Write Away

Welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small business owners, freelancers and anybody who is thinking of starting a business and jumping into self-employment. Today we’re going to look at marketing – a key area to enable the small business owner to get their name out there, attract new customers, and begin to build the brand, whether that be the brand of “you”, if you are a freelancer, or your business’ brand. Marketing can be quite daunting for a new small business, but there are a huge number of resources available across the web to help you establish, and carry out, your own marketing strategy, regardless of your budget (If any!). Here are a selection of the better tips I’ve come across, to help you get started: Create, and refine, your elevator pitch An elevator pitch is the term used when considering what you would say, to a complete stranger, in a lift, when they ask “So what is it you do?” – it should be succinct, last maybe eight seconds, with the objecti...

Welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small business owners, freelancers and anybody who is thinking of starting a business and jumping into self-employment. Today I’m giving you a heads up on a free e:mail course, created by Enterprise Nation, a fantastic small business support organisation, whom I’ve blogged about before. The idea is that, over the course of seven days, you get daily inspiration and direction to assist and support you on your journey into starting up a business. Day 1 covers your idea and the all-important business plan Day 2 will delve into the administration associated with setting up a company Day 3 will tackle how to raise money and managing the money you may have available Day 4 focuses on building a web presence for your new business Day 5 looks at marketing your business and generating sales Day 6 discusses how to become an expert in your field and pitching to the press Day 7 looks at how to scale up your business ...

Hi there, and welcome back to Write Away, the blog for freelancers, small businesses, start-ups and anyone interested in working for themselves.   This time I wanted to draw your attention to a great business publication that I have come across recently called “BQ” which stands for Business Quarter. The magazine is full of inspiring stories from entrepreneurs who are running successful and growing businesses, and share their experiences, highs and lows, and tips for how they got to where they are today.   The latest edition (pictured above) contains fascinating articles about microbrewery business Brewdog and a great interview with a former contestant on BBC televisions “The Apprentice”.   The magazine has an excellent sister website, the link is shown below, which has some regional content to it as well, and you can sign up to free e:mail newsletters if you so desire. The website also features a host of content that is very sector specific, so if yo...

Welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small businesses, freelancers, and anyone with a desire to move from paid employment to becoming your own boss. In my last post, I tackled the issue of appointing an accountant to help you in your small business, and how you might go about this, bearing in mind different businesses have different requirements from their accountant. This time, I want to look at what you can expect to receive from your accountant, for the hard earned money you will be paying them.   First and foremost, you need to confident that you are complying with current legislation regarding VAT and Taxation and this is the kind of expertise you need from an accountant. This may be in the form of completing your company tax & VAT returns and submitting an annual return, but aside from these mundane requirements, there is so much more important information that an accountant can provide, that you may not have considered. In business, information c...

Hi there, it’s great to be back after some time away, thanks for finding your way to Write Away – the blog for small businesses, freelancers, and anyone with a healthy desire to cut loose from paid employment and work for themselves.   In this post we deal with engaging and using an accountant for your small business. A lot of small business owners start their business armed with a specific set of skills, knowledge or experience. One of self-employments biggest challenges is how to plug a gap in that knowledge in areas you may have never needed to understand or be involved in. For a large proportion of small business owners and freelancers, the financial management of the business, specifically matters relating to tax and accounting would probably be the area most likely to induce a cold sweat! Unless you are an accountant by trade, why would you need this knowledge anyway! So now you’re up and running, you need an accountant, right? Well, yes is the short ans...

Welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small businesses, freelancers and anyone interested in working for themselves. In this post we’re looking at an interesting new initiative, which has come about via the enterprise campaign, StartUp Britain, called PitchUp! PitchUp! Is a competition that gives small businesses a unique opportunity to pitch their products to the high street retailer John Lewis. The competition ran last year as well, and saw 400 small businesses compete to win one of 12 places given the opportunity to pitch directly to the retailers top buyers, and ultimately try and get their products onto the shelves of one of the country’s top retailers. An added bonus is that it is John Lewis’ 150 th birthday next year and winning a competition like this would add an enormous amount of prestige in such an important year. If you have a product that is just waiting to be discovered, a design classic or innovative masterpiece, then this is the competition for you....

Welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small businesses, freelancers, start-ups and budding entrepreneurs. Our latest post is about a new revolution for start-up businesses that already have an online presence, but would also like to try out a bricks and mortar, high street presence, without having to commit to long leases and thousands of pounds in rent and refitting. The concept has enabled a number of businesses, in Richmond in Surrey, where the flagship store opened, to co-work with other small retailers for two weeks at a time. Further stores are planned in Victoria and Shropshire, and the beauty of the concept is that it enables unused retail premises to be bought back to life showcasing new British brands. Popup Britain is backed by Start Up Britain, a national campaign started by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, to inspire enterprise throughout the UK. The campaign is also looking to go nationwide in a bid to present small businesses across the country wit...

Hello again, welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small business owners, freelancers and those looking to start their own business. Today I want to talk about ideas and inspiration for starting a business, and where you might find it. Whilst many people who want to work for themselves, have a business idea that is an extension of their hobby or very specific to their employment, a large number of would-be entrepreneurs love the idea of working for themselves but are not sure what they would do if they took the plunge. As a writer, I carry a notebook with me everywhere, as I never know when inspiration might strike. If you’re looking for a business idea, this could be a useful tool for you too – when you visit other businesses, keep asking yourself if some aspect of the service or product could be improved and make a note of your thoughts. Additionally, when you are looking for a specific product, and can’t find it, think about if there is a gap in the market, many a...

Hello again. Today's post is about the co-author of a well known business start up guide called “The Beermat Entrepreneur”. Mike Southon is both an entrepreneur and business mentor and also writes regularly for the Mail on Sunday  and the Financial Times about small businesses and entrepreneurship. The Beermat Entrepreneur is a business self-help book aimed at people who have an idea for a business and need to know how to take it to the next stage and turn the idea into a viable business. Whilst the book is a recommended read for aspiring entrepreneurs, this post seeks to guide you to some useful resources on Mike Southon’s own website. If you so desire (and can afford to!) you can book Mike for a personal appearance from here, but there are a number of other free resources that may be of more interest. There are a number of free guides to download, some linked to the “Beermat” series but others, such as the useful “Sales pipeline simple spreadsheet”, that ...

Hello again. It’s well publicised that in interviews, we form an opinion of someone within seconds, and that opinion counts towards our overall impression of that person in front of us. In business it is really no different. When you are trying to promote yourself to potential customers or clients, making a strong first impression is very important, whether it be through your business card, giving someone your well practised “elevator pitch” or merely introducing yourself, you have to convey a professional image and convince that person that they need to do business with you. In a past job, I attended a lot of networking sessions and came across a speaker at a couple of those events who really focused on first impressions and emphasised their importance. His name was Nigel Risner, he does a lot of talks about networking and how we can improve our communication and his passion is infectious. Nigel wrote a book sometime ago, called “You Had Me at Hello” (the titles refers to a line fr...

Hello again. Today’s post looks at online sources of ideas for new business ventures. A lot of people have aspirations to start their own business, but if you have no obvious skill or knowledge that can be transferred into a business opportunity, the age old question of what business you could start, comes to light. Well fear not, here are a couple of excellent websites that could help you uncover the “next big thing”, or at least inspire you to think laterally when you see some of the innovative business ideas around today. Trendwatching employs a network of spotters around the globe who share the very latest consumer trends and how technological innovations are developing. Springwise is the sister-site of Trendwatching and employs a similar network sharing the latest entrepreneurial ideas and new business trends - looking at the vast array on offer could provide some valuable start-up inspiration. If you are not familiar with these sites, check them out, they are a treasu...