Five top tips for managing cashflow

A healthy cashflow is the lifeblood of any SME. Your business might have an excellent profit margin and revenue but if you don’t have cash in your account when the rent is due, you’ll be in trouble.

Most small business owners have cashflow on the brain a large percentage of the time. The conditions at the moment are akin to a perfect storm- on the one hand, everyone knows that banks are reluctant to lend to SMEs, and on the other hand, large corporate clients are extending payment terms to hoard cash, thereby choking their suppliers.

Here are our top tips for managing your cashflow:

1. Fail to plan, plan to fail

Remember what your scout leader used to say? Planning is crucial to any undertaking, and running a business certainly requires a bit of forethought.

You should be mapping out what your income and outgoings look like over the short, medium and long term, and sticking to a strict plan. You need to know exactly when to realistically expect payment for each and every invoice, so that you can plan how and when you’ll be paying for staff, rent, bills and other costs.

You can use a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to track your bank balance, or a more specialist software package such as Ooble. Either way, make sure you know when to expect cashflow issues so that you can plan to avoid them.

2. Do your research

When you’re selling to other businesses, don’t just offer standard payment terms of 30 days across the board. You need to do some due diligence on the company who’ll be buying your goods or services to make sure that they have the means and willingness to pay.

Use an online credit checking service such as Duedil or Experian and make some judgment calls based on the company’s age and the history of the directors. If they’re a new business or if they have had issues in the past, such as CCJs, why would you give them the same payment terms as a healthy, stable corporate?

It’s OK to negotiate based on these factors, so don’t blindly give all your clients the same terms.

3. No more mistakes

If you want to get your invoices paid on time, you’d better make sure that there are no mistakes on any of the documentation. Nail down your invoicing process and make sure that a senior member of staff has to sign off each invoice before sending. The checklist should be:

a) The current contact details of your customer including their address
b) The right invoice number and date
c) The right payment terms
d) The correct amount and the correct amount of VAT
e) Prominently displayed payment details (make sure you’ve listed the right bank account number and sort code)

Without these checks you’ll inevitably encounter resistance from time to time when there is a small mistake on your invoice, so make sure there are no excuses for your customers not to pay.

4. Keep on top of credit control

Credit control is nobody’s favourite thing to do. But if want to maintain a healthy cashflow you’ll need to get used to asking the people who owe you money to pay up.

Become front-of-mind with whoever is in charge of the accounts payable at your customer’s site. Try and befriend them, and chat to them on the phone regularly. It’ll mean that when they have a choice between paying your invoice or another invoice, hopefully you’ll be front of the queue.

If, for any reason, your invoice becomes overdue, you need to have a plan. Try and tease an exact payment date out of your customer and hold them accountable to it. If they don’t pay on that date, get serious. Escalate the issue if necessary to your manager or MD.

You should also be flexible, to a degree, with any non-payers. Tell them you’ll accept a part payment if they say they don’t have the cash. Be strict- but bear in mind that if this is a key client, you won’t want to chase too hard, and create enemies.

5. Look for finance to bridge gaps

Having planned your cashflow and cemented your credit control, if there are still foreseeable periods of time where you’ll be short of funds, look at the finance options available.

At MarketInvoice we offer clients the choice to sell an invoice as and when they want to, without contracts, debentures or personal guarantees. Selective invoice finance is a great way to ensure that your cashflow keeps flowing at those points where you’re waiting for your customer to pay.

Getting this type of finance in place will help you take advantage of more opportunities, so that when you need to buy in more stock or hire a new employee, you can have the funds in place quickly.

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Welcome to our new Area Manager Alison Hughes

Dotty Directory is delighted to welcome Alison Hughes as our new Area Manager for Pontyclun responsible for sales and marketing of Pontyclun Online.

Alison has many years experience in sales and marketing and is already well known to a large number of businesses in the area. We are sure she will prove to be a very significant addition to the Dotty Directory team.

Businesses advertising on Pontyclun Online will be linked to over 150 other websites and dozens of Facebook pages throughout the UK, giving both local and national exposure for one small annual cost. It costs just £25 plus vat A YEAR to advertise on Pontyclun Online.

Alison will be introducing Pontyclun businesses to the unique marketing opportunity offered by Dotty Directory. If you would like more information please call Alison on 07576 432815 or our head office on 01824 719005 or email us at support@dottydirectory.com.

Welcome to our new Area Manager Gareth Rees

Dotty Directory is delighted to welcome Gareth Rees as our new Area Manager for Porthcawl responsible for sales and marketing of Porthcawl Online.

Gareth brings a wealth of experience in sales and management and we are sure he will prove to be a very significant addition to the Dotty Directory team.

Businesses advertising on Porthcawl Online will be linked to over 150 other websites and dozens of Facebook pages throughout the UK, giving both local and national exposure for one small annual cost. It costs just £25 plus vat A YEAR to advertise on Porthcawl Online.

