July 28, 2011

enter ‘Thurrock’s Den’ if you dare – or get out of the Rat Race with a ‘Betty’???

Filed under: Business, Business Startup, Communication, Marketing, Marketing for Startup Britain, Marketing for Startup Britain, Media, Startup Britain, Startup Britain, The Enterprise Gateway — Tags: Amp, Basildon, Bike Repair Shop, Bike Shop, Business Name, Caroline Thomas, Dallimore, Dare, Design Competition, Dotty Hippo Design, East Thurrock, Essex, Feedback, Fiona Dallimore, Gateway 97.8, Hippo, Innes, Interviews, London, Louise Innes, Marketing, Marketing for Startup Britain, Met, mobile bicycle repair, Mobile Shop, People, Pete Owen, Peter Owen, Radio, Rat Race, Rat Race Cycles, Sales Scene, Sherie Griffiths, Startup Britain, Thurrock Area, Up Urs Betty, Urs, Wondering What Sort — sheriegriffiths.com @ 10:28 am

On this afternoon’s programme, I’m talking about:

Last week’s show, with Caroline Thomas of Sales Scene and Louise Innes of Dotty Hippo Design – their ‘Thurrock’s Den’ competition is still open!;
‘Marketing for Startup Britain’ – the five-day conference which ran at venues across London, from 4th to 8th July; and
I’ve got interviews with two of the people I met at the conference –
Pete Owen of mobile bike shop, Rat Race Cycles, and
Fiona Dallimore of Up Urs Betty.

Catch the programme at 3:00 on 97.8 FM if you’re in the Basildon & East Thurrock area, or at gateway978.com, from anywhere else in the world.

If you’ve got any feedback or ideas for the show, get in touch.

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March 26, 2010

What’s Your ‘UAP’?

Filed under: Business, Marketing — Tags: 21st Century, 24 Carat, Acronym, Amp, Attraction Point, Brand Awareness, Descendant, Favour, Gibbins, Greater Awareness, Lawyers, Logic, Mindy, Perspective, Phrase, Relationships, Typo, Uap, Unique Selling Point, Usp, Usps — sheriegriffiths.com @ 9:54 am

No, that isn’t a typo in the title. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, getting ahead in marketing was all about finding your ‘USP’ – your ‘unique selling point’ or ‘proposition’. Now, it’s about three things – benefits, benefits and benefits!

I can see the logic behind that – we have to approach what we do from the customer’s perspective rather than our own (as I was saying about M & S not so long ago); but there’s a problem: Picture yourself in a room with a bunch of lawyers, coaches – or sound people, if you like. You know you need one of them, but how do you choose? Chances are, they’ll all set out broadly the same benefits. So you need to find something that distinguishes one from the rest – their ‘USP’.

Last week, I was talking about Mindy Gibbins-Klein’s book, “24 Carat BOLD”. USPs are something Mindy and I disagree on. She hates the phrase and I don’t. Ok, so that might have something to do with a bit of piggyback brand awareness – the fact that USP means something else to me, beyond the out of favour marketing acronym. Seriously, though, I do think it, or a descendant of it, has a place in marketing and brand awareness in the 21st century. These days, we’ve moved away from the hard sell culture, towards a greater awareness of the importance of building good, strong relationships in business and relationships, whatever form they take, start with attraction. So, perhaps what we should be developing is a UAP – unique attraction point. What do you think?

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July 31, 2009

Compulsory Retirement At 65 Could be Scrapped

Filed under: Uncategorised — Tags: Amp, Cbi, Certified Accountants, Compulsory Retirement, Confederation Of British Industry, Economic Circumstances, Employee Requests, General Secretary, Hall Director, Hr Policy, Job, Jobs, Occupations, Older Workers, Retirement Age, Trades Union Congress, Union Congress Tuc — sheriegriffiths.com @ 10:09 am

From Branston Adams Chartered & Certified Accountants’ July newsletter

http://www.branstonadams.co.uk

While most people in the UK retire by the age of 65, 1.3 million continue working beyond that point. The Government has announced that it has brought forward its review of the default retirement age from 2011 to 2010, as a result of changing demographic and economic circumstances.

Many see the announcement as an indication that the default retirement age of 65 will be scrapped.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has described the decision as ‘disappointing’, arguing that 81% of employers already accept employee requests to continue working
beyond the age of 65, and that having a default allows both staff and businesses to plan ahead.

Katja Hall, Director of HR Policy at the CBI, said, ‘Some people can happily work in their existing job beyond the age of 65, but this is not possible for all occupations, and companies with smaller numbers of staff have particular problems adapting jobs to the needs of older workers’.

However, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has welcomed the news. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber commented, ‘It cannot be right that an employer can sack someone simply for being too old. A key challenge as we live and stay active longer is developing the right kind of jobs, support and training for older workers’.

