Enterprise Nation

Home business on a cloud

07/11/2009 18:20:11

Market research

The idea for Shopinsky was born out of the visible impact the recession was having on our local town centre, with shops, both large and small closing each week. After some research it became clear that retailers didn’t necessarily want more trade online, but more customers through their stores. They also needed a way to promote latest offers and last minute bargains to local consumers.
After a good look at the competition we decide to develop “Shopinsky”, a web-based shopping channel for consumers. Our strategy was to provide a healthy mix of local and national brands for local consumers across 175+ cities & towns. Our emphasis is on the local shopping experience. We have an individual presence in the UK’s top 175 shopping cities & towns.

The idea

The idea is simple; each city & major town in the country has a Shopinsky Page, so businesses can join Shopinsky to be part of their local town. They can post messages - via the website or sms - these are distributed on the site, to the local Twitter account, their web page and an RSS feed, plus a daily emailed roundup of offers in each town. This gives local retailers the opportunity to reach those consumers who are in their catchment area, and it gives national brands a way to localise their business message and add-value to their current marketing. For more see the link www.shopinsky-consulting.com

For businesses, Shopinsky offers a great way to connect to local consumers through social networking services. Building up a following on sites such as Twitter or your own blog is a lot of work, so the idea with Shopinsky is that audience is already there for you. All you have to do is send your updates/offers.

For shoppers the site offers a great way to find out about local businesses, offers and freebies. We have made it as easy as possible to interact with Shopinsky and understand that people want content delivered to them rather than having to search for it. Therefore people can bookmark their towns page, subscribe to the RSS feed in their news reader, follow the local town on Twitter or subscribe to a free daily email summary, showing all the local retailer news that day. There are optional extra services for retailers, such advertising in a free-subscription newsletter, publishing online catalogue, coupon distribution and even YouTube commercials.

Life before Shopinsky

Before Shopinsky I worked as the worldwide Group Marketing Director for a large Insurance company. I left in 2003 to buy and run my own hotel with my wife, which we sold in mid 2007. My business partner runs his own marketing company specialising in the hi-tech market, working with both software development and major hardware manufacturers and has been based in France for the last six years.

Clouds on the horizon

After working on the initial strategy for Shopinsky here in Shropshire, the rest of the development activity has been conducted in ‘The Cloud’ using a number of cloud-enabled applications such as Buzzword and iWorks, as well as Skype conferencing for low-cost communications. Even our accounting is Internet-based with a package called Kashflow. Our developers - based both here in Shropshire and the South of France - were given access to our ‘Cloud based’ thinking and specifications. Regular Skype conferencing has been key. Our servers are based in both the UK and France.

A soft start

This is a soft launch so at present we are just starting to recruit local businesses and national retailers. Until we have a solid base of retailers in each city/town where we have a presence, we want to maintain a relatively low profile. We don’t want to focus heavily on consumer recruitment only to have them find an empty site. However, once we have a good spread of retail businesses providing both local and national offers we will be using a range of web-based strategies and tools to launch Shopinsky to consumers nationwide. In addition we have SEO (search engine optimisation) skills which we share with our customers.

And a final word of advice…

For anyone starting a business that they want to develop/run between the UK and overseas, the key issue for us was communications. I have to say France has proved more reliable than the UK, as I have suffered from poor bandwidth here. The second issue has been discipline and sticking to set times to meet on the cloud, to conference call or deliver pieces of work. After a false start we have also been lucky to eventually find good developers, both here and in France who have been flexible and have added value to our proposition and our future thinking over the last six months.

What insurance do I need?

07/11/2009 17:15:29

When starting a business from home, what kind of cover do you recommend?

I would recommend:

Public and Products Liability Insurance
If you have any employees then you’ll need our Employer's Liability insurance (which is compulsory, by law)
After that you should consider insurance cover for your contents and stock and then cover for Business Interruption and Legal expenses
Health and safety is also important

Can home businesses just add protection on to an existing domestic policy?

Yes - it is possible but can be difficult. There are combined policies out there. Aviva provides elements of business cover as standard with its household insurance policy but it is becoming more common to have a separate business cover.

Do you offer a dedicated home business package? What is the cost and how to apply?

Yes - Self Employed, which is a commercial policy arranged through your local broker or there is some business cover which you can get with your home insurance direct from Aviva (though do check that this will provide sufficient cover for your needs) The cost is tailored to the circumstances of the cover required so the best advice is to talk to your local broker to find out more. If you don’t have a broker visit www.aviva.co.uk/business-insurance

Thanks to David Bruce

Managing battery life

07/11/2009 11:15:37

Not 1, not 2, but 10 simple tips

Many of our customers only manage to get 1 hour out of their laptop but much of the time this is due to lack of knowledge in the way they could improve the battery life of their laptop. Here are our top 10 simple tips for you to follow:

