S&M customer services?

Strange customer relations

I was looking at lead generation companies and came across one with an impressive website and promising credentials.  As always, my next click was to the ”About Us” page.  To their credit, they have listed all team members with short profiles as well as photos.  I dont like faceless companies, so another browny point to them….then I began to read the profiles, which for each team member included a favouirie quote.  The office manager’s was:

“In the morning I’ll be sober, but you my dear will still be ugly.” Winston Churchill

Hmmm… she surely isn’t refering to clients, is she?  Maybe she is better to stay in office…. so I quickly scrolled away to see what the 2 senior business development managers’  favourite quotes were:

“I’ll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office.” George W. Bush

 … and …

“Sex Panther by Odeon. This stuff is illegal in 9 countries. It’s made with bits of real panther, so you know it’s good… They’ve done studies, you know. They say 60% of the time, it works every time.” Anchorman

 

Just how exactly do these guys earn any money from business devlopment?  Or did I miss  the new trend of “S&M business development” for customers who just love to be short-changed, disliked and, for some extra, made fun of?


2011
03/15
CATEGORY
Management training
Small Business
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Why fundraising is just like jobhunting

Let’s face it, starting a business is tough.  You have to build a client base, hire employees, find office space, get a website…. There are plenty of challenges, but the one that many find the most daunting is fund raising.  Since the days of dazing investors with hot new technology ideas are gone, finding investment takes careful research, good negotiating skills, and, above all finding a win-win solution.

Many books and blogs have been written on fundraising knowhow but there is one piece of advice that cannot be repeated enough times:  treat fundraising like you would treat your job application.  It is all about people and the prospect of being tied together for years to come.  Investment is money with strings attached and it is very important that both you and your investors share the same vision for the business and have compatible approach to business.   You also need to remember that investors don’t want to invest in the best business out there; they want to invest in people who are able to exploit those opportunities that they are interested in!

How to get it right if you have never done it before?  Just think about it as a job application.  You have surely applied for jobs before and the basic principles are very much the same.  Here is a brief summary of the key points for you:

-  Make sure that you research the targeted investors thoroughly and understand what it is they are looking for.  Does you/your company fir?  If not, move on. 

-  Research the objectives, past performance and investment profiles of the investor to make sure that they meet your expectations.  Not all investors are great to partner with and “help” from the wrong source may even ruin your business.

-  See how and where your project fits with the investor’s expectations.  Highlight these points.  Then prepare a list on why your venture is their best bet and why you are the best person to make it into a real success.  “Personalise” your business plan and pitch for every submission/presentation you have by incorporating these points.

-  Be a good salesman when you pitch.  Don’t lecture on your technology, but sell the idea  and sell yourself.  Remember to sell yourself/your company as the best vehicle for the job.

-  Focus on the person/organisation you are pitching to and try to meet their style and culture.  Don’t turn up in your best suit when invited for a chat and don’t wear jeans when got an appointment in the City; get it? 

-  Last but not least, be clear on what your non-negotiable expectations are and what are the point you willing to negotiate on.  Remember you are negotiating for far more than money and the strings attached are just as important as the money for the future of your business.

2011
03/07
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Entrepreneurship
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Startups risk failure by ignoring business basics

According to a recent survey by Simply Business, weak financial management, an absence of basic business planning, uninformed decision-making and inadequate contracts impose the greatest risk for early stage businesses.

 

1) Financial control

Many startup businesses have become so focused on working IN the business that they neglect working ON the business.  Close to a third (29%) of SME owners admit that they are so busy running their business that they struggle to keep track of their company’s finances.  

In addition, many are failing to perform basic due diligence on customers and suppliers and end up with substantial bad debt problems.  Nearly two third of SMEs (65%) do not credit check new customers.  In fact, a worrying 30% of firms have no formal contract in place for business customers at all.

