lifestyle

1

Craig Sams

Effective Invoicing6 tips for maintaining a continuous flow of money

How to Choose aGood Accountant7 key questions that you MUST ask yourself

Summer Clothingin the OfficeKnow the rules

Buy WithConfidence SchemeHavering’s answer for stamping out local Del boys

Founder of Green & Blacks says “..get in early with a good idea..”

Why isn’t Facebook workingfor your business?

Be boring Only ever talk about yourself

Ignore negative comments

Get too personal

Yep, it’s raining again. We can all see that

because at some point during the day we have either been outside or

looked out of the window. And even if we haven’t,

we’re really not that bothered, and it’s depressing.

I’m sure that your business is fantastic, and your latest special offer is blinding, and you’ve had such an amazing week,

and you’re super excited about your next meeting, and you can’t believe you

have such an amazing company and your blah

blah blah blah blah…have you zoned out yet?

Yep, so have your fans.

Think that you’re sweeping it under the

rug? Ignore it and it’ll go away? Maybe, but do you want to risk it? Negative comments on Facebook are like the really good

metaphor that I should be using here but can’t think of one. They spread when left to their own devices, and give the impression that you probably have

something to hide.

Had a long day? It’s good to put your feet up with a nice cuppa right? No

one is going to deny that after a long day, it’s your absolute right to put your feet up with a steaming

hot cup of tea, hey, throw some chocolate digestives in there and you’ve got a civilised one person party going down. But leave it off the Facebook page. You might offend the

coffee drinkers.

Using facebook for business has pretty much become the norm, and businesses far across the world are waking up to the fact that your business absolutely must be using social media in some form or another, even if the only reason is to not get left behind.

Don’t do this:

Do this:We’ll review your social media needs for a discounted price of £55, normally £195,

for Talk Business readers.

This offer is only available until 30th August and will be limited to 10 reviews.

Please email hello@positivemedia.co.uk with ‘Social Media Review’ as the subject headline.

01708 475767www.positivemedia.co.uk@positivemediaPR

Published by RM Magazine Ltd. Please note that while the publishers take care to be accurate, no liability will be accepted under any circumstance should any of the contents of this magazine be incorrect.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of whole or in part without permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Editor

RM Magazine Ltd, 3-11 Grenfell Avenue, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 4DN

From the

Tony WittridgeEditor in Chief

Amber SudburyEditor

I’m going to do it. I’m going to talk about it and only because as I write this, I am quite literally melting. I’m sure that by the time I reach the end of this letter I’ll be a steaming puddle of goop on the floor. It won’t be pretty either; have you ever watch Bones? Steaming puddles of people goop is ugly. And it smells.

This month has been hot, remarkably hot as we experience our first heat wave in seven years, and the question that I’m interested in knowing the answer to is: how are businesses coping with the level three warning issued by the Met Office?

Extreme weather conditions are experienced frequently by extreme sport enthusiasts, but those of us spending the majority of our time in an un air-conditioned office with nothing but a fan to blow warm water in our faces, start to seriously malfunction when the temperature starts to creep to the high twenty’s. Productivity slows, eyes become tired, and it becomes difficult to focus on anything that doesn’t look or smell like ice cream; so just how many hours of work are businesses losing?

Receiving only two weeks of summer is not enough to formulate an alternative working arrangement for staff, but if climate change continues to increase global temperatures, businesses may need to look into the working times of staff, simply to stay effective during extreme weather conditions.

Siesta anyone?

Amber

Editor in ChiefTony Wittridgetony@rmbusiness.co.uk

EditorAmber Sudburyamber@rmbusiness.co.uk

Art EditorJade Warrington jade@rmbusiness.co.uk

Staff WriterIvana Sideyivana@rmbusiness.co.uk

Brand Sales ManagerRob Wittridgerob@rmbusiness.co.uk

Sales ExecutiveDavid Marshalldavid@rmmagazine.co.uk

Distribution ManagerZak Hasanzak@rmmagazine.co.uk

NetworkingBarry Hickswhatson@rmbusiness.co.uk

AdministrationBrooke Warringtonbrooke@rmbusiness.co.uk

Other Contributors:Katie Flynn, Jessica Groom,Warren Knight, Yvonne Bendall, Cllr Michael White, Cllr Ron Ower, Jill Poet, Kevin Hayler, John Parrett, John Booth, Simon Fordham, Daniel Chase and Jacqueline Hall.

