The Pros And Cons Of Using Twitter For Your Business

With all of the media hype surrounding Twitter; it makes you wonder if the positive benefits of involving your business outweigh the negative. There are many different viewpoints on this topic, which mainly depend on the type of business you are running and whether the features that Twitter offers are what you are looking for.

Twitter: The Pros

Twitter provides a means to connect and network with those in your industry that share the same options and outlooks as you. You can receive steady access to what is being said about your company, your competition, your brand, your employees and your product. Twitter gives you the chance to receive instant access to unlimited research, ideas and material relating to what intrigues you or what your company does. You can use Twitter to expand your business blog into a different realm, and also provide immediate updates. Twitter can also be used as an open market for finding employees, suppliers, partners, vendors and even technical support.

Twitter: The Cons

If you are looking to promote your company directly to the desired consumer, Twitter may not be the right source for you. Narrowing down your target audience will be difficult, but it can provide an avenue for them to reach your website. Looking to advertise your company? Twitter has yet to develop an advertising program. However, an effective entrepreneur can manage to incorporate promoting their products or services into their tweets. Twitter also has a low retention rate of 50 percent, which means that one of two people that visit your Twitter profile may never look at it again. So the challenge is providing information and presenting it in an appealing fashion that will reel in your potential clients.

Follow The Times 100 on Twitter.

Business Planning – The Key to Success

One of the most beneficial and vital documents you can prepare for your business is a business plan. Many people think that business planning is only necessary if you plan on seeking financing for your small business. Banks will almost always require a method to display your plan has been thought out. If for that reason only, it should illustrate why it’s so imperative to have some sort of business planning in place before you start executing.

Proper business planning forces you to think of issues that may have never crossed your mind if they weren’t brought up beforehand. Issues like insurance, retirement plans, 5 year expansion plans, loss mitigation, employee benefits, and many other aspects all must be laid out on paper. This also gives you something to fall back on and check yourself against from time to time. Owning a small business is chaos. It requires long hours, hard work, dedication, and self sacrifice. By putting together some sort of business planning before you are hit with the tidal wave of business ownership, you have written your own reference guide for what’s to come.

It also makes it easier to obtain financing if you do end up needing it. Business planning requires an in depth market analysis of your products or services, competition, and demographic. If nothing more, you will gain an incredible in depth knowledge of your customer base and your market competition that you will soon be going head to head with.

There are plenty of references available to you to help you conduct business planning as well so don’t see it as a daunting task. It is in depth and time consuming, yes, but it will pay dividends by the time you have a complete final draft. With mentors, small business owners groups and clubs, and innumerable books and websites on the subject, there are plenty of things to provide you a basic outline to reference and follow. Consider getting in touch with businesses that may be willing to give you a hand with information and tips for properly planning your business. Mentors can be found nationwide and there’s bound to be one that has experience in your field. If you can’t find one, though, it’s not the end of the world. Plenty of information is available on many different forms of business. In the end, having a business plan is one of the absolute best things you can do for your up and coming company.

Business Ethics – Become More Conscience Focused

Business ethics are a side of ethics that play into the business world. When developing your business structure, it is key to know where your business stands on issues that may arise and how you want your business portrayed to the public. Since the turn of the 21st century, businesses have become more conscience players in the economy and are being held more accountable for their actions. One of the prime examples of this is the “green movement” and consumers willing to pay a little more to support an ethically moral business model.

You don’t have to be a green company to make yourself known that you keep employees and yourself morally responsible. Business ethics come into play on a much larger scale once you start hiring employees as well. It’s easy for you to know where you stand but every employee is now a face and personality that represents your brand to the public. It is imperative to have your ethics lined out, usually in some form of employee handbook, so that everyone can be on the same page.
If you lay out what is considered to be unethical or unmoral to your company, you will have a business ethics code to hold your employees by. If you were a green company like one that was mentioned earlier, you may find it unethical to use anything but energy efficient light bulbs in your office. It sounds bizarre but being that you’ve created an environmentally friendly company, it’s not farfetched. Unless you spell that out, though, there’s no way for the person whose responsibility it is to order light bulbs to know it was unacceptable.

