Learn Why Starting Your Business In A Home Office Is More Efficient

When you’re starting a business, and you don’t have substantial levels of capital, then the chances are that you’ve considered whether you should start the business from home or get yourself an office. In this article we take a look at the advantages of waiting as long as possible before taking on any mortgage or rental obligation.

Flexibility

You’ll be able to fit your work around your life far easier when you don’t have to work between certain hours in the day. You’ll be able to pick the hours that suit you, and possibly have an opportunity to spend more time with your family. That’s why it’s common for work at home parents to start a small business.

Savings

You’ll be able to save money you would otherwise waste on office expenses and invest it straight back into the business when you work from home. You might be able to spend the money on advertising to drum up more sales; raise less capital and therefore limit equity dilution; or even spend the money on outsourcing certain jobs to service providers such as a bookkeeper or marketing professional. When you work at home, you will find that your business will be in a position where you’ve got less to lose.

Preparing For Failure

According to government statistics, 80% of UK businesses fail in their first two years. That’s a lot, but it doesn’t mean that yours is going to end that way. However, in the case that it does, it’s best that you have as little to lose as possible, and that’s why you’ll be in a better position if you choose to work from home. You will not have any contract period to worry about on your office, electricity and line rental bills that will keep coming in for years after your business has ceased to trade. Some of these issues can be addressed by the formation of a limited company, but it’s still best not to have these things to worry about.

Less Travel Time

Any time you spend travelling is time you could be spending growing your business. When you work from home you’ll be able to get up in the morning and start working right away if you choose. Likewise, you’ll only have to walk through to the kitchen when it’s time for lunch. If you can save 2 hours a day in travelling time through working at home, you’ve just made yourself, and your business, 25% more effective.

Bills

When you work from home you might be able to assign part or all of your broadband, heating and other bills to your business. This works great when it comes time to pay your taxes, and you’re able to offset these costs against money that your business has earned. You might also be able to complete certain purchases, like a PC that can be used by the whole family, against your business. Remember, it’s always best to consult your lawyer or accountant before making any decisions about the best way to handle your taxes.

CityLocal is a business directory which offers franchising opportunities where you can work from home. www.citylocal.co.uk and www.citylocal.ie

Business Management: Key Skills Of Great Managers

Managing a business requires a wide range of skills and experience. All managers will have things that they are good at, and things that they are not. In this article we examine the key skills that you should look to develop as a manager, and, if you’re an employer, the skills you should expect your managers to possess.

Delegation

All good managers should be able to delegate responsibility to appropriately qualified staff within their business. Good management is about ensuring that a project or goal is successfully achieved, however it rarely means a manager should do it on their own. That’s why they have to be good at picking the right people to do the job, and managing their execution. Being good at delegating can mean being good at understanding someone’s strengths and weaknesses.

Accountability

A manager should be able to hold themselves accountable for things that they are given management responsibility for within their business. Although it will not always be their fault directly, they should be willing to take responsibility when it’s someone they are directly responsible for that’s failed.

Foster Team Spirit

A good manager will be able to foster a good team spirit, and ensure that everyone is happy within a team. As a manager will generally be overseeing the execution of a project, rather than doing it directly, they should also be good at evaluating a team’s progress towards the business goal they have been assigned management responsibility for.

Calm & Collected

If a manager is not able to remain calm during difficult times, it will be hard for their staff to do so. That’s why a manager should be good at showing strength during difficult times, and passing this composure throughout management and the rest of the business.

Loyalty

It’s important for a manager to show that they are loyal to their staff. This can be done through showing appreciation for things that they do well, and also rewarding them too. If a member of staff is having an issue, a manager that is readily available and genuinely helpful will be able to cement their pivotal role as a leader within the business through addressing this issue.

Respect

It’s important that a manager is respected by staff and other members of the management team. This can be affected by a number of factors, such as: whether or not the manager is good at their job; the way the manager acts towards their employees; their commitment to their job; how the employees perceive the managers out-of-work behaviour, and many more factors.

