As we know in the UK, leaflets and flyers rule the waves when it comes to promotion your business. Whilst its true that word of mouth is a great idea to get your company well thought off, its equally true that without initial and ongoing promotion your dead in the water, hence why cheap business printing is so effective.

The keyword is cheap printing, Brochures, Business Cards and Booklets. It is this medium that can get you in front of the buying client. Getting your message across is key to selling your goods as we know, but bargain leaflet and flyer printing is a key factor to delivering your message. Our parent company EMP offers all the cheap printing you will ever need and in addition, a speedy service to boot. A selection of there products are below and if you need a fast printing quote, believe me its VERY fast this coupled with a fast delivery time means for cheap brochures, booklets, letterheads and leaflet printing its your first call.

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Cheap Business Printing

The question is this. Is it possible to open a business bank account with a bad credit rating? or a bad credit score?
The Answer is : YES YOU CAN!

By popular demand I am writing this guide to help people who have adverse or bad credit to get a bank account to start there own business. I believe its true that in the UK today if you have a bad credit score, few banks generally want to entertain you,

Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts

Your almost looked upon as a second class citizen by banks and given the impression by the same that according to them you wont succeed, but wait a while will you, because do you know what YOU CAN and I am going to show you how to get a business bank account with bad credit, no matter your credit history or credit score it can be done.

It may seem like a stigma, but actually its not. Many banks will give you a second chance account. The advancement on making decisions on who gets a bank account and who does not has gone beyond human decision making to computers. As some of us will remember, at one time you could arrange an appointment with your local bank and go in to see the bank manger and sit down and come to an agreement. Those days sadly are long gone.It may seem that Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts are not in vogue…however as we will see they are in fact available.

Banks who offer business bank accounts for people with bad or adverse credit.

Complete information for you to help you get started no matter if you have bad credit, are Bankrupt or have an IVA, here we go, no fees just information that works no matter if you have bad credit history or not with a second chance account with the big 4 banks.

Barclays Bank:

The deal here is a basic bank account, make an appointment to go and see them, or better still arrive at your local branch. Present your situation, be totally honest and mention you need a basic bank account with cash card. Barclay’s more than likely will offer you a:

-          Cheque Book

-          Paying in Book

-          VISA debit card

-          Standing orders/Direct debits

The VISA card is off course based on you having funds in your account, the setup of this account takes a very short time and then your good to go.

Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts

Cooperative Bank:

The coop I found to a degree not so keen, this could be for a number of reasons but worth a try. Again the route here is a basic business account. They provide:

-          Ability to pay in money at your local post office or branch of the bank

-          Electron Card – Not good as its not accepted everywhere but good as a cash card

-          Cheque book

-          Standing orders/Direct debits

They may or may not give you more depending on your circumstances, but one thing all these banks do is give you a chance to rebuild your credit. The coop also offers basic personal accounts, same deal more or less as the business bank account. I used them for a personal account and it’s ok. In any case if your looking for adverse credit business bank accounts, this is the place to get started.

Bad Credit Business Bank Account

Lloyds Bank

Lloyds’s are a bit trickier, I initially paid a company on the net £149 to help get me an account, matter of fact I need not have bothered as the help they provided was not good at all in my search for a business bank account. I went to my local branch as an appointment was made, the girl who interviewed me didn’t want to know at all. undeterred, I went to the central bank of Lloyds in Manchester, spoke to an opening account lady and hey presto I got the account.This bank appear to be bad credit business bank accounts specialists.

Tip here: Go to the main branch not a sub branch! Don’t try and open the account via there website, the credit scoring will kill you before you start.it seems to be programmed to auto decline people who are looking for bad or adverse credit business bank accounts

Lloyds offer:

-          Basic Business Account which includes:

-          Cheque Book

-          Paying in book

-          VISA debit card

-          Account managers

-          Standing orders/Direct debits

I started at Lloyds with this and had no credit. Over time I have gained a business credit card with 2K limit, overdraft of £5000 and more if I need it. In addition, my company has an A++ rating in the bank, the highest there is.

HSBC

Well, they may offer a basic business account but from my own experience it was not so good. I called them up and they gave me a local number of a branch to call. The girl never returned my call once she was told I had bad credit she quickly lost interest. I then went into the Liverpool  branch and the guy who was an “account manager” sat there like an emperor and I felt very uncomfortable and a tad humiliated. I got turned down for an account and so can’t give this bank a plus or minus as it was unclear what they offered. Would I recommend HSBC Bank? from my own experience a big No. I think overall there not  interested in dealing with bad credit business bank accounts.

Halifax

Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts

Again, I got the details of a company on the web, the Halifax offer a treasurers account which gives you a paying in book and cash card. Just a note here, I didn’t see it advertised so I guess they try and keep it quiet. No credit but they do pay interest on money in your account and offer BACS, standing orders etc. Useful if your desperate, but better as a temporary measure.

Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts

How to get a business bank account with bad credit? The answer is the above banks . I will be providing more banks over time and updating this page.

UK Business Banking

Before starting the banking activity it is necessary for you to find the right bank to meet your needs. Unless they have the best deal, it is usually not advisable to use your current bank for your business needs…..

UK Business Banking can provide all you need to make it in business. It is a good idea to keep your business and personal affairs separate, and means that a bank is not in control of all your capital. Moreover, banks often offer better deals to new banking customers in order to attract new business.

Once you have finalized the selection of bank you need to open an account for your business. This is perhaps the most significant step and a number of things are required to do before you can open an account. Make a plan of your business to present to the bank officials to show them where you run your business. Also, if you are a new company, then probably you will need to obtain evidence of your initial financial support. Personal credit history of you and your business partners, if any, will also be verified and once this process is completed, there will be no obligation on you to open an account. See also our business banking review.

Bank’s rates and other offerings will normally depend on to the volume of your business, and the outcomes of your credit controls and evaluation of your business plan. Starting with a simple account is best option so that you can withdraw the money without any hassle. Once your business increases then you can add more features like a high interest savings account, as your progresses.

Online banking is one of the best ways to carry out your banking business. If you are looking for a business account, then you should consider having the online features. This will make basic banking much faster and save you having to go to bank every time you need money either to pay or to transfer funds.

I hope this helps you.

Kind Regards

Mike

Remember: Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts do exist, just take a loo and you will find them!

Bad Credit Business Bank Accounts

Team Building normally pertains to the actual selection and motivation of staff  where the  goal is achievement of organizational goals. Our modern society is progressively turning out to be a multi-cultural and are needed to work together with different organizations of men and women as well as required to get along with all of them as the team.

What are Team Building Events?

There about getting your employees to bond, to work together now and in the future normally this is achieved in a fun event or activity.As companies go, SME often adopt corporate team building to make a section or department work more efficiently, thus increasing output on there post and more profit per employee is achievable. This is not solely about expensive days out, quite to the contrary its about increasing affinity, communication and understanding within your companies employees. Stands to reason that if your staff like each other, they will work well together thus increasing communication and efficiency. Thus team bonding occurs and skills enhanced including leadership.

You can hold team building events in clubs, pubs etc or (depending on your budget) in hotels and even stadiums. Motivating people is no where near as difficult as it may first appear.

Team Building Activities:

Bingo!

Depending on the size of your office, you could play a game of bingo with staff. Setting a price of say 1st: £30 2nd: £20 and 3rd prize: £10, its not the money that’s important, its the fun of getting involved.

Paintball

There are many venues that offer Paintball as a group activity. The benefit in this form of team building is it makes people think and can, potentially identify leaders within the group who could be promoted in future. Observation at this type of event is important helping you identify leaders and people who show potential. This is clearly an outdoor activity, and usually very affordable.

These are just some ideas to get you started, but basically anything which gets people together with lots of fun involved can be a huge way of motivating people.

There are certain aspects which are critical to Corporate Team Building. You actually require a solid fusion of individual contributions. Range of skills and individualities are rather effective with Corporate Team Building. While all members of the team add to their own  strengths, these people compensate for each other’s weaknesses . Different individuals and skills enhance each other. Company Team Building Techniques consist of very good interaction between the team members as well as harmony involving the people ultimately making them work together as a group.