Our Advice:  Even when your business is doing great you should not let yourself think that profit will follow automatically.  Are you in control of the costs?  Do your invoices actually get paid?  Don’t just pass the bills and invoices to your accountant for filing.  Set aside a couple of hours each month to go through the invoices you issued, the orders you received and check the transaction records for the past month.  Cash is king, and you need to know where you stand financially.  Make a note to follow up on overdue payments and to check the credit status of customers who placed sizable orders with your company.  It is boring initially, but believe me, you will soon get the hang of it.

 

2) Managing Business Continuity

The research also shows that the majority (54%) of entrepreneurs have no written business plan, and a further two thirds (68%) don’t have detailed scenario plans for coping with unforeseen changes in the operating environment.  Even more alarmingly, half (56%) of the companies don’t do market research or consult their accounts (54%) when making significant business decisions.

Our Advice:  Business plans are not about literary skills and those you have for internal use don’t have to be great reads.  The internal business plan is however an essential record and a point of reference for your business:  your thought may change, memory fades and there are issues you hate to spend time thinking about.   Create a structured business plan, even if you just use bullet points,  to cover objectively and evenly all aspect of the business.  Force yourself to go through all issues from IP through marketing, pricing and sales strategy to financial projections.  It will help you  flag up any potential problems and risks, so that you can mitigate or prevent them.  To make the task easier, just use a good, detailed business plan template and fill in each section with a simple summary of the key facts you have and the assumptions you use.

Click here for our business plan template

 

3) Record the terms of your agreements

Last but not least, many startups are running the risk of costly legal actions due to inadequate shareholding or partnership agreements and employment or service contracts.  Over a fifth (21%) of small cmpanies have no formal contracts for their permanent employees and business partners and some of them don’t issue terms and conditions with service contracts.

Our Advice:  Circumstances change, people change, people’s goals and expectations change.  Many if not most business partnerships eventually come to an end, as the partners – be it investors, collaborators or co-founders – grow apart.  What happens at this stage should be determined by the agreement that was put in place at the beginning.   Why?  Because it is much easier to enforce an agreement that everyone has been aware of since the beginning than come up with new rules when emotions run high.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of putting a detailed agreement in place at the start.  It can be easily updated if and as circumstances change, but it still serves as a shared point of reference to all. I like old-fashioned, long contracts as I see them as a document that lists the remedies for all the worst-case scenarios you can think of so that you don’t have to think of them ever again.  Trust me, it takes much-much less time and money to put an agreement in place early on than trying to come up with an agreement when things have already gone sour.

2011
03/01
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Small Business
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On Startup Finance

Startups risk failure by ignoring business basics

According to a recent survey by Simply Business, weak financial management, an absence of basic business planning, uninformed decision-making and inadequate contracts impose the greatest risk for early stage businesses. It seems that many startup businesses have become so focused on working in the business that their time working on the business may have suffered as a result.

Win £20 in 2min

What is the right timescale for a new startup’s financial projections?

Look for investors as you would look for jobs

How to get it right if you have never done it before? Just think about it as a job application. You have surely applied for jobs before and the basic principles are very much the same. Here is a brief summary of the key points for you:

What your team wants from you

Figuring out how to keep your team productive, engaged and happy can feel like an intricate puzzle, especially when different people need different things.  Directing the attitudes, actions and behaviours of a team is a big but essential task for building a successful new company.  Here are 8 tips to help you get started:

 New public sector contract finder

Supply2.gov.uk will stop on the 31 March as the service will be migrated onto a new and free online service called Contracts Finder, which will be launched in the spring. Find out more…

4 must-haves for startups in 2011

While in 2010 mobile payments became a talking point, in 2011 making and taking payments directly from your mobile phone looks set to be the future of commerce. There are already several options available to small businesses…

YouTube CEO steps down to focus on his fashion line

Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube, has stepped down from his position as CEO of the company, which he sold to Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, to work full-time on his menswear label, called Hlaska (a combination of the words Hawaii and Alaska).

2011
02/25
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Management training
Small Business
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$1 billion in sales in less than 18 months

Groupon, the deal-of-the-day website, is officially the fastest growing company in the world.  It is the first company in history to reach $1 billion in sales in less than 18 months and, having featured on the front cover of Forbes magazine (08/10) and listed in TIME’s Top 50 Websites of 2010.  It has an ever-increasing active subscriber base of 29 million people in 31 countries,and they are spearheading the global, social commerce scene. 