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July 1, 2009

Business Matters Summer 2009 – Retaining Existing Business

Filed under: Uncategorised — Tags: Amp, Branston, Business Matters, Chartered Certified Accountants, Cross Selling, Current Trends, Customer Base, Existing Customers, Farnham Surrey, Incentives, Insurance, Loyalty Scheme, Marketing, National Insurance Contributions, New Business, Risk Strategies, Victoria, Vouchers — sheriegriffiths.com @ 1:53 pm

From: Branston Adams

Chartered Certified Accountants & Savvy Panellists

Suite 2, Victoria House, South Street, Farnham, Surrey. GU9 7QU

Tel: +44 (0) 1252 728 598 Fax: +44 (0) 1252 728 652

Email: paul@taxaccountancy.com

http://www.branstonadams.co.uk

Tomorrow: “Should You Increase Your National Insurance Contributions?”

You can download the newsletter in full by visiting

http://www.branstonadams.co.uk/newsletters.htm

Introduction

Maintaining your existing customer-base is invariably less costly than generating new business. Consider the following low-risk strategies.

Responding to current trends

Researching current trends in the market and observing how your customers and competitors are responding will allow you to adjust your products or services accordingly, and to compile

a clear and consistent marketing message which demonstrates how you can meet the changing needs of customers.

Increasing cross-selling and upselling

Cross-selling and upselling to existing customers are cost-effective ways of increasing revenue. Make sure your customers are aware of the other products and services

you can provide and offer them incentives to increase the volume and range of their existing orders.

Rewarding loyalty

Offering a loyalty scheme for long-standing and valued customers can show your appreciation and help to secure future business. Consider including loyalty vouchers to encourage your customers to try your other products or services; these can be a preferable alternative to cutting prices and will not devalue your business.

Keeping in regular contact

It is important to keep the lines of communication open. You might send a regular newsletter to your top customers, offering useful information and advice while

promoting your services. Contact customers by telephone to discuss how you can help them further, and if appropriate offer to arrange a meeting.

Generating new leads

As well as working to maintain existing customers, businesses must also continue to target prospects. By instigating some low-cost marketing strategies, you could even turn the situation to your advantage by gaining market share from your competitors.

Encouraging referrals and recommendations

Setting up a cross-referral system with your suppliers, an other businesses that complement yours, is an effective way of generating mutually beneficial leads. You can

also use incentives to encourage existing customers to recommend your business.

Networking

Attending conferences, networking events, trade shows or lunches can generate significant new business opportunities. You can improve your success rate by researching the details

of the events beforehand and selecting those which are most likely to generate useful contacts.

Your business website

A well-designed and up-to-date company website provides both prospects and customers with 24-hour access to your products and services, and can be an

effective and low-cost way of generating sales. Make it easy for visitors to find information and place orders, and include your website address on all correspondence.

Electronic marketing

Sending a monthly email update containing news, information and useful tips is another cost-effective way of keeping in regular contact with both customers and prospects, and

reminding them of how you can be of assistance.

Marketing your business in a downturn

During times of economic difficulty, the marketing budget is often one of the first casualties. However, in a recession it is more important than ever to promote awareness of your

business, protect your existing customer base and to be well-positioned when the economy picks up. In an economic downturn, it is essential to find ways of securing new and repeat business. With careful planning you could even improve your business’s prospects in the long-term.

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June 17, 2009

You’re Fired! – What the new ACAS code means for SMEs

Filed under: Uncategorised — Tags: Acas Code Of Practice, Amp, Discrimination, Dismissal Rights, Employment Businesses, Employment Tribunal, Health, Hornet, Hr Specialist, Notice Period, Peril, Probation, Refrain, Sir Alan Sugar, Solutions Ltd, Unfair Dismissal — sheriegriffiths.com @ 8:40 am

The article below comes from Karen Woodbridge of Hornet Solutions Ltd – our resident HR specialist- http://www.hornetsolutions.com.

We’re aiming to explore the issues in more detail in an interview, to be added to the site next month.

Sir Alan Sugar’s refrain is now famous but employers must take care if they follow his example. The average Employment Tribunal unfair dismissal award is £8,000 and the average legal fees, win or lose, another £8,000 so uttering these words could be extremely expensive for your business and I doubt Sir Alan would feel obliged to help out.

All change!

The old law relating to dismissal was scrapped as of 6^th April 2009, now we have the new ACAS Code of Practice. So businesses can no longer be accused of automatic unfair dismissal for saying these 2 famous words. However the new Code is several pages long and failing to follow all the steps/principles will be taken into account by the Employment Tribunal, so ignore these steps at your peril.

How to dismiss without getting into trouble.

It always amazes me that more people don’t dismiss failing employees in their first year of employment. Businesses have up to 51 weeks to decide an employee is just not working out. As long as there is no discrimination, health & safety or trade union issues, your employee has no unfair dismissal rights until they have 1 year’s service (this deadline includes the statutory 1 week notice period). You can dismiss an employee before 51 weeks, even after you previously confirmed they passed probation!

