August 20, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, General — admin @ 9:15 am
Choosing the right car insurance can be hard, which is why it is well worth it to take some time to investigate a company that has a rich history of rewarding and helping its customers so that when the time comes for you to call on your car insurance policy, you know it will be there.
Privilege Car Insurance has a 16 year history, and for the last six years the company has slowly shifted its focus towards giving rewards to careful drivers as a way of saying thank you for taking care. Those who have not an accident for four years are considered a ‘careful driver’ and as such are eligible for a no claims discount.
After all, if you are not a high incident driver and are attentive on the road, Privilege believes that you should be rewarded for taking care. Paying too much for car insurance seems absurd for a customer who rarely needs to use it, which is why the safe driving discount system has been the number one reason that many people choose Privilege.
Privilege is well known for its face, Nigel Havers who helped propel the popular car insurance slogan ‘You don’t have to be posh to be privileged’ into day to day vernacular and now the slogan makes up the heart of what Privilege has to offer those who take advantage of its main offering.
The way that the discounts work is simple which makes the car insurance policies very attractive to those who want full coverage without any of the hassle. Those that have four or more years of on the road experience without any accidents automatically are considered for the no claims discount.
In order to apply for a policy to see a quote, one can simply head to the Privilege car insurance website or call the company by phone. UK based all the way down to UK call centres, Privilege understands the needs of the modern motorist in the UK and is able to offer services designed to match.
With additional perks such as free breakdown cover, roadside assistance, and an underinsured driver promise; when you sign up for a policy you can design it to meet your needs. For those who want extended coverage, Privilege also offers plenty of optional extras designed to meet any need you may have.
If you have a loyal customer base, then Privilege may have something to teach you about maintaining and growing your customer loyalty.
August 15, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Employees — admin @ 11:28 am
What is a business without its employees? Well the answer, most of the time is nothing. Employees are an essential part in any business. It may be a company of just 1 or 2 employees or it could be one with thousands. Whatever type of business or what it does, it certainly would not work without the man power.
Business Coaching can help keep your staff motivated which usually results in a more productive work force, and improved workforce atmosphere. Business coaching or life coaches as they are commonly known, offer solutions on how to improve moral and motivation.
Life coaches can help with many issues that may arise within a work environment such as:
• Conflicts between staff members
• Staff lacking focus
• Stress due to fear of redundancy
• Work/life balance
• Employees not realising their full potential, feeling undervalued
• Increase staff commitment
• Poor staff moral
Life coaching for business provides all staff members with an outlet for their feelings and thoughts towards the business. The coach can set goals and targets to help everyone reach their potential, either as a group or individuals. For this reason business coaching is often offered in-house on a group basis or one to one sessions.
To find a business coach in your area why not visit Life Coach Directory. You can search by your postcode, town or county to find advice and support in your area. Every coach listed on the site is fully qualified and insured so you can be assured of their professionalism.
July 22, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Business Finance — admin @ 8:52 am
As you will have seen from the various advertisements that grace our television screens each and every day, it is easier now than ever before to access no-win-no-fee legal services. This has contributed to the claims culture that is starting to gather pace in the UK and as a result it is important that as a small business owner, you protect your company against this by taking out public liability insurance.
There are many things you need to take care of when you first start up your own business and it’s important that getting the correct insurance is right at the top of the list. Whether you’re starting an IT consultancy business or are going into the estate agency profession, you will need to ensure that you plan ahead against every eventuality and get yourself a comprehensive insurance policy.
Even if you are one of the 20 per cent of small businesses in the UK that don’t work from an office space, a trend that has come about as companies try and reduce their overheads in these tough economic times, you will still need to invest in business insurance.
When you first start out in business you may find that you are the sole worker for the company, but as you as you start to employ staff you must make getting employers’ liability insurance your number one priority. If you have employees, whether they are full-time, contracted or voluntary workers, it’s a legal obligation that you provide cover against a claim from a member of your staff.
So if you run an energy assessment business and one of your employees are injured while carrying out work for your business, your employer liability will be triggered. If you don’t have the correct insurance this could turn out to be a major problem, but with the right cover the legal and compensation costs will be paid under the terms of the policy and you can carry on going about your business.
It is not only claims from your own employees that you need protection against, but also those from members of the public. As an energy assessor will be required to visit people’s homes as part of your work, and if an accident were to happen and you damaged their property, then a claim could be brought against you.
You also need to get protection for the work that you are carrying out, which professional indemnity insurance will take care of. Despite your best intentions, a client that you have performed work for may be unhappy with the quality of it and as a result you could be required to correct the mistake.
As a small business you are particularly vulnerable to claims of negligence, something that could well affect you if you run a consultancy business where you regularly give advice to clients.
