Posted on June 14, 2010 by Nick
Is business the province of the Suits on Dragons’ Den, or is business actually an opportunity for many more people than you might think? I spent the first week of June in Barking, East London, finding out. I have been involved for three years now with a company called Yoodoo, whose website gives people bags [...]
Filed under: current affairs, marketing, retail | Tagged: Barking, business, business advice, business skills, economy, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, run a business, running a business, small business, start a business, start your own business, Yoodoo | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 25, 2010 by Nick
I wanted to scribble a few words down about the Budget, but this year that’s proving to be harder than usual. I should say, I’ve got some experience in this area – I have covered budget day for various press outlets and websites since 1995, so I’ve been down this road before. Since 1995, much [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, retail, sales | Tagged: alasdair darling, budget, budget 2010, business, business advice, business process, business rates, business skills, capital gains tax, CGT, deficit, election, entrepreneur, entrepreneur's relief, entrepreneurship, general election, Gordon Brown, lloydsTSB, public borrowing, public sector deficit, public spending, run a business, running a business, UK Finance for Growth | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 22, 2010 by Nick
Have you ever watched that extraordinary business TV show, “Mary, Queen of Shops”? In it, retail guru Mary Portas dispenses her wisdom to struggling shops around the country. I’m always impressed when TV pundits put their reputations on the line with real, sound advice; and Mary is a triumph. But I remember one episode of [...]
Filed under: retail, sales, service | Tagged: business, business advice, business process, business skills, customer service, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, mary portas, mary queen of shops, production line, restaurant, retail, run a business, running a business, service, small business, start a business, start your own business, time management | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 9, 2010 by Nick
Without “The Apprentice”, there’s far less in the way of business telly around these days. Which is why it’s nice to see a brief slice of entrepreneurship TV on Wednesday, on BBC2. It’s going to be a look at the inner workings of the John Lewis Partnership; a rather marvellous institution amongst retailers because of [...]
Filed under: marketing, retail, sales | Tagged: john lewis, business, entrepreneurship, start a business, run a business, entrepreneur, jargon, buzzwords, buzzword bingo, john lewis partnership, inside john lewis, bbc2, the office, ricky gervais, yuppie, imagineering | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 22, 2010 by Nick
Corporate reputation matters (just ask Toyota!). It takes very little effort to keep customers happy; yet many companies seem to have such disdain for their clients that they just can’t be bothered to solve little problems effectively. But the customer is fighting back. Thanks to social networking sites like Facebook, blogs (like this one) and [...]
Filed under: PR, current affairs, finance, marketing, people skills, retail, sales, service | Tagged: blog, brand values, branding, business, crisis management, crisis PR, crowdsourcing, customer service, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Facebook, KwikFit, PR, public relations, reputatin management, reputation, run a business, social media, start a business | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 8, 2010 by Nick
When did being green suddenly start being cool? Correct me if I’m wrong, but for most of my life, green sympathisers were beardy sandals-and-socks types who rode tandem bikes through hedges and sang ‘Kum Bay Yah’ a lot. And then something changed. Anya Hindmarch brought out her ‘I am not a plastic bag’ carrier bag [...]
Filed under: current affairs, marketing, retail, sales, technology | Tagged: al gore, altrusim, business, business advice, business skills, curb, curb agency, disco fungi, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, environment, green, green business, innovation, natural media, rationalism, run a business, running a business, small business, start a business, start your own business, zac goldsmith | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 25, 2010 by Nick
There’s a war going on out there. And it’s happening right in front of your eyes. Strangely, the main protagonists of this epic battle are, amongst others, an opera singer and a family of russian meerkats. I’m talking, of course, about the insane level of competition between price comparison websites. Ask yourself this: when did [...]
Filed under: marketing, retail, sales | Tagged: advert, advertising, branding, business, business advice, business skills, differentiation, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, marketing, price comparison, price comparison site, promotion, run a business, sales, small business, start a business, startup business | 1 Comment »
Posted on December 24, 2009 by Nick
Well, this is probably my last post of not just the year, but a whole decade. And that gives us quite a lot to look back on; here’s a list from off the top of my head. They’re largely negative, but that’s only because it’s bad things which make the news… the biggest debt pile [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, retail, sales | Tagged: business, debt, Gordon Brown, tax, internet, business skills, entrepreneurship, small business, globalisation, start a business, run a business, climate change, manufacturing, recession, unemployment, entrepreneur, business advice, food miles, productivity, predictions, 2010, business predictions, growth business, startup business, labour, china, brazil, india, internet shopping, sovereign wealth, taxation, conservative, david cameron, tobin tax, bankers bonuses, bonuses, consumerism | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 15, 2009 by Nick
What, I wonder, is the corporate party season going to be like this year? A friend of mine, who works for one of the big merchant banks, tells me that he’s not allowed to have a Christmas party. In fact, his company is so paranoid about bankers being seen as profligate that he’s been told [...]
Filed under: PR, people skills, retail, sales, service | Tagged: business, catering, christmas party, competition, competitiveness, customer service, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, hospitality, marco pierre white, PR, reputation, restaurant, run a business, service, start a business | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 7, 2009 by Nick
It’s been a heck of a week for me. I took my first sick day of the year with a godawful dose of the black death, cholera, flu ManFlu; just when we were gearing up for a major day of filming with clients on Friday. Never mind - all went well. Besides, it’s that time [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, retail | Tagged: business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, online safety, online sales, online security, run a business, start a business, VAT, VAT change | Leave a Comment »