Team Building Activities

Putting the group of people together will not really automatically equal a team. Corporate Team Building begins with having the people within the team getting to know each other. This approach involves  learning to get along with each other, creating interpersonal trust, as well as communication too. This assists the team building spirit. On an every day basis, members of a company team will need to develop  as an efficient team.

There tend to be a number of ways to Corporate Team Building. Each member of the team could take a training course upon exactly how to function collaboratively. This is an individualistic approach and also may, or even may not, help in developing a natural unit. One alternative way could be to hire Corporate Team Building professionals to help train your own  team in operating as a natural unit. That is a excellent idea, nevertheless may well not suit your price range as hiring a professional costs money.

You can find your own methods for Corporate Team Building. Put your  team members into new challenging fun things to do that will demand contact and connection between them. Manage events where they get together for fun activities, such as fly-fishing, embarking regattas, road rallies, baseball, interactive workshops, and so on.

Motivate Your Staff

Each individual has his own unique motivation in life.These are their, hopes, dreams and goals, and as such are very dear and personal to each individual. As an employer, one obviously wishes to motivate staff to do the best job they possibly can.

To do so, one needs to treat people as individuals, and take the time to discover what their goals, dreams and hopes are. There is no “one size fits all” solution to this. What actually motivates a person can and does vary from person to person. Sure, there are certain things, certain awards, that are generally held in common as desirable things to attain, by most people; such as more money, or higher status, or better conditions. I

t still behooves the employer well to find out what the personal and individual desires and wants are for each of his or her personnel. Doing this you will achieve a much greater understanding of the people you work with and who work for you, and you will be able to much more easily motivate them to greater and better efforts as a workforce.

Inspire Staff

Here are 5 simple steps to take as a straightforward “motivate staff program” that any employer can follow and get rapid results of increased employee performance at work where there is observable team spirit, and where- individual differences have been eliminated and conflicts avoided and an open communication has been established between peers so all can achieve a common goal.

1. Set Individual as well as group goals for employee motivation:

2. Set a good personal example in your own attitudes, motivations and goals.

3. Keep communication lines and channels open to you at all times.

4. Keep the workforce well informed as to progress and plans on achieving goals.

5. Implement positive and creative ideas that promote and support production and goals.

As an employer, you are a leader, and as a leader you should motivate staff “be of good service” to those you lead, you should be a people inspiring person. Without a motivated, willing workforce behind you, you will achieve a lot less than what you could; but with the combined potentials of your employees fully motivated, the sky’s the limit!. However many staff you may have, the above steps are really the magic stepping stones to group success and by following these steps you will have a true, motivated team where each individual fully contributes to your company’s growth and success.

Team Building

Contra to popular belief, in the UK there is lots of help available for starting a business. There are grants for starting a business

As we know, there are also workshops held throughout the country which are usually free, but all this is very well…Did you know starting a business is far easier than you may think? As many readers know, I tend to go right to it on subjects I am knowledgeable in and startups are no different.

Decision

Your first point is always the decision to start your own business; this itself is the primary step with regards to success or failure. There is no substitute for this, believe me. So decide to start a company then the rest will fall into place.

The Basics: Your Bank Account

I have already done a review on the major banks in the UK you can there my business bank accounts information as you wish. All banks share one thing in common. FEAR, surprising as it may seem, this is a common point. There afraid to lend money as there frightened to being shortchanged, as they fear this off course it then happens and they wonder why. Business Bank Account

Registering your company name

Once you have decided on a name for your business, then go to companies house and register your limited company - http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/51fab586c1dd111dbd4d71f54ebb9435/wcframe?name=accessCompanyInfo on this site you can enter your chosen company name and check availability. If its available, then move on to your chosen accountant.The cost of registering a company be it limited liability partnership or LLP , Limited company etc can be expensive, but we found the solution which will save you lots of money : https://ewf.companieshouse.gov.uk/9e2438ac75a223c5240c1f7dc6e694db/runpage?page=welcome# how does £18 + VAT sound? You can also Vist the likes of Ryman for articles of association which are cheap, and you can call companies house for help and support free. Tel: 0303 1234 500

Business Plan

You need to know what your company will be selling and off course researching the local market with this in mind. More on business plan

Links: Starting a business| Business Finance | Finding Staff | HMRC Business VAT

Starting A Business

Free Bookkeeping Software, looking to download today and all free!

As with any business, bookkeeping is key. This applies to a sole trader or limited company, the hard and fast rule is you need software  to keep your books.. the problem is the cost of bookkeeping software! so we have foundfree bookkeeping software for you.

Bookkeeping software is idea for keeping your records and helping you understand your turnover and expenses, the problem as stated is the cost of the software and to a degree the complexity. So we have had a search around the web to solve the problem for you.

Free Bookkeeping Software Download

All the software below is free of charge which we hope is a breath of fresh air for you.

So, here we go with the list of free bookkeeping software:

Microsoft Accounting Express 2007
Ideal for the sole trader or very small business. This is a fully feature packed software that covers pretty much all you need to get started.

click to download your free bookkeeping application software below:

Download link click here

Free Accounting

Free Accounting is a very simple program, easy to use and learn and it offers you a complete solution to bookkeeping and accounting Free Accounting comes with: Company Management, Banking, Vendor Management, Customer Management, Purchasing, Receiving, Quotations, Sales, Delivery, Invoicing, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Pay Bills and lots more.

Download link click here

Free Accounting Software

Turbo Cash

TurboCash Accounting, Windows Accounting package for single users, sole trader or small limited business. Despite being free, this is a Powerful Open Source Accounting Software with free download. The only disadvantage is you need some experience in basic bookkeeping to get the best out of it. free registration.

Download link click here

Free bookkeeping software

Business, Corporate Team Building

Business Team building comprises of a broad amount of team building activities which are run by businesses, clubs, schools and colleges and off course charities. The point of team building in a business is to help staff develop a bond with coworkers, to motivate them and to a large degree to inspire workers thus hopefully increase production levels.

Developing any company can be a challenge, getting the organization talking to workers if you will really can be a task, but having games or team building events with teams in really can make all the difference and end the monotony of the work a day routine many carry out. A break from the boredom and sometimes tedious daily routine really can lift the tone of your workers.

Team Building Activities

In short, business team building can make a real difference in any business and your workers will be sure to thank you for it. Team building does, in addition get people working together solving problems, thinking as a group, increasing confidence and competency really does make a difference thus effective team building games.

Its all very well for one to reward big achievers – and rightly so as the golden rule of thumb here is if you reward people for doing well, they do better on the other hand, if you reward people for doing badly they get worse, try this and you will see its true.If you have say 10 staff members you can split them into teams, 5 v 5 if you have a larger company you can have multiple teams and split them the same way perhaps appointing a referee.

The emphasis is fun and laughter, this would need to be the name of the game whenever you do team building with staff.

Why opt for Team Building? corporate team building

There are so many benefits in this including:

- Adds fun to the company motivating staff
- Makes your staff strong and want to work together
- Creates a sense of purpose – a game is better than a problem

Reasons for Team Building include

* Improving communication
* Making the workplace more enjoyable
* Motivating a team
* Getting to know each other
* Getting everyone “onto the same page”, including goal setting
In addition, working as a team, your staff will tend to cooperate more with there coworkers, thus increased productivity.

Business  Games – Team Building Events

When organizing a team building event, think of the whole group, don’t make tasks very hard, make them solvable and most of all fun, ensuring everyone can take part. Make it too hard the staff may not be able to achieve the goal and thus become apathetic, make them too easy you get no self satisfaction from it.

Types of Team Building Exercises

Here are some suggestions to consider – remember the emphasis is on fun:

1. Go carting: Everyone can get involved tends to be a real motivator and lots of fun.
2. Fun Day out: Could be a trip to a venue with a dinner and dance
3. Raffle : Sales targets set, split into teams – ensure EVERYONE gets some type of prize (important)
4. In house Quiz: In your main offices, hold a quiz with red team and white etc
5. Cabaret: Staff members get dressed up and perform on a make shift stage.
6. Karaoke: Staff members perform on a make shift stage.
7. Murder Mystery Weekend: If your budget stretches to it, great fun for all

The emphasis here is fun!

Business Team Building

Team management applies when one appoints a head of each team to organize the other members. This gives you a chance to assess future leaders of departments.