Look at ‘Power Options’ in your control panel. It allows you to create the settings that suit your use. Remember, your screen when on full power consumes the battery, getting your laptop to dim when not on the mains will conserve your battery.
Power down all nonessential functions. Switch it off if you're not using it. Many business travellers already know that you don't want to take the DVD player for a spin on the plane, and that every time you hit "save" it can set the hard-drive whirring, which devours even more power. Users often also forget to turn off their wireless card when they are no longer using it, so it sits there continually searching for networks.
Stay out of extreme temperatures. Temperatures can affect the performance of your battery. It's best to use (and especially charge) your battery at room temperature. Extreme conditions can drain your battery quickly. Also, avoid partial charges and use the battery until it is dead. Battery experts liken partial charges — and discharges — to eating a cup of lard every day. It significantly shortens your battery's life. Considering that a lithium-ion battery can explode if it's improperly used, it could also shorten your life.
Let your laptop do the saving. No laptop device handles a power source in the same way. Some of the more sophisticated laptops, which are designed with small business travel in mind, are misers when it comes to using power. And that's a good thing. Consult your user manual. Often, calibrating your laptop is as easy as double-clicking on the battery icon in the toolbar. Alternatively, if your laptop is an older model, you might want to turn off the autosave function, which would result in the hard drive doing less work.
Defrag regularly. The faster your hard drive does its work – the less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery.
Add more RAM. This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.
Keep the battery contacts clean. Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.
Hibernate not standby. Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating will actually save your laptop’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.
Don’t multitask. Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!
Lower the graphics use. You can do this by changing the screen resolution and shutting off fancy graphic drivers. Graphics cards (video cards) use as much or more power today as hard disks.

Sam Francis is Commercial Director of TEK Express Ltd; a company that manages The Laptop Specialist site

The Laptop Specialist

10 tips for choosing an online collaboration tool

06/11/2009 15:06:36

Look all ways

Here are 10 things to look out for when choosing your online collaboration:

Security - this is a must. Whether that's https:// 128k bit encryption, your own personal subdomain or robust password choices, your contacts, documents, conversations (basically everything) must be secure from everyone.
Solid IT systems in the background - OK, you may not be a technical wizard, however do some research and make sure that the technology behind the scenes is going to keep your data backed up, secure and online 99.9999999999% of the time. 100% is nigh on impossible, even if you control the servers, so you need to be sure that if there is ever downtime, it is restored within seconds.
Simplicity - nobody wants to use something which is complicated and not intuitive - whether that's you, your team or other contributors. If you want to invite someone in, you need to know they won't need training or too much guidance (we all need a little nudge in the right direction). So make sure that everything is clear, usable and simple.
Full free trial with no obligation - it makes sense following on from simplicity that you can try before you buy. Whether this is signing up for a free account (make sure it has the full functionality of the other accounts) or a free trial of the account - it just allows you to try it out, taste it for yourself, and even invite people in for a second opinion. Similarly, nobody likes to be tied down to something they need to make a decision on, so being able to exit and close your account at any time is crucial.
Storage that suits you - there's no point in paying for 200GB of storage if all you are looking to do is share some word documents (which, let's be fair, hardly ever reach 3MB). Similarly you don't want to be limited to 100MB if you've got videos and large images to share. It has to suit you, so just make sure that when you sign up there is a growth option to match your data requirements.
A combination of tools which help your business - some collaboration tools offer more than others. Some offer different things in multiple packages, each of which you have to pay for (and sometimes pay using a different system). Make sure you're not paying over the odds for features which you simply don't need. Complex CRM systems come to mind when I think of this.
Are you punished for growth? - most small organizations will grow the number of employees or the number of people they work with. To accommodate this, I would consider their pricing structure. After all, you don't want to have to pay more because you've got more people to collaborate with - otherwise you will be forced to make a decision about whether you want them to collaborate in the tool or not, which is not how it should be.
Communication tools - collaborating is impossible without communication... and that does include email. However, for me an online collaboration tool needs to facilitate easy communication using notifications, reminders, comments, announcements, etc... that way you can conduct your conversations where the action is, and nobody needs to miss out.
Facilitate large file sharing - it might be that you want to share documents with people but maybe not collaborate too much. Email is so restrictive in this sense. So make sure you have the facilities to send files as links rather than attachments. Also make sure that you can upload/download large files easily and without interrupting your use. Some collaboration tools have ridiculous 1-3MB limits for file uploads!
Version control is vital - you've got to make sure you are collaborating on the right version of the document, image, whatever - this will save you time and effort as everybody will be working on the most up to date copy, and know what each person is discussing.

Sophie Le Brozec is British but lives on the French Riviera, she is a big fan of small and medium sized businesses having worked for several and run her own over the last 10 years. Sophie currently works for Glasscubes (www.glasscubes.com), offering online collaboration and simple CRM for small and medium businesses, especially those who do not have a dedicated IT department/employee.

Home Enterprise Day: in Croydon

06/11/2009 08:00:28

The Croydon Event

Run your business from your home? Key note speaker John Elliott MBE will be telling us how he made his millions, from a beginning in his garden shed to a company with a turn over of £30 million. The Home Enterprise Expo day arms delegates with essential business knowledge to develop their business and aim for success.

There will also be Master classes at the event covering:

Basic start-up advice
Practical networking & nurturing relationships
E-mail marketing
Introduction to web design and e-commerce

An extended lunch gives delegates the chance to network and take in a small exhibition of business support services and companies as well of an optional tour of the grounds.

Where and when?

Crystal Palace Football Club
Friday 20 November
09.00 - 17.00

To book your place, call 020 8680 6161

This event is being hosted by Croydon Business

Have a Happy Home Enterprise Day!