Want To Talk To Us?01708 475789 www.rmbusiness.co.uk Follow us on Twitter @RMbusiness and facebook.com/rmbusiness

The RM Business Team

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Out now

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Make sure you are getting the right exposure for your business.With RM Magazine we can ensure that your brand is being recognised over printed and digital platforms.

Email Rob for more information: rob@rmmagazine.co.uk or call 01708 475789www.twitter.com/RMzine | www.facebook.com/RMzine

Out now

Business Focus

Work Force - Development

Work Force

Sales & Marketing

Money Matters

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Business for the soul

In the borough

What’s on

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6 rmbusiness.co.uk

Jon Gold @jongold 2 JulyThe ex-CEO of Groupon actually, literally, actually, in-real-life just released an album of motivational music. Amaze

Caitlin Moran @caitlinmoran 5 JulyThe NHS is 65 years old today. Thanks for not letting me die in labour, and all the cystitis medicine #thankyounhs

Sky Sports News @Sky_Sports_N 7 JulyRT for ANDY MURRAY who has given his £1.6M in prize money from winning Wimbledon 2013 to cancer research #RESPECT

The Economist @TheEconomist 8 JulyRecent troubles in Portugal are a brutal reminder that the euro crisis has not gone away

This is Money @thisismoney 16 JulyShoppers hanging onto £220m in forgotten points as Boots and Tesco remain high street’s most popular loyalty card...

TweeTs of The monTh

lifestyle

7

this month’s news

This year celebrates 65 years of the National Health Service, from the first vaccination programmes in the 1950’s to the more recent life-saving surgeries, the NHS is vital to all of us. First established on 5th July 1948, it promised cradle to grave care for everyone.

Until then, the British public had to rely on their insurance policies to pay for their health care because most people couldn’t afford to pay medical bills. The NHS was offering a free service to everyone, regardless of how much money they had. The Labour Government promised lots of welfare measurements, NHS included, when it was elected in 1945. The service was, and still is based on the need, not the price and ability to pay. Over the past 65 years the NHS has helped to save millions of lives without charging a penny.

To celebrate this milestone, the NHS has decided to continue to give, despite it being their birthday. They are now offering potentially life saving scans to men aged 65 and over. Dr Anne Mackie, Director of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) said, “I am delighted to announce today the completion of the national roll-out of the NHS AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) Screening Programme in England.

It is particularly fitting, on the 65th anniversary of the launch of the National Health Service, to be able to say that all 65-year-old men can now benefit from the latest evidence-based NHS screening service.” The service may seem sexist, although there is reasoning; men are six times more likely to develop the condition and around 5,000 people, most of which are men aged 65 and over, die every year of a ruptured AAA.

Although the public constantly show support and gratitude towards the NHS, times have recently become tougher. There is speculation as to whether the NHS can continue to deliver a high quality service and productive care at the time of financial austerity and rising demand for services. A debate was held by the Nuffield Trust and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) discussing whether the NHS was still fit for purpose.

With so many still positive about the NHS and the great achievement of reaching 65, for most of us, it would be strange to have no free health service available 24 hours per day. Many have reminded those in doubt with Aneurin Bevan’s words in 1948, when the Labour Government created the NHS, “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.”

The nhs Turns 65

8 rmbusiness.co.uk

you may beinterested in...

Conducted by New York psychologist, Paul Babiak, he suggests that psychopath’s disguise their condition by hiding behind their high status, playing up their charm and manipulating others.

On the documentary BBC Horizon, Babiak said: “Psychopaths really aren’t the kind of person you think they are.

“Their natural tendency is to be charming. Take that charm and couch it in the right business language and it sounds like charismatic leadership.”

The survey suggests psychopaths are actually poor managerial performers but are extremely skilled at climbing the corporate ladder and experts at covering up their weaknesses by intelligently charming those around them.

Distinguishing between a sincerely gifted team leader and a psychopath is almost impossible. “The higher the psychopathy, the better they looked – lots of charisma and they talk a good line,” Babiak said.

“But if you look at their actual performance and ratings as a team player and productivity, it’s dismal. Looked good, performed badly.

“They can tell what you’re thinking, they can look at your body language, they can listen to what you’re saying, but what they don’t really do is feel what you feel.

“What this allows them to do is use words to manipulate and con and to interact with you without the baggage of feeling your pain.”

1 25/business leaders may be a psychopath, study finds

9

business leaders may be a psychopath, study finds

Q&A

Q&AFor entrepreneurs and small business owners, image is everything and, finding a way to establish the right image from the outset has become easier and more affordable than ever before.

Traditionally, start-up firms have had two choices when deciding where to set up shop: turn a spare bedroom into an office, or lease commercial office space.

