Russell Bowyer Articles

Trial your adverts - Click To Read Article
If you advertise your business then you must trial your adverts and test to see which ones work the best for you. By trialling your adverts you should agree on a design and more importantly the content of your advert and run each one for around a month at a time. At the end of each month change the advert to a different design and/or different content and so on. When you are testing your adverts you must make sure you take your marketing calendar data into account too. At then end of each trial make a note of how many enquiries each advert received and of those enquiries that went on to converted into clients. As you collate this data you will begin to build a picture of which adverts work the best for you and use the ones that produce the most responses.

Times are tough with the credit crunch! - Click To Read Article
As times are tough both for householders and businesses alike this is when it is important to make sure your business is operating to the optimum. Also, you may be having cash flow difficulties and be looking to raise some cash from the bank. Now, I thought that it would be difficult to get a loan, however, I recently saw my bank manager (who is from Barclays as it happens) for one of my businesses and he said that they are encouraging lending to businesses. His comment was that Barclays had been a bit tight with their lending over recent years so they are looking to expand their lending book. So if you are doing some cash flows and things are not looking so good and you have been listening to the news out there - things might not be as bad as they seem on the face of it.

Small business administration - Click To Read Article
Small business administration is top of the list of important considerations for success in business. All businesses have a life cycle and depending on where you are in this cycle will depend on your focus at that time. The business cycle in this context is not the economic business cycle, but instead refers to the various stages a business goes through from "Start-up" and all the way through to "Selling-up" and getting out of your business. The stages in a business cycle Start-up stage of a business - at this stage in the life cycle of a business the considerations and planning needed fall into how to start a small business. A well prepared business plan will see your business get off to a great start and set it off in the right direction.

Small business profits – threat or opportunity - Click To Read Article
Turn-on your television or pick up a newspaper and all that is reported right now, apart from the present swine flu problem, is the "credit crunch" - falling house prices, rising unemployment, businesses going bust, repossessions, bankruptcies and more... So what should small businesses do? Well this depends on whether you see this as an opportunity or a threat. There are no doubt certain businesses that will find these times more difficult than others, for example, only today there are reports about how the number of unemployed lorry drivers has gone up almost 5-fold since this time last year. Where businesses are selling less and therefore resulting in a less of a need for transport, then transport companies will see a dip in demand and as a consequence might need to make redundancies.

Some write about 3 ways to increase profit - Click To Read Article
There seems to be a lot written about 3 ways to increase profit in business, but we consider there to be 7 ways to increase profits or "7 ways to grow your business". The 3 known ways to increase profit are: - Increase the cost to the customer/client or in other words put up your prices. - Increase the number of customers you cater to (and I like to add to this - of the type you want to deal with). - Sell more often to customers you already have. These are just three ways to increase your profits, but if you want to learn the other 4 ways and to get your hands on a great piece of "Profit Increase Software" then click this link.

Surviving the recession - Click To Read Article
There is no doubt that the recession is hitting everyone and as a result there are not many businesses that have not been affected so far. This is the time for the "Survival of the Fittest" and if you want to survive the recession you need to take action. Most businesses are stuck with the idea that the only way to increase profits is to increase prices and some think that the only other way is to increase their customer numbers. Both of these two actions will increase your business profits if they are done in the right way, however, they are by no means the only ways in which to grow your business. In fact I have listed that there are actually 7 Ways to Grow Your Business. When I have spoken to most business owners they usually say "We can't possibly increase our prices!" "We will lose our customers!".

Should the UK and the Eurozone adopt America’s Chapter 11 format for bankruptcy? - Click To Read Article
In America, when a company gets into difficulty it can file for what is called Chapter 11 which is named after the U.S. bankruptcy code 11. Chapter 11 is a form of bankruptcy that involves a reorganisation of a company's business affairs and assets and it generally filed by corporations that require time to restructure their debts. In essence, Chapter 11 gives the company a fresh start, subject to the company's fulfillment of the obligations under its plan of reorganisation. Whereas in the UK, for example, a company has to either go into receivership or liquidation. Where a company goes into liquidation the business ceases and the company's directors appoint a liquidator to sell the assets of the company in order to pay off as many of it's creditors as is possible.

