Author Archives: admin

If you want to grow your business at pace or achieve significant growth, it’s likely that you’ll need to attract external funding or finance. There are many options, but one of the most common is attracting investment from a wealthy investor or group of investors. Find the right investor, and not only do you gainContinue reading “How to attract and work with an investor”

You might be really skillful, knowledgeable and experienced when it comes to your trade or profession. However, if you’re new to running your own business, you might not know much about how to manage your finances as a start-up business. Unless you come from a financial background – why would you? If your new businessContinue reading “How to manage your finances as a start up”

There are many things you need to do to succeed in business, but one of the most important is to stand out. It’s essential if you operate in a crowded, competitive market, as most businesses do. If your business fails to stand out, because your brand, products and services haven’t been differentiated, you’ll just blendContinue reading “How to stand out in a competitive market”

What if your business is earning a cash surplus every month? What would you do? Many small-business owners don’t do anything. They leave it in their current account, earning little or no interest. Some do nothing because they’re busy with other business priorities. Others don’t do anything because they don’t realise they have other options.Continue reading “How to put your hard-earned business cash to work”

Globally, LinkedIn has a staggering 900 million-plus users. You might well be one of them. LinkedIn is estimated to have more than 35 million users in the UK, a mix of individuals, organisations and businesses of all sizes. They use the site to raise their profile, network and find new customers. So, how do youContinue reading “How to use LinkedIn to grow your business”

When a business fails it’s normally because it has run out of cash and can’t pay its bills on demand. This can happen to successful businesses, with attractive products and services, healthy sales and profit margins. Ensuring that your cash flow remains healthy needs to be a key priority for your business. That means notContinue reading “How to create cash flow forecasts and budget”

In an age where many businesses use digital marketing techniques, others use old-school tactics such as cold calling. Cold calling is a direct marketing method involving phoning potential customers you’ve never met or spoken to before. Cold-calling isn’t for the thin-skinned, because even if you have a great opening gambit, it’s not unusual to beContinue reading “How to cold call your way to new customers”

It’s often said that a business’ most valuable asset is its people – and that includes you. Your team’s talent, knowledge, hard work and commitment will be what enables your business to succeed. But to make the most of your team, you need the right training. You also need to develop your new talent, too,Continue reading “How to use funded training to future-proof your small business”

The dream of any small business must be to get their products stocked by renowned high-street retailers. But, as anyone will tell you, reaching the right buyers and convincing them to sell your products is far from easy. In this fascinating start-up story, we speak to Greg Fraser, founder of The Bottled Baking Co whichContinue reading “How I started The Bottled Baking Co”

When you start your own business, you must minimise your start-up costs, because then your business starts to make a profit much sooner. If you have to shell out for stock, it increases your start-up costs considerably. And you tie up money you could have used to run your business, while there’s also a riskContinue reading “How print on demand enabled me to start my business”