Four key infrastructure components must be addressed in order for change to take hold and last.
Tag Archive for Running a business
Hot Business News Today
How to Earn More Revenue With the Customers You Already Have
by Biron Clark • • 0 Comments
Hot Business News Today
4 lessons from Germany on how British SMEs can thrive post lockdown
by Sam Rucker • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Sam Rucker on Small Business
As lockdown eases, changes in how we do business have only just begun. One country that might be able to provide valuable insight for SMEs is Germany. Having begun lockdown easing back in April, it is already dealing with the next economic phase that small businesses in the UK will have to adapt to.
Our recent study involving SMEs in Germany reveals what Britain’s economic future might look like, and some best practices for how small UK businesses can face it head on.
Here are 4 lessons from Germany on how British SMEs can thrive post lockdown:
Re-imagine customer journeys to capture support
One silver lining to this dark cloud is the community support SMEs are currently experiencing: Pinterest, for example, recorded an increase of 351 per cent in support of small businesses.
To capitalise on that support, German respondents to the June Vimcar survey recommended ways to remodel customer journeys:
– Use social media
With people craving social interaction more than ever, social media usage has seen a 40 per cent increase. As a result, many German SMEs are feeding into #supportyourlocals and #nowopen threads.
UK businesses can also take advantage of this social media uplift and use the free
Hot Business News Today
How to reopen your hairdressers and barbers and post lockdown
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Government has announced that hairdressers and barbers can reopen for business on July 4 but other beauty businesses will have to wait.
Hilary Hall, chief executive of the National Hair and Beauty Foundation applauded the decision to reopen but said it had come very late in the day.
Hall said: “We are also extremely disappointed that beauty businesses are not yet allowed to reopen, and we have always emphasised that hair and beauty should reopen at the same time.”
>See also: How to reopen your restaurant, pub or hotel post-lockdown
How to reopen your hairdressers or barbers
All salons must stick to social distancing and maintain two metres between clients, or one metre with additional precautions, such as the use of screens
Face visors must be worn by practitioners for all activities. Face coverings are not an acceptable alternative to visors, but clients or staff may choose to wear an additional face covering
No walk-ins: clients must be seen by appointment only. Salon and barbershop owners will be required to keep a temporary record of all clients and visitors for 21 days to support the NHS test-and-trace system which controls outbreaks of the virus
No food or drinks to be
Hot Business News Today
Coronavirus small business diary – Alessandro Savelli, Pasta Evangelists
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Alessandro Savelli founded Pasta Evangelists, a home delivery service for fresh Italian pasta dishes in 2017, because he felt that pasta in Britain was still relegated to hard, mass-produced spaghetti on supermarket shelves and jars of pesto.
Based in Hoxton, East London, Pasta Evangelists employs around 25 full-time staff in its office and another 60 or so in production, preparing and packaging the pasta boxes. The start-up has an outlet in the world-famous Harrods food hall and a concession in M&S in Southampton.
Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Pasta Evangelists has seen demand for its home-cook pasta boxes more than quadruple and currently the business is shipping out around 12,000 orders a week.
24th February
It’s a rainy Monday morning in late February. I’m at home feeding my son Daniele his breakfast when my phone rings.
“You need to think about increasing your production – fast,” says the voice on the line.
It is my father calling from his mountain village in the Aosta Valley. Italy has just seen its first major surge in coronavirus cases and the Italian government has declared much of the north a “red zone”, locking down 11 towns across Lombardy
Hot Business News Today
How to Stabilize & Fortify Your Business in a COVID Economy
by James McKinney • • 0 Comments
Following the Footprints of Successful Business Owners to Successfully Bounce Back in Business During and Post Disaster
Hot Business News Today
Coronavirus small business diary – Stitch & Story CEO Jennifer Lam
by Jennifer Lam • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Jennifer Lam on Small Business
Jennifer Lam is co-founder (alongside Jen Hoang) and CEO of digital crafts brand Stitch & Story, which sells a range of knitting kits, equipment and yarns, accompanied by a range of online tutorial videos to teach viewers knitting techniques.
