Monthly Archives: April 2021

Hot Business News Today

5 ways to make your website more friendly for older customers

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Originally written by Paul Gray on Small Business
The ongoing pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives but perhaps the most impacted has been how we as a nation shop. From our weekly groceries to smart home tech and even furniture, the changes in rules due to lockdowns has led to us having to rely more on online shopping as physical stores were forced to close.
And for some the changes will now be permanent, with well-known high street brands collapsing and being brought back as online only.
‘Many e-commerce sites are yet to consider older shoppers as a viable demographic’
While more and more older customers have embraced the internet and online shopping due to necessity, many brands and e-commerce sites are yet to consider older customers as a viable demographic.
But can brands really afford to ignore any potential shoppers right now? Especially a demographic that, pre-pandemic, was reported to account for £320bn of annual household spending and the over-50s hold over three-quarters of the nation’s financial wealth.
>See also: 7 ways to enhance your small business website in 2020
Over 65s are not just one group
The market for 65 plus is constantly changing, not only as older customers adopt technology more readily into

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Hot Business News Today

How to apply for public sector tendering as a small business

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Originally written by Melanie Bryan on Small Business
Demystifying public sector tendering
Would you like an introduction to a client who:

Spends around £284bn each year on goods and services?
Issues around 1,500 new contract opportunities each week?
Pays on time and won’t go bust?
Wants SMEs to be suppliers – awards around 59 per cent of contracts by value to small businesses?

Well, the good news is that you can – that client is the public sector. No wonder Lord Young named the public sector as the client to target for micro-businesses that want to grow.
Winning public sector contracts can also help stabilise your cashflow. For example, contracts for services are usually for at least a year and most small suppliers get paid within 30 days of submitting an accurate invoice and many are paid within 14 days.
And remember that public sector is quite wide; for example, it includes government, local authorities, NHS, police and fire services. There are also several other organisations who use similar procurement processes including universities, construction, and utility companies.
What’s more the public sector recognises that SMEs can offer better value, higher quality service, greater flexibility and can be more innovative than larger companies. Therefore it wants more to become suppliers and

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