Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs
This section takes you through every important aspect of how to run a successful business. It offers expert guides and advice articles on the key elements of business management such as employing staff, finding customers, marketing and sales, pricing, people management, office and home working, business technology and everything else an entrepreneur must tackle in order to succeed.
Effective management of the way you sell and market to existing and potential customers is vital if your business is to succeed. This is where customer relationship management, or CRM, comes in.
Finding and selling to customers
Finding and selling to customers
Loyal customers can sustain your business by consistently returning and buying your product or service. But you cannot create loyalty without putting in the groundwork. This is why it's crucial to establish a customer relationship management (CRM) system to help you identify who your most loyal clients are, why they keep coming back and how to enhance their overall customer experience.
Legal advice
There are four main types of intellectual property (IP) – patents, trademarks, designs and copyright.
Employing & managing staff
While a team of hardworking, capable staff can help a business thrive, it only takes one bad apple to wreak havoc within an organisation. We ask the experts how small businesses can tackle this common problem.
Business Technology
Many small businesses in the UK currently don't take enough advantage of trading online. Plenty of businesses have websites, but as few as ten per cent of these allow customers to buy goods or services online. It's a little like having a corner shop without putting in a cash register.
Legal advice
The Data Protection Act (1998) covers personal data (including audio and video) which identifies living, individual persons. It covers information held about customers and employees on both paper-based records and on a computer.
Employing & managing staff
When starting your business, you may well only be working with a small number of other people. If your business is a success and you want to expand, you may well look to take on employees. Even if you’ve been running a business for a while, now might be the time you’re looking at taking someone on.
Marketing
This is all about learning from other people who are experiencing, or have experienced, similar things to yourself. You get more from networking events if you're an active participant so get involved in debates, discussions, social events and exhibitions. Networking is valuable whether you're starting up or have been running a business for years.
Employing & managing staff
When starting your business, you may well only be working with a small number of other people. If your business is a success and you want to expand, you may well look to take on employees. Even if you’ve been running a business for a while, now might be the time you’re looking at taking someone on.
Marketing
This is all about learning from other people who are experiencing, or have experienced, similar things to yourself. You get more from networking events if you're an active participant so get involved in debates, discussions, social events and exhibitions. Networking is valuable whether you're starting up or have been running a business for years.
Office & home working
Leasing property is a popular option for many small businesses, but the contracts are often packed with legal terminology.
Office & home working
Deciding where to physically carry out your work is something which needs careful consideration. The nature of your business may dictate your location or premises choice.
Employing & managing staff
If you are purchasing a business and do not need to employ all of the current staff, are you able to let them go by law? Carolyn Mumby from Employment Law Essentials answers this tricky question.
Small Business Insurance
Nationally, burglary is one of the most common types of crime experienced by businesses, with higher rates of re-burglary than domestic properties. This article runs through the main measures to ensure the on-site security of your business premises and minimise risk.
Business Loans
Everything you need to know on what small business loans are and what types of loan are available for your business.
Business Technology
To run an optimal business, you must have optimal tech. We explain why you must upgrade your business technology on a regular basis
Investing in a franchise
Starting a new business is an exciting venture. But – especially in well-established industry sectors – a key question is whether it would be better to buy a franchise or go solo.