Write Away

Hi there, and welcome back to Write Away, the blog for small businesses, the self employed and those thinking of working themselves. Our latest post concerns another online resource that could prove to be a valuable resource for any small business owner or budding entrepreneur. The website is called “My Business”, as usual, the link is included below this post. The website is divided into eight useful sections: Finance & Money, People, Technology, Sales & Marketing, Operations, Import & Export, Future and Cash flow, each one having a number of sub sections that contain valuable insights and advice on that aspect of running a business. The Finance & Money section has some great advice on late payments and how to try and avoid this and further advice on taking small claims through the courts if you need to. The latest Sales & Marketing article contains advice on pitching for new business and the “Top 10 Features” listing deals with questions surrounding IR35 and con...

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...

Welcome back. For the first time on this blog I’m going to include a book recommendation, just because I think it is an excellent book and could be a worthwhile investment if you’re seriously considering setting up your own business. It’s called “Make It Happen – The Prince’s Trust Guide To Starting Your Own Business” (ISBN 9780857080455) – I was asked to review this book for the Chartered Management Institute and I’m very glad I did. The book is divided into ten sections which range from marketing and sales, managing your money and writing a business plan to advice on growth and getting yourself a mentor. The format and layout of the book make it very easy to read and there are numerous nuggets of advice from both well known entrepreneurs (such as James Caan of Dragons Den fame and Tony Elliot who started Time Out magazine) and not-so-well know business people, but all offer sound advice and excellent tips based on their own experiences.   As start up books go, I found it ref...

Hi there and welcome back to the Write Away blog, an online resource for entrepreneurs and those working for themselves, or thinking about making the leap into the world of self-employment. Today’s post is about another useful internet resource for small business owners and anyone working for themselves. Fresh Business Thinking is a website aimed squarely at this part of the market. It has a quality “Business Advice” section with articles on every aspect of running a business, a   number of “how-to” guides, ranging from Self-Assessment through to Recession-proofing your business, its own video channel and a newsletter you can subscribe to called the “Virtual Director” which aim to inspire and offer support on a wide range of topics. The site also contains a directory of a range of businesses, which you can pay to be part of should you so desire. The site has a good search facility that makes it easy to find relevant articles or information meaning you can dip in and out of the ...

Hello again. This week I want to introduce you to a great new resource for anyone looking to start their own business. It’s from a company called Brightword Publishing and is called “The Start-Up Kit”. The kit contains a book and a number of excellent, money-saving offers from leading business brands to help the budding entrepreneur in the early stages of setting up a business. These include free business cards and sales contact lists, discounts on HP products and O 2 mobile phone deals and further offers that could save you up to a total of £400. The book is written by Emma Jones, a small business expert and author of other business start-up guides such as Spare Room Start-Up and Working 5 to 9 . It is very well laid out and provides a wealth of Internet resources for small businesses and anyone looking to go it alone. The guide is split into three sections, Prepare, Launch and Grow, and there is a section at the back containing a number of helpful templates that you might need t...

Hello again! Today’s post is about a great new initiative for anyone interested in working for themselves or starting a small business. It’s called Start Up Saturday, and consists of 12 weekly classes, taking place on a Saturday morning, at a Staples store near you (hopefully!), that are going to cover a number of different topics related to starting a small business. To whet your appetite, a couple of the course titles are “All things Web – building a home online” and “Make some noise! Successful marketing on a budget” but there really are a diverse mix of areas included and you can choose to attend all 12 sessions or dip in and out and book only those that interests you. I think this is a great concept, it considers the fact that a lot of people looking to go into business for themselves are often working to a very limited budget and might hold down a full-time job prior to making that commitment, and you’ll get to meet other budding entrepreneurs along the way. As always, to fi...

Hello again. There are not many periodic print publications aimed at start ups and small businesses on the market today. This is probably due, in part, to the decline of printed medium and enormous growth in online content. If you’ve not read Growing Business magazine, then I recommend that you take a look. It is aimed specifically at small businesses and contains news, informative features and interviews with entrepreneurs who share their experiences and offer advice to others in business or those looking to start up on their own. If you prefer internet based information sources, then Growing Business has just re launched its website, after a major overhaul (as usual, the link is below). The website has the latest small business news, a number of “Sixty Second Guides” on specific topics, Entrepreneur TV – featuring more than 60 full-length interviews with successful entrepreneurs and information on business events happening around the country. There is also a regular newsletter you ...