Start Business Advice

The new year is a time when many households decide to make some improvements to the home which can range from buying new pieces of furniture to extensive refurbishments.

However as Christmas can be an expensive time of year as well, January is a month which might involve a lot of window shopping and discussion. Retailers will inevitably do as much as they can to be competitive which also means there will be some fantastic deals to be found.

The fragility of the economy is still a major concern for many consumers and might stop some shoppers from ordering a whole new bedroom, bathroom or kitchen. However, everyone is different and some people might prioritise the furniture or the electrical appliances such as new TV’s and sound systems.

Other consumers might look at the situation and think that now is a good time to invest in the property with new additions such as double glazing or loft insulation. Features such as these can significantly reduce energy bills and over time you easily cover the cost with the savings made.

For shoppers the biggest news of the new year is rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%. This is going to make certain things that little bit more expensive which may result in families having to rein in the spending which could be very damaging for retailers. Thankfully VAT does not apply to the vast majority of food items so it should not make feeding the family any more expensive.

Decorating the home with small additions or perhaps some DIY are likely to be popular in 2011 with consumers trying to get as much as they can for their money. If this is your choice then it is advised that you also invest in some cheap blinds or temporary blinds because maintaining the privacy of your own home is important.

As 2011 gets underway it is clear that many people are apprehensive about the future but there is also some room for optimism that things will improve. Fear is a powerful and infectious force. However if you think carefully about what you are spending your hard money one and make the right choices then there is nothing to fear.

Private detectives, particularly in the US and in the UK, will often work with the police. This is because their training and experience is required in certain investigations. Private detectives who specialise in specific fields such as DNA, behavioural science or fingerprints can make a big difference in a case.

Arizona, in the US has taken this concept a little further. In the city of Mesa nine civilian private investigators are doing work usually carried out by uniformed officers. This includes processing crime scenes, fraud investigations, finding missing persons and other every day petty crime.
It is easy to see why at first the Mesa police officers were reluctant to hand over any responsibilities to a group of private detectives. However the effectiveness of the private detectives has won the support of the local law enforcement community.

Figures show that the private investigators handled 50% of all burglary calls and wrote 1 in 10 reports which freed up time for uniformed officers. Sadly the Mesa police department has had to go through budget cuts and the police have lost about 80 uniformed officers over the last five years.

The nine private detectives have carried out an immense amount of work for and with the Mesa police. The uniformed officers who were once highly sceptical have now come to realise that they investigators do an incredibly job and for about 30% less pay.
Private detectives are no replacement for the police. The police force in America and other countries around the world is a key institution which maintains law and order and protects civilians. A uniformed police officer represents the law and therefore they cannot be replaced.

Nevertheless it is encouraging to see that private detectives are able to help keep the peace by working closely with local law enforcement and building relationships and trust in communities.

No Letting Go, the UK’s first and longest established property inventory management franchise is stepping up its marketing activity and harnessing the power of social media. The company has appointed a dedicated external consultant – Zoe Cairns – to enable the No Letting Go network to fully exploit the massive potential represented by the growing portfolio of social media channels.

With traditional advertising tactics in decline, under the guidance of Zoe Cairns, No Letting Go will use various social media networking techniques to boost its marketing function. Given a recent survey by top management consultancy McKinsey, – which revealed that 63% of 3,000 businesses surveyed claim that using the likes of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn et al has increased the effectiveness of their marketing – an enhanced knowledge of social marketing tactics is destined to reap positive rewards for the brand. By using social media to connect with, and build the trust of key marketing targets, No Letting Go will capitalise on the unique and increasingly relevant lure of social networking to drive franchise recruitment. In addition, the 22 strong network of franchisees will be given training which will enable them, to access this potent business tool to communicate with both current and prospective clients. And with the McKinsey survey also revealing that 45% of respondents claim a reduction in marketing costs as a result of utilising social media channels, franchisees are destined to profit not just from the flexibility afforded by social marketing campaigns (franchise owners can go online in the evenings to upload their planned marketing activity) but will also enjoy clear financial benefits.

Commenting on the appointment, managing director Nick Lyons says “We have always prided ourselves on being an innovative, forward thinking brand and embracing the concept of social marketing is a natural move for us. Whilst we are already using some of the accepted tried and tested social media vehicles, we are keen to develop a strategic, planned programme of activity, which will ensure a sustained online presence commensurate with an established, highly credible national brand. We are also keen for our franchisees to capitalise on the opportunity to strengthen their share of the local inventory services market by exploiting the currently under utilised social marketing resource, which has been proven to deliver tangible results by building relationships and encouraging trust with key business targets. We look forward to working with Zoe to help achieve this goal’.

For more information on No Letting Go, visit them on stand 216 or go to the No Letting Go web site www.nolettinggo.co.uk / call 0845 659 9980. No Letting Go will also be exhibiting at the ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents) show, 1 March, Hammersmith, London.

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For more information please contact
Carla Wessel, Blueberry Communications tel 01227 700 175 / m 07970 252566

Running a successful business is more about attitude, enthusiasm and passion than anything else. Being part of a franchise means that the franchisor  provide you with the brand, training, best advice and constant support which allows you to focus on delivering your business but they cannot give you attitude. It is therefore important that before you consider a franchise or any other  business you ask yourself a few questions. What kind of person are you? Here is our check list.

• Positive person who believes in a “can do” approach to life?
• Committed to growing a successful business?
• Someone who is willing to listen, learn and do?
• Can communicate with other people?
• Willing to do new things not done before (step outside your comfort zone)?
• Able to talk to strangers?
• Prepared to work hard to ensure my success?
• Able to work on your own?
• Prepared to build a business step by step and remain committed to a plan?
• Good physical health?
• Self reliant?
• Support from your family?
• Able to afford the investment required and support your upkeep whilst the business grows?
• Comfortable operating within a territory?

