Business121 Small Business Newsletter #67

In this week's Business121:

1. Sara Alison's CD W-Rap roller-coaster
2. 7 Ways of getting your customers to say "Wow!"
3. Stop "Winging it" and Start Preparing
4. Tax man set to reclaim £500 from small companies
5. Avoiding the small business hard shoulder
6. Unfair public sector procurement stacks odds against entrepreneurs
7. Chancellor urged to reward socially responsible businesses
8. 10% rate hike forecast for IT Contractors in 2007
9. Company car owners driven mad by congestion
10. BT still top, as Orange joins Top 5 Broadband Providers

Sara Alison's CD W-Rap roller-coaster

We all need some inspiration to help drive us on. Personally, I find nothing more inspiring than learning about other small business owners that are battling through adversity and establishing a successful new business.

This month's Better Business magazine tells the story of Sara Alison, the inventor of "CD W-Rap" and her fight to turn her idea into a big-selling, high street hit.

Like so many good business ideas, Sara's concept was borne out of frustration in not being able to find what she wanted. She'd bought a CD as a gift for a friend and was faced with the fiddly problem of wrapping it.

She thought, "What a nightmare - why isn't there something out there already made up so you can just put a CD in it?"

Sara spent the Summer putting together the business plan, marketing strategy, doing the sampling and getting the business off the ground.

Within a short space of time, Sara had managed to get the CD W-Rap into some Virgin Retail stores. Other, similar products were being sold alongside hers but the CD W-Rap was soon top of the sales charts.

With sales doing so well, Virgin decided to roll-out to all 90 stores and next came a big order from Play.com. But just when everything seemed to be taking off, the problems started to happen.

There was a delay with the printers which meant that Play.com cancelled their entire order. This was a big blow for Sara, and it soon got worse! One of the retailers stocking CD W-Rap tried to invoke a 'sale or return' agreement that Sara claims she never signed.

But like a true entrepreneur, Sara is not letting these issues get her down. In her own words, "They say what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, and I think I will be a better business person because of it".

We can all learn some valuable lessons from Sara's experiences, particularly for those of us that are looking to supply retailers or are reliant on manufacturers to produce our goods.

You can read all about Sara's roller-coaster experiences and find out her tips for business success in the February issue of Better Business magazine. Some of the other topics tackled in this month's magazine are;

Creating a sales pitch that's focused on helping your customers,
Getting your adverts right first time,
How to get more sales with a black belt in body language,
Getting a real return on your marketing, and
How to sell to the public sector (Part 1 of 2)

Business121 readers can get a special offer on Better Business here;
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7 Ways of getting your customers to say "Wow!"
If you can give your customers the 'Wow!' factor they're much more likely to buy from you again. Here are 7 ways you can boost your profits by really impressing your customers.

Stop "Winging it" and Start Preparing
Lack of preparation is a potential precursor to disaster whether you’re a lawyer, a pilot, a surgeon or a salesperson. Here are 5 ways you can use the time before your next sales call to maximize your chances of advancing the sale.

Tax man set to reclaim £500 from small companies
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) may claw back £500 from thousands of small companies that have filed their PAYE returns on line.

Avoiding the small business hard shoulder
Adrian Waters offers some tips for SMEs running business vehicles on how to comply with imminent corporate manslaughter legislation, whilst streamlining the costs of both breakdown policies and fleet maintenance.

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS
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Unfair public sector procurement stacks odds against entrepreneurs
When it comes to winning public sector business, resources required to merely make an application leaves small to medium businesses out of the game, according to the Tenon Forum.

Chancellor urged to reward socially responsible businesses
Accountants and business advisers, PKF, has suggested cutting corporation tax from 30% to 25% for companies that are certifiably carbon-neutral.

10% rate hike forecast for IT Contractors in 2007
Over 50% of the UK’s IT contractors expect an inflation-busting rate hike of at least ten per cent in 2007, according to new research.

Company car owners driven mad by congestion
Twenty per cent of company car drivers spend more than 11 days a year sitting in congestion according to a new survey which also revealed almost one third of drivers made a New Year resolution to spend less time travelling for work in 2007.

BT still top, as Orange joins Top 5 Broadband Providers
Orange has re-entered the top five broadband providers in the UK, joining BT, Pipex, Demon and Virgin at the top of the table in terms of technical performance.

** For the latest Small Business News, visit Bytestart.co.uk **

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