Distance versus Friendship

Some managers believe it is more important to be friendly with their staff, while other managers prefer to keep a distance – claiming that if you become too close to your employees, they will expect you to be more understanding of their problems.

Although there is no right answer, both techniques can work better depending on the type of team that you’re dealing with. When you are working with a self-motivated team, it can often work well to develop a close personal bond with them. However, when your team need more day-to-day management in order to do their job, it might be easier for them to keep their distance. A good manager will be able to analyse each situation accordingly, and work out the best approach to take.

CityLocal has exciting franchising opportunities available from its local business directories. www.citylocal.co.uk and www.citylocal.ie

Making Your Business Have Happier Customers

If your business has less happy customers than you would like, or you are looking for ways to make your customer service even better, there are always things you can do to improve. In this article we look at ways that you can make your customers connect with your brand, become loyal customers, and spread the message to their friends.

When you take a very proactive and professional approach to customer service in your business, you may find that everything starts to work better. Your sales team will be the first to directly benefit, especially those that are contacting your existing customers. You will also find that your business will become less of a commodity, and you may also be in a position to charge higher prices if you would like to go with that approach.

Quick Responses

Your customers should expect you to answer the phone quicker, and respond to emails sooner. There are always ways that you can work on improving this. In many cases effective management can improve how this is handled, however in some cases you may have to make a trade-off between costs and customer service. Think of ways that you can deal with queries easier, and ways that you can have customers avoid calling in the first place, and you might find you can lower your call load in a cost effective way.

Immediate Resolution

Being passed from department to department, and waiting for someone to call you back isn’t a great customer service experience. Consider methods that you could use to resolve your customers’ questions on the first call. Also, when a customer does have to be passed onto another department, make sure the person passing them on ensures the other department is able to resolve their problem.

Honesty

In customer service, the sad thing is that certain problems can’t be resolved. In many cases the customer will be angry to learn this. And as a result, the person will be passed from department to department because no agent is willing to give the bad news. Teach your agents that good customer service doesn’t always involve passing on good news. It does, however, involve passing it on in a positive way.

Proactively Contact Customers

When something is wrong with a customer’s account, you shouldn’t wait for them to contact you. Instead you should proactively contact them and let them know. Also, if you do this by email, for example, then it may mean that you save money that you would otherwise have to spend answering customer services calls. Be polite to your customers, and they should be polite to your business.

Personal Relationships

Although everyone in your company might be able to get up to speed on a customer’s account through taking a peak in your CRM software, customers like to think they have a personal relationship with someone in your company. Encourage customers to speak to the same person, and take their extension number. This is the single most effective way to make your customers happier, and to provide tangible results for your business.

The UK’s business directory has franchise opportunities available for work-at-home entrepreneurs. www.citylocal.co.uk & www.citylocal.ie

Choosing A Business Web Agency That’ll Perform for You

As a small business, it is unlikely you will have all the skills in-house to take your internet presence to the stage that you want to be at. Therefore, one of the biggest choices you can make for your business is choosing the right supplier. Although it may be tempting to go with the cheapest offer, the agency your friend recommends, or the first company you come across, the results are unlikely to be nearly as good as they could be. If you treat the internet as being a serious concern for your business, then make sure you don’t skimp when it comes to doing your research for choosing a web agency.

Sector experience

Although an agency may be able to do a brilliant job for your business, without any similar experience, some may see this as carrying more of a risk. Look for an agency that has managed to develop a successful internet business for a company in the same, or a similar, field of business.

Portfolio

You should look at examples of internet websites that the agency has designed already. Do you like any features of the designs? Can you spot any mistakes that illustrate poor craftsmanship? Do you find the website easy to use? Is the design to be the standard that you expect? Many web agencies do not have strong in-house design capabilities, and are only good with technology. Therefore, even if they perform an unlimited amount of design modifications, they might not be able to come up with something that you like.

Internet Marketing & Results

It’s all well and good to design a pretty website. However, it’s another thing to make it perform. Some agencies have more of a focus on design and development, while others focus more on marketing and business development. That is why some companies choose to work with a separate design and marketing agency. You should look for companies with a strong track-record of delivering revenue through digital channels.