Unfortunately, neither option presents a particularly attractive business case. Although convenient and cost-effective, the home office can be wrought with distractions and is not the most professional place to meet clients.

Leasing commercial space can be expensive and risky. Finding and setting up a suitable office takes time and energy that could be better channelled into running your business.

A virtual office is a popular alternative. It can be a powerful tool for small businesses that want to limit their start-up costs and establish themselves alongside larger competitors. Essentially acting as an extension of the business’ physical presence, a virtual office gives you a prestigious business address and local phone number. While you continue to work at home or at your current office, an assistant at the “virtual” location answers calls in the business’ name, creating a more professional image for potential clients.

Virtual offices can also be used to test and enter new markets in a low-risk way. Regus is the world’s largest workspace provider and has a global network of more than 1,500 business centres. You could establish a virtual office at any of them.One example of a firm that has reaped the benefits this approach is Chelmsford-based financial planners Capital Wealth Solutions.

Before moving into a permanent office at the local Regus centre, Managing Director James Caviel chose a Virtual Office. He commented: “Having a Virtual Office gave us a professional image without a hefty price tag and the flexibility to easily change our workspace arrangements as the business grew.

“Having calls answered gave the impression we were a larger organisation, something that was important to us as we were negotiating various potential acquisitions.”

These benefits are great, but what happens when your customer asks to visit the office? Our virtual office customers have the option of using ‘Day Offices’ or meeting rooms at their virtual office location for a set number of days every month, giving them a convenient solution when they do need a physical presence.

The flexibility of the virtual office opens a new realm of possibilities for entrepreneurs seeking to grow their businesses. With no long-term contracts, small firms can be more agile in the marketplace. Free from the high costs and constraints of traditional real estate, the virtual office may be the small business owner’s gateway to growth.

Response from Steve Purdy, UK Managing Director at global workspace provider Reguwww.regus.co.uk

What’s your thoughts on Virtual Offices?

10 rmbusiness.co.uk

Where did your business idea come from?It all started with Safield IT solutions when I was working in the medical records department in King George hospital. I built computers for the doctors to their exact requirements. I was reading in the media about more and more people quitting their jobs to sell on eBay, so I started importing mobile phone signal boosters from a wholesaler in America. And by this time I was employed in a small company working as an office assistant and part time IT guy. The business owner knew I was a bit of a Del boy and wanted me to source a promotional gift idea as a Christmas gift with his company logo on. So I suggested portable mobile phone chargers from a company in China. He loved the idea but only needed 250pcs and the minimum order was 500pcs, so I made up the remainder and charged him a price whereby he paid for almost all of the total order. My goods were costing me next to nothing and I sold them for 100% profit, and as there was no other product like it at the time, they flew out from under my bed! I then realised the power of ecommerce and started looking for other unique products, and Safield Distributions was born. Nowadays I still import from China, so much so that we started a new section of the business selling LED lighting under our brand name Auraglow. Now we supply this brand to retailers such as John Lewis, Maplin and other large electrical wholesalers. What would you classify as your USP?Put simply; our USP is exclusivity of products, the price we can offer them for, and our friendly customer service. We are only ever a phone call away and usually answer in two rings. For products that can be found elsewhere,

we are often much cheaper as our competitors buy their stock from us or other importers and still have to put their profit margins on top.

To elaborate, often other retail websites just drop ship their orders, meaning they just take the order and pass it on to the supplier. Therefore they cannot obtain the product at a low price because they are only ordering in ones and twos. They also have no control over the goods and rely on too many 3rd parties which can cause problems.

Why are you only online – what do you feel are the benefits of e-commerce?Well, our products are highly searched items on the Internet as you cannot easily find them in shops. This means that our market is the whole online world, not just the local market. Having said that, our online business only makes up 90%, we also run reader offers in newspapers.

You mentioned on your website that you work closely with St Francis hospice. Why that charity in particular? I like what they do and what they stand for. People that are terminally ill and are being looked after in their own homes is all very worthwhile.

Because of your close links to the charity, would you describe yourself as a business with a heart? You have to give something back, so we try to donate when possible. We have also supported Nordoff Robbins which is a charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults.

How do you go from distributing goods from your bedroom to becoming the managing director of a successful e-commerce company in only ten years? Sam Field of Safield has the answers and explains that if you want to see success online, it shouldn’tbe kept to the wire.