The biggest issue is that your business will gain a reputation just by being in business. It’s how you decide your company makes money and to what extent you are willing to take it to that the issue of business ethics is raised. Ethics come into play in almost every aspect of business from wages paid to products sold. If you own a retail shop, you should determine the ethics behind the companies of the products you carry. Huge multi-million dollar companies have been fined countless times for unethical business practices as well as small businesses losing customers because they gain a bad reputation in the area in which they work. Identifying early on what is acceptable and where the line is drawn ethically for your company can help build a positive relationship with your community.

Business Studies Resources

Business Networking - Building your Network

Business networking is one of the most beneficial things you can do as a small business owner. Business owners are consumers as well and building your network with owners like yourself will help to build a community that you can draw on each other’s influences and experiences. Furthermore, this helps to work towards goals that can help out small business as a whole in your neighborhood.

To help you get on your way to strong business networking, keep in mind the following tips and tricks. Networking is all about authenticity and being genuine. It’s about seeing how you can help others and, in turn, they will see how they can help you. Visit as many groups as you can that spark your interest. They were created with the purpose of helping business owners network and build relationships so take advantage of them. Once you find a group or two that you enjoy, seek out volunteer opportunities in them. Use it as an opportunity to become more visible while giving back to the support channels that have helped you out.

When conversation arises, ask open ended questions of other small business owners. This opens up discussion between everyone. Use these discussions to display that you can be a powerful resource to them in their business networking contacts. It will keep you visible and others will turn to you first when they need help. In turn, it will create a powerful network for yourself when you need someone to turn to for suggestions and ideas. Be able to answer the question, “how can I help you?” Too often, we’re approached in these types of settings and help is offered to us but we’re not exactly sure what we need. Going in with a purpose will help people become more effective towards your goal.

The contacts and referrals you get from strong business networking can be one of the most valuable assets you can create for your small business. Best of all, the cost is minimal if anything at all. Make sure that you help others and are genuine and they will return the favor tenfold. Treat their referrals with respect as you are now a reflection on them and help out anyone that they refer to you. There’s an honor and trust that goes unspoken between small business owners across the globe. By treating others with dignity, you can utilize the best resource out there that any small business owner could ask for.

Business Studies Forums by the BBC BBC Forums

Business Cycles – Understanding is Key to Success

Regardless of how big or small your company is, it is and always will be affected by business cycles. These cycles happen on a small aspect as well as a global economical level. By furthering your understanding of what goes on during them, you can better position your company to adapt.

On the small end of business cycles, there are busy and slow seasons. The most extreme example of this and a key to illustrate the point is a ski resort in Colorado. Their business cycles, or seasons, revolve around the weather with the peak being the holidays from Christmas to just after New Year’s. Obviously, they are so slow that they close from late spring to early fall. Almost every business has a peak season and a slow season so it’s important to identify what those are in your line of service or sales. With this knowledge, you can help plan your advertising budget better as well as labor needs, control hours of business, and anything else needed to adjust to the change.

On the bigger scale are the economic business cycles we face as an economy. In this fashion, the cycles have to do with production and overall economic activity. It’s usually measured by gross domestic product. The term business cycles have actually come under fire since there is no mechanical or predictable pattern that they follow, making them not a true cycle. Many now refer to them as economic fluctuations for this reason but the definitions are the same and they both refer to the same thing. The fluctuation periods are referred to as economic growth when they are in an increasing level of development and economic recession when they are in a contracting level of development.

There are many different theories that play into business cycles and it’s the reason behind most of our macroeconomics classes in college. Since the contraction or recessed effects of the cycle can be painful to their citizens of many developed countries, many governments have moved to make it their responsibility to attempt to mitigate the business cycle as much as possible. There are alternate views, outside of the most widely accepted expanding and contracting, as to the reasons behind economic growth and recession as well. Everything from politics to general creation of inflation all comes into play when dealing with economic concerns on this level. But most importantly, it is important to understand that there is a global cycle of business that can affect your bottom line as well.