Minimum wage – good or bad for business? - Click To Read Article
The questions around the minimum wage are always going to create a heated discussion and in my opinion is just another way for governments and usually socialist style governments to control the economy and turn things in to a nanny state! What is a minimum wage? The minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly wage that employers may legally pay to their employees. Minimum wage laws also prevent workers from selling their labour at an amount which is lower than the minimum wage level. Those that defend and advocate a minimum wage say that it increases the standard of living of workers and also reduces poverty.

Make it easy for your customers to buy! - Click To Read Article
If you want your customers to spend with you why not make it easy? This may seem obvious to you, but it is not always obvious to most business owners and I would like to get you thinking a bit here. Let me explain by example... I have just got back from a break myself and the guy that owned the apartments also owned the small supermarket down the road. The apartments were self catering so it would be good for the owner if the people staying there were to cook food and purchased from his shop. When we arrived he took time to mention his shop so that we would visit, which we duly did and I am sure you are waiting for the but here...and there is and not just one the way I see it.

Money for starting a business - Click To Read Article
Getting the money for starting a business is a stumbling block that many budding entrepreneurs face at the out set. The first question to answer is should I buy a business or set up a business from scratch with each route having its own complications from a fund raising perspective. If you are starting out from scratch you have the added problem that you have no track-record in business and the business itself will have not trading history. However, if you are looking to buy a business or perhaps set up a franchise then this is a slightly different proposition in that and existing business will have a trading history and franchise are liked by banks because they are a know quantity. You do still have the slight problem that you have no business track record, but this can be overcome with a sound business proposal.

Learn how to delegate tasks in your business - Click To Read Article
In order to have a good business you need to learn how to delegate tasks to your employees. Delegation is one of the hardest things for business owners to do - the thought of relinquishing control and allowing someone to do your work is out of the questions - surely? In fact it is not hard at all and is one of the best things you can do in business. There is a saying that even if your employees do things at least 80% as good as you do then this is better than you doing it 100% right. Take a look at your work for the following week and decide on which day you want to take off every week and then stick to that. Then take a look at the tasks you would need to delegate from your work load so that things will not fall behind because you are now only there for 4 days instead of 5 (don't tell me you work 7 days or even 6 days)...

List of small business ideas - Click To Read Article
If you are considering setting up in business and you are not sure what to do then how about a list of businesses you could begin - so here is a list of small business ideas: - An online business selling products using a drop-shipping company - like umbrellas or women's shoes or perhaps perfumes. - Become a plumber - even during a slow-down plumbers seem to be in demand and can earn significant sums. - Set up take away business selling pizzas or burgers - in a slow down these types of business always prosper, as people tend not to go to restaurants as much, but will still get a take away with a bottle of wine. You do have the option of setting up a franchise with this line of business, but you have to consider the fact that a per cent of your turnover will be taken by the franchisor.

Involve your employees in your business - Click To Read Article
You may be saying - but I do involve my employees in my business...but do you? Of course your employees to do the work of the business and the employees, with the right direction, make any business great as it expands, but there are not many business owners that involve their employees in helping with important decisions. I would suggest that you ask them their opinion on various expansion ideas or where you are looking at introducing new products or services get their input on this. Also, ask them how to improve on customer service, especially those employees that are on the front line, as it were...as these are the ones that are dealing with the customers directly and are therefore likely to give you some of the best feedback.

Is it best to be the cheapest or to be the best? - Click To Read Article
Is it best to be the cheapest or to be the best? If you type in the word "cheapest" into any search engine you will be presented with millions or results of web pages vying for position as the cheapest flights, cheapest Disney tickets, cheapest hotels etc. Is it good to run your business as being the "Cheapest service"? Well I personally don't think so, but there seems to be a huge market out there for this. The problem with competing on price is that if you are not cheaper than your next rival then you have no place to go other than to go yet cheaper still and so on. Alternatively, if you compete on quality or the best service then so long as you deliver an outstanding service and/or quality products and services then customers will not only return to you, but they will also recommend business your way too.