Gareth will be introducing Porthcawl businesses to the unique marketing opportunity offered by Dotty Directory. If you would like more information please call Gareth on 07999 066913 or our head office on 01824 719005 or email us at support@dottydirectory.com.

Digital High Street Skills Programme launches to boost small businesses

A new programme is being launched to help small businesses on the UK's high streets to overcome their lack of digital knowledge.

The Digital High Street Skills programme, developed by the National Skills Academy for Retail in partnership with the Association of Town and City Management, was piloted last month in Altrincham and will now be rolled out in other towns and cities across the UK over the coming months.

A recent report by Lloyds Banking Group found that 36% of small and medium sized businesses have no website and 20% have no online presence. The Digital High Street Skills programme aims to rectify the problem by providing training in digital marketing, website development and social media to help small businesses develop their online presence and grow their business through online marketing.

Jane Rexworthy, head of the National Skills Academy for Retail, explained: “The programme will show how multi-channel retailing is relevant to every size of business, and why small businesses need to take full advantage of the online opportunities that can help them to build and grow their business and ensure their long-term sustainability. We are calling on small businesses to take advantage of the government funding which is available until the end of July to support them in accessing the programme.”

Martin Blackwell, chief executive of the ATCM, added: “Just a few years ago many people were predicting that the internet would lead to the demise of the high street as we know it, yet now the opposite is proving to be true. Businesses which are engaging digitally with their customers are performing better than their offline competition, and in a trend that is great for retail up and down the country, we are seeing businesses use their online presence to attract consumers to their physical outlets on the high street.”

Click here to read the original article: "Digital High Street Skills Programme launches to boost small businesses"

What is Internet Marketing and do you need it?

The phrase “build it and they will come” doesn’t apply to websites and, depending on your niche, you may need to engage in Internet Marketing activities to promote it. The great thing about the internet is that smaller businesses can compete effectively against bigger ones, so it’s almost a level playing field, but like any other form of marketing you need to have a plan and a budget to support it.

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that there are thousands of search results for almost any search term you choose to type in the Google search box. Just try typing “internet marketing derby” for example and you’ll see there are over 11 million results!

So, bearing in mind that people usually only look at one or two pages of the search results, how can you get your business featured there? Or are there other methods you could employ to market your business online?

Here are four of the most popular techniques used by SMEs.

Search Engine Optimisation
Simply put, the aim of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is to improve your organic (natural) rankings for specific searches made in Google (or any other) search engine. Google’s stated aim is to return the most appropriate results for any search term, and it uses complex algorithms to determine this – which it changes on a regular basis. Despite the algorithm changes which have kept a lot of Search Marketers on their toes over the last couple of years and influence some of the finer points of SEO, the basic principles which Google uses are the same, i.e. is this a reputable website and does it have useful content that relates to the search? Google will factor in the user’s location and often other personal information, so different people may see different results for the same search – nevertheless there are some a couple of general principles to follow in order to improve your rankings:

Keep your content up to date – and add new, useful, content on a regular basis. Try to create content that appeals to what your potential customers might search for. There may be some obvious “keywords” that you want to target that represent your business, but think about these in terms of the questions customers ask you, pre and post-sale and try to incorporate these questions (and the answers to them) in your content. These days, people tend to type much longer phrases and questions into the search box to try and narrow down the results, so if you can anticipate these and write about them, you’ll be doing yourself a favour. A blog is often the easiest way to add new content regularly and the more conversational style of blogs also lends itself to the longer search phrases too. You could blog about recent work experiences, new developments in your industry – anything really as long as it’s interesting and helps you to present yourself and your business as knowledgeable and professional in your field.

Coming back to reputation, one of the key factors Google uses to judge this is the quality of other websites which link to you. This is a thorny area as over the years many online directories and article sites have been developed as a way to easily create incoming links for SEO purposes but these are now frowned upon, so whilst links are important, they should only be from high quality, relevant websites. As a start point you could think about associations you belong to, good local directories and businesses you work with, either as a supplier or customer. If you are in a position to create useful content for your website, e.g. tips sheets, glossaries and “how to” articles, you may find that other websites will link to these naturally if they believe their customers would find them useful – that’s a big tick for your credibility rating!

Pay-per-click
Search Engine Optimisation takes time and ongoing effort to achieve results. Pay-per-click (PPC) on the other hand can bring instant results and is being used by more and more SMEs.
Google Adwords (Google’s version of PPC) and Bing Ads (which controls ads appearing on the Bing and Yahoo search engines) involve the creation of specific adverts which appear at the top of and on the right side of a typical search screen (on mobiles they’re at the top and the bottom).

In this example, you can see three paid ads at the top on the left of the screen above the first organic listing and more on the right.

Once you’ve set up an account, you can decide which search phrases you want to trigger your ads, and you can write specific ads for different groups of phrases. Once you’ve published them, they are live almost immediately.