It doesn’t take long to take care of your business insurance needs but it will definitely be time well spent. In the current business climate it’s not worth taking any unnecessary risks and by taking out business insurance you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re protected.
June 10, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Employees, General — admin @ 3:11 pm
While almost all French and German companies are able to deal with enquiries from abroad, their British counterparts just aren’t getting the message, according to a new survey.
The survey shows that even a basic request in French or German will stump most UK businesses. UK staff who deal with frontline enquiries are falling spectacularly behind their European competition and very few have the training and support to respond in languages other than English. However, in mainland Europe things are very different, with the vast majority of French and German receptionists able to communicate fluently and clearly in a different language.
Commissioned by specialist language recruiter, Euro London Appointments, the survey involved calling the British offices of 116 FTSE 250 companies and asking for their postal address in either German or French. Only four companies were able to answer right away in the caller’s language. A further 12 asked the caller to hold and found someone who could speak the correct language. However, 17 companies simply hung up.
Comments from UK receptionists included “Sorry, I’m not with you, can you speak English?” and “We only speak English here!” shouted loudly down the phone. Others resorted to “If you can’t speak English I just can’t help you, I thought you all learned English!” and “Oh, for God’s sake!” before the phone was slammed down.
In comparison, when 116 similar companies in Germany were called, 114 were able to answer in perfect English; 85 were able to answer in French, and a large number could also speak Spanish too.
Responses from French companies also put the UK to shame with 112 immediately switching to English and 68 able to answer in German. Of the non-German speakers, a large number were able to switch to Spanish when that was offered as an alternative.
Steve Shacklock, Director of Euro London Appointments, which recruits multilingual staff across a range of industry sectors in the UK and continental Europe commented: “The comments from the English receptionists might seem funny, but it’s a disgraceful situation really. As business is now done on a global basis, investing in language skills, whether by hiring multilingual staff or installing training initiatives, is not only a way to protect your reputation, it’s an effective way to ensure your company’s growth in world markets. With the Olympics coming here in 2012, we’re going to see visitors from all around the world, with money to spend. The good news is that this still leaves plenty of time to invest in languages and companies that do so will certainly reap the benefits.”
April 16, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Business Finance, Small business — admin @ 9:05 am
Research by NatWest and its Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) parent, has highlighted that 71% of UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have suffered from late payments in the past 12 months. The research found that in the past 12 months, a staggering £63bn remained unpaid beyond the agreed deadline and that £15.7bn of this was more than 120 days overdue, potentially threatening the survival of SMEs.
Document management and imaging software company, Version One (www.versionone.co.uk), has published some advice how SMES can cut through late payment excuses in order to get paid on time.
1. Don’t underestimate the importance of credit checks.
It’s vital to assess a customer’s creditworthiness before supplying them with goods and services. Don’t be afraid to turn away business if your potential supplier has a poor credit history as a handful of poor payers can bankrupt a small company. There are licensed credit reference agencies available as well as online credit check companies. The latter are suitable for even the smallest of companies.
2. Ensure credit limits are authorised and enforced by the relevant people.
It’s also advisable to enable the electronic authorisation of credit limits by all relevant people internally, such as the managing director, finance director and credit controller. This speeds-up the credit limit authorisation process, keeps all the key people in the loop and provides an authorisation trail for future reference.
3. Always be clear about your terms and conditions for payment.
Print these terms on the invoice to avoid any potential ambiguity.
4. Request a purchase order number/reference and ensure this is visible on the sales invoice.
It’s also important to reference the person who authorised the purchase to avoid queries further down the line.
5. Electronically deliver sales invoices and statements.
Electronic rather than postal delivery ensures customers are in receipt of invoices sooner. There is also a record of when the invoice was received (and read) by the customer so that you can say “you received it at 9.15am on the last day of the month and opened it at 9.20am”. This bypasses any problems with the postal office and prevents customers from using the excuse that they haven’t received the invoice in order to delay payment. Electronic delivery also frees-up staff time spent printing, photocopying and enveloping invoices and statements so that they can focus on chasing late payers.
6. Always provide electronic copies of signed proof of deliveries (PODs) with the sales invoices.
This will eliminate the all too common excuse; “but we never received the goods”.
7. Store all sales invoices, statements, PODs and related documents in a secure, electronic archive.
These documents also need to be instantly accessible from the desktop and linked to the relevant ledgers in the accounting system so that they can be retrieved quickly and no key documents can ever get lost.
8. Provide early payment discounts and late payment charges to incentivise customers to pay on time.
Remember that the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 allows small businesses with less than 50 employees to claim interest on overdue payments from other companies.
9. Introduce flexible payment options.
Consider introducing more flexible ways for customers to pay such as in pre-agreed instalments.