Keep cash flow to an optimum - Click To Read Article
Keep cash flow to an optimum by observing the following suggested methods: - Keep your payroll bill down to an absolute minimum - however, always pay good money to good employees or they will walk! - Try to avoid signing long-term rental agreements and if fancy offices are not necessary don't bother with upmarket office space, especially if your customers rarely visit your business. - Don't overpay yourself - you only need to take out what is enough to feed yourself. - Keep a close eye on staff travel and entertainment and avoid issuing staff with company credit cards and mobile phones! - Fancy office furniture hurts the bank balance and is not necessary unless you are in the type of business that needs to impress clients. Secondhand or liquidation stock furniture is the best option and will save you a small fortune!

How to start a small business - Click To Read Article
If you are looking into how to start a small business this article is designed to give you some pointers of what you should be looking at in the Start-up stage of a business - at this stage in the life cycle of a business the considerations and planning needed fall into the following categories: - Decide on whether to should I buy a business or set up a business from scratch or even buy a franchise business. There are relative merits of each route, as discuss in the article link here. A franchise is a good route to take where you are seeking banking finance, as banks like franchises. - Decide on a name for the business - if you are starting from scratch, you must then consider protecting your name and of course your idea if it is an invention by using the patent protection process.

How to write a business plan - Click To Read Article
Every business should have a realistic and working business plan which should not only be prepared when the business is starting up or at a time when finance is being sought. A business plan is like a road map for the business and is a set of directions to help it get to where it plans on going. A business might well get to where is wants to go without a business plan, but it will likely take a lot longer and there is always the danger that it will get lost along the way. Think about it this way - if someone asked you to navigate to a place you had never been before without a map or the modern Satnav, you would be able to get there, but it would take you a lot longer without the map.

How do I sell my business - Click To Read Article
How do I sell my business is often asked by business owners and can be answered by using the following check-list: 1. Price it right - do NOT over value your business. This might be an obvious point to make and just like selling a house with business sales, if the price is set too high you will probably not even get any viewings and will certainly not sell. Valuing a business to sell is not as easy as valuing a house and the only true value is where you end up with a willing buyer and a willing seller. However, having said that you will need to have it valued and to do so you will probably use a business broker - which leads nicely onto my next advice.

How much money do businesses spend on advertising each year? - Click To Read Article
During an economic slow down most businesses take time out to think about their cash flow and their spending budgets, or so they should. I know from talking to other businesses that things are tough out there right now, and you only have to look down your own high street to see the all revealing closing down sales and empty shops of businesses, including some large retail chains, to know that things are very difficult. However, this is not a time to hold back on your advertising though and for one of my businesses we, as a board of directors, have recently decided to up our advertising spend. In this case the business concerned is in the care-sector and we chose to up our marketing budget to 7% of our turnover, so that as turnover begins to increase so will the amount we spend on marketing and advertising and so on.

How businesses can beat the credit crisis - Click To Read Article
The credit crisis is hitting businesses around the globe and at a time when you see World Governments pledging financial support for banks then you know that there is a REAL problem. No one knows quite how long this crisis is going to last or indeed how bad things will get, but one thing is for sure confidence is a low, property prices are falling, properties are being repossessed and people are being made redundant. With the picture painted and that part out of the way, I want to reassure my readers that I am not trying to reap doom and gloom here although a reality check is never a bad thing. When times are tough there are certain things that businesses can do to get through and this article is dedicated to that end.

Find marketing partners - Click To Read Article
A marketing partner is another business which can complement your business or help to refer new customers your way in exchange for reciprocal referrals. A good example of this is if you leave some of your leaflets in the sales area of a fellow business, preferable in the same town or area as your business and in exchange you have their leaflets in your reception area. To take this concept a little further you could introduce promotional schemes; for example...you could put on your sales literature "When you buy a pizza you get 20% discount off of XYZ video store". At the same time as you offering this you can get XYZ video store to offer a similar promotion so that when a customer rents a video they will get 20% off pizzas at ABC pizza store.