So far it has saved the people of the UK over £52 million through 12,000 deals, having only launched in the country in January 2010.  It is now one of the top 75 most visited websites in the country.

What do you think makes a startup hit on the big idea?  

What, in your view, is the next big thing and when will it hit us?

2010
11/24
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Dos and don’ts when getting a new website

 At a recent FastTrack Open Office event we invited four small business owners to talk about their experience of commissioning a new business website.  The event turned out to be a treasure trove of helpful advices and practical tips thanks to Philippa Huckle, Kath Sloggett, Mardi Latch and James Pitt and all other FastTrackers present.   Below is a summary of the key tips, straight from the horses mouth, on how to get the process right from start to finish:

Before you start

  • Have a look at your competitors’ website; how they look, feel and function.  Make notes on what is good about them and what you would change to make it better. 
  • Write a “wish list” of ALL the things you would have in your site if cost and time would not limit you.  You may not be able to afford all your “wishes” but again, your web developer may surprise you by finding a  way to implement some within budget.
  • Having said that, try to keep your site as simple as possible.  Don’t give in to temptations of using lots of graphics and gimmick.
  • Your site is about helping you to make money so focus it on the “call to action”; e.g. place an order, make payment, register, contact you, etc. 
  • Make it as quick and easy for users reach the point of “action” as possible.   Three click are OK, two click are better.
  • Prepare ALL the content for your website that your developer needs from you.  Many ecommerce projects get delayed because the photos and descriptions of the products are not yet available when the site is ready to be populated with content.
  • Make sure you understand the skills of a web designer, web developer and user experience expert and what they would contribute to your website.   Some web developers are also good designers but most are not!
  • Research until you are very clear in your head on what your site will do and what content it will have.  A website is 80% action and 20% design!

  

Whom to choose

  • Shop around for designers and developers who understand your needs and market.  Start by asking around in your network for recommended web designers and developers. 
  • Make sure you feel comfortable with your web developer and able to communicate well with them.  If they are not on your wavelength, not familiar with your market and/or bamboozle you with jargon you are not likely to get a site that speaks well to your customers. 
  • Ask your shortlisted developers for customer references and visit sites they have done before.  Try, if you can, get a feedback from other professionals on the quality and tidiness of their coding. (You can download the source code for the site form your browser.)
  • Ask for detailed project specification that lists all your requirements and all the work the developer will deliver to meet them, including milestones and deadlines.  As the project progresses, make sure that the timetable is updated so that way you always know where your project stands. 
  • Make sure that you have an agreed, single point of contact all the way through, regardless of the size of the company you deal with.

 

On the costs

  • Get a few quotes for the work that you need to gauge what the “true” costs are and which you can negotiate on.  Then use this information to negotiate costs.
  • If you are looking to reduce costs, one possibility is revenue share with the developer.  Be careful though and set a time or income limit so that you can stop payment once that is reached. 
  • Some developers ask for a small equity stake in your business.  While it may help to reduce upfront costs, but only go for it if you are happy to tie your business to this person/company for its lifetime.
  • Link your payments to key milestones instead of agreeing to pay half upfront and half on completion.  It gives you better overall project control. 

 

Don’t forget

  • Make precautions for the future from the start; don’t be left without source code and full site documentation if your developer leaves his/her job, goes out of business, falls out with you, etc.
  • Insist on owning the site’s URL and get full details of its control (password to manage DNS, etc.).   If the URL is registered in the name of your web developer then they technically own it even if you paid for it.  
  • Insist that your developer documents for you EVERYTHING that he/she has done on the site
  • Make sure your site conforms with legal requirements on data and privacy protection and displaying key company information. 
  • Add proper good Terms and Conditions document.  Try to find a lawyer who will help you prepare all your legal notices for the site under a fixed fee.
  • Include a Copyright notice.

