then please give me a call because I know some great accountants in the Midlands area who provide services like BC Stockford do.
If you are looking for advice on things like Taxation, VAT Returns, Payroll Services, Business Services and Inheritance Tax I have considerable experience in this area and many contacts in the Midlands.
Call me direct on 07881 500002
then please give me a call as I am now looking at the future strategy of both companies and would like to talk directly with all customers and prospects.
It is vital that we get our future strategy right and to do that I need to talk directly with you.
Please call Chris on 07881 500002
Who is Chris Windley, multi-millionaire entrepreneur and Mergers and Acquisitions specialist.
Chris wants to get in touch directly with all customers and explain his strategy for the company for the future.
Under Chris’s guidance Aardvark Engineering will set on a new course and before this strategy is outlined he wants to talk to all Aardvark customers.
Call Chris directly on 07881 500002 as he is keen to hear your views.
then St Leonards House in Wychnor ( near to Alrewas, Lichfield, Barton under Needwood and Burton on Trent ) has a resident Registered General Nurse and Registered Midwife who provides these services by appointment for residents and non-residents.
Included within the Facials are facepacks and massage and the Swedish Body Massage is offered.
Telephone 01283 791077 and ask for Pam.
When I started LanSwitch ( which became Voyager ) in the early 90’s I set aside a bedroom for an office and on my desk I had a telephone, a fax machine and a laptop ( initially not connected to the Internet , later connected with a dial-up connection ) with Office and a Contact Manager application and a printer. Luxury, I thought because it was the same as I had at Fibernet and much better than I had at Memorex.
My target market was basically: Companies that had busy Local Area Networks; that were in either The Midlands ( where I lived ) or London ( where I could easily commute to and knew people ). So, I basically targeted a combination of London based Financials and other general companies in London and the Midlands. I think I bought the Computer Users Yearbook as my basic database. ( Actually a very comprehensive and detailed source of information ).
I went through the process of identifying a target market and building a database of prospects and suspects many times over during my sales and business start-up career.
Typically now I will segment by horizontal ( size of company ), vertical ( type of company ) and geographical ( location ) and then various other factors eg structure of company, people within that company eg IT Managers etc etc.
Then a database can be purchased which is targeted and therefore typically lower cost than purchasing 1000’s of contacts many of which are not within your target market.
There are many database suppliers these days so it is possible to get some great offers on targeted data.
The equipment side has obviously come on in 17 years but not incredibly so - broadband and wi-fi; scanning software and fax software; CRM versus Contact Management; softphones ( eg Skype ) and video conferencing ( Skype, Webex etc ); standalone traditional and IP phones;printers.
Where there has been enormous progress has been in Internet search and Social Network Marketing.
If you know what vertical you want to concentrate on eg Lawyers in Staffordshire you will find much of the information that you need online via Google or some other search engine.
With great timing ( !! ) I have just been reading this article about Linkedin
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/
that I picked up on Twitter ( posted by Jon Besag who is in sales at Linkedin 
This is well worth a read for many reasons.
This article includes comments about in house and external recruiters using Linkedin to find the people that they/thier clients are looking for . There certainly are a lot of recruiters on Linkedin - in fact when I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is a Linkedin trainer he told me that there were about 68,000 people on Linkedin who called themselves recruiters ( I just did a Linkedin search for ” Recruiters ” and got about 48,000 ) and that there were probably about 100,000 because a lot of recruiters did not call themselves recruiters.
I used this fact recently to help a company that I am working with, who are selling multi job board posting software, to target recruiters. From a small, personalised ” mailshot ” to selected Linkedin recruiters we got a few very positive responses and made a proposal to one within a week and got an order from it.
Recruitment is an obvious thing to do on Linkedin but as said in the article ” The obvious one is jobs, but it’s not just jobs. It’s also clients and services.”
For me the goal is to make a ” personalised ” approach to potential clients and ” personalisation ” requires research. The difference between what you can do now and what you could do 17 years ago is that you can gather far more information on people and companies before you make any approach whatsoever.