Sounds great, so where’s the catch? Well as the name implies, you pay a fee to Google every time someone clicks on your ad. So you do have to manage this carefully to make sure that you don’t pay too much for your clicks. Some quick tips:
• Improve your quality score by writing appealing ads that will encourage people to click on them, then route the clicks through to relevant web pages which relate closely to the search term used and appeal to potential customers. A high quality score results in cheaper clicks.
• Manage your bids – the ads at the top will typically get the most clicks but the ads on the right will be cheaper, so find a position that works for you
• Make it easy for people to make an enquiry from your website and if possible, put measures in place so that you can track clicks through to sales

There is a cost to using PPC, but with careful management many business find that it brings a good return on investment – that’s why so many business use it. In our experience business that manage their own PPC campaigns often don’t have the time to manage it effectively, so can end up losing money – so it may be worth considering using a PPC specialist to manage your campaigns for you.

Email Marketing
After falling out of favour in recent years – email marketing is now back with a bang and can be very effective for many businesses. By collecting email addresses for your past and present customers (and you can also buy email lists) you can take the opportunity to email them periodically to provide helpful information and to let them know about new products and services and special offers.

As long as you don’t bombard customers with too many emails, this is a great way to remind people about your business on a regular basis and by making your emails informative and helpful, you’ll be helping to strengthen your relationships as well as creating opportunities for repeat sales.

There are some easy to use tools which enable you to manage your contact database and create smart looking templates for your mails – these tools also provide information on open rates, click throughs etc so you can evaluate the level of engagement from your email marketing efforts. And of course there are agencies to manage all of this for you if you prefer.

Social Media
There are numerous social media channels, some of the most popular being Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and of course Youtube. Depending on the type of business you are in, one or more of these is likely to be useful for you – it’s a case of understanding your target market, the social media channels they are most likely to use and what type of content will appeal to people when using social media.

Social Media offers an opportunity to “spread the word” about your products and services to people you know and the people they know, and good social media campaigns can have an extraordinary reach. For B2B, Linkedin and Twitter are good ways to demonstrate your expertise by posting useful information and contributing to group discussions. B2C businesses often use Facebook to connect with existing customers and get new followers. And don’t forget Youtube – apart from being a social media channel, it’s also a highly used search engine in its own right and videos are a great way to show your products in action or demonstrate “how to” tips. You can also embed Youtube videos on your web pages, so you’re adding value to your website too.

There are several different aspects to Internet Marketing and we’ve touched on the four most popular methods used by SMEs here, but there are others. If you want to get more traffic to your website and ultimately generate more enquiries and sales, you need to promote your website – don’t just sit and wait – spread the word about your businesses.

In this example, you can see three paid ads at the top on the left of the screen above the first organic listing and more on the right.

Once you’ve set up an account, you can decide which search phrases you want to trigger your ads, and you can write specific ads for different groups of phrases. Once you’ve published them, they are live almost immediately.

Sounds great, so where’s the catch? Well as the name implies, you pay a fee to Google every time someone clicks on your ad. So you do have to manage this carefully to make sure that you don’t pay too much for your clicks. Some quick tips:
• Improve your quality score by writing appealing ads that will encourage people to click on them, then route the clicks through to relevant web pages which relate closely to the search term used and appeal to potential customers. A high quality score results in cheaper clicks.
• Manage your bids – the ads at the top will typically get the most clicks but the ads on the right will be cheaper, so find a position that works for you
• Make it easy for people to make an enquiry from your website and if possible, put measures in place so that you can track clicks through to sales

There is a cost to using PPC, but with careful management many business find that it brings a good return on investment – that’s why so many business use it. In our experience business that manage their own PPC campaigns often don’t have the time to manage it effectively, so can end up losing money – so it may be worth considering using a PPC specialist to manage your campaigns for you.

Email Marketing
After falling out of favour in recent years – email marketing is now back with a bang and can be very effective for many businesses. By collecting email addresses for your past and present customers (and you can also buy email lists) you can take the opportunity to email them periodically to provide helpful information and to let them know about new products and services and special offers.

As long as you don’t bombard customers with too many emails, this is a great way to remind people about your business on a regular basis and by making your emails informative and helpful, you’ll be helping to strengthen your relationships as well as creating opportunities for repeat sales.

There are some easy to use tools which enable you to manage your contact database and create smart looking templates for your mails – these tools also provide information on open rates, click throughs etc so you can evaluate the level of engagement from your email marketing efforts. And of course there are agencies to manage all of this for you if you prefer.

Social Media
There are numerous social media channels, some of the most popular being Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and of course Youtube. Depending on the type of business you are in, one or more of these is likely to be useful for you – it’s a case of understanding your target market, the social media channels they are most likely to use and what type of content will appeal to people when using social media.