11

business focus

You have an impressive amount of real positive customer feedback – how have you built up a good customer relationship and established loyalty? All orders are shipped within 24 working hours, so customers are generally happy for a prompt delivery of a quality product. They then repay us with a positive feedback. And if there is a problem with their order we make sure we

rectify it ASAP. I guess it could also be the other little touches we provide, like texting the customer a 2 hour window when their order will be delivered so they do not miss a delivery.

What’s next for you?There is no stopping in this business! I can see so much potential and growth with Safield, so it would be silly for me to be involved in

anything else. And by its nature, when we bring in a new product, it’s almost like starting a new business within a business.

For example, we are now manufacturing our own product in the UK because it works out cheaper than buying them in from China! This product has proved to be very successful and I cannot see why sales cannot continue forever. We are also looking at other selling platforms such as TV shopping channels and having a kiosk at Lakeside.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start an online business?In short, it’s all down to selecting the right products at the right prices. Always trial a product before you place a large order. We don’t always get it right! We once purchased a 20’ container worth of a product once thinking it would be the next best thing but it was actually very financially damaging. Nowadays we find a product, place a small trial order and see what the market thinks about it. If it sells well and the reviews are good – we negotiate on the price of a large order with the factory.

Also make sure you are making a profit on your products. Too many sellers do not work out the correct overheads on a product sale, such as VAT, postage costs, site fees or transaction fees, and some items go missing in the post or are delivered damaged, so they are actually losing money!

www.safield.co.uk/index.phpSafield Distributions Ltd Unit 1, 178 Crow LaneRomford, EssexRM7 0ES

nowadays we find a producT, place a small Trial order and see whaT The markeT Thinks abouT iT. if iT sells well and The reviews are good – we negoTiaTe on The price of a large order wiTh The facTory.

When it came to starting our company, there was one big thing we knew was going to be essential in order for us to start. This is the issue that every new business must confront first and foremost, and that’s cash flow.

We knew that there were certain databases to subscribe to, job boards, phones, email servers and more. Not to mention on top of this we had our own personal bills to pay and would need to be drawing a salary from the company.

I would spend my lunchtimes from my previous job sitting down and calling as many of these suppliers as possible and working out costs down to the penny. This figure would give us an absolute bottom line target each month that we had to achieve, but we would have to make more than that to grow. This data was the backbone to the business plan that we had written, and that plan was our doorway to getting investment.

Our next hurdle was actually securing the funding, and we had a number of options: we could seek angel investment, government funding, or even a bank loan. The biggest thing we knew we required was some advice. There were certain elements of running a business that we didn’t know and we would need someone that we could rely on for that information. That is why we decided to use the angel investment route; we needed to raise the funding, but also needed the input and advice which came with it.

I’ve mentioned in my previous articles how beneficial I feel angel investment can be for your company. It may seem like a drastic move handing over a portion of your newly created business, but if you consider that you might fail, it’s much better to own 75% of something rather than 100% of nothing. The advice an investor can provide you with is sometimes worth more than any amount of funding available. This person has a vested interest to see your business succeed and I genuinely don’t believe I would be running today if it wasn’t for the guidance from my investor.

We ended up speaking with a successful client we had done business with previously. It made the whole process much easier for us. He knew how we worked, he understood the service that we provided and he believed we could provide a quality service to our client base because up until that point, he was one. He took the information from the business plan in and understood our business model. We agreed the figures and how the repayments on the investment would be structured. We secured him as an investor, and as I walked out of that meeting I realised that things had become very real very quickly.

Starting this company has been the scariest and most demanding thing that I have ever done in my life. I only ever really stop working when I’m asleep, and it’s not uncommon for me to go to bed after midnight and be up again at 5am. I believe that this is the attitude you need to succeed, at the end of the day there is no one you can rely on to pay your salary if you don’t bring the money in. It’s all or nothing once you decide to do it. That said, it has also been the most rewarding experience of my life. Every little win, which may have been overlooked working for someone else, is magnified when it’s your own company. It’s almost like the pride you feel when your child takes their first steps, or does well in school.

The only key bit of advice I can provide when you’re starting your own business is to expect the unexpected. Every single hurdle out there will hit you and it’s going to be the things that you never even knew existed. The important thing to remember is that there is always a solution; these things are there to test us but not stop us. It can be all to easy to roll over and admit defeat when these things happen, but if you maintain a positive attitude and believe that good comes with the bad, you’ll be just fine.

Twitter: @WarringtonChaseEmail: daniel@warringtonchase.co.ukWebsite: www.warringtonchase.co.ukWork Phone Number: 01708 629721Mobile Phone Number: 07824 559654

business focus - start-up diary

Jumping the hurdles

Local firm Grove & Dean have joined together withHavering College to launch theInsurance Apprenticeship Programmeoffering young people a new route intothe insurance industry.