Dismissing after this period can be time consuming, stressful and expensive. I always ask when the employee problems started and so often the answer is “as soon as they started work”. This is when you need to follow one aspect of Sir Alan’s approach. Don’t dither – Do it!

Too late?

If you have missed the 51 week deadline, you can still dismiss but you must follow the new ACAS Code. All grievance and disciplinary codes written before 6^th April 2009 must be updated.

The new code is easy to follow and has a common sense approach. It doesn’t prescribe forms/paperwork but focuses on ensuring the procedure and decisions are fair and reasonable and the good news for SME’s is that reasonable is determined in relation to the size and resources of the organisation.

Unfortunately following the ACAS Code faithfully is still no guarantee that you won’t get hit with a claim because the claim form can be downloaded and lodged for free. However there is no legal aid for employment tribunals and the free sources of legal support tend to carefully assess the chances of success (eg most legal expenses insurance companies will only accept a case with a 51% or greater chance of success). So responding robustly to an ET1 (the Employment Tribunal Claim Form) and demonstrating that you followed the ACAS Code, can lead to a case being dropped by the legal team. Then your employee has to decide whether to pursue the case at substantial cost to themselves because costs are very rarely awarded to either side by the tribunal.

Once you have responded to a claim, ACAS will mediate between you and your employee free of charge so here is another chance to see off a claim without incurring huge costs.

This strategy only works if you can prove you followed the ACAS code and your decisions were fair and equitable in all the circumstances. After the first year of service saying “You’re Fired!!!” will nearly always cost you and your company dearly, no matter what you believe your employee has done. So always, without fail, act as soon as a problem occurs and never let employee problems persist beyond the 51 week point.

This article is reproduced with the express permission of Karen Woodbridge whose right to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with

This article is intended to provide information only and neither Karen Woodbridge nor Savvy Business Ltd (including its staff and agents) can accept an liability whatsoever for any losses incurred as a result of reliance upon it as anything other than generic information.

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Glossary of International Trade Terms – A

Filed under: Uncategorised — Tags: Alphabet, Amendments, Amp, Banks, Bill Of Exchange, Bills Of Exchange, Confines, Credit Operations, Designation, Drawee, Expression, Financial Solutions, Importers, International Trade Terms, Letter Of Credit, Maximum Fee, Note However That, Personal Experience, Signature, Xyz — sheriegriffiths.com @ 8:32 am

As promised yesterday, here’s more from the latest newsletter from Ray at International Trade Financial Solutions – http://www.inttradefinsolns.co.uk.

Today, Ray starts his glossary of common international trading terms.

Over the course of the next few issues, I thought that it may be useful to include some of the terms that are often seen in International Trade and a brief explanation. I cannot promise to include every one – we’d be here for ages but I will try to incorporate some that, from personal experience, I know have caught out both importers and exporters. I’ll also try to keep things alphabetical, so if anyone wants help on a particular term or expression and I have passed that point in the alphabet, let me know, and I’ll include it in the next available newsletter.

Here goes…..

A.

Acceptance.

(See yesterday’s post). When applied to Bills of Exchange, it is the act of the buyer [the Drawee] accepting that the amount quoted on the bill is correct and is a valid sum due from them to the Drawer. Acceptance is achieved by signing the bill - usually in the form ‘Accepted, for and on behalf of XYZ Ltd, [plus signature & designation]‘.

Accepting Bank.

The bank specifically mentioned in a Letter of Credit as being the one upon whom any required Bill of Exchange is to be drawn.

Ad valorem.

Literally, according to value. Included here since some banks still levy a sliding scale of charges [ad valorem] to some of their International services. Also important to be aware of minimum/maximum fee levels when comparing the offers of different providers.

Advising Bank.

Within the confines of Letter of Credit operations, a bank, located in the exporter’s Country that handles the Letter of Credit, advising it to the exporter. Should future

amendments, etc. be needed, these will also usually come through the advising bank. Note, however, that the advising bank is not necessarily responsible for payment

nor may you be limited to only dealing with this bank when you come to present documents and seek payment.

AirWay bill.

The shipping document used when goods are transported by air. Unlike a Bill of Lading, it is not a document of title. AWB’s are issued in multiple copies; it is usually copy 3 that is the one passed to the buyer and which he or his agent needs to present to obtain the goods in the destination Country.

Aval, avalisation.

Applies to Bills of Exchange. Unlike cheques, which are a form of Bill of Exchange, all parties to a Bill have to sign/endorse the Bill. Where someone whose name does not appear on a bill signs it, they are said to have added their aval or avalised it. The effect of doing this makes then liable should the bill be unpaid by the other parties. Often requested of banks by holders of the bill. A bank avalised bill is almost as good as cash and can be sold to obtain funds and help cashflow. Often overlooked by sellers.

OK, that’s enough. B’s next time……..

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