Q&A with All About Law

06/11/2009 07:18:12

How do you know each other?

Jack and I went to same high school in the Midlands but we both went to different universities. Jack opted for the Legal route and I choose history, however during my second year of the degree I starting to consider law.

How did you come up with the idea for All About Law?

The idea came about after our own attempts to pursue a career in law proved anything but straightforward. Discussions with my university careers centre and Jack, at the time my ‘friend that knows about law’, did little to address my confusion at the whole process. Having discussed the route with many others at the time, I found that they all shared the same issues and were looking for a solution.

What does the site do?

Put simply, All About Law provides everything you need to know about a career in law. By providing information and guidance at every stage of the process, from sixth-form to employment, the site is a one-stop shop for all of those considering a legal career. Combining an information resource with a social networking site, All About Law has managed to create a community of law students looking for information and advice as they pursue a career in law.

When did you launch the site?

We soft launched in October 2008 as a way identifying exactly what the needs and wants of law students were at the time. Jack and I had our own views and opinions on what we would want to see in a law careers website, however we wanted to see if that matched what others were looking for. Having gathered a great deal of feedback from students using the site, we pooled all of our findings into what you see now, the new AllAboutLaw.co.uk site that launched at the start of October 2009.

Who did you turn to for advice on starting up?

I went on several courses to learn more about starting up my own business. For example, I went on a three-day residential course known as the Flying Starting Programme and another called SEEDA Enterprisers. I visited my university careers centre regarding support for business start-ups but unfortunately there was very little they could provide. Other than that, I was pretty much left to my own devices!

How do you earn income from the site?

The site generates income from advertising. Employers and universities look to promote themselves on certain parts of the site as a way of pushing their various opportunities.

How are you promoting the business?

In many ways. We recently sent out over 6000 posters to every college and sixth-form in England & Wales as well as every university law school and careers centre. We have built up some great links with various student law societies domestically and abroad and they have all been very helpful in promoting our site to their respective membership. We have also sought links with various other student-interest websites as a way of increasing cross-promotional activities.

What are your business plans for the next 6 to 12 months?

We are currently looking at possible expansion into other career sectors. The All About model can be replicated to virtually every other sector so it is our intention to begin this process shortly under the overall All About Careers title.

If a student were currently deciding whether to pursue a legal career or start their own business, which would you advise them to do?

Plan ahead! Things will undoubtedly crop up that you didn’t plan for and could not have expected, but it is all in how you react to things that makes the difference. Whether it is applying to various law firms or going down the road of starting your own business, both require a great amount of persistence and hard-headed determination. If you are able to stay focused and not be disheartened by the slings and arrows thrown at you on the way, you’ll do just fine!

Do you work from the same, or separate, home offices?

Same office. Luckily we have a very large table and perch at the head of each side so it’s not too much of an issue! As we’ve known each other since we were four we’re quite good at dealing with one another’s eccentricities (i.e. I like going on tangents and Jack has an unreasonably loud voice!), although that’s not to say we don’t enjoy a good argument every now and then!

Jack and Paul talk to Enterprise Nation

All About Law

Website of the day: Newspaperclub.co.uk

04/11/2009 09:18:04

Alpha Mode

The site proclaims to currently be in Alpha but you can sign up to receive notification of site progress or visit the company blog.

From the home page you can read all about it:

‘This is Newspaper Club; we're here to help people make their own newspapers. And by ‘newspapers’ we mean anything you can make with ink on newsprint.

We're planning on launching early next year when we'll offer a basic product of a 12–page, tabloid–size newspaper in black and white or colour in quantities from 5 to 5000.

If you're experienced with design software you'll be able to upload a PDF to us and we'll sort out printing and delivery. Or, if you need a bit more help, we'll have a tool where you can upload your own text and pictures and we'll help you lay it out on the page so it looks lovely. Then you can get it printed etc.

Or, if you want the full bespoke service, we'll make you a whole newspaper; including finding writers and artists, organising design and all the printing and everything else.’

Is newspaper dead? No way. Print your own material and distribute to your own community and customers. I just wish this was ready in time for the Enterprise Nation Conference so we could hand out copies of Enterprise Nation News! – Emma Jones

Newspaperclub.co.uk

How to set up your home office

04/11/2009 07:30:10

Top Ten

Our top 10 tips for setting up your home office:

Even if you are only doing a few hours a week, create a space to work in, it doesn’t have to be grand but try and have all the things you will need to hand. It can be as simple as a large laptop or work bag that has all you need in it, ready to work at any time.
If you’re setting up your own permanent desk space, there are lots of neat desk solutions, even ones that offer a roll-out office if you need to tidy things away completely at the end of the day (try www.argos.co.uk, www.ikea.com or www.johnlewis.com). For a permanent desk area, an under-the-desk keyboard tray is also very useful as a keyboard can take up a lot of room on a work surface. Similarly, a laptop or an Acer Revo (tiny desktop PC) is space friendly as it minimises the desktop space you need (and it’s lighter to lug around!). If you have more space but are a bit pushed for start-up funds, try Freecycling http://freecycle.org/ as a great way to pass on your unwanted items and obtain desks, chairs and filing cabinets (with the added benefit of polishing your “green” halo!).
Stationery-wise, if you have children, get your own pens, pencils etc and keep them with your office set – or you will waste lots of time retrieving pencils from under the sofa! Lever Arch files are also really useful as you can put all your paperwork in one place and not worry about it being lost whilst moving heaps around. If you get the colour coordinated ones, you can use different colours for different clients.
Try and create some specific times to work, even if most of the time you snatch a few moments here and there – a concentrated period of time will help you feel that you’ve achieved more. I always have a “To Do” list running, it’s a great way of keeping me organised and it feels great when I can cross something off – I give myself a mental pat on the back! Put it in a place that’s easily visible too, so that you won’t forget about it.
If you are trying to run a business, the home and look after children – take a look at the things you do and see what you can do to help make your day easier to manage. I try to put washing on before I sit down at my desk and then hang it out when I take a break. If I’ve got lots of phone calls and a pan of food to stir, I plan to do phone calls whilst stirring!
• If you are phoning clients and have children/dogs/anything potentially noisy around, try and do the calls while they’re occupied/not around as it will fluster you and may create a bad impression on your clients.
Explain to family and friends that you are working – there’s nothing more annoying that setting aside time to work and then someone pops round for coffee and doesn’t take the hint!
Check out your insurance and mortgage conditions as sometimes you need to notify if you are working from home, especially if clients will come to your house. Times Online has a very useful section on who you will need to inform, and what you need to inform them about.
It can get lonely working from home, so try and join in with local networking activities to get you out and about and to meet valuable contacts. Networking groups are springing up all over the country, just google networking and your local town name to find your nearest one – and go to a few to find the one that most suits your networking needs.
If you can’t get always get out then try virtual networking. Facebook is one that many people are familiar with, it allows you to connect with your friends and business colleagues, but it does have a downside as there are several highly addictive applications (games) that you can play on it – a great excuse for not applying yourself to that boring report! You can also connect with people via Windows Live Messenger or Skype, which gives you the ability to have live text, video and voice chats with contacts. Twitter is another great way of virtually meeting like-minded people and potentially getting referrals. It allows the user to give brief snapshots into their day to day activities, as well as following some Twitter-savvy business people and celebs. Twitter help is quite useful or visit this site http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/ to find out how to get started on Twitter if you haven’t already given in to the bug.

Emma Warren is Managing Director of Portfolio Directors

7 tips for making the most of your franchise

04/11/2009 07:00:45

1. Seek out free opportunities

Many local and regional magazines offer factual and well-read free listings in targeted communities. Non-competing businesses and organisations with similar target markets also offer advertising exchanges. They share their customer base with you by distributing your information, and vice versa. Networking locally or giving talks and demonstrations to organised groups can lead to some very productive exchanges.

2. Reward loyalty

Loyalty can be recognised and rewarded in many ways e.g. pricing, prizes, additional products/services. A loyal customer base can even be turned into your very own sales force if reward is part of a package built around customer recommendation.

3. Look for local support

From other franchises and small businesses through to professional institutes and government departments, free or low cost events offering networking, practical advice and training are always available. There’s no substitute for getting to know your peers and making sure they know about you.

4. Be virtually global

You don’t need to be global to benefit from other virtual communities world-wide. The best ideas can come from the most unlikely places and linking up via LinkedIn and other specialised business e-groups could be just the inspiration you need for your next great idea.

5. Shout from the rooftops

With online submission to local and specialist press broadly available, distributing and tracking your positive PR stories is easy. And think about creating your own headlines with timely newsletters to customers.

6. Reach for the Skies

Be confident in your ability – there are lots of prestigious awards out there that could really showcase your business and build your reach. You can only win if you enter! (note from Ed – you can start by entering the 2009 Home Business Awards, right here!)

7. Find the right balance

Remember why you chose your franchise – income, independence, fulfilment, quality time? In any start-up period there’s a natural inclination towards putting your business first and building solid foundations. With these in place, you can begin to enjoy the work/life balance that initially motivated you into self-employment. The costs/benefits ratio will always be personal to you and, managed effectively, can give you the best job satisfaction you’ve ever had.

Sharon Bassett, Enjoy-a-Ball sharon.bassett@enjoy-a-ball.com
Is Franchising right for you
First steps to your new franchise

How to structure a website

02/11/2009 21:26:49

First impressions

When a visitor first lands on your company website they will make an instant judgment about your company. It is important to have a professional layout in the Website Design This will encourage visitors to stay and browse and then contact you or purchase your products.

Display your logo

You want to build the brand of your company. The visitor will expect to see your logo at the top of the website design. Typically the logo will be in the top left hand corner.

Make the navigation easy

You want to make the navigation on your site as easy as possible for your website visitors to find what they are looking for. A clear menu and page structure is important.

Include standard pages

The modern website has evolved to include a number of pages that visitors expect to find on every website. The standard pages are: Home / About Us / Services or Products / Contact Us. Also every website should have a Site Map which lists every page on the site.

Create a sitemap

Before you begin getting quotes for your website draw up a rough sitemap for your web site designer. A sitemap will give you an idea of the number of pages you need and what they will be.

Andy Green, Toolkit Websites

Live Work Network launches low carbon live/work units

02/11/2009 19:50:44

Design spec

The live/work units, which are built of timber from renewable sources, contain designated workspace/office area with access from both the home area and outside.