Speak With Customers

You should speak with customers of their business and find out what they think. Although this may seem like a waste of time, as the agency will only give you the details of their best customers, it is still worthwhile. Some businesses consider a six figure annual revenue number to be a sign that they’re doing well, while others would consider that to be a failure.

Also, find out what the company is like for working to deadlines. How much of their success comes down to the agency, and how friendly they find the agency to work with.

Pricing

Anyone with internet access can design a website, and the industry isn’t very heavily regulated. There’s no industry body for example. That means you can get an internet presence for less than it costs Tesco to man a till for a week. But, you have to think seriously about the level of success you aim to achieve and amount you are willing to invest in making it happen. Price is only one factor, but keep in mind that no two proposals from web agencies are likely to be the same.

The internet’s local directory has work-at-home franchising opportunities available. www.citylocal.co.uk & www.citylocal.ie

Business Problems: When To Bite Away At Your Own Revenue

When it comes to business, some decisions can be tough. In some sectors, like IT and technology products, your prices are probably heading south over time. Entrepreneurialism is a difficult profession at the best of times, but even harder when you have to decide between dropping your prices and losing your customers. In this article we take a look at how you can reach a happy medium.

Do you know which customers aren’t profitable?

Some customers know that they can call up at the end of their contract period and get a good bargain. However, some businesses have cancellation and retention policies that benefit their customers too much. If you reach the stage that you’re not making a gross profit on a customer, then you better have a good reason for keeping them on board with your business. And, you have to ask yourself why you got in that situation in the first place. Offer them one of your newer packages, maybe with some discounts, and see if they take it. Entrepreneurialism doesn’t always mean closing sales at any cost.

Maintaining Dignity for Your Business

When you end up offering your clients too steep discounts to keep them, they will no longer respect you as much. That’s why you should always think of excuses for lowering their costs. For example, ask them to change their payment method, come to you for more services, and switch to email-only support. It doesn’t have to be a big sacrifice, but make sure they’re making one. Entrepreneurialism is about winning, and that’s why you always ask your client to give you something in return when you move away from your standard pricing. People like to know that your business is transparent with pricing, and that people don’t pay more or less depending on their negotiation skills.

How do you know when the time is right?

If you have a client on a twelve month contract, and they are paying more than your new customers, then it’s hard to know when you should bite the bullet and lower their prices. You will lose revenue from your top line right away, but if you keep that revenue then you stand a higher chance of losing it when it comes time for them to renew their contract.

Entrepreneurialism is a lot to do with testing, and finding out what works best for you. There are also different models that work better depending on the level of competition within your sector, and the type of products or services that you’re offering. That’s why you should always tailor things towards your business.

However, if you wait until one month or two months before your client’s contract is up, then you will have more than just yourself to compete with. Why not approach them after half of their contract period is up, and offer them a 12 month contract renewal on only a partial price discount? Then, if they say they require your new prices in order to accept another 12 months, you have time left to win them over.

Another strategy that works well is to offer your client free services in return for a contract extension. If they ask for a product or service that isn’t included in their contract, why not evaluate whether you can give them it for free? Entrepreneurialism can often involve lots of thinking outside the box to find the best solution for your business.

Visit the UK’s most popular business directory and learn about their franchise opportunities. www.citylocal.co.uk & www.citylocal.ie

7 Characteristics Of Business Models Perfect For Franchising

When rapid business growth is on the menu, you might be considering franchising as a way to sky-rocket infrastructural development and revenue acceleration. For many this is a good choice, however for others it just isn’t going to work. In this article we explore traits that make your business model suitable for franchising, and therefore allow you to put more thought into whether it’s right for your business.

Local Presence

One of the most popular reasons that businesses franchise off their assets is to grow a presence in other markets. Fast food chains are among the most popular franchise-dependant businesses as they require a local presence throughout the country.

You might wish to consider franchising if you need a sales team at a local level, a store-front at a local level, or even if you need the provision of services to happen at a local level.

Strong Brand

One of the strongest reasons why people opt to buy a franchise is the brand. When you buy a franchise from a popular brand, you can set up shop and expect people to know what you stand for right away. This is a privilege that most businesses would die for.