BBC GCSE Bitesize

Best Tips for Marketing – Secrets for Success

Marketing is one of the most important elements in any business. You could offer the best product or service the world has ever seen but without the ability to get it in front of customers, it will go nowhere. Taking some of the best tips for marketing will help to get your name in front of potential clients to allow you to start building your brand.

One of the best tips for marketing available to you at no cost is to get in front of people either on the radio or on TV. You can take this as far as getting your own TV show or webcast to go on a video site like YouTube. If this doesn’t seem feasible, consider getting in touch with programs like local talk shows and news. These types are usually always looking for experts they can call on for their programming. This can also tie together a huge marketing piece, your own website. Use your website to tell your story and the products and services you offer. If you’ve made web videos, link them all to the site and link the site in all your videos. You are slowly building a brand!

One of the other best tips for marketing is to give lessons or otherwise get involved in your community. There are many customers out there who still want to support the small businesses of the world, especially the ones in their community. By building brand awareness in your local neighborhood, you start to become a recognized brand. If you offer a service, consider contributing free lessons to the local library or non-profits in the area. If you offer a product, consider making donations to local food banks and non-profits that could benefit from it or just donate monetarily. These are also a tax deduction!

Finally, one of the last best tips for marketing is to use every outgoing piece of paper and outgoing message as a promotional piece for your business. Print up company letterhead, business cards, stamps, and everything else you can put your name on. Get pens with your name on to put at the counter so if people accidentally walk off with them, they’re stamped with your name on it. The most important element in marketing is, simply, to get your name and business philosophy in front of as many people as you can. Aggressively market your name and service to get your business going.

Principles of Marketing

Best Tips for Marketing – Secrets for Success

Marketing is one of the most important elements in any business. You could offer the best product or service the world has ever seen but without the ability to get it in front of customers, it will go nowhere. Taking some of the best tips for marketing will help to get your name in front of potential clients to allow you to start building your brand.

One of the best tips for marketing available to you at no cost is to get in front of people either on the radio or on TV. You can take this as far as getting your own TV show or webcast to go on a video site like YouTube. If this doesn’t seem feasible, consider getting in touch with programs like local talk shows and news. These types are usually always looking for experts they can call on for their programming. This can also tie together a huge marketing piece, your own website. Use your website to tell your story and the products and services you offer. If you’ve made web videos, link them all to the site and link the site in all your videos. You are slowly building a brand!

One of the other best tips for marketing is to give lessons or otherwise get involved in your community. There are many customers out there who still want to support the small businesses of the world, especially the ones in their community. By building brand awareness in your local neighborhood, you start to become a recognized brand. If you offer a service, consider contributing free lessons to the local library or non-profits in the area. If you offer a product, consider making donations to local food banks and non-profits that could benefit from it or just donate monetarily. These are also a tax deduction!

Finally, one of the last best tips for marketing is to use every outgoing piece of paper and outgoing message as a promotional piece for your business. Print up company letterhead, business cards, stamps, and everything else you can put your name on. Get pens with your name on to put at the counter so if people accidentally walk off with them, they’re stamped with your name on it. The most important element in marketing is, simply, to get your name and business philosophy in front of as many people as you can. Aggressively market your name and service to get your business going.

Tutor2U

Business Philosophies – Great Management Theories

Business Philosophies – Great Management Theories

When developing business philosophies for your new small business, make sure that you don’t make it too simple or to the point. Many small businesses create slogans that become their mottos and plaster it everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, just be sure that you don’t disqualify aspects of your business that you could possibly grow into or that there may sometimes be an exception to the rule.

