Business121 Small Business Newsletter #47

In this week's Business121:

1. How did Helen Stokes build a £50Million business in just 5 years?
2. Ways to ask for money and make quick sales on eBay
3. Are you working IT well?
4. How to get your first customer
5. 10 Ways to build trust and build your business
6. 10 tips for presenting with more IMPACT
7. How to be successful at cold calling
8. 10 PR tips for small businesses
9. Conservatives launch policies to help small businesses
10. Latest statistics show small increase in number of small businesses
11. Employers looking for communication skills and work ethic
12. Chambers of Commerce call for Small Business Service axe

HOW DID HELEN STOKES BUILD A £50 MILLION BUSINESS IN JUST 5 YEARS?
The September issue of Better Business dropped through my letterbox this week. The magazine is always an inspiring read, and none more so than this latest issue which tells the incredible story of Helen Stokes.

In just 5 years, Helen has built a successful business which now has a turnover of £50 million and employs 130 people. To many of us that is what dreams are made of. In fact, most of us would settle for a fraction of what Helen has achieved.

But how has Helen achieved so much and what can we learn from her?

It's clear to see that a "Can-do" attitude is very much to the fore in Helen building the recruitment business - Morgan Hunt Public Sector - to a high-growth and award-winning company.

When asked what advice she would pass on to others, Helen's answer is very revealing;

"The biggest thing I have learned is that it's absolutely fine to get it wrong. Don't beat yourself up. For a time I caused myself too much stress by worrying that I wasn't perfect. If you mess it up fine - deal with it, admit it. No-one expects you to be a superwoman"

This attitude to failure crops up time and time again in successful entrepreneurs - and is something we should all remember. Here are Helen's other top tips;

HELEN'S TOP TIPS FOR BUILDING A BUSINESS

DO

• Set standards in your company and make sure every single person in your company is on board with doing business in that fashion.

• Believe in your gut instinct - that's very important.

• Always strive to achieve more

• Focus on exploiting niche markets

• Have a vision

• Develop a thick skin - you need to be prepared to make decisions and fail.

• Have belief. You've got to have the energy and the passion; you've got to really believe in what you're doing.

• Take your customers for granted

• Expect staff to stay forever. Encourage them to be open about what they want from their job.

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

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Ways to ask for money and make quick sales on eBay
Although most eBay sellers shy from asking for money or an immediate order, it remains the best way to maximise profits in the shortest possible time;
http://snipurl.com/eBay_quick_sales

Are you working IT well?
Small businesses can now rate their use of technology and communications so that they can achieve the maximum value from their investment by using a formula developed by leading psychologist and Cardiff and Birmingham University lecturer, Dr Cliff Arnall;
http://snipurl.com/_IT_savvy_formula

How to get your first customer
Starting a business is always tough, especially when you have to get out there and secure your first customer. Here are 6 practical steps can you take to ensure your business gets off to a flying start.

By the way, the tips in this article can be put to good use by businesses that are already up and running and could do with one or two more customers!
http://snipurl.com/_first_customer

If you'd like to win some more customers, here are a few useful pointers from our archives, to help you get business rolling in;

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

10 tips for presenting with more IMPACT
Presenting with impact is a skill we can all learn and a skill that pays off many times over if we can win customers with our presentations;
http://snipurl.com/Present_with_impact

How to be successful at cold calling
Cold calling is a fact of business life. So are rebuffs. You cannot be successful calling prospects unless you learn to take the rebuffs;
http://snipurl.com/_Cold_Calling_Guide

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS
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Conservatives launch policies to help small businesses
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The Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has launched a series of new policy proposals, specifically designed to help smaller businesses succeed;
http://snipurl.com/smallbusiness_policy

Latest statistics show small increase in number of small businesses
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The latest statistics on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK show that there was a small increase of 1.4% in the number of small businesses from 2004 to 2005;
http://snipurl.com/_small_businesses_up

Employers looking for communication skills and work ethic
-------------------------------------------------------
Employers are placing much more emphasis on the soft skills of school leavers such as communication skills and work ethic than on literacy and numeracy, according to a survey of over 1,400 UK employers;
http://snipurl.com/_employee_skills

Chambers of Commerce call for Small Business Service axe
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The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) claim that businesses have had enough of the Government’s amateur approach to supporting small businesses, and want the Small Business Service (SBS) to be axed;
http://snipurl.com/BCC_say_axe_SBS

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://www.Bytestart.co.uk **

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