Failing to implement is what holds you back in business - Click To Read Article
Failing to implement is what holds you back in business and is easier to do than to implement ideas, let me explain further... There are thousands of people that have great ideas that remain as ideas and this is not just in the business world. Ideas that remain as an idea will never make you money and will stop you from moving forward in your business and in your life. The real problem here is the ‘Fear of Failure', which is a real issue for most people and in most cases the fear is no more than an obstacle in your way. You need to think in a positive way and have confidence in yourself and in your ideas and take the risk. If you are a business owner then you took the initial risk of going it alone, so don't let your present fears stop you from moving forward.

Creating cash flow forecasts - Click To Read Article
If you are looking to for advice on creating a cash flow forecast then here are a few tips and pointers. Firstly you need to distinguish between what is ‘Revenue and Expenditure' and what is ‘Cash Inflows and Cash Outflows'.

Develope a marketing calendar - Click To Read Article
All businesses should have a marketing calendar! So what is a marketing calendar? During the course of the year you should track where your enquiries come from and which ones lead to customers. At the same time you should record which month the enquiries come in to your business so that you can build a picture of which months are your busiest and which ones are the least busy. Once you have compiled this data you can put this into the form of a calendar and then use this to your businesses advantage. By knowing which months in the year you already get most enquiries; you can then plan further advertising in those months to really capitalise on the months in which your customers are looking to buy.

Consider offering guarantees - Click To Read Article
If you put yourself in the position of a customer for a moment - this will help you to recognise a good method of encouraging your own business customers to purchase from, especially for new customers for their first time! You must have a favourite shop where you buy your clothes from in the high street or even on the Internet these days...and I would take a bet that one of your reasons for buying from this company, aside from the quality of the product etc. is for their returns policy. This is their guarantee to you that if you are not totally satisfied with the item supplied, then you may return the item to the store. A good example of a company that does this kind of returns policy very well is Ikea, as they have a returns policy of 90-days, which is much higher than most and look at how successful this company is.

Customer referral program - Click To Read Article
There are many businesses that would argue their best source of clients is by referral and yet if you ask what they do about this ‘Best Source', most would also say nothing. Do you reward people for referring customers to you and do you have an organised program to encourage this form of referral? If you answered 'NO‘ to this question then I would ask you to take a moment to think about your answer for a moment and to perhaps discuss changing how you deal with this aspect of your business with your business partners and employees. Firstly, you could make a decision to reward those people that refer clients to you by way of a financial reward either with a cheque or a voucher. Alternatively, you could reward them with your own products or services, by way of a discount on future purchases or by giving items away.

Customer Service or Product? - Click To Read Article
A question that many businesses should ask is "Is customer service more important than Product?" A very good question and one that deserves some thought...I do not think that these two elements to a business are mutually exclusive in that you have to choose one or the other, but one thing that I would advocate is that businesses should not get too caught up in perfecting a fantastic product, whilst forgetting the all important ‘Customer Service' aspect of the business! Take McDonalds as an example for a moment and take a look at what their business is all about...well firstly, we all know they sell burgers and let's face it, they are not the best burgers in the world. If their burgers were put into a competition against burgers from other businesses, they would probably lose big time.

Cash flow forecast software - Click To Read Article
Cash flow forecast software the bear essentials. In preparing a good cash flow forecast for a bank or and investor you need to know what the forecasts should include. I have therefore put together a list of what you should include, as follows: - The cash flow projection should realistically be for a period of not less than 36 months ahead. And for each of the three years these should be presented on a month-by-month basis. - The forecasts should distinguish between the business cash flow and the business profit and loss figures. Cash flow of a business relates to the timing money is received by the company and paid out of the company and would include VAT in the UK and Europe and Sales Tax in America.