The units will meet levels 4 and 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, making them cheap to heat - £26 per year for a two bedroom unit. Each boasts a complete fresh air eco heating system.

Individual units will be built offsite, taking around four months to deliver, and then craned into position as fully fitted modules. And they will be approved for building regulations.

'The advantage of these units for landowners is that they enable live/work units to be delivered without developers and without the need to raise development finance.

For more information and to register interest in a Cloud Nine live/work property, visit www.cloudninelivework.com
Download brochure at www.liveworknet.com/uploads/cloudninelivework.pdf

Student or graduate? Make It Happen!

01/11/2009 21:10:47

Flying Start

There are 5,000 free places on offer at Make It Happen Days which are being held across the UK to help make your business idea happen.
New dates and locations are being added each week - the latest list includes:

Greenwich - 17th November 2009
Manchester - 18th November 2009
Bournemouth - 26th November 2009
Preston - 10th December 2009
Lancaster - 18th January 2009

Spaces are filling up quickly so register to avoid disappointment.

You can do so by visiting the website on the link below or make contact with Arjun Patel.

Protect your VA business

01/11/2009 19:51:23

Specially designed and affordable

Since May 2007 I have discussed with my VACT clients about creating a VA insurance package. I have been talking to various insurance companies to help me to create a package which is specifically designed for the VA business, as well as being affordable.
We’ve partnered with Hallsdale Insurance Brokers and Underwriters, Sterline Insurance Company (one of the UK's leading specialist insurers and are wholly British owned) to create an amazing policy for 'The Professional VA'.

The package

The policy includes the following significant covers:

Office equipment and portable office equipment not only at your premises but anywhere in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Public Liability Cover
Professional Indemnity Cover
Employers Liability Cover
Legal Expenses Cover (Optional)
Contract Dispute

The cover designed for VAs in this policy represent the most likely areas in which the business could be at risk from a claim.

Check out Hallsdale Insurance Brokers Limited at www.hallsdale.co.uk and Sterling Insurance Company Limited at www.sterlinginsurancegroup.com - both companies are regulated and authorised by the Financial Services Authority.

The cost

As long as you don't employ more than 2 people, and I know most of you don't, and your turnover is less than £75,000 per annum (and subject to the usual insurance declarations) then the premium will be in the region of £200.00 per annum. This represents exceptional levels of cover for a very modest fee.

The policy will soon be available online at www.hallsdale.co.uk or via a link on www.vact.co.uk

In the meantime call 01536 303310, mention VACT and ask for Simon Drysdale and he will do the rest for you easily and efficiently.
Carmen MacDougall

How to attract more Twitter followers

30/10/2009 19:54:48

How to be more interesting?

Start off by making sure your Twitter profile is fully completed, adding a great photo, and make sure your Bio has 160 characters as allowed by Twitter. Try and make it keyword rich, so you can get found, but also try and add some things that make you more interesting.

Do you have hobbies? what do you do outside of work? what do you love to do? what makes you laugh? and so on.. By revealing more about yourself, you will make yourself stand out from the crowd, and be more interesting.

Be honest, open, personal & transparent

You should also Tweet interesting stuff. Now I am not going to tell you what is interesting, as that is very subjective, but when tweeting, try and think, how can I make this ordinary situation, more interesting, to my followers?

Perhaps you can add a photo or video or audio of the situation, perhaps adding a comedy element to the message, perhaps adding a question at the end of the message, to invite your followers for their reaction or their view on what has just happened.

Be more Interested..

Taking an interest in others is massively important. Twitter allows you to engage with others so make full use of that. Ask questions from others, ask people for their views, opinions, don’t just talk about yourself.

Retweet other people’s messages, if they are of interest to you and your followers, comment on their blogs, and generally take an interest in what others are doing. If you or your followers can help others, then try and do so.

In sharing , helping and truly being interested in others, others will become interested in you, and so your followers will increase.

Mark Shaw
Find Mark on Twitter at http://twitter.com/markshaw

The Good Web Guide to Halloween with the kids

30/10/2009 18:22:12

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire 24th October – 1st November 2009

Ghost trails in the Pleasure Gardens, pumpkin carving, face-painting, tours of the State Rooms and stories of the ghosts of the Palace’s past. If you travel with First Great Western you can get two people in for the price of one.

Blenheim Palace

Fireworks spectacular at Beaulieu, Hampshire, 31st October 2009

The annual Fright Night Fireworks is set to music from films such as ‘Psycho’, and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’. You can get in from 3pm, there’ll be live music and prizes for the best costume.

Bealieu

Family ghost tours at Hampton Court Palace, Surrey 31st October 2009 – March 2010

Halloween can go on for six months at Hampton Court, where someone will always be willing to take you on a ghost tour of the old place. There are stories of Kings and Queens and all the dark hidden spaces of this famous royal seat.

Hampton Court Palace

For more of the best websites online, visit www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk

Horsham champions home business

30/10/2009 15:18:39

Celebrating Home Enterprise Day .. throughout the week

If you’re thinking of starting up a business from home or if you already run an existing home based business and need a little inspiration to grow, you should attend the FREE business event in Horsham on Monday 16 November.