When examining your business philosophies, keep in mind the future. It’s true from the get go that you must start out small and work your way up. In business school, we were taught that the simple formula for small business is that you can’t boil the ocean. Dream big but start small. Know what philosophies you want to move your company towards and have a plan of attack for them when that happens.

This still begs the question of us, what are business philosophies and what are yours? The easy definition is that it is the guideline you hold yourself and your company to, both personally and professionally. You know what the answer is so it’s just a matter of whether you can answer it directly or indirectly. Write down the standards that you will hold yourself, your employees, and your company to. Make sure that you leave it somewhat open ended to account for the exception to the rule as well, though. For instance, if you bake custom cakes, your philosophy may be to always try to have a cake layout back to the customer within 48 hours. But now what happens if you are booked to the hilt and there’s no possible way to get it done within that timeframe? You have allowed yourself the ability to tell the customer you are under a dramatic load and it will take you 3-4 days to get them their custom design layout back to them. You were honest and upfront, that’s more important.

When developing the business philosophies you will be judging yourself and your business against, it’s important to keep all of this in mind. The most important thing to do is to build a relationship with your customer to help you gain word of mouth reputation and open the door for recurring business. By developing philosophies geared towards honesty and integrity instead of simplicity, you will be setting the example for others to follow. Understanding your customers and your customers understanding you are two key parts of business today.

Business Studies Information

Business Planning – The Key to Success

Business Planning – The Key to Success

One of the most beneficial and vital documents you can prepare for your business is a business plan. Many people think that business planning is only necessary if you plan on seeking financing for your small business. Banks will almost always require a method to display your plan has been thought out. If for that reason only, it should illustrate why it’s so imperative to have some sort of business planning in place before you start executing.

Proper business planning forces you to think of issues that may have never crossed your mind if they weren’t brought up beforehand. Issues like insurance, retirement plans, 5 year expansion plans, loss mitigation, employee benefits, and many other aspects all must be laid out on paper. This also gives you something to fall back on and check yourself against from time to time. Owning a small business is chaos. It requires long hours, hard work, dedication, and self sacrifice. By putting together some sort of business planning before you are hit with the tidal wave of business ownership, you have written your own reference guide for what’s to come.

It also makes it easier to obtain financing if you do end up needing it. Business planning requires an in depth market analysis of your products or services, competition, and demographic. If nothing more, you will gain an incredible in depth knowledge of your customer base and your market competition that you will soon be going head to head with.

There are plenty of references available to you to help you conduct business planning as well so don’t see it as a daunting task. It is in depth and time consuming, yes, but it will pay dividends by the time you have a complete final draft. With mentors, small business owners groups and clubs, and innumerable books and websites on the subject, there are plenty of things to provide you a basic outline to reference and follow. Consider getting in touch with businesses that may be willing to give you a hand with information and tips for properly planning your business. Mentors can be found nationwide and there’s bound to be one that has experience in your field. If you can’t find one, though, it’s not the end of the world. Plenty of information is available on many different forms of business. In the end, having a business plan is one of the absolute best things you can do for your up and coming company.

Great Sales Tips – Bumping Up the Profits

Great Sales Tips – Bumping Up the Profits

There are hundreds upon hundreds of books covering great sales tips and tricks for raising small business profits. Some of these are great, some aren’t, but most of us just want a quick reference for some things we can start doing this instant to help generate sales for our small business.

One of the best guidelines out of all the great sales tips is to know your product and what you sell inside, outside, and backwards. If you can’t answer an onslaught of questions about it without more than half of a second to think about it, do some research and make sure you are an expert. In the small business world, knowledge is more important than tactics and it will be this base that keeps your customers coming back. The bottom line is that people love to buy things but hate being sold to. Your ears will keep you out of trouble so listen until your customer has explained everything to you. From there, you’ll be in a better position to offer them advice and they’ll be more inclined to heed it.