No need for Psychology
The key point is bonding etc, there are no requirements for analysis and expensive consultants, its about motivation staffs. Team building is the way to go!

If you want to start a limited company or convert your current business to a limited company status, you can certainly get a variety of benefits by doing this. First, in such company, officials and company shareholders are always a limited responsibility given to them.

In a society or non limited company or conducting business as a sole trader, personal assets are at risk in case of default of the company. This is not the case of that company.In a limited company, the directors or shareholders’ personal assets are not in danger in case of liquidation or bankruptcy, if the business is operating legally and within the terms of the Companies Act. To maintain personal assets above the risk is certainly a great benefit, especially at a time when business failure has become one of the most common aspects of current life.
Saving on tax is the second important benefit that a limited l company owner can avail. Normally the first profit of these companies is tax free which is not in the case of sole traders and partnerships. Thus, the potential business man has the opportunity to save a good amount of tax. Such a company also helps to reduce your tax liability further. This was due to the fact that corporate profits may be distributed as dividends to shareholders Insurance are not applicable to dividend payments.

After starting a limited company, suppliers and customers will consider you trustworthy and dependable. Actually, large organizations particularly prefer not to deal with the non-limited company and they feel a sense of confidence in dealing with limited companies. Also the costs associated with managing and operating such kind of business company, unless the companies are not limited. Lastly, you have no obligation to initiate trade in a period of time after its incorporation.

Having a limited company will always provide immense benefits and advantages over a non-limited company or business. So if you have already a business, think to convert it into a limited company and if you are new to business field, start with a limited company!

Forming Your Company in the UK, Starting up

Starting up, or forming a company in the UK almost 10 years ago was horrendous for many people and exasperating not least of all because of all the red tape. More recently though, the time it takes in forming a company has been cut down dramatically and currently if you are looking to go into business in the UK today it can be all done in a matter of 2 days.

Starting up a company really is easy requiring only your own details, a registered office (which can be a home address),  memorandum of association,articles of association, a company name, shareholders,sign up and your live. You do not even have to have a company secretary any more, due to changes in business legislation* (*speak to your accountant on this to confirm it applies to you)

Form your Company

Your accountant or solicitor can help you form your company or if you wish, you can do the whole process online using a company formation website. Your first step is choose a business name (check its not already taken) Choose a name your happy with, be creative often a name matching your brand is the best. The whole process from inquiry to finish only depends on you and off course if the name you have chosen is copyrighted. Its vitally important you check available names carefully, don`t change the spelling to match an established name this may land you in hot soup. Trying to confuse potential clients with your companies name – if its a missplet, may invoke legal action by the owner of that name. Determine if you are going to trade as a limited company or llp (limited liability partnership) and off course remember to let HMRC know your trading for tax reasons.

Company Formation

Its essentially correct, if its an established name you are trying to copy, the company may well have more popularity. Next, ensure all your documentation is correct and in order and correctly filled in. Next step, file the documents online or use a solicitor, accountant as needed with companies house. Ensure you have paid all the fees for your company setup to shorted the time it takes to process your application. The fee for setting up a company is not a great idea and is only affected if you choose to do it yourself or employ another to do it. You can form a company on your own, you no longer require a company secretary.The basics are easy, do not let anyone try and charge you for tis its pretty simple and cheap to do. UK company formation can be done in literally hours

Forming a company is easy, do it today.

Business VAT

Advise on  business VAT registration

New Business and VAT Registration information on VAT in the UK, Starting a business, when to register for VAT and more…

So, we have the subjects of Tax, VAT and the most cost effective solution for business. As we will find out later on this page, there are 2 ways one can go into business either self employed or by forming a limited company, that’s all very well but what about tax? does it play a part depending on how you start your business? it certainly does!
So lets look at VAT, in the UK its 20% and you must register for it, this little snippet from the Inland Revenues website: “If you are in business, you must register for VAT if your turnover for the previous 12 months is above £70,000″ so business VAT is pretty much self explanatory. Here is the link to the  Business VAT page of the Inland Revenue:

Business VAT Links

(Value Added Tax)

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/reg-how-to.htm

Here is a link to show you a demo of how you fill your VAT return in online

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/demo/organisation/VAT-online/

Not all goods are vatable however, you should check with your accountant to see or alternatively you can call the helpline for the VAT service and all the other numbers, click here
TAX

So as we will find in the section below Trading as a .. there are benefits to be had on tax depending on the direction you want to go in. Please see below:
Trading as a business – Self Employed

So the plus points on this off course is you can just start trading prior to trading you would inform the Inland Revenue you have become self employed, this is mandatory by the way. So once you have informed the IR, you start and off you go.

Business VAT Registration

Guide to business tax, VAT registration for small business. The current VAT rate is 20% for most business`s in the UK, with exemption to items such as food an clothing which tend to be lower. Some items such as leaflets are VAT exempt meaning the printer will not charge VAT.. With value added tax, there maybe times when you receive a VAT refund when your accounting for the quarter shows this.

The benefits of being Self-Employed include:

1. Flexibility , you can do as much or as little as you like with regards to your product sales, bearing in mind outflow equals inflow thus the more you produce the more you do earn.
2. You determine your own salary: another plus point, so whereas in a 9-5 job you may earn say £6 per hour, being self employed you could be earning £60 per hour, depending off course on the product you sell and its profitability.

Ok, so there are many other benefits to being self employed, lets look at the minus points too:

1. Tax: You will be required to “pay on account” by the Inland Revue each year, this would be considered to be mandatory, in addition its follows a tax return so you have to make allowances for this.
2. If anything goes wrong in the business you have set you will be personally responsible, therefore, say you incur a debt and don’t have the money to pay for it, you could have a situation were your home is at risk depending on the size of debt.
3. There may not be as many tax benefits in becoming self employed and thus you may be liable for a lot of charges.

Summary of being self employed:

Business VAT , Corporation Tax For Small Business

In a nutshell, it has plus and minus points, its useful for those who are not able to form a limited company, but it can be costly and no protection for you if anything goes wrong.
Trading as a business – Limited Company

So lets take a look at running your business as a limited company, this is ideal for many people and it requires just 2 people to start as a limited company.
So pretty much anyone can form a limited company on the proviso you are not currently banned from being a director and not bankrupt. Firstly, you register a limited company, the cost of this varies from companies who specialise in company formation, some are outrageous in cost, others are not and off course you can always do it yourself, but lets keep it simple. I have listed companies on the right hand side who offer good value services – per the advertising but its a golden rule to get 3 quotes to ascertain the best package for you.
The cost of forming a limited company can vary greatly from £20 + VAT to £180 + VAT and more depending on factors like if you require the registering company to act as a company secretary or as a registered address, but lets presume you are trading from home. You can trade as a limited company on your own as a sole director, the requirement for a company secretary is no longer required (based on a limited company)
So lets look at the benefits shall we:

1. Limited Liability: In short means if anything goes wrong in the company – debt lodged etc you would not be liable ordinarily, however check this with a good accountant. Your limited company becomes a person in the eyes of the law so any bother, the limited company gets it, under normal circumstances then, you would just walk away. Exception here is breaking the law which is another story altogether this would include fraud which carries a stiff penalty.

2. Dividends: You can have a dividend each year
3. Lots of tax incentives to be had, claiming tax relief on leasing of vehicles etc.

Lets now look at the minus points:

Business VAT

1. Corporation tax: This must be paid each year normally after the first 18 months of trading and you must send a set of accounts – trading summary to companies house, if you fail to submit a return you may lose your company or risk a fine for not filling a return and see your company listed to be removed in the London Evening Standard.
2. P.A.Y.E and National Insurance: You have to submit a return each quarter listing how much is due for staff payments, there is a plus point however, the IR send you a CD showing you how:)
3. VAT: Once you reach the ceiling in sales, VAT registration is required, this is the same for both self employed and for limited companies, if you fail to register you may be in deep soup, a fine and interest.

Summary of forming a limited company:

Its the suggested road perhaps for many and the benefits outweigh the inconvenience, you basically work for the limited company contra to working for yourself in the legal sense and the tax breaks and help may outweigh the negatives. Business VAT is far easier than you may think.Business VAT.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR ACCOUNTANT REGARDING BUSINESS VAT AND TAX. BELOW IS A SUMMARY ONLY, PLEASE ALWAYS SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

Business VAT

5 Rules to quality customer service
Good customer service is the key to success. At the start of any business, perhaps the most important thing is good customer service.

