personally have something in common with, whether it be the football team you support, country of birth, hobbies or political affiliations. Let us consider just a few of the benefits:
• If you can be of benefit to someone then they have a vested interest in keeping the contact alive;
• In many (not all) cases these recipients of your goodwill will want to do something for you;
• If cultivated properly these same people can turn into paying customers or clients;
• If you have other things in common staying in contact becomes natural;
• Personal contacts account for a very high proportion of how contracts and business deals are awarded;
• Personal contacts and people ‘owing you a favour’ can be some of the most powerful forms of advertising and marketing.
The question to ask now, “how does one go about networking?” A few of the things you can do are?
1. Join trade organisations or umbrella groups
2. Attend industry/sector meetings or events
3. go to trade shows
4. respond to blogs and online discussion groups
5. Attend training events
6. Join specific networking groups (many online).
So clearly this form of networking is part of effectively capacity building and must be taken seriously by any organisation wishing to expand it’s horizons.
Three Essential Rules for Successs When Starting a New Business Venture
I’m a great attender of trade shows and exhibitions and get lots of my clients from casual conversations I get into at these events. Most recently I attended the Business Startup exhibition at Excel in London and one of the things I managed to do was record an interview with Levi Roots of Dragons Den Fame with his Reggae Reggae Sauce. (you can hear it on the next podcast episode).
However, I was at this show for two reasons: The first was to help a group of enterprising gentlemen i’m working with to promote their video email/multi-level marketing product and the second reason was to test the waters for our new business course we expect to launch later in the year.
There is definitely much truth in what is often said about entrpreneurship and business not being teachable skills. However, one can always make use of sound advice. Unfortunately a lot of advice out there is what I would term absolute rubbish while on the other hand i’ve benefited tremendously from masses of free advice I’ve received over the years. I must admit that I also still often refer to some of what I learnt studying Business Administration at university (mainly Maslow’s motivation theory and also the “Peter” principle) while a large part of it as proved absolutely irrelevant (which many of us students recognised at the time). So with the launching of this entrpreneurs training programme we will be taking on a big challenge, part of which is to work with key sponsors to make the course a truly worthwhile and rewarding experience based on learning while trading.
There were definitely lots of experienced and successful people at the Business Startup show offering some really good advice and a lot of it will no doubt appear in future episodes of this blog but also the podcast. In the meantime here are my own essential rules for anyone contemplating starting out in business.
1. Test Your Idea
Find people around you who you can trust and will give you honest feedback and let them know your idea, but you MUST LISTEN even if they don’t understand the product or the market. You WILL get some invaluable comments that will save you a lot of time, money and headache. Remember that no matter how scathing these people are that’s nothing to how bad complete strangers will be.2. Do The Business Plan
This cannot be skipped and you will find that the actual DOING of the plan may well be more valuable that the plan itself. This is where all the questions that ANYONE could ask are answered (including Dragons Den type investors). You will need help and their are professional software packages that will help you such as Business Plan Pro, but equally there are lots of able consultants. If you are thinking of using a consultant don’t be shy to ask them exactly what they can do for you and who they have worked with previously that you can contact. Remind yourself of the fact that “To Fail to Plan is to Plan to Fail.“3. Hit The Ground Running
If you’re working then take annual leave/holiday, but once you decide to launch that business you must put the hours in. This is the time when you tell absolutely everybody what you are doing (repeatedly). This is when you trawl through your email and contact list and contact absolutely everybody. You have to leave everyone in no doubt that you are enthusiastic about this product or project and you are expecting great things. At this point a 60 hour work week is a luxury. It is during this early period that because of your enthusiasm people will offer to help, and you have to take advantage of this and work them effectively. Give them a script to use on the phone or give them a clipboard and some leaflets and tell them to collect email addresses. No stone must be left unturned, and remember you can’t have “too many” potential clients or contacts.
Now if you don’t follow this advice and the business fails you’ll be kicking yourself because you’ll never know what might have been. If you follow these things and the business still fails you’ll likely be one of those real entrepreneurs who will learn some invaluable lessons and be ready to go again with something even better.
I look forward to hearing your feedback on these matters, or even your own advice you’d like to share with others.
Until next time!