Social Media offers an opportunity to “spread the word” about your products and services to people you know and the people they know, and good social media campaigns can have an extraordinary reach. For B2B, Linkedin and Twitter are good ways to demonstrate your expertise by posting useful information and contributing to group discussions. B2C businesses often use Facebook to connect with existing customers and get new followers. And don’t forget Youtube – apart from being a social media channel, it’s also a highly used search engine in its own right and videos are a great way to show your products in action or demonstrate “how to” tips. You can also embed Youtube videos on your web pages, so you’re adding value to your website too.

There are several different aspects to Internet Marketing and we’ve touched on the four most popular methods used by SMEs here, but there are others. If you want to get more traffic to your website and ultimately generate more enquiries and sales, you need to promote your website – don’t just sit and wait – spread the word about your businesses.

Click here to read the original article: "What is Internet Marketing and do you need it?"

Top 5 tips to increase cyber security in the workplace

1. Passwords

Believe it or not, top passwords for 2013 included ‘123456’, ‘Password’, ‘Admin’ and ‘Letmein’. It may seem obvious but you’d be surprised at how many staff simply use the easiest password which leaves the business wide open to vulnerabilities. Passwords should be set up to have minimum characters, and should be at least 12 alphanumeric characters in length. It’s also important to change passwords frequently, around every three months, and use password protection to lock confidential documents.

2. Documents

Only keep documents you really need in physical format. If they are confidential, ensure they are kept in locked drawers and are shredded once they are no longer needed. It’s also wise to archive online documents that you don’t regularly need to keep them hidden.

3. Email

Firstly, be wary of the actual source of emails which you receive. Treat each message cautiously and double check with the sender if you are in doubt. Do not open any attachments that seem odd or out of context as it could contain malware such as a virus or keystroke logger which could be monitored by hackers.

Only keep messages you need in your inbox. I’d advise to move valuable emails to subfolders and set permissions for only the owner to access them. Also, delete emails that aren’t needed – especially ones with any sensitive data. You should extract sensitive data and store it in locked documents, deleting the email.

4. Phone and email enquiries

Try to avoid giving out sensitive information over the phone such as client details, bank details or phone numbers - unless you are fully satisfied that the caller is genuine. Verify the identity of callers requesting information. If you can’t immediately identify them, insist on calling them back. You should make sure that they are legitimately entitled to receive any information being requested. Never under any circumstances give out your password to anyone, no matter how urgent the request.

Read emails thoroughly and check links before you click them- if you feel you have clicked something that might not be genuine, inform your IT department immediately.

5. Working out of the office

Never access your network remotely whilst using public WiFi. Instead, take the documents you need and store them on your device or an encrypted USB to work from. Another note is – don’t leave your laptop, computer, tablet, phone, USB or paper documents unattended in a public place. It’s also wise not to access secure sites such as online banking whilst using public or shared WiFi.

Pop-ups are a common trick for installing spyware, viruses and other infections. If you get a pop-up message on your screen whilst using a public hotspot, read the pop-up carefully before you click ok. Unless you are absolutely sure about the authenticity, close the pop-up down straight away.

Click here to read the original article: "Top 5 tips to increase cyber security in the workplace"

Welcome to our new Area Manager Caroline Cole

Dotty Directory is delighted to welcome Caroline Cole as our new Area Manager for Retford responsible for sales and marketing of Retford Connection.

Caroline has worked in a variety of different sectors where she has acquired a number of valuable skills which we are sure will help her become very successful with Dotty Directory.

Businesses advertising on Retford Connection will be linked to over 150 other websites and dozens of Facebook pages throughout the UK, giving both local and national exposure for one small annual cost. It costs just £25 plus vat A YEAR to advertise on Retford Connection.

Caroline will be introducing Retford businesses to the unique marketing opportunity offered by Dotty Directory. If you would like more information please call Caroline on 07795 552913 or our head office on 01824 719005 or email us at support@dottydirectory.com.

Welcome to our new Area Manager Sam Pawliw

Dotty Directory is delighted to welcome Sam Pawliw as our new Area Manager for Derby responsible for sales and marketing of Derby Connection.

Sam has good experience working in several different areas of sales and we are sure he will prove to be a very significant addition to the Dotty Directory team.

Businesses advertising on Derby Connection will be linked to over 150 other websites and dozens of Facebook pages throughout the UK, giving both local and national exposure for one small annual cost. It costs just £25 plus vat A YEAR to advertise on Derby Connection.

Sam will be introducing Derby businesses to the unique marketing opportunity offered by Dotty Directory. If you would like more information please call Sam on 07531 773011 or our head office on 01824 719005 or email us at support@dottydirectory.com.

Banks to banish SME overdrafts for good

The traditional high street lenders could switch off overdraft facilities for small and mid-sized companies - often considered the life support machine of British industry. 

