PMMDA - News Topics



HELPFUL HINTS..
BUSINESS FACT SHEETS	Courtesy of For further information go to www.firststop4business.info or Business link direct on Tel: 08457 566566 website: www.businesslink.gov.uk

Advertising strategy - Reaching out Building customer loyalty - Easy pickings Company Cars and Tax - A valuable perk Delivering a presentation (Step by Step) Effective PR - A good image is a valuable asset Exhibitions - Showing yourself Fit 4 Funding Flexible Working Hours Frequent Traveller Tips Health & Safety Risk Assessment (Step by Step) Identifying training needs (Step by Step) Increasing profitability IT disaster prevention -Damage limitation IT disaster prevention (Step by Step) Managing Your Sales Team Managing your time - Time is money Market Research Knowledge is power Motivating Employees - You can't afford not to Networking - Learning from others Occupational Health for your employees Sales strategy - Making it happen Selling the benefits not the features SWOT analysis (Step by Step) Top 10 Credit Control Tips Top 10 Networking Tips Working time and the minimum wage - Pay attention Writing a mailshot - You can do it Writing Mailshot Your website strategy - In the shop window

Advertising strategy - Reaching out Almost every business needs to promote itself in some way, reaching out to customers and potential customers. For businesses with large numbers of target customers in well-defined market segments, advertising is often a cost-effective way of communicating with them. This briefing covers: Setting your promotional objectives and deciding whether to advertise. Determining your promotional budget Deciding where and when to advertise. Measuring the effectiveness of your advertising campaign. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Building customer loyalty - Easy pickings Successful companies focus first on selling more to their existing customers, rather than finding new ones. The cost of selling more to existing customers may be minimal. A loyal customer tends to buy more, more regularly. And throughout the period, a loyal customer will regularly recommend your business to others. This briefing covers: Understanding who your most valuable customers are. How to achieve a high standard of customer care for all your customers. How to turn your most valuable customers into your most loyal customers. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Company Cars and Tax - A valuable perk Company cars are one of the most popular employee benefits. Altogether, 1.7 million directors and employees drive company cars in the UK. Of these, about half receive free fuel for private use. Successive governments have increased taxation on cars and fuel. This means that both employers and employees need to consider the tax implications of company cars before making decisions. Since April 2002, the system has been reformed to encourage companies to run ‘greener’ cars. A car’s CO2 emission levels now determine the tax paid for both new and existing vehicles, though older vehicles (registered before 1998) are still taxed on engine size. This briefing covers: How employees and employers are currently taxed on company cars. Ways to reduce the tax paid. The difference between buying and leasing a car click here to view the Factsheet

Delivering a presentation (Step by Step) Ensure you stay on the right path to running a successful business by downloading one of our useful step-by-step Action Point guides Action Points will provide you with punchy, bullet point business advice that will help keep your business on track. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Effective PR - A good image is a valuable asset. Effective public relations (PR) creates good publicity, building your reputation with customers and others whose opinion matters to you. While advertising can be purchased immediately, generating positive publicity can take time. On the other hand, good PR has greater credibility and can have more impact than advertising. This briefing covers: Planning your PR activities. Making news and handling the media. Writing a press release. Choosing and using a PR agency. Click here to read more

Exhibitions - Showing yourself Exhibitions provide a unique opportunity to display your product and business to large numbers of potential customers. A clear idea of what you are trying to achieve and how to go about it helps you to maximise the impact. This briefing looks at: Defining your aims. Choosing exhibitions to participate in. Designing and running your own stand. Generating sales from the exhibition. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Fit 4 Funding Attracting investors’ funds into your business is often critical to its future growth and success. The Fit 4 Funding programme developed by Oxford Innovation and Business Link Northamptonshire will help businesses select the right investor, understand what investors want and prepare properly before presenting their opportunity through 5 funding steps to finance. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Flexible working and the Law As an employer, you need to know about flexible working. The law says you must 'consider seriously' requests to work flexibly made by an employee who is a parent with a child under six or a disabled child under 18. But in fact it may pay you to consider offering flexible working to other employees as well. This briefing covers: The different types of flexible working. Who qualifies to apply for flexible working under the law. The procedures you must follow if a request to work flexibly is made. What you need to do to introduce new working arrangements. Other legislation to be aware of. click here for full fact sheet