10. Keep in regular contact with debtors.
This will help to identify any potential payment issues early on.
In the current climate , it’s crucial that companies take action to claw back monies owed if they are to avoid insolvency due to late payments like 4,000 firms in 2008 (according to the Federation of Small Businesses). A few simple changes to the credit control process can make a huge impact, ensuring SMEs are around to prosper when the economy fully recovers.
March 25, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Employees — admin @ 1:48 pm
Rachael Floyd
Ensuring successful overseas assignments for employees is no easy task. The potential pitfalls businesses face are many – not least in terms of health and welfare.
Businesses frequently have to contend with a variety of issues from full scale medical emergencies to employees that fail to adjust to the cultures of foreign climes.
A study conducted by PMI Global, a new service which offers an integrated package of insurance and healthcare support for employees abroad, recently highlighted the need for a greater duty of care amongst many employers that assign staff overseas.
The survey of UK-based HR professionals revealed that 48 per cent of companies fail to conduct full health assessments of the destinations they send staff to, while 44 per cent don’t organise vaccinations for their employees, where required. A further 20 per cent of companies that send employees abroad for prolonged periods fail to provide them with international health insurance.
According to Rachael Floyd, PMI Global’s Operations Director and registered nurse, good planning is everything and precautions taken at an early stage can, quite literally, save lives. She has revealed 10 things that will ensure your staff are fit for business before they jet off on overseas placements.
1. Check to see if health insurance is mandatory. Hefty bills can result from medical problems abroad and so adequate cover is vital. When sending staff abroad for more than six months, you should provide them with international health insurance – for some countries, particularly in the Middle East, it is mandatory. If an employee is being posted to Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, for example, residency visas and work permits are dependent upon having appropriate health insurance.
2. Business travel insurance is no replacement for International PMI. For short business trips, business travel insurance will cover urgent medical treatment with the additional benefit of insuring personal possessions and including limited kidnap and ransom cover. Policies have a maximum number of days that individuals can travel under them each year. As with the EHIC – which covers emergency healthcare treatment – cover is restricted and it should not be viewed as a replacement for an international medical policy.
3. Don’t rely on EHIC. In the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, the EHIC (the European Health Insurance Card) has a number of restrictions. It is not normally available if you are living in another country; it will only provide access to emergency, state-provided treatment and it doesn’t pay for emergency evacuation or repatriation. It can’t be viewed as a replacement for an international medical policy.
4. Seek professional advice: not all health policies are created equal. When arranging employee health insurance, don’t assume all international policies are the same – take expert advice. The flexibility of cover benefits, for example, is a key consideration. Maternity cover accounts for around 15 per cent of a premium and will be unnecessary for single male assignees. Excluding the USA from a worldwide policy meanwhile can halve premium costs.
5. Forewarned is forearmed when making a medical claim. In addition to the numerous financial considerations employees have to deal with, from setting up local bank accounts to arranging money transfers, they should also be aware of the medical insurance claims process. For out-patient treatment abroad, the employee will in most cases pay the bill and then claim it back from the medical insurer. Be sure to check what the insurers’ procedures are for outpatient claims are – how long will it be before the claim is paid back by the insurer, for example, does the claim require preauthorisation and will it be paid directly into the employee’s account? If a claim is paid by cheque, this can take 6 to 8 weeks to process abroad and employees should be mindful of this.
6. Ensure employees are fit to travel. A pre-travel health check can go a long way to ensuring employees remains fit and healthy while they’re abroad. A report on their state of health can enable staff to take control of their own wellbeing before they pick up their passport. Underlying medical conditions can be identified and addressed before travelling, with medical care received from doctors in a familiar healthcare system without language barriers. A pre-travel screening can also highlight any recommended working adjustments and reduce the risk of a secondment being cut short due to illness.
7. Don’t expose your business to the risk of an uninsured claim. Check the small print of your Employers’ Liability policy. Standard Employers’ Liability insurance does not normally cover staff working abroad for extended periods and country-specific policies may be required. In many countries it is a statutory requirement for an employer to have liability insurance to cover employees who are injured or contract a work-related illness. It is also advisable to conduct full health risk assessments on the destinations you send staff and fully brief them on the local issues before they set off.
8. Take steps to avoid preventable illnesses. An array of tropical diseases lie in wait for employees travelling abroad, from Cholera and Typhoid to Hepatitis and Yellow Fever. Vaccinations and anti-malarial drugs should be arranged where required but be mindful of the fact that many vaccines take several weeks to become effective. In the case of Yellow Fever, some countries in Asia require a mandatory International Certificate of Vaccination against the disease.