 
After your site goes live

  • Make your final payment only after you had time to test the live site.  Make sure that any bugs and errors that may be on the site at that time are fixed before you release the final payment.    
  • Be prepared to update or redesign your site at least every 2 years.  Technology, and with it user expectations, change fast.

 

2010
11/04
CATEGORY
Small Business
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The most important questions in business

The key factor in any business is the market’s response: are your customers ready for your products/services and will they appreciate you well enough to pay the price you want for them.   A lot of research and decision-making is done before you start your business and it can get overwhelming due to the many questions you need to address.  So break them down to the most essential questions that will help you make the decisions on how best to  position your business for success:

What is your value proposition?
If you can’t explain in 3 jargon-free sentences why customers need your product, you do not have the right value proposition and unlikely to make customers fork out money for it.

Does your product address a viable market?
Did you do  any research to confirm that there is real demand and large enough market for your products?  Never assume you can create demand when it hasn’t already been expressed. Don’t confuse blue-sky innovation with bread-and-butter business!

What differentiates your product from the competition?
If you want to win in business, you need to deliver tangible value exactly where other companies cannot.  Examples include rock-bottom prices (Primark); ingenious product design (Apple); extreme convenience (Google), stylish practicality (Ikea), boundary-free connectivity (Facebook), innovative entertainment (Wii). Find your edge and hammer on it.

Does the business scale?
The difference between modest wealth and obscene riches is “scale.”  Scalable businesses are those that can produce the next widget at a fraction of the cost.  Think software: once the cost of development is covered, every new sale is practically pure profit.  How about e-commerce for products? Well, you spend on updating your stock pictures every quarter, handle shipping and returns, fight for access to the latest stock then need to alert people for its arrival…it can more easily be a budget buster than you realise.

How committed are you to making this happen?
You have a family and two kids.  Are you ready to burn 100 hours a week for the next two years to get your start-up off the ground?  If you want to run a successful business, be prepared to give everything you have and then some more.  Can you afford to do it? 

How should you sell your product?
Dell Computer bypassed retailers and sold directly to customers, with limited tech support. General Motors and Coca Cola rely on distributors to move their cars and cans.  Clothing companies like Gap are successful both online and off-line.  Whatever sales method you choose, make sure it aligns with your customers’ common ways of shopping.  It is very important that you don’t try to please everyone at all time but aim to impress a well selected group of customers at the right time. E.g. sell suits to professionals, trendy garments to teens, comfortable wear to elderly, protective clothes to workers without getting your message to each wrong.

How should you market your product?
Getting the word out about your company and your products has never been easier but has never been more competitive either.  You must  do careful research on your customers buying behaviours and shopping habits to target them just right to make your message stand out; it is no mean feat.  And be aware, while social media can be an invaluable tool to reach millions, it is also only as good as the time you invest in it.  It costs little money and lot of time!

How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
Cash is king.  Plenty of entrepreneurs an successful startups go belly up before the good times have a chance to kick in.  Make sure you understand extremely well what the terms “working capital”, “contingency budget” and “debtors day” mean and how they apply for your business.

What is your end game?
Looking to flip your business to the first guerrilla that comes along? MySpace did, Facebook hasn’t. Different end games require different strategies.  Ben Way lost everything in the dotcom era while Martha Fox became a multi-millionairess selling just before the bubble burst.  Always have a clear vision of your endgame.  It is a completely different game if you want to stick with your business for life or principle, or  only as long as it reaches great market value.   Or if you want to build the next great empire or just make a decent living?   Whatever is in the back of your mind will show in the front of the business even if you don’t see.  

Be honest, be clear, be strategic and always be on the look-out.  As your business grows, new opportunities and threats emerge, and yesterday’s answers just won’t suffice any more.  

 

 

2010
10/19
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The 21st century entrepreneur

Changing business circumstances are a fact of life: recession, smart phones, social media, cloud computing, etc. changes the way we communicate with clients, customers and just about everyone else we come into contact with. 