Another one of the great sales tips to notice is this one. With the previous in mind, make sure your product or service is unique. Identify your competitive advantage and why your customer should spend their hard earned cash with you, the new guy, instead of walking down the street and giving it to someone who’s been around for awhile. Be excited and let people play off of your enthusiasm. Excitement is contagious, that’s why it plays such a key role in infomercials. Bring this level of enthusiasm to your product or service and people will believe they should be as excited as you are.

Finally, of all the great sales tips, this one is probably the most important. There are three elements that make up any business and they can lead to your success or demise. Your company can focus on quality, service, or price but only two. If you try all three, you will be trying to reach the summit of Everest. Pick two, focus on those two, and drive them home to your customers as to why you are best suited in those two categories than anyone else they could choose to provide them your product or service. Sales isn’t an easy gig, you will hear the word “no” a lot but don’t let it phase you. Just keep on truckin’ as they say and you will break through eventually. Your success lies in your determination.

Business Studies by the Times 100

How to Choose a Business Name

How to Choose a Business Name – Why It’s Important

There are many fun aspects to starting a business. You stand proudly as you see your dreams and visions come to life and one of the most fun aspects of business creation is naming it. When it comes to how to choose a business name, there are a few key factors and rules you want to take into consideration. By carefully planning your name, it will help your business succeed.

One of the most important factors in how to choose a business name is that it must be both memorable and easy to spell. Of course, you want to pick a name that will stick in your customer’s heads but you also need them to be able to spell it in case they need to look it up online, in the phone book, or give it to a friend. You also want your name to have a visual element tied to it. Our minds are hardwired to see pictures so you want something visual to pop into your customer’s heads when they hear or see your name.

To that end, though, you need to make sure that your business name has a positive connotation to it and uses the visual elements to display what your company does. If you were starting a bakery, you would not want to call it something like Mason Stonebreaker Bakery as it has a powerful and masculine tone. You’d want to choose something like Mom’s Kitchen and Bakery, which has positive connotations. It’s the reason that almost every construction company has the word construction in their name. Also, take note that in the examples, that they list what the business does. When taking into account these rules on how to choose a business name, you’ll notice that they help potential clients identify what service you provide immediately and, especially if they’re using a directory, know if you may be suited for what they’re after.

Finally, when considering how to choose a business name, take into account the length of the name. You want it fairly short and concise, not only so customers can remember it, but so it will do you a favor as well. Smaller names are easier to print on business cards and fliers. Also, signage usually charges by the letter so you could end up running up huge marketing bills before you even get to voice your message. Pick two or three clear winners in your book and jot them down. You will need a few in case your first choice is already registered when you go to register your business.

Business Studies Resources

What to Look for When Hiring Staff

What to Look for When Hiring – Finding the Best Employee

When it’s time to hire an employee for the first time, this can be as equally exciting as it is daunting. By knowing what to look for when hiring, though, you can eliminate a lot of your anxiety. It’s exciting because it shows that your company’s has now outpaced your ability to perform it and it’s profitable enough that you can take on an employee, possibly for the first time ever. But many of us have never had the challenge of creating an interview and identifying what exactly our company needs from someone else.

There are a few things to take into consideration in what to look for when hiring an employee. Before you advertise that you need help, sit down and write a job description of everything you will be expecting from your new hire. Take into account scheduling and if you’d like them to work a regular schedule or simply be available on short notice. Do you need them to work the front cash register or restock the shelves? How about place orders and reorders for supplies or merchandise? How many hours are you looking to have them work? The more you can lay out in front of you, the more prepared you will be.

As important as it is to know what to look for when hiring, it’s just as important to know what kind of manager you are. If you are the type that wants to check in and break down your employee’s work schedule activity by activity, look for someone that wants a lot of feedback. If you want someone who you can just delegate tasks to and they can run with it, look for more independent thinkers. Set aside time for hiring when you will be able to provide them the undivided attention you will be expecting from them.