In the last three years, overdrafts as a percentage of all forms of finance used by SMEs dropped from 25pc in 2011 to 16pc last year.

A study from alternative lender, Platform Black, found that 56pc of those surveyed had relied on a bank overdraft facility in the past two years, and 1 in 5 have seen their bank cut back or suggest a restriction on their overdraft facility.

"The day of the unsecured overdraft provided by banks is dead and, in the rare instances that the SME is offered an overdraft, it comes with a scorpion sting in the tail in the form of the bank having a debenture over their business,” said Louise Beaumont, co-founder of Platform Black.

New Bank of England statistics also show overdraft lending to this sector fell by over £800m alone in December 2013, representing over 70pc in the fall of total lending to SMEs.

"Traditionally overdrafts have been easy to arrange, flexible and cost effective as a way to access working capital. However, these days are now long gone and, despite the economy in the UK starting to show signs of growth, the majority of banks are withdrawing these vital overdraft facilities from SMEs," she said.

Pulling overdraft accounts can be done at very short notice, without discussion and leaves businesses under extreme financial pressure - some teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, she explained.

"This isn’t good for the business or indeed for Britain as we try to claw our way out of the economic downturn," she added.

Of the 1,300 business owners polled, the majority have turned to shadow banking - 40pc use a credit card, 8pc have sought bank loans, 48pc use invoice financing and 24pc have turned to leasing or hire purchase.

Chris Lever, owner of Bindatex, turned to invoice finance to fund the purchase of a specialised machine but was unsure where to turn for finance.

The company carries out precision slitting for carbon fibre tapes for the composites industry.

“Cashflow was becoming an increasing challenge for us as we wanted to continue to finance our growth," said Mr Lever. "The Bank had granted us an overdraft to finance our business but this was secured on the assets of the business and offered us minimal flexibility to enable us to continue on our growth trajectory."

Click here to read the original article: "Banks to banish SME overdrafts for good"

Welcome to our new Area Manager Carol Hedley

Dotty Directory is delighted to welcome Carol Hedley as our new Area Manager for Doncaster responsible for sales and marketing of Doncaster Connection.

Carol brings a wealth of experience including sales, business development and marketing and we are sure she will prove to be a very significant addition to the Dotty Directory team.

Businesses advertising on Doncaster Connection will be linked to over 150 other websites and dozens of Facebook pages throughout the UK, giving both local and national exposure for one small annual cost. It costs just £25 plus vat A YEAR to advertise on Doncaster Connection.

Carol will be introducing Doncaster businesses to the unique marketing opportunity offered by Dotty Directory. If you would like more information please call Carol on 07401 855764 or our head office on 01824 719005 or email us at support@dottydirectory.com.

How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To

Wait, weren’t you going to try to go to the gym more often this year?

Can you imagine how much less guilt, stress, and frustration you would feel if you could somehow just make yourself do the things you don’t want to do when you are actually supposed to do them? Not to mention how much happier and more effective you would be?

The good news (and its very good news) is that you can get better about not putting things off, if you use the right strategy, says HBR. Figuring out which strategy to use depends on why you are procrastinating in the first place:

Reason #1 You are putting something off because you are afraid you will screw it up.

Solution: Adopt a “prevention focus.”

There are two ways to look at any task. You can do something because you see it as a way to end up better off than you are now – as an achievement or accomplishment. As in, if I complete this project successfully I will impress my boss, or if I work out regularly I will look amazing. Psychologists call this a promotion focus – and research shows that when you have one, you are motivated by the thought of making gains, and work best when you feel eager and optimistic. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, if you are afraid you will screw up on the task in question, this is not the focus for you. Anxiety and doubt undermine promotion motivation, leaving you less likely to take any action at all.

What you need is a way of looking at what you need to do that isn’t undermined by doubt – ideally, one that thrives on it. When you have a prevention focus, instead of thinking about how you can end up better off, you see the task as a way to hang on to what you’ve already got – to avoid loss. For the prevention-focused, successfully completing a project is a way to keep your boss from being angry or thinking less of you. Working out regularly is a way to not “let yourself go.” Decades of research, which I describe in my book Focus, shows that prevention motivation is actually enhanced by anxiety about what might go wrong. When you are focused on avoiding loss, it becomes clear that the only way to get out of danger is to take immediate action. The more worried you are, the faster you are out of the gate.

I know this doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs, particularly if you are usually more the promotion-minded type, but there is probably no better way to get over your anxiety about screwing up than to give some serious thought to all the dire consequences of doing nothing at all. Go on, scare the pants off yourself. It feels awful, but it works.

Reason #2 You are putting something off because you don’t “feel” like doing it.

Solution: Make like Spock and ignore your feelings. They’re getting in your way.