Expectations have changed a lot about when and where we are contactable, along with the speed at which we are asked to make important decisions.  We meant to live and work smarter, faster and increasingly in the public eye.  So what will make a successful person in 2011?

 

Redefining success

Nowadays success is assessed in relation to lifestyle factors and social movements, including a healthy work-life balance, social responsibility and green issues.  When I left the world of “big business” in my mid-forties, I was looking to work in a way that reflected my personality and with people who think a lot like I do.  It was about driving innovation, originality through cross-sector communication, helping people and to be helped back.   I see these factors as being essential for any successful business.   I wanted to focus on providing service, quality and motivation and I could only achieve this by starting my own company and making my own rules. 

More and more people start their own businesses because they want to be in control of the process and/or the standard.   And many have a strong curiousity about how things can be made better and matching drive to see their ideas come to life.

 

Finding the time

Starting a business from scratch has never been easier but, there has never been higher expectations from one either.  Never in the history before did we have 20-year old university drop-outs building multi-billion dollar businesses by the time they were 30 and never before could we launch a global business that served customers across 5 continents from day-1.  

In other words, from the time you launch you are measured by a global audience to a global competition without the cushioning comfort of “local support”.  An achievement today that made a “respectable local business” yesterday can feel as a failure.  In the same time, you get support and custom from a better selected community of people that appreciate your style and values more closely and will be large enough to give you enough custom for a decent living from doing exactly what you like to do.  In many ways, there has never been a time before when business reflected our individual needs – and styles – this much.

 

Leaving the comfort zone

This new technology driven business environment challenges us to step into the unknown, acquire new skills and get out of our comfort zone.  In our increasingly busy lifestyle there is little time to think about whether we are going in the right direction or working in a way that is fulfilling.  Trend, fads and perceived pressures to “be in touch” leave less and less time for us to retreat into our own corner to take time out for re-evaluation of our priorities and preferences as we go along. 

Finding time to experience new things and revisit old favourites – let it be hobbies, people or gadget – is essential to maintain a good balance.  I love networking events, meeting new people and learning dozens of new things a day just as much as I like to spend a day with an good old friend that lets me revisit memories and talk about ideas that I could never share with people who don’t know the multi-dimensional me. 

The benefits can be tremendous when we find time to make real connections and use technology to find our “soul-customers” wherever they are and use our experiences to get to know people in context.  By making modern technology to do some of the daily chores, we need to free up time to be more connected and more innovative.

 

Building portfolio careers

Not everyone can walk into the boss’s office tomorrow and hand over a carefully crafted resignation letter, no matter how tempting it is at times.  There are ways, however, to open previously closed doors by taking a portfolio approach to our career.  This is about starting new ventures, ideas or projects that could lead to a secondary income stream.  Many natural entrepreneurs are good at keeping plates spinning and are often able to interconnect concepts to add value in a number of ways.  

In the not too distant future, many of us may be looking to establish 3 or 4 separate sources of income to be able to lead the life we want and achieve the combination of challenge and success we crave.

 

Change of mindset

Thinking like an entrepreneur is not just for the next generation of Zuckerman’s and Branson’s.  It is for all of us.  If we sit back for very long or are in a place that doesn’t push us forward, our reservoir of transferable skills will soon start to diminish.  When I first came into business, I was attracted by the opportunities for solving problems and finding ways out of tough business situations for others.  In small business, we must place a greater value on key business relationships, helping each other and encouraging others to come up with innovative solutions.  Good entrepreneurs are magnets for problem solving and new concepts.

 

From selfish to self-driven 

If we are to be truly successful in 21st century entrepreneurs and business people, we need to do it on our own terms.  Communicating how we want to work and what we are striving to achieve and making it happen when it is not yet available.  I am working with a number of startups that build new services, which are beyond “Logical and risk-managed” and can one day be on par with Twitter: the business that changed the way we communicate in a matter of months!  Drive and innovation will also stimulate a surprisingly large number of people around us, which lets face it, is also very satisfying.  

An emotional attachment to what we are doing, and the resulting job satisfaction through helping others as much as making money what earmark the new generation of entrepreneurs.