Determine your policies for your employees. This includes time off, if they get any benefits like discounts, and a list of policies and disciplinary actions. There is an old saying that says plan for the worst, hope for the best. The idea is that you won’t ever have to enforce your discipline code but you need it on the books in case your employee turns to the wayside. Keep in mind things like chronic absenteeism and customer complaints. Also, consider the opposite end. How will you award outstanding performance? There’s more to what to look for when hiring than can be depicted in just a short few paragraphs. Hopefully this will give you a great enough overview to get you well on your way to finding the perfect employee.

For all things Business Studies

Ben Sherman Marketing Competition

Fantastic competition for 14+ students based in the UK. Marketing competition which includes and all expense trip to Ben Sherman quarters as well as a £500 prize!

Ben Sherman Competition

How to Start a Company in 7 days!

Starting any company is a challenge. However, if you follow basic principles and practises then there is no reason why you cannot start a business in just seven days. This is a very brief overview about how that can be achieved.

Day 1 : Market Research

If you are going to succeed in business then people will need to have confidence in your product and your ideas. It is therefore important to find out if the people who will be buying your product are interested in your product or service.

Firstly, look at your potential market and examine what they are buying now – what are their requirements? Also, look at the competition. What are they doing? How do you ideas fit with what is already out there?

Then, identify your target market – decide what age group they are, what gender - are they mothers, fathers, business people, businesses, etc? Then put some information together and get out there and ask questions. You can ask local businesses or ask on the street. A great example of how this was achieved is by the Innocent Smoothie company who gave away free samples of their smoothie drinks at a local event and had one bin with a ‘yes’ and one marked ‘no’ with the question ‘would you buy this drink?’.

Remember to take any criticism constructively – all feedback is useful in your market research – and don’t be too precious about your idea. Just because you are passionate about it doesn’t mean it’s a sure fire winner.

market research info

Day 2 : Business Plan

If you are looking for external finance then this is a must as most banks will ask for one. Even if you don’t think you need a business plan then you should at least look at creating one as every business needs a solid and comprehensive plan for development.

A well drafted business plan will act as a guide throughout the first years of running your business. Of course, it won’t go exactly as planned out but you will have a good idea of where you are going with your business.

Your business plan will need to include a detailed description of your business idea, the business’s objectives, the target market, financial forecasts, cash flow forecasts, marketing and sales plans and overall strategy as a minimum.

Do not under estimate the business plan as it is your vision for the future.

business plan info

Day 3 : Finance

When thinking about setting up your business you should have already had some idea about how you will fund it. A business will often fail not because it has a bad product or service but because cash flow becomes an issue. You will most probably have to deal with payment terms, bad debts and will really have to manage your cash slow to enable your business to continue trading. Cash flow is the life blood of your company.

Many entrepreneurs setting up a small business these days are deciding against applying for a bank loan, preferring instead to find the money themselves. This is partly because business loans from banks are very difficult to secure in the planning stages and partly due to the credit crunch which is seeing all financial institutions tighten their belts and their lending criteria.

Consider these options for start-up finance and get them moving today:

• Use your own personal savings


• Borrowing from friends or family


• Investment from third parties (where you can offer shares in return for investment)


• Grants and start-up funding


• Credit cards


• Apply for a business loan


• Apply for an overdraft on your business bank account


• Re-mortgaging or selling your property


• Selling other assets – e.g. your car, vintage guitar, old Monet

Once your business is up and running it is important to keep your cash flow stable as mentioned earlier and your funding options open. Investigate these finance sources:

• Investors / business angels


• Invoice finance (used widely by businesses that offer credit terms to clients)


• Asset finance


• Bank overdraft


• Grants and government funding

finance info

Day 4 : Product Development

After you have performed your market research your business objectives may have changed, therefore, it is not important to re-evaluate your strategy.

Day 4 is the day to develop and really evaluate your product or service. If it is a product you are planning to sell, think about how you will get it manufactured and/or packaged, any improvements or modifications that could be made, any safety regulations that product must adhere to.