Cash flow is king! - Click To Read Article
Cash flow is the key to business success. The vast majority of business failures is down to bad cash flow, if not all failures for that matter! If you want to run a good business and a successful one at that you must keep an eye on cash flow. Whilst profitability is important, profit is no good to any business unless the money you invoice to your customers is collected in full and in time! Forget balance sheets and profit and loss accounts if you are not accounting minded, but get to grips with your business cash flow. If you lose control of your cash flow you will lose control of your business either to the bank and or the receiver/liquidator! If anything, with most new ventures the cash flow is over optimised. It is always worth while being realistic when planning cash flow for your business.

Be honest when you sell your business - Click To Read Article
Honesty in business is as it is in life and a must and extremely important. If you are about to sell your business or if you are in the middle of selling it then make sure you are honest from the outset...not only with the broker, if you are using one, but also with potential buyers. If you tell lies at the outset or during the initial stages then it is very likely this will be found out at the due diligence stage of the selling process. The problem with telling lies is that if they get found out you may put off potential buyers and lose their trust.

Are there any businesses that are recession-proof? - Click To Read Article
There are probably many businesses that are recession-proof, but things might be different in the present down-turn as things might get tougher with falling property prices, rising unemployment and so on. If you are looking for a business that is recession-proof try typing the term "recession-proof business" in the upper left box and then choose from the hits there. This search will turn up sites giving you their wisdom on top tips to survive a recession along with other blogs and websites telling you which businesses are most likely to survive during a recession. I will leave it to you to decide on which of these writers know their stuff. However, if you hit on something that looks like the type of business you would like to buy or even set up yourself, then do a bit more research on that type of business.

A positive work-out for your brain for business owners and would-be business owners alike - Click To Read Article
There are many of us that go to the gym to give our bodies a work-out, but how many of you give you mind a work-out too? I would hazard a guess that not many people give their brain a physical work-out; there are those of you that have bought the "Nintendo Brain Tease", which is said to help our brains and our memory. However, this is not many people that even do this and what I have in mind is to change your thinking to a positive mode of thinking, so here goes my idea for a brain work out: 1. Each day you wake up make sure you "Think in a positive way". Begin your day with a big smile and take your mind off to a lovely place, a special place you would love to be. This could be a Caribbean Island or by your favourite lake, it does not matter, all that matters is that when you think about this place it makes you feel really good.

15 Ways to Improve Net Cashflow - Click To Read Article
There are many ways of improving Cash Flow for a business and we have given you a few ideas to do just that. To help you see how these ideas can help your business it would be worth while doing some cash flow projections. The Cash Forecaster can be used as a management tool to identify critical costs areas of the business and how these impact the future cash-health of the business. For example - you might like to experiment with introducing Factoring or Invoice discounting to improve the flow of cash from your customers whilst you are in expansion mode - Just because a business is making a profit it might still fail if the profits are not turned into cash - Remember ‘Cash is King' in business!

10 ways to save money in your business - Click To Read Article
10 ways to save money in your business and make your business a lean mean fighting machine! In an economic slow-down it is time to cut costs! When things are going well and saving money is not at the top of the agenda we can all let things slip and not pay close attention to cut costs. With the credit crunch still biting the majority of businesses still I though it would be good to help focus on where money can be saved. 1. Bank charges If you have been with your bank for a number of years and many people tend to be very loyal to their banks, for some reason. Always remember this, if times get tough, the bank will be the first one to kick you out on the street, as their decision is based purely on a commercial basis without emotion.

When buying a business you can ask for vendor finance - Click To Read Article
When you buy a business you don’t always have all the funds necessary to complete the purchase and in today’s economic climate, with banking finance being more difficult to come by, vendor finance might be the only way the business gets sold. Vendor finance might be the best option for you as a buyer, but also for the vendor in that this will make sure the deal happens.

What do I need to consider when setting up in business or buying a business - Click To Read Article
Have you ever considered buying a business or are you in the process of buying a business? Or perhaps you are considering or have thought about setting up your own business from scratch. If the answer to any of these questions is yes then you will recognise how difficult and daunting this process might be and this article is directed at those people in an attempt to help with the decisions. If you buy an existing business you know for a fact that a market exists for the product or service that it sells… When you buy a business most of the hard work has been done for you… My final consideration in this article is in terms of assets at a discount…


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