In his excellent book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, Oliver Burkeman points out that much of the time, when we say things like “I just can’t get out of bed early in the morning, “ or “I just can’t get myself to exercise,” what we really mean is that we can’t get ourselves to feel like doing these things. After all, no one is tying you to your bed every morning. Intimidating bouncers aren’t blocking the entrance to your gym. Physically, nothing is stopping you – you just don’t feel like it. But as Burkeman asks, “Who says you need to wait until you ‘feel like’ doing something in order to start doing it?”

Think about that for a minute, because it’s really important. Somewhere along the way, we’ve all bought into the idea – without consciously realising it – that to be motivated and effective we need to feel like we want to take action. We need to be eager to do so. I really don’t know why we believe this, because it is 100% nonsense. Yes, on some level you need to be committed to what you are doing – you need to want to see the project finished, or get healthier, or get an earlier start to your day. But you don’t need to feel like doing it.

In fact, as Burkeman points out, many of the most prolific artists, writers, and innovators have become so in part because of their reliance on work routines that forced them to put in a certain number of hours a day, no matter how uninspired (or, in many instances, hungover) they might have felt. Burkeman reminds us of renown artist Chuck Close’s observation that “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”

So if you are sitting there, putting something off because you don’t feel like it, remember that you don’t actually need to feel like it. There is nothing stopping you.

Reason #3 You are putting something off because it’s hard, boring, or otherwise unpleasant.

Solution: Use if-then planning.

Too often, we try to solve this particular problem with sheer will: Next time, I will make myself start working on this sooner. Of course, if we actually had the willpower to do that, we would never put it off in the first place. Studies show that people routinely overestimate their capacity for self-control, and rely on it too often to keep them out of hot water.

Do yourself a favor, and embrace the fact that your willpower is limited, and that it may not always be up to the challenge of getting you to do things you find difficult, tedious, or otherwise awful. Instead, use if-then planning to get the job done.

Making an if-then plan is more than just deciding what specific steps you need to take to complete a project – it’s also deciding where and when you will take them.

If it is 2pm, then I will stop what I’m doing and start work on the report Bob asked for.

If my boss doesn't mention my request for a raise at our meeting, then I will bring it up again before the meeting ends.

By deciding in advance exactly what you’re going to do, and when and where you’re going to do it, there’s no deliberating when the time comes. No do I really have to do this now?, or can this wait till later? or maybe I should do something else instead. It’s when we deliberate that willpower becomes necessary to make the tough choice. But if-then plans dramatically reduce the demands placed on your willpower, by ensuring that you’ve made the right decision way ahead of the critical moment. In fact, if-then planning has been shown in over 200 studies to increase rates of goal attainment and productivity by 200%-300% on average.

I realise that the three strategies I’m offering you – thinking about the consequences of failure, ignoring your feelings, and engaging in detailed planning – don’t sound as fun as advice like “Follow your passion!” or “Stay positive!” But they have the decided advantage of actually being effective – which, as it happens, is exactly what you’ll be if you use them.

Click here to read the original article: "How to Make Yourself Work When You Just Don’t Want To"

10 things you must do when hiring your first employee

Taking on your first employee is a big deal. Not only will you be handing over responsibility for part of your business to someone new, but you will also have to be aware of your duties and obligations as an employer.

Here are ten things you must bear in mind when taking on your first member of staff.

1. Carry out applicant checks

Once you have found a suitable candidate for the position you’ve advertised, you must make sure that your prospective employee a) has the right to work in the UK, and b) passes any further checks which may be appropriate to their new position – particularly criminal record checks (a DBS check if they’re working with children in any capacity, for example. This used to be known as a CRB check).

2. Provide a statement of employment

You must send a written statement of employment to anyone who will be working for you for a month or more. This document provides the employee with the conditions of employment, and must be provided within two months of starting work. You can download a template here (PDF).

3. All employees must have a contract of employment

You must provide all employees with an employment contract which outlines the employee’s rights, responsibilities, and working conditions. This doesn’t have to be a formal written document, and contains both explicit and implied terms of employment. You can find out more at GOV.UK.

4. Make sure your business is adequately insured

This type of cover will protect your business from claims made by employees who have been injured or fallen ill at the workplace. Unless you have no employees (e.g. you run a company to provide your own services to clients), or run a business with only close family working for you, you must take out adequate EL insurance cover due to the terms of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

You can read a concise guide to the Act, courtesy of the HSE here (PDF)

5. Register as an employer with HMRC

In almost all cases, you must register as an employer with HMRC within four weeks of taking on your first employee. As an employer, you will be responsible for paying your staff a pre-agreed salary, and deducting any PAYE (income tax) and National Insurance Contributions from staff salaries. Find out more here.

6. Paying your employees

When you pay your staff, you have to provide each employee with a payslip which details their gross and net pay, income tax and NICs deducted, and any other deductions (such as pensions contributions). Since the implementation of the RTI (Real Time Information) regime in 2013, you must also submit payroll data to HMRC each time you pay your staff. Previously, this information needed to be provided at the end of each tax year.