Hannah Thomson, HR Manager at Grove & Deansaid “Our Apprenticeship Programme provides anexcellent route for our business to offer youngpeople a genuine long-term career opportunityand gives us a chance to nurture and supporttalent. We have found that our apprentices arekeen and eager to learn and are able toembrace technical and business skills whilst atthe same time being able to combine theacademic training provided by Havering College”.

Grove & Dean, an insurance intermediary basedin Romford, is a major local employer with 140employees. Hannah Thomson added “We believethat our investment in apprenticeships will payoff in that we will bridge the skills gaps anddevelop insurance professionals and leaders ofthe future”.

PROTECTINGthe futurePROTECTINGthe future

Business Services

For more information on how we can help yourbusiness contact our Business Services Team

01708 462800employerenquiry@havering-college.ac.ukwww.havering-college.ac.uk/business

Havering College of Further and Higher EducationArdleigh Green Campus, Ardleigh Green Road,Hornchurch, Essex RM11 2LL

Havering College can help your businessensure its future by working with you toprovide work based training or apprenticeshipprogrammes in a comprehensive range ofbusiness sectors including:

● Apprenticeships

● Business administration & customer services

● HNC & HND in business

● IT skills

● Literacy & numeracy at work

● ESOL

● Leadership and management

● Bespoke programmes.

C58.50564RM Grove & Dean Ad 17/06/2013 16:40 Page 1

14 rmbusiness.co.uk

CRAIG SAMS

A TASTE FOR BUSINESS

15

business focus

When you’ve launched one of the UK’s standout organic brands, it’s fitting that the rewards are rather ecologically harvested. Indeed, for Green & Black’s founder Craig Sams, a day on the allotment is the perfect way to relax, as RM Business discovered.

Craig Sams is far from your conventional UK businessman. Born in Nebraska and then moving to the UK, he opened the country’s first macrobiotic restaurant as an optimistic 23-year-old in 1967. Seed, as it was called, was frequented by some of the biggest and trendiest names of the decade, from John and Yoko to Marc Bolan and the Rolling Stones.

And in a rapidly developing era of cheap, bulk-bought food, the idea of ethically sourced produce that was also good for the body, as well as the soul, was to move on another level with the vision behind Green & Black’s. It started as a home project between Sams and his wife, but expanded to become one of the independent success stories of the 1990s.

“Mass market was supposedly the way forward and it just all seemed so desperate and impersonal. Our idea was to take it back to the independent producers, back to the small farms and back to the local people. We knew there was a premium that people would pay when they knew where their product was being sourced from and who was involved in the process of getting it to market.

“For many people, the idea of faceless food is good to a point. It’s cheaper, most of the time, has convenience running through it, and okay, it usually tastes okay. But many of those same people do tire of that after a while – they want something else, something that actually personalises what they’ve bought and their shopping experience.”

Sams took the notion of fair trade produce and extended it into his brand, which itself enlarged beyond expectations. Indeed, it began to subscribe to exactly the mass market thinking he was attempting to steer clear of. But things are moving back round, he believes.

“The way the chocolate industry has changed its attitude to small holder growers is startling,” he says. “Wind forward to today, and Kraft is investing $400m so that small farms can be more profitable and sustainable – and to make sure child labour isn’t an issue.”

Sams’ philosophy comes back to independent business. He thrives on the notion of making a difference to our immediate surroundings, even if companies that produce the mass-marketed products seem to be the ones making the big moves in any industry.

With the Green & Black’s brand continuing to grow, Cadbury’s stepped in and bought Sams’ project in 2005, but his work with them continues in the honorary role of President and advisor.

These days he has swapped the role of confectionary innovator to something rather more serene. The organic element certainly remains – he is of the soil in almost everything he does, given that Sams is the elected Chair of the Soil

Association. Then there’s the Carbon Gold brand, which has a focus on protecting against climate change by using charcoal for agriculture purposes. He also runs the Wellington Natural Health Centre close to his home in Hastings and invests in rental properties.

“These days it’s about enjoying work, not necessarily going after the rewards,” Sams admits. “I’ve got so much to keep me busy, and I have the luxury of being able to pick and choose.”

Any advice for budding entrepreneurs looking to make a footprint in the consumer market? “Good luck!” he laughs. “It’s so difficult these days – difficult to even get on the shelves in the supermarkets. It’s great that we have a number of television programmes and shows that promote the angles for people to get into business, but until the banks start lending it’s really difficult to do anything off your own back.

