Whenever I’m asked speak to other business owners about the day-to-day experiences of running a business, the more I think that those of us who are doing it should be proud of ourselves. There’s so much to do and to know! As I stand with of business owners who give up their precious free time to gather more information about running their businesses, it hits me again and again how much the focus, the core of business is people. [Read more…]

When I was Entrepreneur in Residence at University of Brighton Business School, I often sat on the panel of business owners to hear business pitches by final year degree students at the end of their Entrepreneurship Module. The students presented a business plan to the panel who critiqued their pitches for practical and potentially profitable business ideas coupled with a creative marketing plan. And we get them both! It was inspirational to hear their ideas.

It was clear that there is a delicate balance in business of money vs. time/effort. There’s no doubt that if you’re lacking one then you’ll need more of the other. If you have lots of money to invest in your marketing then you won’t need to invest as much of your own time or effort. If, on the other hand, you are like most small business owners and have a limited marketing budget (if any!) then you’ll have to invest much more of your own time and effort. You’ll need to be both creative and persistent. [Read more…]

Many businesses sell to whoever chooses to buy from them. On the face of it, there’s no problem with this, but often it means that they are not dealing with the customers who would most appreciate their strengths, and who would bring them the most profitable business.

A far better way is to choose your customers, then concentrate on winning those customers by designing products and services that match what they need. [Read more…]