Small Business Need Intensive Care

With all the talk of NHS reforms in the news lately, I’ve been thinking about the ‘health care’ that small businesses need if they’re to get off the ground successfully and go on to greater things.

Intensive care facilities for small businesses might include somewhere to call home, proper business advice, training in business essentials or peer to peer groups that can provide support. All of these elements have been available – in various formats – to businesses for years, but they vary enormously in quality and content of offering. And of course, some of those on offer are financially way out of reach for business start-ups.

At Colbea we see businesses who are still in the planning stage, about to launch or have just started to trade. What is it that all of them need…regardless of what stage they’re at? Almost universally, we find that enterpreneurs want an objective, honest appraisal, whether that’s of their business plan, their marketing strategy or even their product or service! Unfortunately, there are times when we have to be cruel to be kind; the news that their launch is likely to fail is never received well but it’s better to give a realistic evaluation than to encourage a business that we know will fail before it reaches its first birthday. Often, we can set clients off on a path of market research or product/service development that means they can still fulfil their dreams but with a modified plan that has a decent chance of success.

As part of this process we try to introduce businesses to others who have ‘been there, done it and got the t-shirt’. There’s nothing like real experience to provide lessons, to motivate or even to dissuade! We’re about to launch a new business club that will be run for its members by its members and this will be a forum where experiences and ideas can be exchanged.

Intensive care is essential for small businesses. Few survive in isolation and the numbers that go on to create robust enterprises are almost always those who’ve had support at the outset.

By Bob Baggalley of Colbea
For information visit www.colbea.co.uk or call 01206 548833

Marketing Donut's top ten tips for successful eventing

Events can be a great way of engaging with potential customers – provided that you promote yourself effectively and get the basics right. Here are ten bits of advice from Marketing Donut which will ensure that your events are a real talking point.

1. Location, location, location: give careful consideration to the events and trade fairs that you decide to attend. Give yourself the best marketing opportunity from the outset by ensuring that your target market are likely to be in attendance. It will make it much easier to promote your product or service.

2. Advertise: if you’re attending an event, make sure people know about it. Tell people about the event on your website or in a blog post in the run up to the event. Engage with potential attendees via social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook, and get people interested before the day. There’s more about making social media work for you and your business on our website.

3. Staff: Make sure that the people representing your business at the event are motivated and enthusiastic. They need to be willing to approach members of the public and engage them in conversation.

4. Have clear objectives: make sure you know what you want to gain by attending the event. This will ensure that you work productively, stay focused and make the most of the opportunity you have.

5. Have an events manager: someone should be overseeing the logistics of your event. This person needs to be decisive and able to use their initiative, as events can be unpredictable. If for example, there should be a problem at the event venue, someone needs to take the lead and implement a plan B.

6. Make sure that you can be found: there’s no point in attending an event if your stand isn’t clearly advertised and easy to locate. Approach the stand from different angles as a member of the public might, to ensure that your stand is clear and inviting. Use signage and posters with your businesses branding to make your stand eye-catching. Discover more about branding here.

7. First impressions count: make eye contact and smile at those who pass your stand. Everyone is a potential customer! Our article ‘It’s not what you say, but how you say it’ outlines the importance of making a good first impression in business.

8. Talk less, listen more: listen to the questions of those who approach you. Identify their needs and think about how you can be of use to them. It’s certainly preferable to the hard sell and will leave people with a more favourable impression.

9. Promotional items: make sure that your business name and/or logo is on all promotional items. Try to be original too – you need to stand out from the crowd and be memorable, especially if there are a number of other businesses at the event.

10. Look to the future: make sure that any leaflets or brochures you give out feature contact details to all of the platforms your business utilises – telephone, website, email, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin. You could include a QR code on leaflets, which takes people straight to your website when scanned, or advertise a promotional code at the event, which might encourage people to bear your business in mind once the event is over. You can find out more information about how to create a QR code on the IT Donut.