Brand Dependency

It’s never usually a good idea to start franchising a commodity business. Although it’s possible that the business operates on low margins, it’s important that it has a means of differentiating itself. If it does not, then you have to step back and consider what value you are offering to the franchisee.

Scalable

Some business models scale better than others. For example, some people are extremely creative, and they will often use their creative talents to start a business. However, unless they can find lots of other creative people, just like them, they find that it is hard to allow their business to grow beyond a few staff.

That’s why you have to ensure your business is built in a way that means it scales well. This will often mean that systems and processes are in place that automates processes, and that a system is in place that allows for anyone to be replaced without it being detrimental to the success of the business.

Low Margins

Often franchise businesses will be low margin, high volume businesses. Franchising is a perfect fit for this model because the franchise owner only needs to earn themselves a good wage, and service their capital investment. The business is then able to grow in an, almost, risk-free way.

Economies of Scale

If your business is likely to have increased margin with scale, then this can often mean your business model is perfectly suited for franchising. Some industries, like business services, for example, often report decreased margins during certain phases in their growth cycle. Consider what your margins will look like as you grow.

Vested Management

Each of your franchise owners will have skin in the game. For some businesses this will be more important than for others. If it is important for your business, then maybe that’s a sign that franchising is right for you.

Considering franchise opportunities? CityLocal is a local business directory with listings from companies throughout the UK. www.citylocal.co.uk & www.citylocal.ie

6 Small Business Tips To Use Today

As a small business owner, any ideas that you have can be put to work right away. That means they can often have a bigger impact on your business than they ever could on a larger company. In this article we cover six quick tips that you can put to work for your business today.

Outsource

Rather than having to worry about taking on more staff, or managing staffing levels to fit with demand, why not consider outsourcing instead? You might find that you end up paying a little extra per hour, compared to in-house staff, but that you can grow far more comfortably into the future.

Don’t Always Compete On Price

Many people are brought up to believe that the lowest price always wins. Most small businesses can compete on other things on than price. Imagine if your business was ten times bigger than it was now? Would it be profitable at your current pricing levels? If not, then consider what you could do to beef-up your margins.

Develop Partnerships

Many small business owners fail to consider just how good it could be for their business if they developed partnerships. To give an example, if you provide plumbing services in your local area, then why not consider entering into a partnership with an electrician or a joiner? Maybe it would be possible for both parties to refer work to each other.

Delegate

It is rare to find a small business owner that’s good at delegating. Some of the time, though, small business owners don’t have someone in place that they can delegate to. Consider more and more ways that you can delegate the jobs you do, and as your business grows you will have more time to concentrate on strategy.

Search Marketing

Search engine marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways that you can grow your business – if you know what you’re doing. If you set up an account with Google Analytics, you can track exactly what visitors buy from you when they type in certain keywords. You can then buy the keywords that are likely to convert into sales. When you are able to be smart about your marketing, it stops becoming an expense and starts becoming a cost of sale.

Get Discounts

Contact all of your suppliers and ask them if you are entitled to receive your services or products for any cheaper than you are getting them for currently. There’s a polite and an impolite way to do this. Just tell your suppliers that you are looking for ways to improve your margins so that you can compete better on price, and that you’d appreciate if they would consider offering you a better deal. If they say no, then you might wish to explain that you’ll pay their competitors a visit!

One of the best ways to enter a negotiation is when you already know what a fair price is. Just tell them what you are prepared to pay, and give them an opportunity to take it or leave it. This is what bigger businesses do already, and there is no reason why your small business can’t do it too.

Visit CityLocal’s small business directory to find out about our lucrative franchise opportunity. www.citylocal.co.uk & www.citylocal.ie

Outsourcing In Your Small Business - The Advantages

Outsourcing is rapidly increasing in popularity. Some of the largest companies in the UK use outsourcing to their advantage. Sky, for example, outsources most of their call handling and sales to an outsourced call centre. This means Sky can leave their sales and customer services to the experts, while they focus on business strategy. But, it isn’t only big business that can benefit from outsourcing. Your small business can benefit too.