The evening starts at 6pm with half an hour of useful networking and nibbles, followed by four expert speakers with advice and tips you would not want to miss.

Organised by Horsham District Council and sponsored by Business Link, the event is set to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week and the first ever Home Enterprise Day, a testament to the growing number of home based businesses in the UK.

The Evening’s Entertainment

During the evening, Business Adviser Gareth Sear will dispel some of the myths of working from home and give great tips on starting and growing your business. This will really get you thinking about options, whether you're already an established home based business, employed but thinking seriously about the idea or you're a '5 to 9er', building your business in the evenings and at weekends.

Laurence Thomas from Business Link will provide top tips on how to keep your books, making it simple and easy, rather than hiding everything away in that good old shoebox until the end of the year, when it may be too late.
Wendy Staveley, Business Adviser for HM Revenue & Customs will be giving you the chance to ask all those niggling questions and clear the myths about Tax, VAT and National Insurance. The answers to the most frequently asked questions in one place on one evening.
Speaking for the first time of her own successful journey, Dee Blick, Managing Director of the Marketing Gym Ltd and author of best-seller ‘Powerful Marketing on a Shoestring Budget for Small Businesses’ will share with you her tips for starting and growing a successful business and give you an insight into some of the obstacles that she has had to overcome to get to where she is today.

Speaking of the event, Chris Baister, Business Development Manager at Horsham District Council said:

“The event promises to be both motivational and inspirational. We are keen to offer such support and urge small home based businesses and those thinking of starting a business in the home to attend and take advantage of all the free advice.”

Sign me up!

Registration is essential in advance of the event as light refreshments will be provided.

If you’d like to attend:

call the Business Development team at Horsham District Council on 01403 215529 or
email business.development@horsham.gov.uk

And have a great start to Global Entrepreneurship Week!

Q&A with Coco Male Interiors

30/10/2009 13:55:15

How it all began

“For 6 long months, i worked in investment banking by day, then setting up the company at night, until in July 2007, armed with just enough courage, determination and capital, Coco Målé was launched. My aim was to bridge the gap in interior design between countries, to create a fusion of styles that reflects today's globalised society.”

We ask Katerina about her love of interiors and the direction in which she’d like the company to travel.

How did you come up with the idea for the business? Had interiors always been a passion/hobby of yours?

Yes, I’ve always been passionate about interiors. As a child, I would always spend my pocket money on candles and little decorative items instead of clothes and make-up like the rest of my friends! I was literally raised amidst stacks of interior magazines, my uncle is an interior designer, my mum spent half her life at antique auctions and my dad imports stone from Libya and Pakistan for a living, so I guess it’s no wonder that I got the interiors bug... So I combined this passion with my love of travelling and my entrepreneurial gene and Coco Målé was born!

How do you source your supplies?

Sourcing products is undoubtedly the best and in many ways the most important part of the job so I take my time! I go to dozens of exhibitions every year both in the UK and abroad, and I also travel quite a bit to Asia and Africa. In fact, I’m off to Morocco in two weeks time! I’ve been very fortunate to have found some great and reliable suppliers, but increasingly I find myself doing a lot of researching online to discover that one designer or that one special product that nobody knows about yet.

How are you promoting yourself?

In the first year, we spent a lot of money on advertising campaigns which for various reasons didn’t work out so since then it’s been back to basics - word of mouth, social media and editorial coverage, although we do still use Google Adwords. We also sell a lot on other e-commerce platforms like amazon, mydeco and lynku.

Your motto is ‘Kick back and relax’ – have you been able to live this more yourself since giving up investment banking?

That is definitely my motto, but it’s so hard to follow!

I am stressed now but it’s a different kind of stress. Previously, it was little things that stressed me out like missing the train and being late for work, an annoying colleague or whether I’d get that promotion, whereas now it’s stuff closer to my heart, like making a success from my passion, gaining recognition and support from our customers and the press and ultimately earning enough money to be able to keep doing my dream job! Also, when running your own business, you’re ultimately liable for all the mistakes so the responsibility is far greater...

What is the one thing you most enjoy about being your own boss?

I love the flexibility of working from home, controlling my own hours, being able to go for a long walk to the park if the sun is shining for example. Of course, I’ll then have to work all through the night to make up for it though!

What are your plans for the business over the next 6 to 12 months?

Product-wise, we’ve recently expanded into furniture and the plan is to add a new sofa and lighting collection in early 2010. We are also much more proactive in our approach with the press now, so we have really high hopes for the next 6 to 12 months. Our turnover increased by about 420% this year despite the difficult economy and we’re aiming to achieve a similar increase in the next year.

On a separate note, I’m also looking into setting up a wholesale company and selling some of the products I bring in from abroad to independent shops around the country in order to reach out to customers who might still be not comfortable with shopping online.

Nice going, Katerina!

Coco Male Interiors

Earn a living as a mystery shopper

30/10/2009 12:37:23

What is field marketing?