Treating your customers with good service goes without saying, however there is far more to customer service that just a smile and the immortal phrase “can I help you?” Below are some tips on service that works.
equals high sales,happy clients and an expanding company and repeat sales, bad service equals your dead in the water, after all who wants to deal with someone who is miserable? answer – no one.

Main Motivation in Customer Service

The main goal in customer service surprisingly is not money.. its just not. You see if your dealing with a client and in your mind you have money / sale you wont get one because the client can feel your urgency to get them to spend money on your products and chances are they will not progress there inquiry for your product. Your main goal should be to really care for the customer, find out what he/she really wants in other words really get in communication with your potential customer.

As this is achieved, trust is gained this comes directly through help and genuine interest, it works like magic. As a side note, it goes without saying good manners ALWAYS win the day in customer service, these is no substitute for manners.

5 Tips to Good Customer Service

1. Smile : People will generally warm to you when you smile and above all else it’s the first contact you have with a client, so always smile and be approachable in promoting your service.
2. Take an interest: Take an interest in your customer, compliment them and generally flow positive comments to the customer. This gives a good
impression and makes the person feel confident and happy to shop/buy with you.This is the essense of good customer service.
3. Follow up sales: So the customer buys a product, thank the customer for the sale and acquire there email address to follow up the sale with additional
offers in the future.Be sure to ask them if its ok to email them in future!
4. Keep in touch: Do keep in touch with your client by letter, email or perhaps phone. Take notes on any correspondence or communication, there could
be buying signals there, in addition the client will be happy to hear from you.

5. Smile as you dial: If contacting the potential customer involves Telesales, the trick is smile as you dial, this may sound basic but it works. If your happy on the phone the customer will pick up on thi and thus be happy also.

6. Handle Complaints Effectively

If the client lodges a complaint then always, always deal with it. Dont let the client feel unacknowledged remember that bad news spreads fast! In the event your dealing with an awful customer who is just downright nasty, better just offload them. Do feel the need to give freebies away unless they are truly warranted.

Good Customer Service

In short, a pleasant approach gives buyers confidence, taking an interest in them – general chit chat and the like builds friendship and trust. The golden word is customer service, master it and your business will flourish and prosper. Customer service is no mystic thing, its about caring for the person in front of you or on the phone.

Business Startup Checklist:
There are chances of overlooking certain critical aspects as far as a start up business is concerned and if you overlook certain critical aspects, this can be a bad sign for your business.

However we are here to assist you with what we think is best for a start up business. This can be done effectively by crosschecking if the following aspects are in place

• Setting up the business – location, nature, time, human resource
• Registration of business and business name and legal form of business
• Writing a business plan and identifying ways to execute it
• Get a banker in place and set up other professional relationships – vendors, retailers, Solicitors..
• Getting required licensing and registration done
• Setting price and positioning of your product or service
• Identifying your financing needs and getting the resource for the same
• Obtaining office space and related equipments if required
• Drawing up a day to day managerial plan
• Developing marketing and human resource plans and methods to execute them

The idea of this checklist is to ensure you are in focus when it comes to your start up business and you know where you are headed as far as your start up business is concerned. You might be adept at handling some elements of the above list and not so good at handling the others, there is hardly a need to worry as there is plenty of help available when it comes to assisting you with your start up business and all you need to do is keep a tab on this space and keep reading more. All the best we are confident your start up business is going to work for you favorably and profitably so.

Here are some easy techniques for dealing with nasty customers effectively and helping you keep your cool and calm the customer also.
So, here we go:

1. Record the call!
Always, always record the conversation wit the customer. Inform the customer you are recording the call (very important) and commence the call wit the customer. Its important to record the telephone conversation in case the client tries to suggest you said things which you didn’t. In addition, prior to installing your recoding software, its worth a call to the DTI to clarify what you can and must do regarding calls that are recorded under the data protections act. Here is a link to the DTI (Bis.Gov) http://www.bis.gov.uk/contact

1. Stay Composed!

A common thing with nasty people (or customers) is they like to attack you directly, not your company, YOU. They may fire all types of bad language at you, covertly try and destroy you and depress you this can include the F word, the B word and the like. The handling for this then is let the client finish what they are saying then advise them if they continue to attack you on the phone, you will end the call there and then.. If they then continue to be aggressive, end the call by telling them to email you the specifics of there grudge and you are ending the call, and end it. Why this is relevant? Because you have the basic right to receive communication or give it, simple as.

Dealing With Nasty Customers

2. The Customers Worth!

We all hear the “customer is king” but actually is this true? if the customer is screaming at you and suppressing you, then the question is – is this customer worth keeping. The question alone determines your actions. Manners rule the waves; for sure this is true but in actuality if a customer treats you like dirt once they will tend to do it again. Certainly be nice to the customer, but don’t stand for aggressive behavior.

3. Stand your ground but grant beingness to the customer!

Occasionally people merely have a bad twenty-four hours and are searching for someone – literally anyone to take it out on and vent there anger. an awful, threatening customer is often one of these types of people. If you feel you have to listen to their moaning and sufferings and then answer with a charitable heart telling them you realize their frustration and you would like to work with them not against them to arrive at a settlement, you will often disperse the anger and reveal the reasonable human being..

4. Refunds

If the customer is requesting a refund or arguing about the goods, its merely about the value of the goods that determines whether you give him/her a refund. Stick to your guns on this point, its all too easy to become effect of the customer and give them a refund “just to get rid” but actually if your in the right, you dont need to do this, if you have included a standard set of terms and conditions with the sale of the item its basically the terms of sale that determines if the client is due a refund. Dont be pressured when you are in the right – dont give in!

On the other hand, if a refund is genuinely due, then send the person a refund and that’s that.

Dealing With Nasty Customers

5. If all else fails, lose the customer.

As we have covered already a happy customer tells one person about your business and its happy days, on the other hand an unhappy customer will tell 20 or more how bad you are. Word of mouth remains the best form of advertising and can be relied upon. But a customer who is trouble, creates the same and as we know bad news tends to travel fast – lightning fast.

5. Call the Police
In exceptional circumstances, when the customer is making threats towards you you can always call the Police, as threatening behavior is not ok. In addition one more tip, record all calls, this gives you evidence of threats to yourself.

End Note:
The unhappy customer may promise you the world if you refund them, lots more orders and recommendations are common false promises and believe me they normally are. Stand by your guns, be big and flourish and prosper! Dealing with Nasty Customers.

Dealing With Nasty Customers

Is your Business growing in the UK? If  so, in due course you will need business financing or invoice factoring. Naturally, if you’re like the majority of small business owners, your first idea might be to look for a business bank loan.

The downside of this is in these current times banks are lending as much as they should and business loans and business factoring can be very hard to get, may take a couple of weeks to set up and don’t really provide a solution to most businesses. You may be better off looking for alternative business financing products.

In addition, accounts receivable factoring is an important part of your finance office, giving you working capital by factoring your invoices.

I am going to show you two alternative business financing products. As opposed to the traditional business loan, they are easy to obtain, can be set up in days, and they grow as your business grows.Invoice Factoring . If your biggest business financing, lets face it its challenging in so much that you have clients who take as long as 60 days or more to pay their invoices, which is less than ideal for the small business, so then the answer could be factor your invoices. What is factoring I here you ask, well Factoring, or invoice factoring as it is often called, provides a solution to cash flow issues whereas you normally present the invoice from your client and get an advance of up to 80% thus cash on the spot.instead of waiting for ’invoice payments and thus handles your cash-flow. Invoice factoring is the key.

Invoice Factoring

Many companies offer factoring services, not just banks.Factoring does not involve changing your customers’ payment habits but often on your invoice the factoring company will insist the invoice is paid to them as you are selling the bill to the factoring company itself.With factoring, you can capitalize on your invoices pretty much straight away hence covering your pay and employees pay.If you are a reseller or wholesaler and your biggest challenge in business is that you cannot afford to pay your suppliers on an immediate basis, then purchase order financing is the best tool for you. Purchase order financing gives you the money you need right now, hence you can pay your supplier on the spot or the same week. A bank may also forward you a letter of credit with your suppliers guaranteeing you can pay them for services or goods rendered your suppliers This enables you to buy the goods to fulfill your orders and make the sale knowing you can pay for it..Both purchase order financing and invoice factoring can be obtained from a factoring company (rather than a bank whose charges may be considerably more). if you own a business that needs financing, be sure to look at these non-traditional business financing tools. There are many factoring solution’s in the UK, do shop around for the right financing package to suit your companies needs.

