Why consider a Business Coach for your business?

Whether you are thinking of starting up a business, started one or trying to grow one, it can be a challenging time. That’s why a Business Coach can help clear the path to success by using their experience and knowledge to help you through the maze of possibilities. Put it like this way, learning from someone who has experienced the challenges first hand, can save you time and money.

So I have decided to breakdown running a business into 9 areas, and then drill down on each one of these topics in turn over the coming weeks:

1. Planning for growth
2. Exploring new ideas
3. Increasing marketshare
4. Managing people and their performance
5. Getting the right premises
6. Cashflow and working capital
7. Using business technology for competitive advantage
8. Monitoring and controlling your business
9. Planning your exit

There is a huge amount of information out there, but what some businesses lack is the ability to apply it to their often unique situation. Having an external sounding board can help give you another perspective, ie: avoid the ‘woods and trees’ syndrome because the incumbents are too close to the day to day running of the business.

Regards,

R obert.

www.davisonconsultancy.co.uk

Looking for a job or seeking someone fast?

Employer Problem: You have been let down or have a pressing job that needs doing and you need someone fast, within 2 hours.

Jobseeker Problem:  You may be a contractor looking for some extra days or a person who needs some temporary work.

The solution: A business colleague and I have launched a new website which we believe will address these two fundamental problems.

Using the conventional method of finding or advertising a job takes time, resources and money. Most people require the job or resource NOW, not in a week or so, especially if you have penalties imposed for not getting the job done on time, or it would have an adverse effect on customer relations.

We believe this will be of major benefit to both Employer, Contractors, SubContractors and Jobseekers, as each group gain significant advantages of time and money over what is currently available.

To get the volume going through the site we are giving Jobseekers the opportunity to register for one month free by using our jobseeker discount code.

Have a look at Available Last Minute and see if you agree with us.

Rob

www.davisonconsultancy.co.uk

Free download of Budget versus Actual Spreadsheet

Being able to understand how your business is performing against your initial budget projections, and whether or not you are making a profit is of paramount importance.

This spreadsheet is designed to give a simple tool that will record the main Sales and Costs in your business, without getting bogged down in being an Accountant.

To start with, enter your company name, then amend the Sales Item ‘n’ and Cost Items ‘n’ to track the items that are of interest. On the Costs section you may wish to consolidate many costs in your Profit and Loss into one heading,eg: Salaries, National Insurance, Pension contributions may be represented as ‘Employee Costs’.

Please download my Budget versus Actual spreadsheet which will give you a easy to understand view of your business performance against budget. You can access the Downloads page from within my Blog, see index on the right hand side.

If you have suggestions please leave a comment.

Regards

Robert.

What is a Business Angel?

A Business Angel is an investor that provides development capital to growing companies or new companies. More and more investors are realising that becoming a business angel can be an attractive alternative investment with the additional benefit of becoming involved in an exciting growing business. A business angel is a wealthy investor who is willing to risk investing in a startup in exchange for a stake in the company. A business angel with the right skills can strengthen your business by adding skills or experience that you lack.

Angels expect you to have a clear idea about what the funds you ask for will be used for. Angel investors understand the needs of a new business through their own experience and are able to advice and aid the companies in many ways. Angel capital fills the gap in start-up financing between “friends and family” (sometimes humorously called “friends, family, and fools”) who provide seed funding, and venture capital.

Angels seek profit, but they also enjoy the excitement of being involved in early-stage companies in trendy fields. Angels take a vested interest in the business and an active role as they are taking a risk by investing in them. Business angels are usually former entrepreneurs or executives that have past experience and business skills which can help provide capital and business advice often in return for shares in the business. Angel investors or Business angels can be a great way to finance your business; they will often be entrepreneurs that have successful businesses of their own.

Businesses are unlikely to be suitable for investment by a business angel unless certain conditions are fulfilled. However, being a business angel is not just about providing a source of finance, they add to the overall business mix and can offer guidance and mentoring to the companies in which they invest. To attract a business angel you need a solid business plan. But just as important is guidance and encouragement from a business mentor. The fundamental difference between a business adviser or consultant and a business mentor is that the adviser will work to find a solution for the client, whereas the business mentor provides a different point of view and acts as a referral point, encouraging the client to assess and explore options, develop new skills and make informed decisions.

Rob

Davison Consultancy

What is Business Mentoring?

