Developing your business
This section contains a wealth of tips and advice for improving your business processes and increasing your top and bottom lines.
Building your brand
Key elements of a good brand.
Avoiding the brand pitfalls
Branding blunders to avoid…
Watch your margins when the good times roll
Beware a common trap of allowing margins to slip with business is good.
Track your leases
Set up a tracking system for your equipment leases.
Three steps to cheaper financing
Keeping down the costs of external financing.
Save money on office furniture and equipment
Advantages of buying secondhand.
Reduce your utility bills
A checklist for utility savings.
Raising finance
Maximise your chance of raising funds.
Obtaining better financial control
The importance of monitoring projections and results.
Negotiate credit card fees
Make sure you get the best credit card deal.
Don’t cut costs – manage them
An introduction to target costing.
Can you cut your interest payments?
Minimise the payments on your borrowing.
When cutting costs is counterproductive
Improving profits without just cutting costs.
Ten reasons to benchmark your business
The benefits of benchmarking.
Stock answers
Inefficient stock management can be one of the biggest drains on profitability.
Should you buy in or manufacture materials?
Checklist for the pros and cons of in-house manufacturing.
Making the most of your company meetings
Don’t waste time in board or company meetings.
Is outsourcing the best strategy?
Which functions are best outsourced?
Get better deals from suppliers
How to negotiate with suppliers while keeping good relations.
Does your business pass the risk test?
A business risk assessment checklist.
Designing for profit
Good product design is at the heart of business profitability.
Benchmarking best practice
Ways to monitor your progress and efficiency.
Selling a business – your questions answered
Frequently asked questions on making a business sale.
Selling your business
An introduction to the issues involved in a business sale.
Preparing your partnership
Planning for a successful exit from a partnership.
Do you have a succession plan in place?
Don’t leave it to the last minute to plan for the next generation.
Working from home
The do’s and don’ts of home working.
Work and travel
Ideas to help make your business trips more successful.
When you suspect employee fraud…
Suspecting an employee of fraud can put you in a difficult position.
Use corporate giving to improve your bottom line
Corporate giving can make a substantial contribution to your profitability.
Relocating your business
elocating your business requires careful planning.
Protecting against disaster
Your business should have a strategy for dealing with disaster.
Most common fraud risk factors
Eleven of the most common fraud risk factors for your business.
Leasing equipment
Checklist for what to consider when leasing.
Identifying and preventing fraud
Minimise the risk of fraud to your business.
Helping the environment – and your business
Using energy efficiently could significantly reduce your running costs.
Getting more from your business meetings
Tips for more effective business meetings.
Could your business survive without you?
Plan now to protect yourself, your family and your business if the unthinkable happens.
7 ways to protect your business against a downturn
Protect your business against economic downturns.
The art of negotiation
Hone your negotiation skills.
Presentation skills
Tips for delivering public presentations.
Leadership checklist
Are you a manager or a leader?
Effective time management
A time management skills checklist.
Break the management mould
A twelve-point programme to help business owners and managers to avoid complacency.
Your staff handbook
Key elements of a staff handbook.
The do’s and don’ts of incentive schemes
Strategies for motivating employees.
Recruiting the right staff
Make sure you have a structured process for recruitment.
Recruiting executives
Checklist for hiring executives.
Opening the books can improve profitability
Should you open the books to employees?
Managing absence
Strategies for effective absence management.
Keep a look-out for signs of stress
Tackle staff stress before it costs you money.
Identify your star employees
Checklist for identifying your most valuable employees.
How to keep your best staff
Ways to reduce staff turnover.
Hiring winning sales staff
What do you look for when hiring new sales staff?
Getting the most out of staff appraisals
Make sure appraisals are effective and useful.
Employee incentives…that won’t break the bank
Affordable ways to incentivise staff.
Consulting your staff
Getting the most from your employees' ideas.
Conducting a successful interview
Ten great interview questions.
Bringing training in-house
Bringing trainers to you can be more cost-effective than sending staff out.
The right kind of growth
Is growth always healthy?
Strategies for increasing revenue
Including the product/market matrix.
Small is profitable
The advantages of being a small business.
Six steps to an effective business plan
Review your business planning.
Six reasons why business plans fail
Business planning traps to avoid.
Pricing strategies
Different approaches to setting a price.
No business is an island
Understanding your place in the chain.
Make your planning meetings count
Tips for effective planning meetings.
Innovate to grow
The three basic skills behind innovation.
How to survive when times get tough
Protect your business in a downturn.
Finding your market niche
Capitalise on your corner of the marketplace.
Building strategic alliances
How collaboration can benefit your business.
Avoiding traps in strategic planning
Strategy errors to avoid.
An introduction to strategic planning
Key elements of strategic planning.
Your customers’ experience
Your customers won’t always tell you when they’re unhappy.
When the customer is not right
Sometimes you have to fire a bad customer.
Marketing versus selling
Know what your customers want.
Keep your sales force selling
Do your sales staff spend more time on admin than sales?
Encourage customer complaints
Turn complaints into outstanding service.
Benchmarking and competitor analysis
Conducting a competitive analysis.
A 16 point marketing plan
Simple tips for effective marketing.
A networking strategy
Effective networking checklist.
A customer satisfaction survey
Knowledge is power when it comes to customer satisfaction.