If your business is offering a service, think about the method of providing the service to customers, how to demonstrate the service to prospective customers, what exactly will be offered, who will provide it, how could it be improved and how could it evolve in the future.

product cycle info

Day 5 : Sales and Marketing

Marketing is the practise of getting people or your industry aware of your product. Sales is the practise of persuading people to buy your product. They are both essential skills for a small business owner to perfect.

In your business plan you looked at on Day 2 you should have investigated and created a sales strategy. Sales is vitally important in ensuring any business succeeds but it must go hand in hand with the marketing activities. Marketing will get you the leads and sales will bring in the revenue.

How this works depends on the type of business you are starting. There are cheaper methods of marketing that you could work on first, such as listing your company with the various online directories. However, a website is of major importance in the current climate. You should look for a professional web designer as in order to be successful you must look successful. It is very important to determine your target user and let the web designer know who your market is and what they will be looking for from your website.

For a simple web site you only really need the most important, succinct information. Therefore, stick to a simple design to begin with and two or three key pages (home page, contact us & product/service page) then you can get up and running very quickly.

One of the quickest ways to start driving targeted traffic to your website will be via Pay Per Click advertising. For example, you should look at Google Analytics which is fairly easy to set up and you can budget your adverts easily.

sales and marketing info

Day 6 : Premises, Equipment and Assets

You will need business premises. This is where most of your capital will be spent on initially. Unless you’re launching a shop, restaurant, bar or hotel you can probably start out from home. However, this is not always ideal as a separation from home and work is required. That is an important point to consider. Working from home can also affect your home insurance and rates.

Most businesses no will require a computer as it will be required for marketing if you are marketing on the web, answering emails, accounting or book keeping as well as many other tasks. You may also require a printer, fax machine, telephone and internet connection. Remember to take into consideration that whenever you purchase anything for your business it will cost mush more than your home equivalent.

Day 7 – Use Online Resources

Use the resources out there. There are many business resources out there as well as Government bodies that can give information and help. Remember to consider looking at real life examples of business theory in practise. A great resource for real life examples is the business studies resource The Times 100.

Finally, good luck!

Are you a hedgehog or a fox?

The hedgehog and the fox concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best or even an intention to become the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at. This is critical in creating a successful company.

I know that I’m a half decent guitar player, a better singer, an alright front man and a bad lead guitar. So, I know that my strengths lie in playing rhythm guitar and singing whilst engaging the audience every now and again. I know that if I try to play a complex solo it just ain’t going to happen. I know that I don’t have the time to learn lead guitar at this moment in my life so I play to my strength. I know what my strong points are and I force them. Likewise, I know what types of songs suit my voice. I have a rock voice so wouldn’t sound right singing an Elton John number! I know the strengths within my strengths.

Where does me singing come into play with business studies? Well, we often sit around in groups during student workgroups and work together to discover our 'hedgehogs'. Based on the work of Jim Collins in his book 'Good to Great', The Hedgehog Concept helps businesses to find out where they should be focusing their attention. Jim’s argument is that the very best companies have a simple, crystalised concept that underpins and guides everything that they do. That is their hedgehog.

Jim explains that Isaiah Berlin in an essay categorised people as hedgehogs or foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: ‘The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing’. There is a similar saying that a boss once said to me which was ‘don’t be a jack of all trades, be the master of one’.

So, how does this relate to creating a good or great business? Well, everything. Those who build the good-to-great companies are hedgehogs. They are focused, driven and knew their strengths and their weaknesses. Those who lead the lesser companies are foxes and never utilise the driven advantage of a hedgehog, being instead scattered, diffused, and inconsistent.

To find out if you’re a hedgehog or a fox visit jim collins website.

Business studies resources

Start Up Business Owner Survey

Most small business owners self finance their businesses and with relatively small amounts according to a recent Wells Rago/Gallup Small Business Index study. Most small business owners spend on average $10,000 to get the ball rolling and start trading.