Its products are aimed at people of all ages and abilities, with a range of products aimed at anyone from beginner to expert.
Here is her coronavirus small business diary:
9th March
Canary Wharf announces they’ve evacuated several office buildings because someone tested positive for Covid-19. In the Stitch & Story shared office, we see people putting up government health advice posters on all the walls and toilet cubicles. Our office is only one stop away from Canary Wharf and there’s some nervousness among our team. No one is admitting to it, but we can tell on our faces that something strange is happening.
The site manager called us for an emergency meeting to reassure us there are no plans for the building to shut but that we should prepare for the scenario. We’ve advised our Stitch & Story team to take their laptops home every night. There’s also a new rule – no personal belongings on our desks
Hot Business News Today
What coronavirus small business help is available for free?
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: Many tech suppliers and digital companies are offering their services for free to small business to help it get through the coronavirus Covid-19 shutdown.
Here is a list of software and digital services coronavirus help being offered for free to small business, which will be updated regularly.
Cybersecurity
Kapersky
Kaspersky has made its core endpoint security products free for medical organisations. This will enable healthcare professionals to keep surgeries and hospitals protected from cyberthreats during the Covid-19 crisis.
For six months, the following products will be available for free:
Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus
Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365
Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Advanced
Kaspersky Hybrid Cloud Security
For more detailed information about the offering and its availability please visit Kaspersky business blog and contact Kaspersky or its resellers.
ImmuniWeb
ImmuniWeb is offering $500,000 worth of cybersecurity solutions for free to qualifying companies during the Covid-19 crisis.
To qualify, a UK small business must have existed for at least two years with less than 30 per cent of revenue stemming from online sales in 2019 and with plans for 70 per cent of revenue shifting online as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The following software packages are available for qualifying small businesses:
ImmuniWeb® Discovery
ImmuniWeb®
Hot Business News Today
5 reasons why (and how) you should meet demand for cashless payments
by Lee Jones • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Lee Jones on Small Business
For businesses in the unattended market, keeping up to date with ever-progressing technology poses a challenge. Cashless payments and new payment methods have been growing in popularity, and it can feel like a struggle to keep up. Not to mention the fact that the time and expense of upgrading self-service payment terminals can be intimidating.
However, failure to move with the times could cost merchants business.
Here are five reasons why (and how) any merchant who operates unattended terminals – whether they’re in hospitality, parking, transport, retail, transport or travel – should be looking to meet the demand for cashless payments.
>See also: Why businesses should go cashless: pros and cons
#1 – Cash has been dethroned
The old saying, cash is king, has become less and less relevant in recent years. Card payments in the UK have grown at an exponential rate, and research from UK Finance showed that the amount of payments made with physical money dropped by 22 per cent between 2006 and 2016. In fact, card payments overtook cash payments in 2016, with notes and coins accounting for just 40 per cent of spend. It’s predicted that, by 2026, cash will be used for
Hot Business News Today
5 top small business tips from one of Britain’s best business schools
by Tim Vorley • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Tim Vorley on Small Business
You don’t necessarily need a business degree to run a business. There are 5.9 million SMEs across the UK, with many learning on the job and doing well.
While there is no substitute for real-world experience, the UK’s business schools can offer a lot of practical insight and support on everything from starting up to scaling. This goes beyond the degrees they offer, to the broader way they work with local businesses.
Many business owners just don’t have the bandwidth, or the money, to juggle studying for a business degree alongside their business.
One thing that we say time and again is that it is important to take a step back from working “in” the business, to working “on” the business. This is something that few owner/managers can do easily, but it makes all the difference in being able to see the wood from the trees.
There are a host of areas that business school academics have conducted research into, which can help small businesses fine tune their growth strategy.
>See also: How to get 1,000 followers on your small business Instagram
Here are some 5 top tips from one of Britain’s best business schools:
#1 – Innovate but not