Field marketing is about delivering ‘excellence at the point of purchase’ for both retailers and manufacturers, which enables them to increase their sales. The typical field marketing activity required by manufacturers includes stock auditing (this involves our field team taking note of how much stock of one or more products is on the shelf and/or in the store warehouse) and merchandising (this involves the IMS field team pulling stock forward from the store warehouse to replenish stock on-shelf in order to increase sales levels). For retailers field marketing typically involves mystery shopping, whereby our field team assess the levels of customer service they receive from the retailer. The feedback from this activity enables the retailer to improve their customer service levels and thus improve their sales in-store moving forward.

How big is your field marketing team?

IMS currently use a nationwide self employed field team of approximately 2,000 people. These team members are based across the UK in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Do people need any special kind of experience to apply?

As with most professions, experience is certainly beneficial, but not completely essential to become part of the IMS field team. As standard all IMS field team members must have access to the internet and a printer as all team members are briefed online, and must print off their full briefs before they complete any work on behalf of IMS. They must also upload their results online following the completion of a visit.

It is also beneficial (although not completely essential) for the IMS field team to have their own modes of transport. Field team members can be expected to travel between stores that are spread out across a number of locations and if they have their own transport, this makes life much easier from their perspective.

All IMS field team applicants also benefit from the online IMS Training Academy which delivers both skills and knowledge based training. This involves taking a number of online e-learning courses on various topics concerning field marketing activity. Courses are completed by applicants in there own timescales and the self study modules at the end of each section help compound learning’s and provide focus for future development. Applicants will be welcomed onto the team once they have passed all of the relevant e-learning courses.

What does the work involve?

As touched upon earlier field team work can be split into two categories. These categories are work on behalf of manufacturers and work on behalf of retailers.

Work conducted on behalf of manufacturers can include:

Stock Auditing
Merchandising
Point of Sale Placement
Staff Education
Sales

Work conducted on behalf of retailers can include:

Mystery Shopping
Exit Questionnaires

Do field team members choose the hours they work?

The benefit of being part of the IMS field team is that you get to work the hours that you choose. You can pick up as much (or as little work) as you like. This gives our field team members full flexibility in terms of picking and choosing their hours.

Can field team members easily increase the hours they work for you, so it can become a full time income stream?

Many of our field team members conduct enough visits on behalf of IMS that they can generate a full time income stream from it. This is all dependent on the individual team member and the amount of work available on the system at the time.

If you don’t mind us asking, how do you pay field team members? Is it based on hours worked, or results achieved?

Rates of pay to the team can vary as visit objectives and durations can vary significantly. Field team payment is typically based on two factors, the first being the amount of time they will be required to spend in-store completing the visit objectives and the second being based on the travelling expenses they will incur in order to conduct the visit. Other factors can include remuneration in the form of a purchase budget to complete the full objectives of the mystery shopping visit (mystery shoppers typically get to keep the item they purchase).

Are you seeing an increase in enquiries as people are looking for ways to earn extra income?

The IMS web site receives new applications every day from individuals looking to conduct field marketing visits on our behalf. New applications have consistently been high over the last 2 years. We currently have a national waiting list of people wanting to become part of our team, however we are always keen to hear from self motivated, enthusiastic people looking to work with blue chip brands. As soon as work becomes available to these people in their areas, IMS will contact them with information regarding moving forward with their application process.

To find out more, visit the IMS website on the link below.

Q&A with The Urban Bakery

30/10/2009 08:36:32

When did you start the urban bakery?

In July 2009

What were you doing before becoming your own boss?

My background is in television production and digital marketing. I spent several years freelancing as a TV production manager/coordinator working on such programs as ‘Most Haunted’ and ‘In the Night Garden’. I loved TV as it is such a creative environment to work in with amazing energy and the most creative people. TV work is great but it requires you to be ultra committed with constant job hunting for the next job, long days, a lot of time away from home and very little job security. I stepped back in to a digital role at a prestigious regional agency for the two years previous to the birth of the urban bakery.

Your fascination for cupcakes came from traveling to the US – was this on work/holiday? And what is the tastiest American cupcake you ever tried?

My first bite of a cupcake was at the infamous Magnolia Bakery in New York on my first trip there in 1999 . Back there in 1999 tucking into a vanilla cupcake with pink frosting I, nor the cupcake had any idea of how it’s future would change! This was my first trip to New York and I was smitten, not only by the city but by the bakeries. Who could predict the avalanche of change for the simple cupcake when Carrie Bradshaw took it into the iconic food stratosphere. The cupcake went from humble nostalgic treat into the most chic decadent desired bakery item going. I have been back to New York every other year since then as not only is it my Mecca, it is the place where I stand outside authentic back street bakeries in places like Tribeca and Chelsea in awe as they just ooze nostalgia and warmth. The tastiest New York cupcake I ever had was from Billy’s Bakery about four years ago - chocolate with chocolate frosting…splendid! I am hoping to be back in active research again in New York next year so may have an update to that!

Do you make all the cupcakes in your kitchen? Did you have to have the kitchen checked by your Local Authority for health and safety?

I bake all my produce from my home kitchen which has been approved by the environmental health. I also acquired a Level 2 award in Food Safety in Catering before commencing trading.

How are you promoting yourself?