If you combine a targeted database with internet and social media search then you have a fantastic tool to help you personalise your ” intelligent ” marketing and sales approach.
If you are a member of eg Ecademy, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed,Skype or MSN then each of these have thier own search facilities - some more sophisticated than others.
Just today I was asking someone how they prospected on the Internet and they said Linkedin, Skype and MSN.
Using a combination of Internet search and Social/Business networks you can find out an awful lot about people and companies.
Cisco phone systems provider Poundbury Systems ( http://www.poundbury.com/ Telephone - 01305 259849 ) is providing futuristic phone and video conferencing systems for Dorset based Small and Medium Businesses under the banner ” Futureline “.
Awareness of the installation of High Speed Fibre Optic networks in Dorset has been raised by eg http://www.dorsetforyou.com/broadband and http://www.teamdorset.org.uk/Business/Broadband-Survey?pgid=153 and Poundbury Systems is building on this awareness by offering local businesses low entry cost phone and video conferencing systems from Cisco Systems
( N.B. BT and Cisco are sponsors of the 2012 Olympics ).
Poundbury Systems are offering a package that will provide Small and Medium Businesses with a phone and web conferencing facility starting at
only £99 per month.
Cisco and Poundbury are thinking ahead to the time when Dorsets roads will be full of people heading to and from Weymouth and Portland and the Sailing Olympics and also thinking back to the recent winter months when snow prevented travel around Dorset.
For many reasons we need to ensure that we can conduct business irrespective of whether we are physically at a place or not. Of course there is always a need to meet people in person but many of the business discussions that we have can be conducted via email, phone, video conferencing and the Internet.
If we prepare for extreme road or weather conditions then this is a basis for a high speed, resilient, reliable communications system.
It is also the basis for a ” Digital Dorset ” which will encourage inward investment and migration.
Poundbury Systems phone and video conferencing systems is flexible and scalable - phones can be added incrementally - one or two at a time and at very low cost.
Call Clare on 01305 259849
to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Written by Guy Rigby, Head of Entrepreneurship at Smith & Williamson
http://www.smith.williamson.co.uk/entrepreneurs
Family and friends are a great source of funding for start ups and early stage businesses, but raising money from external investors or business angels is challenging.
Here are ten of the key issues that investors will be considering when they meet you or read your business plan.
1. First impressions
First impressions are critical. Most investors will decide not to proceed within the first 30 seconds of any discussion, or within a minute or two of picking up your business plan. Think about your approach, test in on your friends and practise it to perfection. Don’t fall at the first fence.
2. Demonstrable need
Where is the pain and what exactly is the need for your particular product or service? Most businesses offer ‘me too’ opportunities which are not obviously exciting to an investor. Make sure it’s clear how and why yours is different. Is it better, faster, cheaper or is there some other reason why you will succeed when many others fail?
3. Existing Revenues
Raising money for a business with pre-existing revenues is far easier as demand for your product or service has already been partially proven. The fact that you have already established the beginnings of a customer base will carry huge weight in any discussions.
4. Strategy
You may have a great idea, and you may have existing revenues, but what is the future for your business? Do you have a vision? If so, is it realistic or just “pie in the sky”? We have all seen those hockey stick shaped graphs showing an embarrassment of riches only a year or two down the track. Don’t be tempted to over-promise and under-deliver. It’s normally transparent from the start.
5. Business plan
The credibility of your proposal will be reflected in the quality of your business plan. A poorly presented, badly researched plan will kill your proposal before it has a chance. An idea may be good enough to gain the backing of family and friends, but it won’t cut the mustard with any serious investors.
6. Business model
Your business model will determine how and where you make your profits and how you will build long term value in your business. A model that requires huge revenues to deliver small profits is inherently unattractive, whereas a business in a niche market with high barriers to entry will be of interest to potential investors.
7. You
Are you credible in the eyes of the investor? What is your track record and what experience do you have of your business? Most successful entrepreneurs “stick to the knitting”, creating businesses based on their passion (ie something they know and understand), personal knowledge or experience. If this is limited, get the support of a mentor or partner. This will demonstrate maturity in the eyes of your investor.
