Business121 Small Business Newsletter #34

In this week's Business121:

1. £0 to £9.7 million in 1 year - Learning from Leila Wilcox
2. 10 Ways to Build Trust and Build Your Business
3. Making the connection – understanding call management
4. Drop-Off stores take hassle out of selling on eBay UK
5. Planning tips if you want to become an entrepreneur
6. No regrets for 83% of small business owners
7. One in six Britons 'under the influence' at work
8. Misuse of office technology adds more than 2 hours to the working day

£0 to £9.7 million in 1 year - Learning from Leila Wilcox
This month's issue of Better Business gives a fascinating insight on Leila Wilcox. In just 12 months, Leila has gone from being a housewife to the owner of a multi-million pound business.

Her company, Halos and Horns is on target to reach a turnover of £9.7 million after its first year. Now that's a first year of business that I'm sure all of us would be pleased with.

With such an incredible performance for a new business start-up, we can all learn some valuable lessons and gain inspiration from someone who has achieved so much in such a short space of time.

But just how has Leila achieved such phenomenal success in such a short space of time?

Well her story is a little unusual. Her name may be familiar to some of you because Leila was one of the contestants in Channel 4's 'Make Me a Million'.

If you didn't catch any of the series, the programme started with three successful entrepreneurs each choosing a pair of wannabe business owners from 2,500 applicants. Each pair then set out to start a new business with mentoring from the entrepreneur.

As with many successful small businesses, the idea for the initial product came about through personal experience. Leila's son had eczema so she wanted to buy soaps that didn't contain the usual chemicals. But she could only find suitable alternatives online and wasn't happy with the extra expense and hassle this entailed. With a clear gap in the market, Halos and Horns was conceived to exploit the opportunity that Leila had spotted.

When you take a company from an idea to £10 million turnover you're going to learn some valuable business lessons. And when that journey is made in just 12 months you're going to have to learn quickly. So what are Leila's top tips on building a fast-growing business;

DELEGATE
If you're an entrepreneur you tend to be poor at delegating and you tend to be a perfectionist. But it's far better to think, "If this person only does it 50% as well as I do it, well hey, it's still OK, they're still doing a good job."

THINK BIG
With our products we could have just started selling them online and in organic pharmacies but instead we aimed to sell them in the biggest retailer and ended up selling a million units into supermarkets.

NEVER GIVE UP
If the supermarket buyers were boyfriends, we'd have been done for stalking! We really didn't give up, so every time you get a knock-back, find another route in, another excuse to ring them.

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH CUSTOMERS
People are writing to me at the moment crying out for a baby moisturiser so we're developing one. It's about listening to mums and dads to find out what they want and going from there. This is where some of the bigger companies are going wrong.

NEGOTIATE WITH A STRATEGY AND A SMILE
When you're negotiating sales, go in with a strategy. Really sit down beforehand and work out what your strategy and angle are going to be. Keep smiling and come out with what you want and don't come out with something you don't want. Persistence with a smile!

Having seen an episode of the programme where Leila was in a sales meeting, I'd say that 'persistence with a smile' was a perfect summary of her approach, and one of the major reasons for her success.

Seeing her success now it's hard to believe that before starting Halos and Horns Leila saw herself as a victim because she was a young mother with no qualifications. But running a thriving business has given her the confidence to see her own potential and really go for it.

A great example of the positive powers of entrepreneurship.

(Emyr Williams)

You can read the full feature on Leila's journey in the June edition of Better Business. The magazine includes a range of other really useful articles and advice for small business owners including, How to innovate and avoid becoming a dinosaur, Pitching to Dragons, How to maximise your sales leads and How to beat the big boys with great customer service.

Better Business is available by subscription only. You can find out more about it and a special offer for Business121 readers here

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10 Ways to Build Trust and Build Your Business
If you're struggling to attract clients and customers, use the following tactics to build trust and convert prospects to clients;
http://snipurl.com/_10_ways_to_Build

Making the connection – understanding call management
In today’s fast-paced world, one of the most important requirements for any business is to be available whenever a customer needs you;
http://snipurl.com/_call_management

Drop-Off stores take hassle out of selling on eBay UK
A new drop-off service is being launched in the UK to take the hassle out of selling your products and personal items on eBay;
http://snipurl.com/_drop_off_for_eBay

Planning tips if you want to become an entrepreneur
This article will help potential new business start-ups in coming up with ‘the plan’, and the move into the world of entrepreneurship;
http://snipurl.com/_Entrepreneur_plan

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS
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No regrets for 83% of small business owners
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According to new research into the attitudes, inspirations and needs of the UK's small business community, an overwhelming, 83% prefer being their own boss;
http://snipurl.com/_No_Regrets

One in six Britons 'under the influence' at work
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One in six employees in Britain has been under the influence of alcohol at work in the last six months, a study into ‘Alcohol in the workplace’ by Royal & SunAlliance has revealed;
http://snipurl.com/_workplace_drinking

Misuse of office technology adds more than 2 hours to the working day
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A recent study shows that email and telephone habits can reduce productivity rather than increase it and men are the biggest timewasters at work;
http://snipurl.com/_tech_misuse

** For the latest Small Business News, visit Bytestart News **

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(c) Business121.co.uk 2006