I had promotional postcards done so I have been dropping these into local businesses in Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth with a hope they catch peoples eye. I have my website (www.theurbanbakery.co.uk) which I maintain and try to do all the best things to promote such as SEO, good keywords, updates, reciprocal links as this would be shameful to omit based on the fact I was a digital expert!!! I have a Facebook group , am on twitter and have recently started a blog on blogger. I also have a raft of incredible friends and family who are constantly pimping my business by spreading the word to their friends, family and work colleagues etc. I have also done 2 wedding fairs to date and have another one on the 8 November at Wroxall Abbey, Wroxall – so come along!

What is your most popular selling cupcake?

The most popular cupcakes are vanilla pod topped with pastel vanilla buttercream frostings in pink, lilac and cream with retro toppings/sprinkles. People just love the big swirls of buttercream in candy pastels as it seems to transport them to a happy place!

Are any of your family members involved in the business?

Not yet!!! My dad and two brothers are chefs so they are great for advise. My mum and dad have sourced me some incredible vintage plates and cakes stands that I use for the wedding fairs and product shots as they are really special. But for now it is all little old me doing everything. My husband Jonny is highly important as he has the tough job of chief taster…yes I am solely responsible for his acquired ‘holiday weight’! He is an utter legend as he is 100% supportive and he keeps me buoyant on the tough days when working all on your lonesome can be challenging.

What is the one thing you most enjoy about running this business?

Not going to lie – I love being the mistress of my own destiny as I don’t think I was born to be told what to do as I like to carve my own way.

What are your plans for the business over the next 6 to 12 months?

Within 6 months I hope to have substantially grown the business enough to have my own catering premises that I can produce greater number from. I will be expanding my menu within 6 months to include brownies and cookies also. I want to focus solely on cupcakes for the interim as I don’t want to dilute my offering and be a jack of all trades as there are plenty of those out there already. Within 12 months I want to be the most established and recognized cupcake purveyor this side of London. I want to be the cupcake of good choice…and I am quite stubborn so watch this space. the urban bakery - bake love not war…

Anne-Marie Curran, The Urban Bakery

Photographers Unite!

29/10/2009 10:05:30

In the flash of an instant

We’ve had a great response from photographers who introduce themselves below. If these businesses introduce themselves to each other, we’re a step closer to creating a national network of professionals who can ensure that home business conveys the best image possible.

If you’re a home business owner with 5 minutes to spare, just take a look at some of the shots in the online galleries and imagine what such a shot could do for your business!

Essence Photographic

I was just reading your Twitter post and article this morning about photographers offering a national service for home-based businesses. I'd love to rise to the challenge!

I think the idea of a nationwide network would be perfect. I own/run Essence Photography and live in Bedford, but travel to Beds, Herts and Bucks to take portraits of small business owners in their offices, living rooms, or on location. Here are some of them - http://www.essence-photographic.co.uk/businessportrait_gallery/.

I also have my '52 Faces' project, aimed at photographing business owners in a non-traditional setting, sometimes with props! - http://essence-photographic.co.uk/52faces/.

I do get requests to go travel afield but it isn't always possible, so having a trusted network to refer faraway clients to would be brill.

If you think I fit the bill for your feature, I would love to be included! My website is http://www.essence-photographic.co.uk/, do check me out. I'm also on Twitter - http://twitter.com/essence_photo.

Hope to speak soon. Thanks!

Kind regards...
Michelle Payne-Gale
Tel: 01234 326781
www.essence-photographic.co.uk
www.essence-artwork.co.uk

IS Photographic

I was sent the piece on photography for home business owners, I found this to be very interesting especially as I am a professional photographer. I currently provide what I call a "corporate quickie" where for a realistic price I will take a number of studio or location (at their place of work) shots for business people and provide them in a web ready format for their web sites, twitter pages etc.

I did explore the idea of rolling this out on a wider geographical scale, but the problem is that to manage it UK wide would require another level of admin or investment in a web site along with the backend software to automate the booking service, all of which would increase the cost. The fact is that there are professional photographers in every town, a simple trawl of the web will bring up a long list.

I cover the Staffordshire and Derbyshire area and do go throughout the UK on clients assignments.

Kind regards
Ian

Ian Shipley
E: ian@isphotographic.co.uk

Derek Houghton

I have just seen your tweet. It's pretty much what I'm proposing to do.
I have a "special offer" photography package at a £30 discount. The shoot is the equivalent of a 1 Hour package which could involve people, products, whatever.... included would be a CD of digital images. --
many thanks and best regards
Derek Houghton
Images
Web: www.derekhoughton-images.net
Email: derek@houghton.net

iweddingz

My wife and I have just launched a photography business. The idea of a profile is excellent for websites. We did our own to try and suit our style.

I would do anyone locally for £59 which would include all copyright and images taken during the session.

Thanks
Gareth Squance
iweddingz Photography
Tel. 0845 331 1135
email. gareth@iweddingz.co.uk

D&D Carrington Photographers

We already offer this service see www.ddcarrington.co.uk

Thanks again

Dorrian Carrington
info@ddcarrington.co.uk
Wiltshire

Your recommendations

@integreatmedia - I'd highly recommend Southworth Photography: http://www.southworthphotography.co.uk
@ScootLondon - check these guys, I used them, they were great ! www.a-mphotography.com
@SpaceToBe - check out www.matsmithphoto.com who does some great and affordable professional pics of business people
@phillipstone - try craig mckay from www.art24six.co.uk he did the one on my site and several others and is very reasonable with fees.