“There will always be angles, of course. You’ve got to get in there early with an idea, and if you do that you might have a chance, but staying ahead of the competition is always difficult and that’s where many people fall down.”

www.greenandblacks.com

“These days iT’s abouT enJoying work, noT necessarily going afTer The rewards. i’ve goT so much To keep me busy, and i have The luxury of being able To pick and choose.”

16 rmbusiness.co.uk

Message on the Bottle

A method I use to help clients achieve behavioural change is story telling similar to this.

He sees himself as ordinary, without the special ‘thing’ that will take him to the pinnacle. A good performer, he’s willing to do his part, but remains boundary-limited. Entering the room, he holds the bottle habitually carried to meetings. Narrow enough for fingers to wrap around its body, yet too long to be completely covered by a hand, a cork is pinched into its neck. The contents obscured by opaque glass, could be wine or water. Who knows? Positioned half way down its body a white label carries the letter ‘P’, standing plain, black and bold, the remainder of the word is hidden within his palm. Colleagues say it’s his mascot.

Over the years they’ve wondered if he would at least de-cork and drink its contents, releasing the bottle’s flavours, or even offer to share it with them, but he never does. He studies the label for a couple of seconds, removes the glass tumbler from the coaster, replacing it with the bottle. The letters face him as if they are a reminder. There it stays for the whole meeting. Until now.

His neighbour, passionate about a particular point, leans forward, and gesticulating accidentally knocks the bottle over. As it rolls across the table, and traverses the edge, everyone watches, wondering if the man can save it. But he seems unable to halt the precious container’s journey and as it kisses the floor, the sudden contact pops the cork. Fluid, like golden lava pours onto the surface, while splashes coats the label which we now know reads ‘Potential’.

What are the flavours in the bottle? What will it take to fully uncork yours? What new thought is being generated within you?Jacqueline Hall©2013

Contact me on 07801 031502, or info@deborahco.com to explore further. Also check out my website at www.deborahco.com.

Written by Jacqueline Hallwww.deborahco.com

buT he seems unable To halT The precious conTainer’s Journey and as iT kisses The floor, The sudden conTacT pops The cork. he sees himself as ordinary,

wiThouT The special ‘Thing’ ThaT will Take him To The pinnacle.

Uncover your potential to be©

17

We are all born with the ability to lead, and in a variety of ways, we all practice leadership at some stage in our lives. It may be in the games we play as children, or within a family environment, or even when we are socialising with friends, so the ability is there. When entering the world of business, we need to develop and enhance these abilities to meet the demands of the challenging environments in which we find ourselves. This way we will pave the way to building strong and profitable businesses where people work to the best of their ability, developing themselves and the business accordingly.

In the past, leaders were selected from certain social groups. In the armed services, officers were predominantly chosen from families of high standing in society as it was believed that they made the best leaders. We all know that this is not the case, and that great leaders can come from all walks of society. With the right training and support, leadership skills can be developed to ensure that our leaders are effective and successful.

Leaders today need to set an example for others to follow and aspire to, (lead from the front); support, encourage, motivate and develop their staff, (lead from behind); and be part of their team by getting a good understanding of who they work with, what it is that their team members do and what knowledge and skills are available to them within their current resources, (leading from within).

There are a variety of ingredients that make up a good leader. These include the ability to communicate effectively at all levels, to identify different leadership styles, and to have the ability to adapt your style when it is necessary to do so. These are essential skills that all leaders must develop right from the start through quality training and mentoring.

At thebiznessguru.com, we will help you get off to the best possible start by delivering quality training that covers the essential skills and knowledge that all potential or new leaders need. By continuing to mentor, coach and advise, you can develop into a good leader that enjoys the role and succeeds in leading others to success. Good leaders make for happy teams and individuals, who in turn make our businesses great places to work and successful in achieving their aims and objectives.

David HendersonCo-Founder and Principal ConsultantThebiznessguru.com

work force development

We’ve all heard it said that one person is a ‘natural born leader’ or that another was clearly ‘born to lead’; but is this right? Are the best leaders born with the ability to be successful, or can leadership skills be developed through effective training and mentoring? Well the answer is yes to both!

Are We Born To Lead?

18 rmbusiness.co.uk

employee review

It’s ThatTime ofYear Again…

No matter what type of organisation your business is, you can never escape the dreaded employee review. But it doesn’t have to be loathed by all involved. In fact, by following just a few simple rules, you could

boost both company morale, and the business’ bottom line.

