Running a Business

This section takes you through every important aspect of how to run a successful business. It offers expert guides and advice articles on the key elements of business management such as employing staff, finding customers, marketing and sales, pricing, people management, office and home working, business technology and everything else an entrepreneur must tackle in order to succeed.

Prepare for bird flu

Whether you believe it could decimate the population or it's a lot of fuss about nothing, most big businesses have plans in place to deal with avian flu and pandemics like it. Can you afford not to protect your business?

Employing & managing staff

Measuring company culture

Some claim their company culture is 'young, vibrant and fun'. Others call it 'casual, yet professional and ethical', and there are even those whose culture is 'characterised by open doors and open minds';. But what actually is company culture and can it be measured? How can you ensure your projected company image corresponds with the actual workplace?

Business Technology

Outsourcing website and email systems: the benefits

A study into web and email systems in SME businesses has revealed that organisations the length and breadth of the UK are wasting thousands of pounds every year by relying on badly managed and unreliable in-house server systems to deliver their website and email communications.

Finding and selling to customers

Customer relationship management explained

Effective management of the way you sell and market to existing and potential customers is vital if your business is to succeed. This is where customer relationship management, or CRM, comes in.

Finding and selling to customers

Need to know: CRM

Loyal customers can sustain your business by consistently returning and buying your product or service. But you cannot create loyalty without putting in the groundwork. This is why it's crucial to establish a customer relationship management (CRM) system to help you identify who your most loyal clients are, why they keep coming back and how to enhance their overall customer experience.

Legal advice

A guide to IP

There are four main types of intellectual property (IP) – patents, trademarks, designs and copyright.

Employing & managing staff

Dealing with difficult employees

While a team of hardworking, capable staff can help a business thrive, it only takes one bad apple to wreak havoc within an organisation. We ask the experts how small businesses can tackle this common problem.

Business Technology

How to trade online

Many small businesses in the UK currently don't take enough advantage of trading online. Plenty of businesses have websites, but as few as ten per cent of these allow customers to buy goods or services online. It's a little like having a corner shop without putting in a cash register.

Employing & managing staff

Dealing with difficult employees

Business Technology

How to trade online

Legal advice

Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act (1998) covers personal data (including audio and video) which identifies living, individual persons. It covers information held about customers and employees on both paper-based records and on a computer.

Employing & managing staff

Starting to employ people

When starting your business, you may well only be working with a small number of other people. If your business is a success and you want to expand, you may well look to take on employees. Even if you’ve been running a business for a while, now might be the time you’re looking at taking someone on.

Marketing

The value of networking events

This is all about learning from other people who are experiencing, or have experienced, similar things to yourself. You get more from networking events if you're an active participant so get involved in debates, discussions, social events and exhibitions. Networking is valuable whether you're starting up or have been running a business for years.

Office & home working