 

2010
10/05
CATEGORY
Brain in overdrive
Entrepreneurship
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What is your favourite motivational quote

Summer is over, the weather is rubbish and not a holiday in sight for months…so I had a browse around on the LinkedIn entrepreneurs’ site for some motivational quotes.  Here are my favourites;   What is your favourite motivational quote? 

Nothing is Impossible in this world, even the word impossible Says “I M POSSIBLE” 

Work only half a day; it makes no difference which half; it can be either the first 12 hours or the last 12 hours (Kimmons Wilson, founder of Holiday Inn) 

The harder I work, the luckier I become 

When life hands you lemons make lemonade

Every morning in Africa a deer wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.  Every morning a lion wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the slowest deer or it will starve to death.  It doesn’t matter if you are a lion or deer, when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. 

If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change your attitude.  Don’t complain. (Maya Angelou) 

Don’t tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon!!

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. 

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just stand there (Will Rogers)   

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work (Thomas Edison) 

If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough (Mario Andreotti) 

If your going to think…THINK BIG! (Donald Trump) 

Success is the greatest form of revenge 

Obstacles are only visible when focus is taken off the goal 

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new 

Aim high and allow for gravity 

Few times have I regretted doing something. Many times, have I regretted not doing them sooner (Jack Welsh) 

Your lack of planning does not constitute and emergency on my part

Do not stay where you are tolerated, instead go where you are celebrated (M. Murdock) 

Great minds have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds (Albert Einstein)  

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom (General George Patton) 

You cannot discover new oceans without losing sight of the shore 

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you will always be right 

Doors of opportunity don’t open, they unlock; it is up to you to turn the knob (Lily Taylor) 

Why do we fall down? So we can learn how to pick ourselves up! (Alfred from Batman Begins)

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital (Aaron Levenstein) 

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny (Elaine Maxwell)

Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up 

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in

You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great 

Excuses are the nails in the coffin of failure 

Success has U in it 

Always ask; the worst they’ll say is no 

The only people who never fail are those who have never done anything 

What you cannot avoid, welcome (Chinese proverb) 

If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins (Benjamin Franklin) 

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today (Lincoln) 

I know that I know nothing (Socrates) 

It’s all about what I want to achieve and what I can do about it 

Failing to plan is planning to fail 

Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others 

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. (Samuel Beckett) 

If a big thing you did yesterday still appears big today, you’ve not done enough today (Mikhail Gorbachev)  

Be the change you want to see in the world (Gandhi) 

If you always do, what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got 

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect (Mark Twain) 

At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable ( Christopher Reeve) 

Success is when preparation meets opportunity. 

I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep 

Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are probably going to be right (Henry Ford) 

If you’ll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your life (Vince Lombardi) 

Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving (Albert Einstein) 

Commitment is not a word but an act 

Money never starts the idea, it is the idea that starts the money 

Strategic planning is worthless unless there is first a strategic vision (John Naisbitt) 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference 

It takes years of toil to be an overnight success! 

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority (Kenneth Blanchard) 

Everything is theoretically impossible until it is done

Every obstacle is an opportunity for a solution (Merrill Haug) 

A busy man has time of everythingAlways behave like a duck: keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath (Jacob Braude)

  

Ambition gets you to the top, character keeps you there 

I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed. And the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying. 

Don’t waste time teaching a pig to fly. It accomplishes nothing and annoys the pig. 

Try hard to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get 

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win (Gandhi) 

As the fact’s change, so does my opinion 

Money may not buy you happiness but it will sure get you a better class of misery (Spike Milligan) 

I am thankful to all those who said no to me.  Its because of them that I did it myself (Einstein)

Sometime your the bug, sometime your the windshield 

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It is about learning to dance in the rain during the storm.

Attitude Determines Altitude

Business is like sex.  When it’s good, it’s very, very good; when it’s not so good, it’s still good.

Money isn’t everything but… it is right up there with oxygen 

What is your favourite motivational quote?