Business mentoring is about getting advice and direction from a specialist who is wise in a particular area.
Business mentoring is where a small business operator is matched up with an experienced and trusting advisor.
For these reasons, and many more, business mentoring is increasingly popular as a solution to a multitude of business challenges. Mentoring is a highly interactive process and requires strong commitment from both the mentor and the business directors/management team. If interested in researching or learning more about business mentoring, please look at the Davison Consultancy website for more details.
The most critical component in mentoring, most professionals would agree, is being able to listen. The key differences between coaching and mentoring are: Mentoring invents a future based on past experience whereas coaching invents a future from an individual’s own suggestions and input.MentorMentoring is one way in which small businesses can advance business development rapidly by drawing on the experience, skills and knowledge of successful business managers and business professional service providers. Mentoring covers everything from help with planning and researching your business and assistance with your business plan through to the sharing of contacts and encouragement to help you reach your goals. Mentoring is designed to uncover talents and enhance skills in a supportive and open relationship. Mentoring has been used successfully in the workplace for years.Business Mentoring is designed to give you the tools, knowledge and resources to accelerate your business. For these reasons, and many more, business mentoring is increasingly popular as a solution to a myriad of challenges. Business mentoring is an enduring relationship that helps you realise your potential and achieve your business goals.

Rob

http://www.davisonconsultancy.co.uk

Business Internet Strategy

Internet Strategy is more than developing web business strategies and a web design strategy. As a business, the ultimate objective of an Internet strategy is to convert a looker into a client. An internet strategy is a plan for how your business will use the internet.Strategy

An Internet Strategy is a plan for how your business will use the internet. It should develop and implement the vision, devising a solid Internet Strategy based upon real business objectives. I believe that your Internet Strategy should, first and foremost, support your business objectives.

Website

Your website is the most valuable piece of marketing collateral that you develop. The truth is a website that sells a product or service is still a business. As your business processes change, along with technology changes, your website needs to do the same. Internet Consultancy is a key aspect when considering a website project.

An Internet Strategy is an in-depth analysis of how online technologies and tools can be implemented within a company to help reach its goals and objectives. If your Internet Strategy is not generating good qualified leads, getting the applications, getting the phone calls, streamlining your application process or at least building a list of your customers that visit your site online, what is it doing for you. An effective Internet Strategy is more than web design or web site development.

Rob

http://www.davisonconsultancy.co.uk
 

Recruitment Agency with a difference

So what do you think of recruitment agencies?

Ok, Estate Agents and Solicitors fall into the same category, but are a necessary service that we must use. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a recruitment agency that operates in a cost effective way, whilst actually doing what I think an agency should do, namely: get the right person as quickly as possible and only send good candidates, also, don’t charge a fortune for doing it.

right click is at the forefront of a new generation of recruitment businesses that utilise the internet to deliver high quality, high speed and highly cost effective recruitment services.

Have a look at this rapidly expanding recruitment agency, I think it will create quite a stir with the traditional agencies.

RightClick Recruitment

Rob

http://www.davisonconsultancy.co.uk

Businesses need money and …

Business Mentoring 

Starting or growing a business requires money, so a good Business Plan can help you gain that extra finance. However, once the funding is in place it is so easy to get carried away with that huge marketing spend, new office equipment and increasing the headcount.

Ensuring the money is put to good use, and more importantly the business is kept focused on it’s real goals and not get side tracked is of paramount importance. A lot of businesses do not only require extra finance, but some would benefit from business mentoring so that business improvement is sought and achieved far quicker than learning by mistakes.

Business coaching can be a useful way to have a sounding board for your ideas and clarify that strategy that gets dusted down now and then. By utilising a seasoned business professional who has started and grown businesses means you can learn from someone who knows what it’s like to manage that bottom line, personally.

So if you feel money isn’t everything that your business needs just now then consider a business review, it only takes a day and can be the best investment you make to maximising your business effectiveness.

Rob

http://www.davisonconsultancy.co.uk

Who moved my cheese?

I read one of my old books the other day that may be relevant to businesses that may have experienced a downturn.

For those who have not come across it, then I would recommend it as a good business read.

If you are interested the details are:

Who Moved My Cheese
Written by Dr Spencer Johnson
ISBN 9780091816971

Free download of a SEO Project Template

Search engine optimisation can be viewed as a technical project in that it is focused on making a website’s code search engine friendly. However, in reality the real objective from a business perspective is to sell more product and/or services.

Would you like 1 million visitors to your site or 500?

Obvious answer, maybe not, let’s qualify a little by saying the 1 million visitors may be children, where as the 500 are purchasing managers requiring your product.

So, would you like 1 million visitors to your site or 500?

The answer is probably 500 as the traffic to your site is targetted, and probably gives a good conversion rate to sales.

The Internet is another channel to market, so why treat it different to an offline