8. Financials
Businesses go bust because they run out of cash, so be sure to demonstrate a good understanding of your financials. Margins and overheads will be part of the discussion, as well as working capital and cash flow. Remember that small businesses are normally cash constrained and prone to overtrading, so the investor will need to understand how you will manage this.
9. Pricing
Don’t be tempted to overvalue your business. We are a long way from the heady dotcom days when investors were persuaded to part with large amounts of cash based on little more than an idea. Nothing will put an investor off more quickly than an excessive or unsupportable valuation. The more you need, the more you will have to give away, so be realistic, cut your cloth and take in as little external funding as possible.
10. Exit
It’s very easy for an investor to put money into your business, but how will he get it back? A vague idea that you would like to buy his shares back at some future date is unlikely to be attractive. Taking in external funds means that you need to “begin at the end” in terms of thinking about exit, having a clear strategy and plan. This may change as the business grows, but you need that stake in the ground.
These are just some of the issues an investor will be thinking about, often subconsciously, in the short time that he focuses on your business. If you’ve thought it all out beforehand and you can tick all the boxes, you will have a strong chance of success.
Good luck!
CALL 07581 038763 or email mail@rentabuggy.co.uk
Rentabuggy allows families to ease cashflow and rent top selling pushchairs and buggies on a monthly basis. We stock Bugaboo, Phil & Teds, Maclaren and more.
We also do holiday rentals…
Have you noticed that when you are going on holiday you struggle to get all the kids clothing in suitcases along with all the toys that they want to bring and yet there is never enough space for the pushchair! You seem to spend hours trying to make it fit but instead if your going on holiday then why not hire your buggy? For a small charge, we can deliver your choice of items to where you are staying, ready for your arrival! You don’t even have to worry about it being sent back as we pick it up too!
For smaller items, why not try one of our new Holiday Welcome Packs. Designed to incorporate nappies, wipes, snacks, toy and other essentials they are a great solution for more room in the suitcase!
Are you looking for something that isn’t listed? Please ask us as we are quite happy to tailor make any orders as requested.
Please note due to an influx of orders on our monthly rental pushchairs, orders are taking approximately 3 weeks to despatch.
CALL 07581 038763 or email mail@rentabuggy.co.uk
that seems to beat all the other Health and Fitness Club Membership offers that I came across in Burton.
They are doing Memberships from £29.95 per month AND there is no Joining FEE !!
Now I don’t know if you have been down to E3 but this is a rather special health and fitness club anyway and getting a membership for this price is really just amazing !!
It’s run by Jason Stennett who is a really experienced personal trainer and health and fitness club manager and just a really nice guy. I guess it helps ( with the girls anyway ) that he is pretty good looking although of course I wouldn’t know about that. 
Anyway him and Mike ( who is completely mad ) run a really fun operation and everyone is not only talking ( revelation !!!! ) but also having a laugh.
Don’t know about you but if I can get fit, lose weight and have a laugh at the same time it’s a bonus !!
Anyway, I don’t think they will be doing these special prices on memberships for very long so probably best to swing by E3 and have a chat to Jason or Mike.
Might even see you there sometime ..
so I decided to call Jason at E3 Fitness because I knew that he did tailored fitness and weight loss programmes and that he would do something bespoke for me.
You get a free consultation and you can get in there from 6am weekdays and 7am weekends with no over crowding or waiting for equipment and the place has a relaxed feel and a gentle aroma of old chesterfield sofas and chairs with some pretty hot music so it’s not your average sweatshop.
Membership fees run from £29.95 per month with No Joining FEE so that sounds like a bargain to me.
I’ve only just started again so I don’t have any great results to talk about yet but at least they talk to you down at E3 unlike a lot of places that I could mention where you will be lucky if anybody talks to you at all !!
E3 is really a new generation of fitness and wellness club that is sweeping the country and giving the old fuddy duddy work out places a good kicking.
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