Health & Safety Risk Assessment (Step by Step) Ensure you stay on the right path to running a successful business by downloading one of our useful step-by-step Action Point guides Action Points will provide you with punchy, bullet point business advice that will help keep your business on track. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Identifying training needs (Step by Step) Ensure you stay on the right path to running a successful business by downloading one of our useful step-by-step Action Point guides Action Points will provide you with punchy, bullet point business advice that will help keep your business on track. click here to view the factsheet TOP

Increasing profitability Few people are in a position to sit back and watch the profits roll in. Creating and increasing profitability depends on doing a hundred little things better than the competition. Download our FREE factsheet which explains the best ways to increase your profitability directly and how to create a framework for increasing profitability. click here to view the factsheet

IT disaster prevention -Damage limitation Many small and medium-sized businesses rely heavily on their IT networks, but do not always take adequate steps to safeguard them. System crashes, data corruption and other problems can have disastrous consequences and could even cause a business to fail completely. To anticipate potential problems, and to minimise the damage caused by them, you will need to set up and implement an effective disaster prevention strategy. This briefing focuses on IT. To find out how to reduce the impact of other types of disaster, such as fire and burglary, see Minimising insurance risks, IN 3. This briefing covers: Assessing the risks you face. Pre-empting potential problems. Making contingency plans. click here to view the Factsheet TOP IT disaster prevention (Step by Step) Ensure you stay on the right path to running a successful business by downloading one of our useful step-by-step Action Point guides Action Points will provide you with punchy, bullet point business advice that will help keep your business on track. click here to view the factsheet TOP

Managing your time - Time is money Time is like money. If you control it, you can create a satisfactory and productive working environment. If you do not control it, you can spend your working life in an exhausting and depressing muddle. This briefing explains how to make time work for you. It covers: Prioritising and planning. Creating routines and systems. Handling information and minimising distractions. Using time management aids, and analysing your use of time Click here to download the factsheet

Market Research Knowledge is power Marketing research helps you understand your competitive position, spot opportunities, lessen risks and take better decisions. It is more than just market research, which is concerned only with examining aspects of a given market, such as its size, location or growth potential. Marketing research can give you indications, but it cannot give you answers. What it can do is allow you to make marketing decisions based on the best, most up-to-date information available. This briefing covers: Using different research methods. Sources of information. In-house and commissioned research. Budgeting for marketing research. We can now offer you online list sourcing through an asscociation with Marketing File.com. To find what you need online right now, please click here! Click here to read more

Managing your sales team Getting the most out of your sales team is essential if you are going to achieve your company's full potential. But it is not always easy. Sales people can be a breed apart, operating in a stressful environment where they are exposed to rejection and frustration. Effective organisation and motivation of the team is therefore essential. This briefing covers: Getting the right sales people. Planning and monitoring the sales effort. Allocating account management responsibilities. Motivating and rewarding the team. click here to view the Factsheet TOP

Motivating employees - You can't afford not to Most employees spend less than half their time at work being genuinely productive. For the business owner, this is frustrating and expensive. Ironically, though, the employer is usually the major cause of the problem. Almost all employees will be highly productive if they feel enthusiastic and motivated. This briefing explains: How to make people want to work well. How to align employees' goals with those of the business. How to handle disagreements. click here to view the Factsheet TOP

Networking - learning from others Most businesses recognise the benefits of developing their employees' knowledge and understanding of the industry and markets they work in. Networking with others allows smaller businesses to share experiences and ideas and to improve in-house knowledge. Businesses can network with educational establishments, trade organisations and other businesses. Businesses that actively participate in networks generally find the partnerships more effective than passive participants. This guide explains the workings and benefits of networking, the forms networking can take and how to make the most of active participation. Introduction How networking works Benefits of networking Different kinds of network Finding network partners Be an active participant in networks International networks Here's how networking locally improved my business TOP

Occupational Health for your employees Managing occupational health and welfare issues in your workplace means taking steps to promote employees' and your own well-being and prevent illness and injury. This can range from cutting stress and drawing up a drugs and alcohol policy to stamping out bullying and harassment. All businesses are likely to face a range of occupational health and welfare issues. The Occupational Health & Welfare guide sets out the importance of tackling them and explains how to implement systems that can help you do so. click here for full fact sheet .