9. Healthy mind – healthy business: look after employees’ emotional wellbeing. Industry analysts suggest that up to 40 per cent of placements abroad fail due to psychological distress. Employees and their families often fail to adjust to foreign cultures, feel alienated or isolated but some simple steps can be taken to help ease the transition. Employee Assistance Programmes can offer employees access to confidential support, practical information and expert advice throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. Studies show that for every £1 spent on an EAP, an organisation can recover anywhere between £3 and £20. For vital international placements, the return on investment may be even greater.
10. Protect your assets against extortion. Kidnapping of company employees is a very real risk and generates hundreds of millions a year in ransom payments for guerilla and criminal groups around the world. With UK government policy not to pay ransoms, employers should seriously consider Kidnap and Ransom insurance cover when sending staff to volatile regions particularly areas of Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Security consultants are made available to protect your employee and provide practical help on the ground should a problem arise.
“Sending employees abroad can have a huge impact on their occupational development and help boost a business’s profile and standing oversees,” Rachael added.
“Moreover, it’s encouraging that, according to our research, a large number of UK companies are well equipped for sending employees abroad. However, for those that are not, the business and financial implications can be considerable.”
March 23, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Small business — admin @ 9:14 pm
Julie Meyer Online Dragon
Developing a new business can be a daunting prospect. As you work towards your goals independent guidance and support can be invaluable. As Britain’s small businesses look set to grow the UK economy in the next 12 months it is vital you are armed with the right knowledge to strengthen your business case. But whether you are a business which needs help cutting costs and managing resources or setting realistic objectives and exploring new areas – knowing where to turn can often be confusing.
We have a WebTV show (see below) featuring Online Dragon Julie Meyer, Founder and Chief Executive of Ariadne Capital, who is passionate about backing new entrepreneurs. She will be offering smart advice on how to put a good idea into practise and put together a formal business plan, she can help individuals take stock of their current state of affairs and see areas where they can afford to grow.
So whether you are a budding entrepreneur who needs some help getting your ideas off the ground or an SME business owner who is struggling to get further financial backing, there is help out there once you know where to look for it.
The show coincided with the launch of Barclay’s “Take One Small Step” business idea competition; in which ten SMEs in each region will win a prize of £50,000 each to help their development and growth. Send your questions into Julie who will be offering her expert advice on how you can take advantage of new initiatives.
Also see visit www.takeonesmallstep.co.uk
March 16, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, General — admin @ 12:30 pm
How green is yoru office? This subject is being put under the spotlight by green office design experts Morgan Lovell in a series of podcasts – which reveal that 45 per cent of UK carbon emissions are coming from our offices, as well as homes and public buildings.
The podcast is part of a series being produced bi-monthly by Morgan Lovell, where listeners can hear about the latest trends, technology and people in the world of sustainable office design.
This first episode includes an interview with Paul King of the UK Green Building Council, who gives some amazing facts about the carbon emissions of buildings. A tour of a sustainable workplace and insight from the public at large about the environmental credentials of their workplace are also featured.
To download the latest episode, log on to www.morganlovell.com/podcasts.
March 4, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice, Business Tools, Marketing, Small business — admin @ 11:27 am
Daryl Willcox Publishing, has released a useful free guide to help small businesses and startups with DIY marketing and PR.
The guide is aimed at businesses who promote themselves in the press. It defines why PR is beneficial, provides a step by step ‘how to’ guide to writing a press release and details how small businesses should go about contacting members of the media with their news.
Additionally, the guide describes how companies can apply social media strategies and use other PR tools such as blogging to connect with customers. It also shows how to use audio and visual formats to present messages in different ways.
The free PR for Small Businesses Guide is available here.
February 26, 2010
Filed under: Business Advice — Alan @ 4:05 am
It seems that a lot of people, including those directly involved in the industry, don’t understand the nature of public relations, or PR as it is known. Ultimately, the goal of PR (as in this link and the logo to the left) is to get the attention of the public in a favourable light.
The same is true of advertising, but there are some crucial differences in the approach. For an SME (acronym for small and medium enterprises) the differences can make or break the company. The reason comes down to relative cost and return on investment.
While advertising and PR both fall into the ‘marketing’ category, the former is paid for by the agency that is trying to sell the product, while the latter involves getting free (and favourable) publicity for that product.
This applies to anything from politics to chewing gum. With advertising you can say just about anything you want to make your product sound attractive, or look attractive in the case of visuals. With PR, the idea is to get a neutral third party to endorse the product for you.
Even the most unsophisticated consumer knows that an ad is trying to sell something. The attraction may be low cost, convenience, durability, curlier hair, better petrol mileage, whatever it takes to convince the consumer that he or she needs that product.
Good PR, on the other hand, is the unbiased report on the product from a customer or from a known and trusted public figure or company. In essence, SMEs need specifically directed media coverage, and PR is generally the most effective means to this end.
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