At its very core, an employee review must communicate how well an employee’s performance measures up against their job role. It is a performance management tool, a key to good communication between employer and employee, and if done right, employee performance reviews can actually be one of the most powerful ways of helping a business thrive.

After all, employees are naturally going to want to know how well they are performing at work. And even if that doesn’t result in a financial reward, it has been reported that a simple pat on the back which acknowledges they are doing well, will keep them engaged and positively impact the company’s bottom line. UK job website Monster.co.uk said that performance reviews can “…also serve to increase employees’ identification with a company and align them with its operational objectives – giving them a vested interest.”

It is therefore essential that good HR practices are adopted, so that employees can walk away from their review with an understanding of how their behaviour impacts the business, and how their future contribution will help both themselves and the business grow. Plus it will create a positive company culture.

So although Psychology Today have written a competent article about how to achieve success in the workplace, you don’t need to be a psychologist to know what motivates people to want to work. The simple fact is that people like feeling good about themselves, and that they are moving towards something more than just a job, and improving themselves – which is why it is important to balance the review.

Here are a few tips to help the employee leave their review feeling inspired:

BE PrEPArED This may sound like an obvious rule, but it is the best place to start as it is surprisingly overlooked. Both employer and employee need to be ready, meaning they have been notified with plenty of time to prepare, gather notes and allocate enough time to have a productive review.

CoNDUCT THE rEvIEW IN A SUITABlE PlACE

Neither you nor your team member should face interruptions, or the review is doomed to be stereotypically awkward. And although most offices use their space well, you must find a private room to allow the review to be relaxed, quiet and private – after all, it is only the individual’s review, the whole office doesn’t need to know what is being said.

rECoGNISE THE GoAl

The purpose is to engage in a two-way conversation - not a lecture - between employer and employee so that their performance at work can be either sustained or improved. After all, feedback should always be honest and genuine between both parties involved, and communication about observations and feelings actively encouraged.

rEMEMBEr To GIvE PrAISE

Although you must be honest, you can also be tactful. Negative messages will stay in an employee’s head much more than positive ones, quickly leading to a strong, demotivated attitude. So always praise first before saying what needs to be improved, not what was done wrong – phrasing is very important.

QUAlITY ovEr QUANTITY

Managers should explain the important difference between an employee’s effort at work, and the quality of their work and whether it is effectively contributing to the business.

So for a successful review, the key thing to remember is to encourage conversation. Feedback about an employee’s performance will then be received positively, if not constructively – even if the feedback itself is negative.

The performance review is here to stay, and whether they are used to assess how well an employee is doing, or even as important evidence in an employment dispute, they can absolutely help the employer, employee and the business itself.

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Pros and Cons of

Employing Agency Workers

A gency workers are commonly referred to as ‘temps,’ although they do have certain rights. They can benefit from some employee rights, such as entitlement to basic minimum wage and paid holiday, although other benefits such as health insurance or job advancement are not usually included.

There are many benefits to employing agency workers over permanent staff, although there are also disadvantages:

ProsOne of the main advantages of employing agency workers is that they can cover any permanent staff that may be off due to maternity/paternity leave, holiday or sickness. They also only need to be paid minimum wage so the overall cost of completed work will be a smaller cost.

Another advantage is that they can support the team at busy times and be employed around seasonal demands, for example, if you knew your business was going to be particularly busy around Easter-time, you could hire an agency worker to come in at that point.

Another great benefit is that you can employ the person as an agency worker and see how they cope within your company and how they are at the job you’ve given them. You can use their time there as a trial for a possible permanent job.

If your company is taking on a specific project and needs someone with certain skills or specialities, an agency worker could be employed to take on this project. This can benefit a company, as all fully employed staff can do their work whilst the new project is being completed by someone that specialises in that field.

Agency workers are usually flexible with the days and hours that they work. This means you can hire them due to seasonal demand, have them only work on certain days of the week, or come in for a certain amount of hours each week/month.

Finally, agency workers customarily don’t receive employee benefits, meaning that it is a major cost-saving benefit.

ConsIn some cases, there could be a lack of motivation due to low pay. This is usually something that sets in after a little while of the agency worker being at their place of work.

Sometimes a lack commitment can be apparent and the company can be ‘used’ for the worker to gain experience to move on to another job.

The employer may miss the opportunity to view the worker’s personality before they start working if they choose to have a temporary agency bring in the person.

The overall safety risks will be higher because the worker is less likely to know and be familiar with safety procedures that the company have set out. If they are trained to know them, this will take time and possibly money.