Sales strategy - Making it happen Effective marketing is crucial to the success of any business. But simply understanding your market is not enough. You need to build on your marketing plans, turning theory into profits. A good sales strategy will help you identify and take advantage of the best opportunities. This briefing covers: Clarifying your sales objectives. Deciding how to reach target customers. Monitoring and improving effectiveness. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Selling the Benefits, not the features Businesses and consumers don't buy on price alone. Your customers want to know what your product or service can do for them, not just how it works. They want value for money and that could include paying more for the benefits or advantages they gain from buying your product or service. This guide tells you how to sell the benefits of your product or service in order to maximise your sales. click here for full fact sheet

SWOT analysis (Step by Step) Ensure you stay on the right path to running a successful business by downloading one of our useful step-by-step Action Point guides Action Points will provide you with punchy, bullet point business advice that will help keep your business on track click here to view the Factsheet TOP

Top 10 Credit Control Tips One problem many businesses encounter is that of cash flow and credit control. Why not take a look at our FREE credit control tips provided by Direct Route. Find out how you can minimise the impact credit control issues and ensure your business is paid the money it's owed. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Top 10 Networking Tips If you are planning on attending any networking events this year then why not take a look at the the Top 10 Tips for Networking provided by Stanair Industrial Door Services. Find out to to make the most of your time at networking events and ensure you make the best contacts for your business. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Working time and the minimum wage - Pay attention Regulations covering working hours and minimum wages apply to almost every business. Working time regulations aim to improve health and safety by controlling the hours employees work, while it is illegal to pay less than the minimum wage. This briefing covers: The rules governing working hours, rest periods, annual leave and night work under the working time regulations. The minimum wage. How to keep your paperwork in order. How the regulations are enforced. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Writing a mailshot - You can do it Most businesses send out mailshots several times a year, whether they are large-scale mailings or batches of individualised letters to a dozen key customers at a time. If the targeting and the offer are right, you get a positive response. If you get them wrong, it is junk mail. You need a good list, a proven product and a strong offer, embodied in a compelling mail pack. But writing a successful mailshot need not be difficult, if you set about it the right way. With the help of this briefing, most businesses can tackle the task of writing their own mailshot material. This briefing covers: Knowing what you are trying to achieve. Getting the content right. Essential tips on form and style. The keys to maximum response. click here for full fact sheet TOP

Your website strategy - In the shop window A website lets you put your products in front of a worldwide audience. It can help you generate new revenue, cut costs and build better relationships with both customers and suppliers. The costs of setting up a website are relatively low, so every business should think about having one. This briefing will help you decide a strategy for your website. A second briefing, Designing your website, explains how to put your ideas into practice. This briefing covers: The benefits of setting up a website. The costs involved. How you can make money from your site. click here for full fact sheet TOP

More fact sheets to come in future weeks.
OTHER AREAS COVERED BY FACTSHEETS INCLUDE Start a business Raise and manage finance Manage people effectively Make the most of IT & e-commerce Get the basics right Find and keep customers For further information go to www.firststop4business.info Business link direct on Tel: 08457 566566 website: www.businesslink.gov.uk

TOP

Effective PR - A good image is a valuable asset.

Exhibitions - Showing yourself

Fit 4 Funding

Flexible working and the Law

Identifying training needs (Step by Step)

Increasing profitability

IT disaster prevention -Damage limitation

IT disaster prevention (Step by Step)

Managing your time - Time is money

Managing your sales team

Motivating employees - You can't afford not to

Businesses and consumers don't buy on price alone. Your customers want to know what your product or service can do for them, not just how it works.

SWOT analysis (Step by Step)

Top 10 Credit Control Tips

Working time and the minimum wage - Pay attention

Your website strategy - In the shop window