A point to remember:

With a factoring company, they will forward you up to 80% of the gross amount, if your client then defaults on the invoice, your facing a charge back on your account. Do survey at least five factoring companies as there service is variable indeed.Invoice factoring is ideal for a growing business if used wisely.

FAQ and Summing up

The 2 options are get the client to pay with order or there is Invoice factoring.

What is Invoice Factoring

Simply put, invoice factoring equals cash flow. You submit your invoice to the factoring company, they in turn will advance you up to 60-80% of the funds straight away. So for example the tweety biscuit company fax’s an invoice to the factoring company for £2000, then a couple of hours later (after the factoring company has verified the order) you can go along and collect your cheque. Really as simple as that.

What does Invoice Factoring cost though?

The cost is agreed initially with you by the factor company and its usually 5-8% of the invoice value. In reality, you are selling the invoice to this company and in the event your client breaks there agreement, the factoring company will chase it to a degree.. but there are minus points..

If your client does not pay the bill, the factoring company will usually instigate a “charge back” to your account, meaning your account will show a minus figure. This can have a dire effect on your cash flow off course, however if you run a credit check on your client prior to accepting there order, this will reduce your risk of supplying them.

So to sum up; yes invoice factoring is a good idea, just make sure you read the small print ect before committing yourself to an agreement.

Invoice Factoring.

© 2010 Your Business Service. All rights Reserved

Create a Business Plan

how to write a business plan
To have a business plan In any business, plays a large part of its success and forms a reference to your marketing department who can then with approval apply it.

The fundamentals of a solid marketing strategy includes researching the client base to target, geographic data procurement, what age range is the ideal client, what offers will win the client and how to keep the customer from going elsewhere. These are the fundamentals to help your company go forward.

Contra to popular belief sales and marketing are 2 different zones. Marketing attracts the customer, sales gets the sale however its also true a solid business marketing plan gets the company well thought off and procures interest from your target market.

Business Plan Layout

Ok, first things first, your marketing plan requires an overview of your business strategy, this is to do with professionalism and lays out your plan for your marketing department to follow. This summary would include:

- The goal of your company – only a summary is needed
- The companies goals and objectives
- How you intend to meet those goals

What this does is essentially map out your companies mission and objectives and thus how it all works in tandem and works together. It also displays to the reader the actual path and series of events of your marketing plan – a map if you will of how your company will arrive at its objective or mission at some future time.

Marketing Strategy and Goals:

So, what exact sequence of events are needed to bring your marketing plan into actuality? You would cover exactly – based on research, what it will take to achieve the goals and aims of your company this would include financial, manpower and the organization of such to deliver the products of the company within and assigned budget.

How to do a Business Plan

Getting your business marketing plan off the ground:

We arrive at the point of execution of your marketing plan. Now its time to designate staff there hat (hat would be job) and make them responsible for it, the staff member would be held to account on the monies assigned to there division, the accountability of services they employ and so on. Designation here is the key to success after all you only have one pair of hands.

Business Marketing Plan Success :
Ideally you would draft out in pencil, a mini organizing board, make labels which are color coded and with the designated staff members name on the label, this will help you keep track of who does what.

There are many small business grants you can apply for in the UK today 2011.Here we cover them all.

Despite the recession, funds are available for new business Start ups right now. We are often asked where or how to get these grants? Well here we will explain how you go about applying for a business grant. There are a couple of options:

How to get a business grant

Option 1: The UK Government Grants for small business
The government has many sectors and bodies that offer sound advice and some invite you to apply for a grant to start your business. These departments specifically are:

Small Business Grants

- DTI – Department of Trade and Industry
- Business Link – Google these such as business link Southampton replace Southampton with your town.
- If your in Scotland, there is the Scottish Executive
- Ireland has a body called Enterprise Ireland
- Wales – Single Investment Fund
- National Lottery – Yes they offer business grants..
- UK Sport.Gov – Grants for Sport
- Citizens Advice Bureau can provide advice
- England – Grant for Business Investment
- UK Trade & Investment – Government Body
- Direct Grant: Basically its hard cash funding, its unlikely ou will get 100% of the amount you require, normally its by arrangement where you are offered a fixed amount.

- Repayable grant: This is a type of bridging loan if you will. Money is given to you on the basis its repaid from your business profits later. The amount is set by arrangement.
- Soft Loans: This can be a commercial loan with added flexibility and low if any interest rates at all.
- Equity Finance: This is mistaken as free money, its not. The investor will put cash into your business in return for shares or stock otherwise known as Equity.

These are typical ports of call for small business grants. Once you apply the time for a decision can be set by locality. If you choose a local body, you’re more likely to get a fast response contra to a national body which may take significantly longer.

Grants for a Small Business

Option 2: The EU Grant – European Commission

This off course is known as EU Grants and it’s a grant given by the EU in Brussels. As the UK participates in various programs with the EU, you can also apply to them directly.
Your can read more by going here – http://ec.europa.eu/contracts_grants/index_en.htm

You are entitled to a small business grant, so apply today

Get a Government grant today,small business grants you can apply for in the UK today.
Despite the recession,there are business startup grants available for new business Startups right now

Small Business Grants.

Useful Phone Numbers:

Dept of Trade and Industry : Tel: 020 7215 5000
Business Link: Tel 0845 600 9 006
Scottish Executive: Tel: 0131 556 8400
Enterprise Ireland:
Enterprise Ireland
East Point Business Park
Dublin 3
Tel: +353 1 727 2000
Fax: +353 1 727 2020
Welsh Grants:

http://www.gra-ukgrants.com/Registration_red_intro.html

National Lottery: Tel:0845 4 10 20 30
Grants for sports: http://www.sportengland.org/funding.aspx
Grants for England – UK Gov: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/grant-for-business-investment-offers-of-75000-pounds-or-more
UK Trade and Investment Grants : http://www.entrepreneurs.gov.uk/gep/aboutus/en-GB.html

Goverment Business Grants

When it comes to getting a grant from the Goverment, there are many who say “there are no grants available” actually this is far from the truth. In the UK, there are many types of grants including Sports, Arts, Business and Charity funding. Its merely a case of where to look.

Sports Grants

www.sportengland.org/funding/small_grants.aspx

Sport England provide grants and funding for sports and people involved in sport.

Tel: 08458 508508 Fax: 020 7383 5740

Arts Grants

www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding

This body funds all types of Art projects and grants for artists.

Business Link

Business Link Helpline on Tel 0845 600 9 006.

New Deal Business Start up Grants

If you have been unemployed for 26 weeks, you can get help starting your own business, and you wont lose your benefits.

http://www.inbiz.co.uk

This company provides a mentor to work with you or advise you and help get you started.

What’s a small business government grant then?

Well a small business grant is there to hep you start your business in a nut shell. As you may have already found, there are lots websites offering to provide you information.

What’s a small business government grant then?
Well a small business grant is there to hep you start your business in a nut shell. As you may have already found, there are lots websites offering to provide you information and the like for a fee, thankfully we don’t charge you any fee, just provide the information we have found for you to inspect.
What kind of business grants are available?

