By the time you read this, every company in the UK that employed more than 5,000 employees on 1st April 2012 will have already had its staging date for the auto enrolment into the new Work Based Pension Scheme. Continue reading “Auto Enrolment: Ensure Your Business Is Ready For The Compulsory Workplace Pension” »
Misc Business Advice
Online, speed is everything
Slow internet connections are one of the most irritating – and destructive – problems facing UK small businesses today. If the internet goes down altogether doing anything can be well-nigh impossible – not to mention the danger of missing clients, or potential clients, who are trying to get in touch. Continue reading “Online, speed is everything” »
“Ever thought you just have too much info!”…
I for sure do! But thinking about it, I can’t help feeling that sometimes it’s my own fault (yes you got that right – my own fault) thing is I tend to be a bit nice, I don’t like to say no, I have time for your survey and truthfully I can get side-tracked by interesting e-mails and I just have to check my emails every 60 seconds! Yes perhaps I’m my own worst enemy? Continue reading ““Ever thought you just have too much info!”…” »
Vans for Your Business: Buy or Rent?
Despite all of the jokes about white van men, van transportation is essential for many businesses to run successfully and efficiently, and the cost of a van should be factored in to business finances. But is it better to buy or rent a van? There are certainly pros and cons of each approach, depending on your business needs, and it is important to consider all factors before making a decision of this nature. Continue reading “Vans for Your Business: Buy or Rent?” »
Tips for Improving Productivity at Work…or Anywhere!
Ok, so we have lots to do and I don’t multitask – I know I don’t. My hubby on the other hand is rather proud of the fact that he can and I guess as a chef he’s had to (although I say he can’t).
However I read with interest that some of the best musicians avoid multitasking because it is felt doing so actually confuses the mind and leads to a lot more jobs that don’t really get done very well Continue reading “Tips for Improving Productivity at Work…or Anywhere!” »
5 Tips for Choosing the Right Lawyer or Solicitor
I’ve had experience of using legal services such as lawyers as indeed many homeowners or business people would. Of course generally lawyers drop their services into one of many specialisms – house purchase (or conveyancing), family (wills, divorce etc) and many others, but from my experience, finding a good one… now that’s the challenge! Continue reading “5 Tips for Choosing the Right Lawyer or Solicitor” »
If you can’t manage your own money, how are you going to manage ours?
An interesting question don’t you think? In other companies I’ve worked for, it was “kind of” assumed that as a manager got promoted and accepted more responsibility, so that responsibility included the departmental budget. Now I for one, don’t believe that anyone can grasp any company or departmental budget without understanding their own domestic budget – in simple terms, if you can’t manage your own money, how are you going to manage ours Continue reading “If you can’t manage your own money, how are you going to manage ours?” »
Stop…I want to get off!
How often during your career have you heard such comments as “we have to move with the times” or “we need to look forward?” The challenge as one gets older though, is that you get tired of the changes and having perhaps “seen it all before” – Stop the World, I want to get off! Continue reading “Stop…I want to get off!” »
Mission Statement or Core Values?
An interesting question don’t you think? It’s considered good practice to create a company mission statement and for what it’s worth, I agree.
On the mission issue I have to admit that I struggled to write them (even though I’ve set up and run more than one company and Continue reading “Mission Statement or Core Values?” »
To ISO or not to ISO – that is the question…
In a former life, my husband ran a catering company and the big drive was for ISO 9000 accreditation. Now of course 9002 has been here for some time, but I wonder if the same challenges have followed it? Continue reading “To ISO or not to ISO – that is the question…” »
Summary – The Directors Dashboard (Part 5)
I really do hope you find something helpful or of interest to you in my little dashboard series. Oh and if you do, please drop me a line, I would love to hear from you. I’ve certainly enjoyed writing them. In this latest one I’ll just say that you should now have a copy of those about which I’ve been more expansive; Continue reading “Summary – The Directors Dashboard (Part 5)” »
Client Issues Report – The Directors Dashboard (Part 4)
Perhaps most appropriate for the service industry, a report that I created and used to ask for was the ‘Client Issues Report’ (CIR). Basically the CIR listed each Account Manager’s clients in order of significance to the business – most profitable perhaps would be an obvious criteria, but it depends on you. Continue reading “Client Issues Report – The Directors Dashboard (Part 4)” »
An Interesting Look at What Makes a Good Manager
Google must be one of the most common single words used in the business world today and often in the context of computers and search engines of course. I was interested to read an article in the New York Times about the Peeps at Google driving for a better Continue reading “An Interesting Look at What Makes a Good Manager” »
The Taxation of High Value UK Residential Property – A Guide to Proposed Changes
You may have read in the press about the UK Government’s proposals to change the way that high value UK residential property is taxed. So this seems like a good time to offer a short guide to the proposals and explain the current situation Continue reading “The Taxation of High Value UK Residential Property – A Guide to Proposed Changes” »
Sole Trader Vs Limited Company – Which should you Choose?
The definition of a sole trader is an individually owned and operated unincorporated company which is usually regarded as the simplest method of running a business. However once set up and even after employing a couple of other staff a lot of small trading companies completely discount the benefits of changing to an incorporated limited company Continue reading “Sole Trader Vs Limited Company – Which should you Choose?” »
Online Business, Local Market
While online marketing in itself is a long-term project that your business will need to maintain for the long haul, online marketing to your local customers specifically comes with its own set of unique challenges and rewards. First, you need to take steps to manage your online presence, as it is often the first impression potential customers have at your business Continue reading “Online Business, Local Market” »
Variance Analysis – The Directors Dashboard (Part 3)
In part one of my blog on the Directors Dashboard I listed a number of business areas that you would expect to keep close tabs on and in part two I expanded on one report which was the Client Visitation form which was more suitable to the service industry. This part three is about my pet report – the Budget Versus Actual (BVA) or Continue reading “Variance Analysis – The Directors Dashboard (Part 3)” »
Keeping control with minimum interference – The Directors Dashboard (Part Two)
In Part One of my blog on the Directors Dashboard I listed a number of business areas that one would expect to keep close tabs on and I’ve been asked to expand on one report which was the Client Visitation form. Now of course this won’t suit every company and is probably more suited to service type businesses Continue reading “Keeping control with minimum interference – The Directors Dashboard (Part Two)” »
Keeping control with minimum interference – The Directors Dashboard (Part One)
One single monthly report, the panacea of every director! Well perhaps not quite, but keeping a handle on what’s going on and (I for one, think critically) ensuring what you NEED to happen, happens!
Forgive me before I progress because Continue reading “Keeping control with minimum interference – The Directors Dashboard (Part One)” »
Tips to help you run a successful e-mail campaign
Whilst a fantastic and low cost medium, one great challenge with e-mail campaigns is that if you run too many and importantly too many bad ones, you run an even greater risk of more and more people just dumping your mail – true it happens anyway, but well researched and well targeted mail campaigns can still show a good return Continue reading “Tips to help you run a successful e-mail campaign” »