According to the survey 73% of business owners funded their business from their own savings which 37% obtained loans. Over half of the people surveyed said that they would have had a much easier time had more money been available at the time. Personally, I expect that this would always be the case regardless of the available funds?

Interestingly enough, only 31% of small business owners started out with a business plan. This is probably indicative of the borrowed finance as when you loan money a busness plan is required.

49% of those starting out in business said they would have had an easier time had they sought the experience of existing established business owners whilst 39% also wished they had a better understanding of financial management.

"The reality of owning a small business is both exciting and a bit scary," Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, executive vice president and head of the Small Business Segment for Wells Fargo, said in a statement. "The survey results provide us with real insight into what it takes to start and run a small business, and what many small business owners wish they had at the onset - more capital and more financial management education."

The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index surveyed approximately 600 small-business owners nationwide.

Business Studies Resource

The Benefits of Understanding Business Studies

I found a great article on the Majon website that clearly states the importance of understanding business studies in regard to life skills. For example, the importance of applying very basic business skill sets throughout lifes experiences and situations.

I can't really add to it. Check it out.

Understanding Business Studies

Google Power

In December 2008 it is alleged that Google, the super power in search engine retrieval was up to something which could either be seen as fundamentally good for everyone or trying to further dominate in a very lucrative industry (selling targeted adverts).

Google always lobbies quite publically for neutrality in regards to web traffic and how it is handled with no website being treated differently than any other. However, it has been suggested that Google may have approached a major cable and phone company to create a super fast lane into which Googles own content will be delivered. Therefore, websites like YouTube would be super fast. This practise is called 'edge caching' and encourages ISP's to install additional servers on their networks to deliver high speed traffic. Any company can do this and it is not exclusive. However, not many companies can afford or wield as much power to be able to do so. Having competitors in business is important to keep the other companies 'on their toes'

So, is it for the greater good of everybody or for Google themselves? Is it both?

Whatever the answer to the question it certainly goes against the Google ideology of 'neutrality of traffic' and will mean that Google Maps will run faster than Windows Live Maps and Picasa will be faster than Flickr.

Many people are in favour of edge caching as it speeds up the internet in general but i will stay wary.

I am reminded of the old saying 'Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely'. (quote source)

It's not as bad as they make out.

Times are tough out there in the business place at the moment. There are many companies struggling and those companies who have large overheads and by their very size are less flexible to quick change will struggle to stay afloat. However, there are many companies doing fine. We for instance haven't seen much of a slow down in work since October 2008.

We have noticed in our line of work that most small/medium sized companies seem to be coping just fine. Work is still flowing in. Sacrifices will need to be made but generally people are fine. People are holding out on their payment terms a little longer than usual but that is about all.

The media are scare mongering many people. Sure, their is a problem with the credit crunch but it's not all the doom and gloom that is being publicised by the media.

One of the greatest things a company can do at the minute is start to look at effective marketing to push their brands and brand awareness further. A very effective means of marketing is Pay Per Click advertising which i will discuss in more detail in a following post.

All this Talk of Recession!

Everybody here in the UK is talking about recession but what exactly is it? Basically, recession is where the Gross Domestic Product (GDB) ceases to grow and starts to recede – thus a recession in growth. A growing economy is very important. More about economic growth

During a recession people stop buying the expensive, luxury items such as houses, cars, high end furniture which affects the businesses producing and selling these items. Companies therefore need to reduce their overheads and lay staff off causing unemployment and higher public spending through benefits. This reduces publis spending even more and a cycle of recession continues.

A Government can try to encourage spending by injecting money into the economy by reducing interest rates.

We have seen a recession early on in 2009 in the UK which if we don’t pull out of soon could quite easily become a depression. I will discuss depressions at a later date.

Welcome One and All

Hello there,

Over the next few weeks i'm going to start to write about a passion of mine (apart from fly fishing) which is of course Business Studies.

I will start to gather relevant resources and hopefully help those of you out there who are looking to set up a business yourselves.

Well, i shall speak to you all soon.

Regards

Scott