Posted on February 16, 2009 by Nick
One of the things you get used to when you start your own business is living on fresh air. It’s an acquired taste, but if there’s one thing I hear all the time when I speak to new entrepreneurs, it’s their shock at how fast money can disappear.
Unless you’re very rich, or very clever, the [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance | Tagged: finance, business, money, startup, entrepreneurship, small business, start a business, starting a business, running a business, small companies, start your own business, entrepreneur, business finance, business advice, company, revenue, personal finance, cashflow | 1 Comment »
Posted on November 27, 2008 by Nick
Do you run a shop? Read on, then…
As I write, it appears that Woolworth’s, staple of the high street for 99 years, is to be put into administration.
For fans of slightly soggy pick’n’mix- or sweets with a strange rubbery patina from the fingers of 50 other small children, this is bad news.
I genuinely sympathise with [...]
Filed under: current affairs, retail, sales, service | Tagged: bank, business, finance, Hilco, pick'n'mix, recession, retail, risk, running a business, sales, shopfitting, start a business, start your own business, store, Woolies, Woolworths | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 10, 2008 by Nick
That title won’t make any sense to you if you don’t like The Beach Boys, but today’s post is all about maps.
I don’t remember the last time I actually unfurled a real map, so I thought it might be handy to re-investigate the cool mapping tools which are helping businesspeople get around every day. If [...]
Filed under: mobile, sales, technology | Tagged: driving directions, GPS, HTC TyTN, location-based services, MapMe, mapping, maps, microsoft live search maps, multimap, Panoramio, PushPin, run a business, Samsung Omnia, satellite navigation, satellite picture, satnav, start your own business, streetmap, TomTom | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 11, 2008 by Nick
In a comment on my post “On the hunt for new ideas”, Ash asks what I think about consumer transparency. Me have an opinion? I’m more than glad to oblige.
For anyone who needs some help slicing through the jargon, consumer transparency is a pretty universal term for “being honest” in all sorts of [...]
Filed under: marketing, service | Tagged: agility, BA, blog, BT, business, carphone warehouse, charles dunstone, consumer group, consumer transparency, corporate social responsibility, crisis PR, customer service, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, forum, people power, reputation, reputation management, service, start your own business, talktalk | Leave a Comment »
Posted on August 8, 2008 by Nick
I wanted to share with you this piece of excellent PR work (which I found on the excellent Robert Scoble’s technology blog).
Declaration of interest: This blog is sponsored by Microsoft
Let me give you the story first, and then I’ll tell you why I think it’s a piece of genius.
Microsoft has produced a super-smart website to [...]
Filed under: current affairs, marketing, technology | Tagged: business, business skills, marketing, media, Microsoft, mojave experiment, negative publicity, PR, product launch, robert scoble, scobleizer, start your own business, vista, Windows, windows vista | 1 Comment »
Posted on August 5, 2008 by Nick
I didn’t plan to get into politics on this blog, but it is my job to stick up occasionally for the interests of business. Especially when business unfairly gets a mauling.
Petrol prices have, not surprisingly been in the news. Over this weekend, I paid over £1.20 per litre- it’s a real kick in the wallet.
As [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance | Tagged: business, chancellor, exchequer, petrol companies, petrol prices, petrol taxes, petroleum compaines, politics, pricing, start your own business, tax, VAT, windfall tax | 3 Comments »
Posted on July 23, 2008 by Nick
Today, a salutary lesson in business planning and customer service.
This is a story which my good friend Darren likes to tell; about his father-in-law, John.
I’ve met John several times. He’s now in his 70’s, still thoroughly full of life, and a ‘mad inventor’ type of chap. John has had more hare-brained schemes, inventions and business [...]
Filed under: people skills, retail, sales, service | Tagged: business, choice, customer service, retail, sales, service, start your own business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 14, 2008 by Nick
I’m the sort of entrepreneur who just gets on with doing what (I hope) I’m good at. I’ve worked in media all my life.
But there’s a type of entrepreneur, a sort of pure businessperson, who can turn their hand to almost anything. They take concepts, market them properly, and turn ideas into money.
These people are [...]
Filed under: marketing, sales | Tagged: aston martin, business, concept, demand-driven pricing, dunhill, eco-business, entrepreneurship, green business, ideas, luxury, marketing, planning, pricing, springwise, start your own business, strategy, the fonz, vertu | 2 Comments »
