Category Archives: Business

Starting a new business

Posted by jamiebarton on February 24, 2012 No comment

A couple of years ago I was told that the best time to start a new business was during a recession, if you look back throughout history many big businesses were started during a recession. During the recession in 1923-24 Walt Disney Corporation started, during the Great Depression in the thirties, Hewlett-Packard Corporation started in 1938 and during the recession in 1975Microsoft Corporation began. Most importantly the latter began as a very small start-up in someone’s garage, the way many businesses tend to do in a recession to keep costs down.

One difference with this recession compared to theirs above is that now with the power of the internet your business scope is much wider. There is so much which is covered by the internet and it is a great platform if you are launching a new company. It’s also really easy to get started especially with website hosting, even if you are a novice because there are so many different options out there that give you the help you need.

Many people look to starting their own businesses when they have lost their jobs, which is common place during a recession. If you have being made redundant, then your redundancy payment may be a good place to start your new business. Also look at the field your business will be joining, you may find you can come in a lot cheaper than many established businesses because you will have less costs to cover.

Some of the most popular start up fields includes:

Catering
Childcare
Beauty services
Cleaning services
Design services
Private teaching
Private financial service

Setting up a website to advertise your services should be something you take into consideration first, it enables you to get your business out there, especially if you need to rely on word of mouth. Social Media is also a useful tool, you should aim to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, plus keep an eye out on emerging social media sites such as Pintrest and Tumblr depending on what sort of service you provide. It all helps as free advertising which again can save you money.

Having your own blog as well as your own website can also be useful for some services, keeping your clients up to date with what you offer. WordPress hosting is easy to sort out and you can normally get t with your website hosting, however you do have to make sure you update your blog regularly for it to actually be of any use.

By starting your business during the recession and managing it well, you may find yourself ahead of the game when we start to come out of it. In turn this should make you more profitable in the future and may eventually help your business grow. Being careful and savvy also helps and having an idea in the first place that is viable. Some ideas no matter how good you think they are may not work out so you need to be careful about what you set up and make sure you have contingency plans in place just in case your business doesn’t make it.

Increasing your businesses online presence

Posted by jamiebarton on April 5, 2011 No comment

More and more people are setting up their own online based businesses, however many websites fail to generate leads or sales which can be detrimental to your business whether your new to the market or have been there for a while. Normally this is because you are invisible to consumers, however if you increase your online presence your business will improve. 

Nowadays just having a website to sell your product(s) or services is not enough, you have to be proactive about actually getting the customers to you rather than waiting for them to come to you. This is where Search Engine Optimisation or SEO comes in, companies such as Infoserve offer SEO and also SEM which is Search Engine Marketing, this helps you tap the massive amount of targeted traffic that search engines provide by positioning your company’s offerings in the path of consumers.

Without the help SEO and SEM from the likes of Infoserve you could find your business languishing at the bottom of the pile, their services help you utilise search engines and directories as a medium for promoting your products, services, and information. You can also use Paid placement which is where you pay for a highly visible listing for a specific word or key word phrase in a search engine, typically presented as “sponsored links” or “sponsor matches.”

Because we are now finding so much online and many people are living their lives online also it’s important that you have a grasp on how it works if you wish to maximise your business potential.