Information from Business Link:
The main groups who award grants are:

· the government
· the European Union – EU
· Regional Development Agencies in England, Scottish Enterprise, the Welsh Development Agency and Invest Northern Ireland
· local authorities or local councils and local development agencies
· Business Links
· Chambers of Commerce
· County Enterprise Boards
Some funding is also distributed through colleges and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
Telephone Numbers:

Business Link – UK Government:
Tel: 0845 6009006.
BERR : UK Goverment: Tel: 020 7215 5000
From BERR Website :
The Business Support Simplification Programme

“The Business Support Simplification Programme (BSSP) is an important part of the government’s drive to make the UK a good place to start and grow a business. It is streamlining the grants, subsidies and advice that government offers to make it easier for businesses to access help and support.” (C) BERR.GOV.UK – Crown Copyright 2009.
FUNDS AND PROGRAMMES BY EU POLICY

· Agriculture
· Audiovisual and Media
· Communication
· Competition
· Conference interpretation
· Consumers
· Culture
· Development
· Economic and financial affairs
· Education, training and youth
· Employment and social affairs
· Energy
· Enlargement
· Enterprise
· Environment
· External Relations
· External Aid
· External Trade
· Fisheries
· Fighting fraud
· Freedom, Security and Justice
· Humanitarian Aid
· Human Rights
· Information society
· Public Health
· Regional Policy
· Research and Innovation
· Sport
· Statistics
· Transport
Agriculture
Funding opportunities under the Common Agricultural Policy
Direct payments
Rural Development Programmes
Information measures relating to the common agricultural policy
Information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries
Audiovisual and Media

MEDIA Plus Programme
Other Programmes
Communication

EU funding opportunities in the field of Press and Communication
Competition

Calls for Proposals
Conference interpretation

Grants for training in conference interpreting
Study bursaries for interpreters
Pedagogical Assistance from the Directorate General of Interpretation
Consumers

EU funding opportunities in the field of Consumer Policy
Culture

Grant Programmes
Development

Development Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific states
EuropAid Co-operation Office

Economic and financial affairs
Grants awarded in the field of economic and financial affairs
Education, training and youth

Grant Programmes
Employment and social affairs

EU funding opportunities in the field of Employment and Social Affairs
Energy

EU funding opportunities in the field of Energy
“Intelligent Energy Europe” Programme
Enlargement

Financial assistance to candidate countries
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)
Enterprise

EU funding opportunities in the field of Enterprise
Access to Finance for European Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Environment

EU Funding Opportunities in the Field of Environment
Eco-innovation programme
External Relations
External Relations
Eco-innovation programme
External Aid

EuropAid Co-operation Office – How to get a grant?
Calls for Proposals

External Trade

Grant Programmes
Fisheries

Grant Programmes

Fighting fraud
Freedom, Security and Justice

EU funding opportunities in the field of justice, freedom and security
Humanitarian Aid

EU funding opportunities in the field of humanitarian aid
Human Rights

European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Gender Equality
Anti-discrimination and relations with Civil Society
Information society

EU funding opportunities in the field of information society
ICT research funding opportunities under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7, 2007-2013)
Public Health

Programme of Community Action in the field of Public Health (2003-2008)
Regional Policy

European regional development fund
European Social Fund
Cohesion Fund
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
JASPERS – Joint Assistance in Supporting Projects in European Regions
JEREMIE – Joint European Resources for Micro to medium Enterprises
JESSICA – Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas
The European Union Solidarity Fund
Research and Innovation

CORDIS – Community Research & Development Information Service, Calls for Proposals for Research Projects
Sport

Funds, Grants and programmes for sport projects integrating other aspects
Statistics

Eurostat Grants

Transport
EU funding opportunities in the field of transport Marco Polo programme

With so much information needed fora business grant, we have decided to write a complete ebook on how to get a business grant. We are releasing this by popular demand and at a very reasonable price affordable to 99% of people.

Getting a Business Grant

In truth its far easier to get a grant than you may think. The finance is never instant as it goes through channels for approval but once approved it will arrive normally by post. There are quite a few types of grant available and we could fill this whole site purely on this subject hence why we are writing a complete business grant ebook filled with practical advice and a step by step guide on applying for one.

There are other means of finance as we know including a bank loan or perhaps a loan from a family member, the benefit of a business grant however is (depending on the finance you apply for ) in a lot of instances you don’t have to repay it.

Small Business Grants

There are many small business grants you can apply for in the UK today. Despite the recession, funds are available for new business Startups right now. We are often asked where or how to get these grants? Well here we will explain how you go about applying for a business grant. There are a couple of options:

Option 1: The UK Government Grants for small business
The government has many sectors and bodies that offer sound advice and some invite you to apply for a grant to start your business. These departments specifically are:

_______________________________________________________________

- DTI – Department of Trade and Industry
- Business Link – Google these such as business link Southampton replace Southampton with your town.
- If your in Scotland, there is the Scottish Executive
- Ireland has a body called Enterprise Ireland
- Wales – Single Investment Fund
- National Lottery – Yes they offer business grants..
- UK Sport.Gov – Grants for Sport
- Citizens Advice Bureau can provide advice
- England – Grant for Business Investment
- UK Trade & Investment – Government Body
- Direct Grant: Basically its hard cash funding, its unlikely ou will get 100% of the amount you require, normally its by arrangement where you are offered a fixed amount.

- Repayable grant: This is a type of bridging loan if you will. Money is given to you on the basis its repaid from your business profits later. The amount is set by arrangement.
- Soft Loans: This can be a commercial loan with added flexibility and low if any interest rates at all.
- Equity Finance: This is mistaken as free money, its not. The investor will put cash into your business in return for shares or stock otherwise known as Equity.

Small Business Grants

Commercial Mortgages

In business more often than not, financing plays a part. That’s when commercial mortgages are sought, basically its a business mortgage if you will that provides the company with a loan for expansion and related activities….

its not a business overdraft, its a mortgage. All companies qualify, but only on the basis you have property to secure the commercial mortgage. In reality, its a commercial loan.

Types of business where commercial mortgages can really help.

- Pubs
- Clubs
- Hotels
- Industrial sector
- Shops
- Factories and many more.

Commercial Mortgages

As with all business finance, it pays to shop around as there are many deals to had and the golden rule is don`t go with the first quotation for your business lending, always get 3 quotes no matter how good the package looks. There is many commercial mortgage broker who can advise you on the current rates and lenders who offer refinance packages, but again  its best to shop around.

Commercial Mortgage  – Criteria

Your personal credit ideally needs to be good but in fact banks in the UK score your business account on a separable basis as this is there borrowing criteria. Rates do vary though Banks have there own rate of lending when it comes to commercial mortgages whereas often a specialist lending organization may well offer lower rates for business financing.More often, an business lending would usually require you to make a deposit the rate of deposit varies.

Commercial Mortgages

This is a good idea to raise funds for your business but do check the small print and the overall agreement before you sign.

Companies who offer Business Mortgages:
these are companies we found on Google, these are listed for guidance only. We do not receive any payments, commissions from these companies these are merely ideas:

This is HSBC Business
www.business.hsbc.co.uk

Lloyds TSB Business
www.lloydstsbbusiness.com

Sterling Knight – Commercial Brokers
www.sterlingknight.co.uk/

EVO Finance
Commercial Mortgage Specialists
www.evofinance.co.uk/

Kind Regards
YBS Team

Catering as a successful business

You may begin your own catering service business, which can be financially rewarding and enjoyable. You may do this business in a full or part time basis because events that you may cater may vary from the service they will get from you.

In this kind of business, opportunities are very great and there are a lot more benefits that you may not expect.

Every catered occasion can be a new experience to meet different kinds of people from all lifestyles. It is important that you have the stamina and the ability to work under pressure because of the demanding work that awaits you. You may need the help of some friends first before you may hire employees who are experienced in this kind of field.

It is a requirement for a catering business to have a license to operate like those permits that are issued to food establishments that have also catering services as well. Catering services are inspected by the Board of Health to see if they have the right materials and the capacity to prepare and handle food that is safe to the public.

Catering as a successful business

You may get your license at the local Health Department. You have to apply first before you obtain the permit to operate a business catering service. An inspection will be needed to check if you will pass the food sanitation requirements. After you have acquired your license, there will be regular check-up routines to ensure that you will sustain cleanliness and sanitation of your catering service.

There are states that require a catering service must have a separate area for the food operation and the kitchen facility of the house. This is important because they will not issue a license if you have a set up wherein they may see food sanitation is not your priority. If you want to remodel the set up, you must pass the plans and remodeled features to the Health Department for confirmation that you are following the required construction to your home facilities and to your food operation area.

Catering as a successful business

It is important to target your market in this business if you are given the permit to operate already. Know your competition and be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. If you are stable with your finances, you may hire applicants that are experienced in this kind of business.

Catering as a successful business

In one sentence Commercial Finance is a ways to raise finance for a business; the prominent finance solution would be this.

There is a large choice of finance solutions which include invoice finance and off course bank loans, but specialized financing such as this is probably your best choice to raise funds for expansion and increased delivery of your products our services.

