Britain is reacting to the recession by starting up more small business and working from home, new sales figures have revealed.

Demand for home office equipment has jumped by over 200 per cent in the past year alone, says supermarket Sainsbury’s.

The move may be welcome news for Chancellor [...]]]>

More people working from home

Britain is reacting to the recession by starting up more small business and working from home, new sales figures have revealed.

Demand for home office equipment has jumped by over 200 per cent in the past year alone, says supermarket Sainsbury’s.

The move may be welcome news for Chancellor George Osborne who believes that the answer to the UK’s debt problem may lie in encouraging enterprise and commerce at a grass roots level.

“There’s no doubt that working from home is going to the future for thousands of workers all over Britain.”

The trend towards home working may also be good news for the environment, reducing the need for commuting and fewer car journeys.

Workers who have been made redundant are deciding to go it alone, using their knowledge and skills to form their own fledging companies rather than seeking employment elsewhere.

In addition, larger companies, seeking ways to reduce costs, are now actively encouraging more employees to work at home rather than occupying expensive office space.

A further push is coming from employees who see working from home as a much better way to create a life-work balance rather than facing the daily commute.

With the arrival of high-speed/low-cost broadband, ever increasing capabilitues of home computing and a growing trust and belief in web-based enterprises. It is now easier than ever to setup your own business on-line and it looks like this recession my change the face of our economy and British enterprise for good.

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Those moments can [...]]]> Have you ever had that moment where you have be awoken to another persons perspective that previously you had never seen? In that moment you had realised you had be wrong all along, not fundamentally wrong, you just didn’t have the whole picture, perhaps you had been too close to see everything.

Those moments can come in all aspects of life and often then can feel a little painful. Sometimes we can be resistant to changing our opinion and the process can be slow. When we run with the wrong idea or half a picture the cost in business can be high. In fact not being able to step back and look at what’s really happening can be the fundamental reason why small firms stall and eventually fail.

Taking time to look at your business is vital, getting a second opinion or sounding your ideas against a trusted colleague can be the difference between being another small business stat and being a successful leader.

Who should you turn to, well obviously we would suggest an advisory firm such as LimeMinds but we also understand not every challenge you face will warrant the investment of a third party solution. It is vital however that you have a reliable network of friends, family, colleagues and other business owners. Their input can often cost nothing more the investment of time into the relationship but the return could be a vital insight or invaluable idea.

So the moral of this article? 1. Take time out of the day to day grind to really look at your business. 2. Build a trusted network of friends and advisors and 3. Keep Limeminds contact details close to hand.

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Does this mean there’s a surge of [...]]]> The last few years have seen TV programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den encouraging people to flaunt their business flair and have become smash hits in the US and UK. And recent research among graduates showed that more than half were interested in starting their business.

Does this mean there’s a surge of interest in becoming a tycoon? And are more and more people actually managing to ‘be their own boss’?

Well the answer is probably yes and no.

Yes – we all have entrepreneurial abilities that we don’t use (or don’t know we use) and we can sharpen some of these through training.

And No – the dedication, focus and ruthlessness needed to be a real tycoon probably exists only in a few.

Let’s investigate the yes answer a little more. A previous article, Releasing the Entrepreneur suggested that if we could all act a little more like entrepreneurs it would help us in solving problems, overcoming barriers and encouraging innovation.

This concept of an ‘internal entrepreneur’ suggests that if we could be more business-minded inside a company we could benefit both as individuals and as part of a company.

Imagine that when you are faced with delivering a task or project, but instead of using the company’s budget it was your own money

Here’s a simple test: imagine that when you are faced with delivering a task or project, but instead of using the company’s budget it was your own money you were spending. Would you feel differently about handling the money and resources at your disposal? You would probably be more concerned about things like waste and cost and what’s needed to get the job done.

Entrepreneurs tend to use what is known as ‘effectual thinking’. This type of person would, for instance, look in the fridge and rather than endlessly planning menus and shopping for the perfect ingredients, they would use what is there to come up with a meal.

This could be described as ‘thinking on your feet’ and using the things you have at hand to come up with the results.

But thinking like an entrepreneur is more than just worrying about resources. It can assist our every day work and help with innovation. There are a number of simple concepts that can be applied with very little preparation other than being prepared to be different.

Years ago Apple computers ran an advertising campaign that said, ‘Think Different’. Steve Jobs, the CEO, said that this statement was more for themselves than customers – they needed to be willing as a company to question the accepted ways of doing things in the computer industry. The results of this philosophy are products like the iMac, iPod and iPhone.

Supporting innovation
A major UK based organisation with no end of good ideas was finding it difficult to select the right ones to be developed into products. Part of their solution has been to build a talent pool of people with the crucial entrepreneurial skills, behaviours and connections to help drive the massive innovation cycle and draw out the real opportunities from the mass of good ideas.

In effect they are un-locking the talent and creativity that already exists

In effect they are un-locking the talent and creativity that already exists, so more ideas will get ‘test-driving’ by people who might not normally be involved with product development. And key to this approach is confidence and accepting that.

1. You don’t always get it right first time with new ideas; false starts are normal
2. There never is a ‘right’ time because you will never have all the facts
3. Your customer has got to believe in the idea

We are all entrepreneurs
Everyone, everyday, uses entrepreneurial skills whether it be convincing a family member to go on holiday to a certain place, or telling the story of your day at work to show what a great guy you are to your friends. We are regularly using influencing and networking skills.

Something we can practice is to think about what we have achieved that was difficult but successful and we feel good about. We can ‘visualize success’ by reminding ourselves about what we did exactly:

• Why was it successful?
• How did we go about it?
• How did we feel at the time – the highs the lows?
• What were the key points – the decisions, the turning points?
• Who and what did we need to help us?
• What did we learn that we could use again?

This idea of visualising success helps us develop our own personal best practice, reminds us of tools we can use and highlights ones we may need to develop. And crucially it helps bolster our confidence and shows that though we may have set backs we can still achieve our goal in the end.

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Its not an Internet idea, it’s not even a new idea but it’s possibly one of the most important tools a small business owner or entrepreneur can utilise in a networking situation. The [...]]]> “So, what do you do?” I think we’ve all been asked this question, but how should you answer this question in order

Its not an Internet idea, it’s not even a new idea but it’s possibly one of the most important tools a small business owner or entrepreneur can utilise in a networking situation. The 30 second pitch or ‘elevator pitch’ is a concise statement about you and your business that conveys to your audience what you are all about without losing their interest. However the concept of a 30 second pitch in our eyes is a little unhelpful, in reality 30 seconds is often much longer than either 1. the time you’ll get or 2. the time you’ll need. Plus a 30 second rehearsed speech often rings a bit sterile and forced.

This is where the 10 second pitch comes into play, we suggest you have a brief benefit statement ready to use when anyone asks the question. You can develop a unique benefit statement by answering the following questions;

1> What do I or my business do? – Try to answer this without using a job title or industry name.

2> What makes us unique? – What is your USP?

The answer could be as simple as “We help small businesses develop skills to create an online  presence, through a range of online resources and e-courses.”. Once stated anyone who has a genuine interest will question more, at which point you can elaborate more and even pitch if the situation feels appropriate.  By using the 10 second pitch you inform the person of what you do without allowing them to form any pre-disposed ideas. We didn’t say small business consultancy, or business coach and attach all the stereotypes that come with the titles. Nor did we reel off a long winded pitch before we qualified any interest.

The 10 second pitch is a quick and easy method that you can employ in an array of networking situations, it also attaches an element of filtering to your networking allowing you to find the people in a room with some real interest in your business.

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