You must also comply with the National Minimum Wage legislation. View the prevailing rates here.

You can find out more about paying an employee for the first time here (HMRC PDF).

7. Be area of your Health & Safety obligations

Unsurprisingly, as an employer, you will be responsible for providing your employees with a safe and secure environment to work in. You don’t need a formal written H&S policy unless you have five or more employees, however you should take time to assess the risks your staff face at work.

Find out more on the Health & Safety Executive site.

8. Pension auto-enrolment

New legislation means that employers must enrol their staff into a workplace pension scheme if they are aged 22 or over and earn more than £9,440 (2013/14 tax year). Only larger businesses are affected now, but the new rules will be phased in for all employers by 2018.

Read more about these ‘staging dates’ on the The Pension Regulator site.

Find out if your employee will be automatically enrolled via this handy GOV.UK tool.

9. Be aware of holiday, sick pay, maternity / paternity pay rules

A wide range of legislation govern employees’ rights to taking time off – either for holidays, or due to forced periods of absence.

Take some time to familiarize yourself with the rules here.

10. What happens if things don’t work out?

Perhaps the most complex area of employment legislation covers what happens when an employee is made redundant. If you don’t handle the dismissal fairly (or an employee resigns because you have breached your contract with them), an unhappy ex-staff member may decide to take your business to an employment tribunal.

Employment tribunals typically involve disagreements over pay, the circumstances behind the dismissal, or some kind of discrimination.

Read this useful ACAS guide to dismissing employees.

Click here to read the original article: "10 things you must do when hiring your first employee"

BDO report reveals business confidence at highest for 22 years

Business optimism reached its highest level for 22 years in January, indicating that the economy will continue to grow rapidly over the coming six months, according to the latest Business Trends report by accountants and business advisers BDO in the north west.

The BDO Optimism Index, which predicts business performance two quarters ahead, reached 103.8 in January, up from 103.4 in December.

This is the highest reading ever recorded since readings began 22 years ago and sits well above the 100.0 mark, meaning the economy is expected to outperform its long-term historical growth trend.

In the manufacturing sector, the Optimism sub-index rose to a new all-time high of 117.1 in January, up from 115.5 in December. And for services, which accounts for roughly three quarters of the economy, confidence rose to 101.2 in January, up from 100.7 in December.

In tandem with improved confidence, recruitment expectations increased during January, as the BDO Employment Index rose to 101.3, up from 99.4 the previous month.

It now stands at its highest level since August 2008 and above the crucial 100.0 mark for the first time since March 2011.

The BDO Inflation Index read 97.9 in January, its lowest level since November 2009 and down from 98.7 at the end of last year.

Falling raw material costs helped manufacturers control overheads over the past year and, in the service sector, annual wage growth of only 0.9 per cent held down the cost of inflation for labour-intensive service firms.

Tim Entwistle, partner and head of BDO in the north west, said: "Business confidence has hit record highs as we enter 2014 and we expect the economy to grow rapidly in the first half of the year.

"Companies are raising headcounts in response to rising client demand and the data suggests that the unemployment rate is likely to fall below the Bank of England’s 7.0 per cent threshold for considering raising interest rates in the very near future.

"An interesting feature of the recovery so far has been the way in which productivity remains at levels last seen in late 2005. Looking at this optimistically, this means that the economy can continue to grow for some time by increasing productivity before wage-related inflationary pressures begin to kick in."

Click here to read the original article: "BDO report reveals business confidence at highest for 22 years"

How to market your small business – top tips

Generating leads is fundamental to the growth of any small business. Promoting the profile of your company can be a challenging process, but you don’t need to be a sales and marketing guru to run a successful marketing campaign.

Here are a few suggestions from Express Accountancy on how to market your business on a very small budget.

Know your budget

If you are planning on paying for specific services to help get your business off the ground, i.e. pay per click (PPC) advertising or website design, make sure you stick to your initial budget and don’t overspend. A good accountant will be able to help you with financial planning, and ensure that you have the cashflow to cover your outlay on marketing activities.

Free taster sessions

A lot of business owners will see the word ‘free’ and run a mile, but offering prospective customers something for free could reap rewards for your business.

If you offer a free trial, or a taster session for one of your services, you won’t generate any revenue, but attendees will be more likely to consider paying for your services in the future if you’ve made a good impression.

For example, if you are a self-employed personal trainer, you could go to a local football team and offer a free 20 minute fitness session at the beginning of their session. Having done the session, if any players in the team are looking to improve their fitness by hiring a personal trainer, they will be more likely to consider you.

Word of mouth

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have and, according to a study performed by McKinsey & Company, it is the primary factor behind almost 50% of consumer purchase decisions. The question is though, how can you get your existing clients to refer you to their friends and colleagues?