Commercial Finance

This is a business banking arrangement and like any financial service, may require collateral to release funds. Like any business finance, its credit scored and by popular belief its for big companies, actually that’s not necessarily true. Like any borrowing for a company, it is credit scored and this credit scoring pretty much can determine the rate of borrowing, so in a nutshell if your company has good credit scoring then the fees may well be less, contra to a bad credit score the fees are likely to be higher with guarantees requested being a distinct possibility.

Financial Solutions in the UK

To arrange this finance, you could go to a specialized lender or your bank. Its best to shop around and certainly request 3 quotes to ensure the best deal. Basically, if you need business funding this is a good avenue to try. A good finance company will be able to help you for less than you may think.

Small Business Marketing

So based on first impressions one may think that a small business marketing sounds bit of a mystery, but a marketing strategy for your business can indeed make or break it.

A business marketing strategy is basically a marketing plan for your company and can be implemented whether your a sole trader or director, its the plan top make your company successful and well known. Another way of putting it is “its a marketing plan for your business”

This plan is based on the fact you have a business started and comprises of 5 very important steps, these steps are carried out in order and if done so can bring a submergence or resurgence in sales and prosperity for your company. These are researched, stepping stones to success.

Small Business Marketing

1. Make a list of all your customers – a ling list in fact covering all clients you have sold too.

2. Next, make a newsletter with 3 special offers. The newsletter needs to be professionally done (this is important as your only as professional as people see you as professional) include products that have sold well in the PAST!

3. Purchase envelopes and stamps and a label machine – recommended

4. Get the newsletter printed and sent to all your customers.

5. Watch the results as they come in, and come in they generally will.

Small Business Marketing

In the newsletter, mention “call now” 3 times! this is important and prompts the client to act, generally if the client sees the line “call now” 3 times, he/she will act. Make the newsletter color royal blue – based on the color wheel, blue is a trusting color, try to avoid using red, red is a dangerous , alarming color. Make sure any product pics are clear and concise and at the right resolution – for print you require 300Dpi in pictures. This is an ideal promotion tactic for effective small business marketing.

Marketing Tips:
Make your message sincere and always polite, (people dislike bad manners) get the newsletter in A4 format, this is the ideal size then get it posted. If you follow these tips you will see any failing company turnaround like magic.

Small Business Marketing

Keep in touch with clients, call them for referrals and success is on the way! these tips and advice on promotion help many small businesses in the UK succeed. You can also create a Facebook pay on the internet to really pull customers in. Social media these days can have a real positive impact on your small business.

(C) 2010 Your Business Service. All rights Reserved.

Ok, so lets get some staff. When once is looking to start a company, staff are indeed a primary factor sooner than later as your business expands..

Getting staff though is another matter altogether.On this page we look at staff procurement and the ways you can employ to do it – pardon the pun! Here we go

Staff the costs and then some
So staff obviously cost money and in the early stages of business one is always watching pennies, however staff are a necessity. So lets look at the ways how to procure staff.

Finding Staff

1.The Newspaper – Advertising
This may not be so expensive and a small ad can have a big impact! Do you ever wonder why some companies place ads that are just text and sometimes just readable, the reason being is they work!.Advertising in your local paper – probably a free press is useful and largely cost effective. Remember though to get at least 3 quotes before committing money to it.

Ad Design for the Newspaper to procure staff
A simple ad – text based normally does the trick, with a catchy slogan and most important the phone number clearly visible. For Text ads, MS Word normally will do the trick, if your ad has images in, getting a company to design it is wise.

2.The Job Centre – The wise, wonderful and…
So the Job centre will take your ad and its free, the problem here is that some of the candidates perhaps are not so keen on working and you could pay them a wage and have endless problems, however…The Job Centre offers Recruitment support and yes the deals they offer can be extremely useful, lets take a look at them:New Deal: Offers subsidies to employers and offers grants to cover training as part of a support package to help people who want to get back to work

Finding Staff

Job Introduction Scheme:
A possible solution to paying staff.The job centre offers a weekly grant to employers helping towards employment costs for a few weeks should you employ a disabled person. This is great for disabled people wanting to work and great for you too.

Work Trials: Great idea that wont cost you a bean for 30 days
The job centre offers an employer a risk free way to try out a potential employee for up to 30 days at no cost to the employer:)

Business Development

So you have your business off the ground, what next. Its is notable that when the proprietor of a small business gets going and reaches a stable turnover, then all creativeness goes out the window and that same persons hopes and dreams are then in danger of being washed away

So you have your business off the ground, what next. Its is notable that when the proprietor of a small business gets going and reaches a stable turnover, then all creativeness goes out the window and that same persons hopes and dreams are then in danger of being washed away, because as anyone in business will tell you, you have to continually develop your business as nothing in this universe stays stagnant it will either go forward or slowly (even rapidly) die.

Business Development

Well, in a to the point statement its about developing your business so it will flourish and prosper, however there are some key ingredients to making this happen, lets look over them.We have at this stage got the business off the ground, so what next:

It goes without saying you need a plan of action for business development this would include a marketing strategy perhaps a government funded loan or grant and in addition a business strategy showing not only the plan but also how you are going to achieve it and the projected turnover, this would need to be written by you for the bank as most banks require some type of strategy or business planning statement.

Market Research:

This is a MUST, one must examine the competition in the field your business operates otherwise known as market intelligence. This is not for the sake of trying to just “run before you can walk” but if you research the competition marketing intelligence will give you a road forward and also the ability to employ successful actions the competition has employed and thus spring boarding you and your companies takings to higher levels otherwise called market analysis. Intelligence – Gathering Data on competitors This really does work, one would ideally seek to mimic a successful enterprise so in order to reach a similar client base that your competitors reach you have to employ business intelligence.

An example of this is a real life scenario. Many years ago I had a computer company that was doing ok, we bought parts from a local supplier and no matter what we did we could never purchase these items and distributor prices, so I went along with one of my buyers to collect goods we had ordered, Whilst my buyer was chatting to the cashier, I noted on the back of my hand the names of the original suppliers to the company we were making the purchase from. I did this around 10 time amassing my own little black book of distributors and then dealt with the directly saving my company a lot of money. So intelligence in this case worked. The golden rule of thumb always do your homework, ideal for business development always.

Business Development

Marketing Intelligence Software

If you want to stay one step ahead of the competition, specialist marketing companies can provide business intelligence to help your company expand. Companies we have found who specialize in Market intelligence listed below:

http://www.ql2.com/

Powerful data mining, extraction and integration tools that seamlessly deliver critical business intelligence data in real time.

http://www.markintell.com/market-research-wizard

How about you had a simple tool that would scour the millions of data records and industry landscapes for you and provide immediate insight into demand

www.digimind.com
The leader in On-Demand Competitive Intelligence Software … Download Free Resources Digimind is the Leader in the Market Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence Software as a Service

Business development from YBS

Without doubt, the most important first step for a small business is a bank account. The question is which bank is best?

There are many banks across the UK offering business banking and the choice is varied indeed.

Without doubt, the most important first step for a small business is a bank account. The question is which bank is best? There are many banks across the UK offering business banking and the choice is varied indeed. On this page we are going to do a business banking review to look at the choices from selected banks who not only provide business accounts for those in good credit standing, also banks who offer adverse bank accounts for those with poor credit.

Do you need  a Bad Credit Business Bank Account ?

The Cooperative Bank.

This bank offers the standard business account and also a basic business account for those with bad credit. If you do not have a personal account, this bank can offer you a full account or for those with bad credit they offer a VISA Electron charge card which you can top up at a post office or by post.

Business Banking Account Review

Cooperative bank:

Personal account inquiries:
08457 212 212
Comments:
For a personal account with VISA Electron card, they are exceptional.

HSBC

HSBC offer a very good choice of business accounts and offer good advice and a friendly service. Internet Banking Help desk Lines are open from 8am to 10pm every day
Tel: 0845 600 2290
+44 1226 261 226
(textphone 18001 08457 125 563)

Barclays Bank

Overall, I found an account with Barclay’s a pleasure. They offer a choice of business accounts and other investment accounts. If you have bad credit, they will offer a sympathetic ear and are a pleasure to deal with. Whether they provide an account for bad credit is unknown. A relation who banked with them actually got a refund of bank charges from them, after this they would not give him another account.