2010
09/09
CATEGORY
Brain in overdrive
Entrepreneurship
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Business Training Courses

Best deals in 2010

“All 4 courses were very useful and the handout will always be valuable.  The speakers were professionals who are very successful in their own field and were inspiring.” Daniel Peter

 

  Venue: Conference Room,Finchley Road O2 Centre, 255 Finchley Road London NW3 6LU  Click for map  

 

  Course details

Turn Your Idea into a Business

Saturday, 25 September

 Register for Entelliz Business Training Courses - Saturday in London, United Kingdom on Eventbrite

 Tuesday, 12 October
Register for Build Winning Business Plans in London, United Kingdom on Eventbrite 

  £ 95 + VAT

1-day course with handouts, tea, coffee & lunch
Do you have idea that will make a great business? Then this course is for you!

If you are starting a new business, you have to identify your existing skills, build new ones and increase your business knowledge.

Learn to plan, organise, implement and control your business.

 9:30 – 10:00 Registration

How to develop your idea into a business plan

How to build your competitive advantage

Developing your strategic skills and competencies

Contingency planning and business sustainability

12:30 – 13:15 Lunch

Business ownership

Patent, trademark and copyright protection

Privacy and data security

Electronic business models and strategies

16.30 – Networking

 

Marketing in the Social Media Age

 Saturday, 2 October
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Tuesday, 19 October
Register for Build Winning Business Plans in London, United Kingdom on Eventbrite
£95 + VAT
1-day course with handouts, tea, coffee & lunch

 
Do you want more customers but have no money for marketing? Then this course is for you!

It has been designed to take you through the key concepts that underpin a successful business in the present, fast changing environments.

 9:30 – 10:00 Registration

Understand your customers

Marketing plan

Pricing and promotion

Improve your sales and negotiating skills

12:30 – 13:15 Lunch

Branding and your message

Build your business pitch

Make your website work for you

Using social media tools

16.30 – Networking

 

Finance and Fundraising
Saturday, 9 October 
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 Tuesday, 26 October
Register for Build Winning Business Plans in London, United Kingdom on Eventbrite
£ 95 + VAT
1-day course with handouts, tea, coffee & lunch 

 
If you are starting a new business, you have to build some new skills and enhance your business knowledge.

Learn how to generate more income or when and how to get investors for your business!

 9:30 – 10:00 Registration

Learn to plan, organise and control your business

Effective cost and cash flow management

Budget preparation and sales forecasting

What you need to know about business contracts

12:30 – 13:15 Lunch

The right financing options for your business

When your business is “investor ready”

What investors are really looking for

How to avoid the common mistakes

16:00 – Networking

 

Presentations Skills Training
Saturday, 23 October  
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Tuesday, 2 November
Register for Build Winning Business Plans in London, United Kingdom on Eventbrite
£ 95 + VAT
1-day course with handouts, tea, coffee & lunch
This intensive course is designed to equip you with the skills and confidence you need to make the right impact in demanding business environments, such as negotiations, investor meetings.

If you have an important presentation, meeting or interview coming up, then you simply cannot afford to miss this course!

 9:30 – 10:00 Registration

What makes presentations work?

How to use various media tools?

Learn to communicate effectively

Your message with a greater impact

12:30 – 13:15 Networking lunch

Learn to overcome your nerves

1-on-1 presentation coaching

16:30 – Networking

 

Speaker Biographies

 Aniko Zagon DPhil FCMI

 Aniko Zagon DPhil – Course Leader

Aniko is business management expert who has set up many innovative projects in the public and private sector and worked, in senior managerial roles, in start-ups, listed companies and the NHS. She is also an experienced business coach with a broad experience in helping businesses build strong growth platforms.

Aniko is a Sloan Master in Business Management, London Business School, a Member of the Professional Standards Committee of the Chartered Management Institute (FMCI), and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants. She is a BBC and RADA trained educator with a background is in neurosciences research into stress management.

Guest speakers
tbc
  
2010
08/27
CATEGORY
Management training
Small Business
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