You can think about offering half price services for those who refer you to a friend, but the reality is that in most cases, if someone is going to recommend you to a friend they will do so with or without such an incentive. As a result, the best thing you can do is focus on your customers and providing them with a positive experience.

If you are just starting out and have a limited client base, word of mouth recommendations can be difficult to achieve as simply not enough people know about you yet. Just focus on providing a quality service and getting your name out there and the word of mouth recommendations will come.

Develop a great website

Whether you’re a freelancer working from home, or the owner of a local shop, a good website is essential. Even if you don’t plan to sell your products and services online, your website can act as place where people can go to find out more information about who you are and what you do.

There are countless free tools available that can help you to get your website online in a matter of minutes, or if you would rather have something a bit more professional, a quick Google of cheap web design will bring up an array of low cost fixed fee agencies.

Below are a few things you should consider when setting up your website:

What domain name will you choose – A domain name is the URL that people will type into their web browser to be taken directly to your website. When thinking about the URL, if your company name isn’t available think of some short snappy words that describe your service. Be aware that many free web design tools don’t include a domain name and your URL could look like this: yoursite.websitebuilder.com.

Think usability over flash – When it comes to the design of your website, at the forefront of your mind should be usability. What’s the sense in having flash animations shooting around the page if they do nothing but distract visitors and damage the user experience?
Content is king – Google loves new and relevant content, so make sure you regularly update your site with new pages, posts and guides.
For more information, read our guide to getting your small business online.

Social media

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are far more than just tools for keeping up to date with friends; in fact many businesses now have entire divisions that focus solely on targeting customers through social media.

Sign up to these sites and think about a clear strategy that will provide value to your business. Don’t just sit behind your computer tweeting all day for nothing. Some companies choose to use social media as a customer service platform, but it’s entirely up to you to determine how best to utilise these services.

Interact on forums and networking sites

One of the most popular ways of building a profile as a small business or freelancer is via posting on forums and networking sites. If you are a freelance web designer, for example, getting involved with discussions on small business forums is a great way of generating awareness within the community and when someone from those forums wants a website designed, hopefully they will think of you.

If you are offering professional services, then LinkedIn is also a ‘must’ for networking with colleagues and potential clients.

Click here to read the original article: "How to market your small business – top tips"

5 Ways to Outsmart Your Competitors

It’s a dog eat dog world out there and to make sure you're one step ahead of the competition, we've come up with five ways to be the smartest business around.

Sir Richard Branson once said, “We're big believers in healthy competition as a means to improve quality, choice and service. The competition Virgin has been able to inject into markets as diverse as aviation and fitness has helped to reinvigorate the industries and, most importantly, provide better experiences for our customers.”

Ultimately, competition is everywhere, but you've got to make sure you’re ahead of them every step of the way. Here’s five ways to outsmart the competitors knocking on your door:

Don’t be afraid to take risks

Don't be put off taking risks, let it be the driving force for success. Be innovative and outsmart your competition with a strategy that will leave them wishing they were as unique as your business. For example, if there’s a gap in the market for the service you deliver in a new location, go and promote your business. Get there before anyone else does!

Find the cheapest supplier

We’re not saying manufacture your products abroad, as we know there’s some great British suppliers out there, but make sure you do your research, put the effort in to go out and find the cheapest option. But don’t risk the quality of your product or service either, so make sure you test the supplier and ensure they’re the perfect fit for you. Cutting costs down will allow you to put money into other areas of the business.

Aim high and solve challenges

There’s no harm in aiming high and solving something that many think is impossible. Here at Smarta, we’ve come across some inspiring entrepreneurs with unique ideas that leave us scratching our heads, but in a good way. If it isn’t a business that helps shoppers give to charity everytime they purchase online, thanks to GiveAsYouLive, then it’s businesses revolutionising competitive markets with fresh approaches. The world is your oyster so be unique and solve something that others haven't.  

Market your brand differently
Marketing your brand efficiently is the key to securing new customers and promoting your business. Utilise marketing opportunities by outsmarting your competitors and make sure you’re shouting out to potential customers before your rivals do. Our Smarta 100 winner Mr Cake created a media frenzy after he piped his resignation letter on a cake, posted a picture on Twitter, moments later his new business had gone viral and was recognised by millions. Pour your heart and soul into marketing your business and don’t be afraid to do something that hasn’t been tried before.

Be the perfect location
You want to make sure your business is the one stop shop in the industry you’re competing in. If your product doesn’t appeal to customers, no one will buy it, it’s a simple as that. It's like opening a burger restaurant  next door to McDonalds, we doubt you'd have much success. But don't let anything put you off, get out to new places that others haven't considered. If your business is online, you want to get in front of your competitors. Whether this is offering products that aren’t on the market or recognised ones at a lower cost, be the number one at what you do.

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” said Walt Disney... Look at where that got him, eh?

Click here to read the original article: "5 Ways to Outsmart Your Competitors"