Posted on June 22, 2010 by Nick
Dear public sector employees, I am writing this on the eve of what promises to be the harshest budget in thirty years, possibly in living memory. It certainly needs to be. And I notice that some of the more militant unions; Unite, for example, are already flexing their muscles ready for a summer of discontent. [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance | Tagged: absenteeism, austerity, budget, business skills, CIPD, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, local authority, pay rates, pay scales, pensions, private sector, public sector, public sector pay, run a business, sick days, sick pay, start a business, straight statistics, union, Unite, working hours | Leave a Comment »
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 May 31, 2010 by Nick
New entrepreneurs, on the cusp of starting their own businesses, generally fall into two categories: People with no idea what to do, but the urge to try something new People with a brilliant/hare-brained idea, but no idea how to execute it In the second category are a fabulous breed of people: the hobbyists. Turning a [...]
Filed under: finance, marketing, sales | Tagged: banks, business, business advice, business skills, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, fun business, hobby business, low-risk business, run a business, running a business, small business, start a business, start your own business, turn your hobby into a business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 17, 2010 by Nick
The juggernaut that is the Apprentice rolls inexorably on; this time with the format franchised out to youngsters. Yep, it’s ‘Junior Apprentice;’ or, so far as I or any of my friends can tell, ‘Where The Arrogant Ones In Senior Apprentice Obviously Come From.’ You can probably tell, I’m not a fan. My issues with [...]
Filed under: current affairs, people skills, sales | Tagged: Alan Sugar, business, business skills, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Junior Apprentice, make your mark, make your mark with a tenner, Oli Barrett, run a business, start a business, The Apprentice | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 12, 2010 by Nick
Entrepreneurship is cool. It’s going to stay cool, because in a recession, business is the most exciting way to turn things around. But how can we bring business to the masses? Rachel Bridge, Enterprise Editor for the Sunday Times is having a go… by taking a one-woman show about entrepreneurship to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival [...]
Filed under: business heroes, current affairs, sales, tips | Tagged: business, entrepreneurship, start a business, run a business, entrepreneur, rachel bridge, edinburgh festival, edinburgh fringe, how to make a million before lunch | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 4, 2010 by Nick
It’s going to be an exciting week. For me, election time is thrilling: a pivotal opportunity for us all to have some sort of influence over our immediate futures. I feel that anyone who squanders their right to vote by staying at home has no right to moan for the next five years. This election, [...]
Filed under: current affairs, sales | Tagged: ash cloud, Athens, Bob Crow, BP, business, business advice, business ethics, business skills, corporate social responsibility, CSR, economy, election, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, ethics, globalisation, goldman sachs, oil slick, recession, RMT, run a business, running a business, Ryanair, small business, start a business, start your own business | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 26, 2010 by Nick
Off to Leicester last week for my annual pilgrimage to DeMontfort University, where the business studies courses include a ritual called Fox’s Lair – a thinly disguised version of TV favourite dragon’s Den. Teams of students put together a business idea, draw up a plan and present it to the Dragons – no, I mean [...]
Filed under: finance, marketing, people skills, presentation, sales | Tagged: business, business advice, business skills, demontfort university, DMU, Dragon's Den, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, finance, Fox's Lair, invention, leicester, market research, marketing, run a business, running a business, small business, start a business, start your own business, students, teamwork | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 19, 2010 by Nick
Tomorrow, there will be an empty chair in our office. A stray tumbleweed will gently play across a desk. Sands will slowly envelop the three-tier trays. For Eamonn, my Producer, is stranded in Chicago. Like several hundred thousand other people, the Icelandic volcaninc eruption and subsequent flight embargo means he’s going nowhere; most likely until [...]
Filed under: current affairs, mobile, technology | Tagged: ash cloud, business, contingency planning, disaster planning, disaster recovery, email, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, iceland, instant messenger, run a business, skype, start a business, transport, unified communications, video conference | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 12, 2010 by Nick
Look at this merry lot. Is it the last day of the Oktoberfest? A leaving party, perhaps? No – it’s the London Area Communicators Group monthly meetup (run by the inestimable Matt O’Neill). Every industry has networking groups, and I truly believe that these gatherings are the lifeblood of business. When I first started out, [...]
Filed under: marketing, people skills, sales | Tagged: sales, networking, business, business skills, entrepreneurship, small business, matt o'neill, start a business, run a business, running a business, start your own business, entrepreneur, business advice, business networking, LACG, people buy from people, networking skills | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 8, 2010 by Nick
This week, I tried my hand at organising an offsite day. It’s very easy when you’re stuck in the rough and tumble of day-to-day business to get lost; to lose sight of the wood from the trees. Getting everyone out of the office, away from phones and emails, for a healthy open discussion is a [...]
Filed under: people skills | Tagged: business, corporate hospitality, cost cutting, DDR, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, hospitality, management, run a business, start a business, wallace space | 1 Comment »