Small businesses often benefit more from outsourcing than larger businesses. A smaller business can’t always afford to take on a full-time web designer, lawyer, accountant, sales person, and marketing expert. Instead, they can use expert service providers when they need them. Here’s how outsourcing could benefit you:

Leverage The Global Marketplace

If you’re a UK business then you may find that the hourly rate of hiring someone in the UK will be more than ten times higher than the wages you would pay someone somewhere else in the world. You will therefore be able to save significant amounts of money on labour expenses. As a small business, it’s unlikely you will see much business benefits in setting up an office overseas, but you can still benefit from cheaper wages in the developing economy.

You will not be able to outsource everything overseas, but you will be able to outsource many tasks. Software development, marketing, and administration are popular functions to ship overseas.

Have Expert Talent On-Tap

When you’re a small business, you may find that you and your management have to be the jack-of-all-trades. You are setting up computers, doing the accounts, marketing your business, closing sales, and even doing office repairs. This is great if you’ve got lots of spare time, and you’re an expert at all of the above. Most people aren’t. And that’s why outsourcing works great.

When it comes to your accounts, you can outsource to an accountancy firm. When it comes to your marketing, you can commission a marketing agency. It’s possible to outsource nearly everything; even a virtual assistant to answer your telephone calls.

However, keep in mind that no two service providers are the same. You should spend just as much time and attention in hiring a service provider as you do when taking on a member of staff for your small business. You need to be able to trust them with the success of your business.

Flexibility To Grow

Outsourcing can give your small business the flexibility that it needs to grow. Some businesses can’t afford to have too many or too little sales in one week because their infrastructure doesn’t allow for it. When you outsource, however, you can ask marketing agency to drive more sales in a given week. And you can ask your manufacturer to increase production, or decrease production, to fit with the growth trends of your business.

When you’re a small business, the last thing you want to do is take on staff and have to let them go when business opportunities become scarce. With outsourcing, that’s something that’s far less likely to happen.

CityLocal is a small business directory that has lucrative franchising opportunities for smart entrepreneurs. www.citylocal.co.uk & www.citylocal.ie

Tips on Hosting the Perfect Tea Party

The luxurious attraction of a tea party is starting to revitalize, especially as more and more people try to find ways to escape from their hectic hustle and bustle lifestyles. As the nostalgic allure of traditional English tea time grows, many people are beginning to host their own tea parties. There are some things to consider before setting up your party, however, so here are some ideas to get you on your way to hosting the perfect tea party.

First, it’s imperative you have fine china tea sets. Royal Patrician teapots are perfect if you really want to awe your guests. Using a beautiful set of Royal Patrician fine china will really set the mood properly and take you and your guests to the old days of royalty. Don’t use those old tea cups and saucers you used in college.

Consider setting up some sort of theme to make the event even more interesting. It’s exciting to dress up in old-fashion attire or act as characters from a book or movie, especially if it adds to the overall feel of your tea party. Think outside the box and give your guests something to talk about when they leave!

Having a menu of available foods and snacks can really make you feel like you are in a different place. Make sure you offer elegant cakes and simple food items to give your company something to eat during their stay.

Have someone serve you and your guests so you don’t have to. It will make your event much more exciting and relaxing. Maybe have your teenager wait on you; but don’t expect them to do it for free.

Use candles for lighting! It’s amazing what this traditional way of illumination can add to the overall ambiance. You can really get a feel of how it used to be!

If you really want to go all out, consider purchasing some antique furniture, everything from chairs to tables, to really make your tea party feel sincere and traditional. The atmosphere will really set the mood.

So start planning your event and think about using some of these tips to add a little excitement to your tea party!

About the Author:
Terry Scott is the owner of Belle Mae Gifts, an online retail store that specializes in fine tea cups and saucers, custom gift-giving and personalized gifts. Terry is a successful business owner and has continued to expand Belle Mae Gifts by networking with companies like Royal Patrician, to feature Royal Patrician teapots and other popular wholesalers of fine china tea sets.