Tel: 0845 601 0106

Lloyds TSB Bank

We bank with them, they are totally approachable and the customer service team are exceptional. In this business banking review, lloyds came out top as Lloyds offer standard business accounts and for those with bad credit, they will give you a chance with a basic business account. Whenever we have had a query, the account manager has put things right in a very short space of time. Highly recommended.
Business account questions 0845 072 5555 or +44 1392 899 091

Additional solutions if all else fails.

If you are getting nowhere, the final option would be a Halifax Treasurers  account. This can be used for business and it pays interest on every penny you have in it. Its good to get you started and offers direct debits, standing orders and a card for cash machines. Note: Its more a temporary measure!

Business Banking Review

Our Suggestion: Lloyds Bank, but ultimately its down to personal choice. Common with all banks, the operating basis we found initially is terror – Don`t trust the client. If you ever wondered why banks are ripped off  is because they fear it so much it happens, this is true in life off course too, however with any bank as time moves on you develop a pattern of conduct with your business bank account and in turn this is what generates the confidence (or lack of) with the bank. Keep your account running in order and over time (we noticed around every 3 months) the bank will start to offer more. We wanted to make this business banking review an honest review of UK banks, and it is.

Experience with Lloyds Business Banking  and additional data on patterns:

As mentioned , initially it was difficult for us to get a bank account, literally no bank wanted to know. Then on the 2nd application, Lloyds gave us a chance. Over a period of around 9 months, we have a £2K credit card, a £3K business overdraft and recently we have been offered a loan of up to £7,500. The morale of this is dont give up! there are business accounts available just keep at it.

We hope this business banking review helps you

All data (C) 2011. Your Business Service. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy!

Lets take a look at what free business advice really is.There are many places to turn to for free business advice in the UK who offer information on starting your own business and although there initially free, they will come back later and start charging you for there services, this is all well and good but in reality, it defeats the purpose of a free service.

Not be expensive in the UK, after all you can start a limited company from as little as £50 and that includes all the companies house paperwork. The following information is based on my own research I conducted recently.

Accountants:

So some say a good accountant is hard to find, and to be honest there not wrong. From personal experience I have had 2 accountants and neither one of them has saved me any money, they suggest they provide free business advice but I found they did not and it cost me a lot in the process.

Free Business advice

Well, I believe anyone in fact can be a business advisor, what does this really mean. Again, some business advisers offer the standard spiel and so on, but do they deliver, I have not found one who has to be frank unless they can sell you a service, or charge you for information on business grants etc.

Banks:

Ah, yes, the banks. I sing the praises of some banks for there good service but to be fair, not one of them have ever given me free business advise.. not one. Sure they have suggested (on the odd occasion) to do this and that, but none of there advice has contributed to the success of my business.

Free Business Advice

So, the point I am making here is if you are looking for free business advice use us, we are here to help you or if you choose your own advisor, make sure there is NO vested interest.

Funding Small Businesses

Ok,so money we all need it and we need it to start a company. What options are there in the UK for Small Business Finance?

would a loan do the job? perhaps use your savings… lets take a look at what’s what with regards to finance for small business in the UK and see if we can sort this out.

Please bear in mind, the view on all pages on this site is that of the author, please always seek professional advice before entering into any financial commitment of any kind. The data set forth is one approach, there are many options open and a good independent business adviser may offer a solution best suited to your circumstances for funding your small business.

Money the route of all progression

So you have the business idea, you decide perhaps to work from home now all you need is some money to fuel the idea. The obvious would be perhaps some savings for a rainy day, but there are other options: Bank Loan to finance your small  business – Raising Finance for your new venture.

Sources of Finance for Small Business

Yes we started with the obvious one, but maybe this is because its the one solution most people think off first. So you can choose to go and see your bank manager, the one disguised as a computer, put forward your business plan and hope for the best. Lets say you forgot to pay your water rates and a small arrears shows up, what then well depending on how nice my bank manager is he may help you then again he may be Mr. politically correct and give you nothing leaving you slightly upset.. but and there’s always a but, you can always get an overdraft, this is flexible and if you have done your homework on the product you are going to sell you can pay this off in no time. It would appear banks are more inclined to perhaps offer you an overdraft, you just have to not appear to eager and to a degree play hard to get to nail down the best terms to suit you. Additionally, shopping around is a must for the best deal. Lets crack on with small business finance solutions, there is also small business grants and loans etc.

Small Business Finance

Regional Development Agencies – Maybe Better Than A Bank Loan for your small business finance

If you have a great idea and need to raise finance there is a branch of the UK government who may be able to help. This is known as the regional development agency UK, it deals with business growth , help and support and funding. You might have a great idea, and this is another way to raise finance. The phone number for the Northern Regional Development Agency is : 0845 0066 888 and the Southern Regional Development Agency is : 01223 713900 Getting a grant for business UK Government – EU Grants
Business Finance to get started

Ok,so money is a valuable commodity and to form a business its nice to have a business grant, help with start up costs and the like. You can search through lots of websites and not find the information you require.. the search ends here and we don’t charge for it.
What’s a small business grant then?

Well a small business grant is there to hep you start your business in a nut shell. As you may have already found, there are lots websites offering to provide you information and the like for a fee, thankfully we don’t charge you any fee, just provide the information we have found for you to inspect
What kind of business grants are available?

There are many types of Grants available funding for various types of business from a sandwich round to a Building company etc.. the problem we faced when looking at this types of funding was to establish who offers it. At first, the likely route would be BERR – UK Government office, however I found this was not the place for a grant, It took me over 3 hours of research to find you the data so you can apply directly and found it I have;) To find out more vist our UK / EU Grants Page

Small business finance solutions from YBS.

Ok, so you have made the decision – starting a business what next?  Business Planning

well the ideal scenario is off course you just start trading and bobs your uncle.. sadly not as easy as that is it, but lets take this step by step together and get your new business into production.

So the first thing to think about is will you be trading as – i.e. Joe Blogs T/A Joe Blogs cleaners, in other words self employed or will you be a limited company as a director..
So, there are many people who go through life working the 9-5pm grind. This is perfectly fine and these people are the workforce that drive the UK business, but in the UK today more and more people are taking the plunge and going it alone in business and perhaps believing they are risking “life and limb” when in reality they are not. Going into business in the UK is far easier than in other EU countries, here you get help starting up, you can get staff through the job centre and receive grants and much more.

To be a success in business then is only about planning and belief in oneself. Sounds obvious and simple.. Because it is. Let’s look at the key factors of a starting a successful business plan.

Business Planning

Name Your Product:

This may seem obvious but many people don’t really know all about the business they are looking to start-up, here we have the necessity of research. You need to research the service or business you are looking to start, research is three quarters of the battle, this comes before you spend any money on investment for items like computers, laptops or even premises, you MUST understand the business you are looking to start before you can successfully launch it.

Without a business plan, your company is going nowhere! and that’s a fact!.

What are your plans for your business for 2010/2011, more staff, more customers, more orders do you really know? No matter how high you aim, if you don’t have a business plan you will never make it. This is the harsh reality of business in the UK but never fear, help is here. Below are some tips to really get your business on track and expanding:

1. Set high business goals and treat business as a game.

Business Planning

Yes, a game. Life is a game believe it or not and business is no different. There are people who take there business very seriously, however the same people can become solid, stuck in the heaviness of it all whereas those who are very successful tend to treat there business as a game, a light hearted fun approach actually will help you expand your business very quickly and off course a business plan needs to be in that mode of a game too. Again, well structured business plans achieve this.

2. Name the product.

You need to do this as a primary action, list on a piece of paper the targets and goals of your business, but don’t just list them any old way, list them in order of ease of attainment. In other words a gradient approach. After all, its unreal to consider you will be a massive company overnight!

3. Assess Your Finances.

Do you have enough capital at hand to finance the business plan and goals you have set? if you have been trading for say year or more you may look at commercial finance, if you are a new business there are many types of business grants for startups available in the UK. On this site we list how you can apply for a business grant. Having enough money to hand is the key to finance your venture and expansion.The options of finance include off course Banks but there are many brokers in the UK who may well be able to get you a better deal, so do shop around!