If the answer is yes you stand a good chance to become a successful franchisee or even start you own business based on your own ideas.

Your Question
I want to start a market stall for fashion clothing?
My Partner wants to have a market stall selling fashion clothing, I have tried searching the web for ideas of where to get stock from but i really just get snowed under with foreign sites selling tacky stuff, I am looking for good wholesalers in the london area, I have tried asking the market stall holders but they are obviously very tight lipped thinking that we are going to tread on there toes, but this is not the case we are based more midlands and we have no decent clothes shops or stalls here and we can see potential can anybody give me some ideas of suppliers PLEASE

I am thinking about creating, a free to use, web consultancy group. The website will be aimed paticularly at user’s/business/voluntary groups that could benefit from a website, but have no idea where to start!

We will provide info on getting on the web (buying domains, good hosting etc), info on how to customize/design a website, and other good opportunities that exist within other web applications.

We could always have sub-website/s, for example a web-hosting listings page.

If you think this is a good, valuable idea that people will apprechiate, and you have some ideas as to how we could start to get noticed/free advertising methods as we would be not-for-profit, i would love to hear from you!

Also, if you have any catchy, easy-to-remember and sensible ideas for a name of the group and a suitable domain, make your suggestions known here!

Cheers in advance, jamie.

I really would like to start a business but the big problem is how?.
I come from a very poor family which in social class is called "The poor" acording to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class#Determinants_of_class_position.
I first best tell of my past.

My family earns way below £11,000 ayear that is between 4 people under 1 roof, the house is from the council and is rented.We have no savings what so ever and only 2 bedrooms which means i have to share even doe i am the age of 21 with my brother who is 20. I have a mental illness which pervents me from leaving the house.
My parents have a very bad credit which even doe thay have pay’d theres bills ontime for the last 6 years with no contracts like mobie phones etc and do not apply for loans etc they still cant even get a basic tv package to watch sky tv.
At the moment we can’t even aford a fridge frezzer so now we are starving as the food expires very fast, the cheapest we have seen is £179.00 to us that is a pipe dream.
To top things off my dad is now ill so he no longer can work, my mother is being bullied at work by the boss and also is close to state retirement age.

I feel very dispressed as i cant do anything to make some money, all the time i hear about people making huge amounts of money by starting a business, i have done lots of research on the web/books/articles for the last year and still not found how to start. I did try a ebay but that failed very fast and ebay even closed one of the accounts for no reason.

My edcation is rather poor in my mind even doe my family says im so "smart" just because i can use a computer(rather poor at it).
The school i went to had major problems teaching people and in the end of my last year 90% of students got F just like me very few got C and 2 people i heard got a A.
I tryed so hard to learn in scholl as i was the quite type and even had special help in school so i did not miss around. It was not easy to learn as the other kids was so noisy and shouting all the time.
I was even put in a group by the teachers called lets make friends as they thought i had no friends( i had a few).

I must do something to change my life, i come here asking were and how can i start a business with very little cash, no expence , and mosty no idea how.
My life is geting to the point and which i just want to go a sleep and die, because no matter how much me and my family trys bad luck will hit us hard.

Any ideas in which i can do somthing to make some money?.

I have had this idea, and wondered if you would provide feedback please? As a small business owner would you use this agency?

-Approximately 40% cheaper than using a small, local-based web design agency
-Your site is project managed by a locally based experienced project manager/ website designer in the UK
-Face-to-face meetings are available when required with our experience UK project manager / website designer
- The site is coded and designed in India
- your site is project managed and quality controlled until you are 100% satisfied – by the project manager/ website designer you meet face to face.

Summary

The client experience will be exactly the same, as using a standard locally based web designer; but will cost approximately 40% less.

Thanks. Would you use this agency?

Hello,
I am looking to get back into programming as I really enjoyed it at uni in Cape Town and now have a few business ideas I’d like to try in the UK. I’m a bit out of the game over the last few years and I need some advice as to software. Requirements are: A. It must be legal for commercial, small business (profit) use, B. It will be used in development by no more than 4 programmers

I plan to use one server with some redundancy built in; now should I have a standalone with windows server 2008 r2 installed along with SQL Server 2008 r2 installed? Which version of each based on the above requirements as there are so many choices with vastly different prices (I will be using 64-bit)? I plan to use web forms and ASP.net 4.0 so should I use visual studio 2010 professional edition or should I be looking at premium for more than one programmer? Or in fact is there a cheaper version I can use for commercial employment given that it’s ASP.net I want and not all the application tools that vs.net offers?

Many thanks for any help you can offer.
Cheers,
Lynton

Jamie Harwood was still in his twenties when he set up his business, UK Web Media. Within five years the turnover for the business was around £10m.

Jamie’s first idea for a website was www.marriagegiftslist.com "My uncle was getting married and the invitation listed three or four wedding gift list. I thought it would be nice to have something online, consolidated in just one place."

But starting an on-line business required money. When Harwood asked his family for financial backing, they refused, so he took out a £7000 bank loan. His website, which still exists, flourished, although it did not make him rich – but the experience led him to found UK Web Media in 2002. This business helps larger firms to advertise effectively on the internet.

Harwood says "The key is to have confidence in what you do and know what you do. My biggest tip is to find something you really, really enjoy. If you enjoy it the fruits of your labour will follow."

1. Why do you think that Jamie’s family refused to lend him money, but the bank consented?
2. Why do you think he asked for a bank loan rather than extending his overdraft?
3. What do you think are the key factors that will determine the success of Jamie’s business?