The worker may find it hard to form proper relationships with colleagues as they see their position as temporary, and often find it hard to build relationships as they are usually confined to one department or assigned to one particular project.

As they don’t receive direct employee benefits such as health insurance or job advancement, an agency worker may find it hard to show interest in the success and development of the company. In the long run this could lead to decrease in morale or disagreement amongst workers.

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WomenDo: Relax a Little. Summer is the perfect time for baggier tops and blouses, which are both practical and stylish, just make sure you’re not flashing anything with a see-through number. There’s no longer the need for fitted or structured dresses, and materials that flow are perfect for the summer months and won’t leave you felling hot and sticky. Neutral colours are great for summer and are just as bright as pastel colours. Dark colours absorb heat so it’s best to avoid them, opt for light colours instead to look and feel fresh and ready for some sun.

Don’t: Relax Too Much. Although it’s hot and you just want to be in your garden with a nice cold drink while catching a tan, dressing like you actually are, isn’t appropriate for work. Although the days when it was unmentionable for one to show a little flesh are well and truly gone, shorts aren’t deemed acceptable in most work places. Even ladies with perfect pins can’t get away with showing too much leg in shorts, especially the bum-cheek-baring ones you might catch festival goers in. Shorts are best avoided as they’re tricky to get right.

Do: Coloured Skinny Jeans. Jeans? In the summer? Well, with the track record of the weather this year, you never know what will happen! The worst situation is when you leave for work on a dull and chilly morning, yet the sun decides to show itself in full glory at mid-day. This is where the bright jeans come into their own. Your legs are still covered, but the bright colours lightening the look; a guaranteed winner.

Don’t: Bare it all. Long gone are the days where the shoulders wouldn’t dare to be shown in the office, but too much flesh still isn’t acceptable. Summer dresses are great for those exceptionally hot days, however you should avoid dresses with spaghetti straps or completely strapless ones. They can look a bit too casual and like beach wear (another point- never EVER wear swimwear underneath other clothes). Maxi-dresses are usually the main culprits for this, which is why it’s hard to find one that is perfect for the office- some can be too elegant for work and show too much cleavage whereas others are just too casual.

Do: Pick the Perfect Sunnies. Sunglasses are great in the summer, and they’re practical too. For hay fever sufferers they help to protect the eyes as well as making you look trendy. The main thing is to pick ones that suit you, not just the most fashionable ones. Wearing them to and from work is fine (as long as the sun is out) but in work - just don’t. This also applies to leaving them on your head, you aren’t going to need them until lunchtime so take them off (completely off) and leave them in a safe place. Otherwise, be prepared to become the portable mirror for the day while colleagues’ stair above your head checking out their hair.

Summer Clothing in the Office Know the rules

The sun is shining and the temperature has finally risen, which can only mean one thing; it’s time to ditch the woollies and dark colours, and embrace your summery style. office summer clothes, when done right, can leave you looking and feeling delightful, although there are so many ways it can all go wrong. Take a look at our top 10 dos and don’ts of

office summer apparel to ensure that you’re on trend during the summer months.

both

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work force

Do: Short Sleeved Shirts. Who said men can’t multi-task? The short-sleeved shirt allows you to be cool whilst at your desk, and when teamed with a blazer, you’re ready for that important meeting. Short-sleeved shirts usually have a larger range of styles and prints, which are perfect for the summer, although keep them subtle - giving your colleagues a headache every time they look at your shirt won’t gain you any brownie points. This is also the perfect choice when joining friends for a pint after work. Sitting in a beer garden in a full 3 piece suit isn’t ideal, and with a short sleeved shirt you’ll be able to fit in down the pub as well as stay cool in the office.

Don’t: Wear Vests. Vests aren’t a good look, even on a dress-down Friday. For those who have ever caught an episode or two of Keeping Up Appearances, will understand the ‘Onslow Vest’ phobia. They look too casual and, quite frankly slob-ish. You’re not at home in front of the TV with a fan on full blast; you are in fact, at work. No one will appreciate the view of your armpit hair all day long; neither will they take you seriously. Play it safe in a t-shirt and jeans for the laid back yet stylish professional look.

Do: Keep a Tie Handy. If you’re all hot and bothered, the last thing you want is your top button done up and a tie slung around your neck. Keep one in your drawer for those ‘surprise’ meetings with clients or your boss. Choose bright colours to liven up your outfit, although not so bright that they could be used to wave a down a plane. Purple, red or blue are great colours for the summer, but if you’re not quite that brave, pastel colours also work well. Patterned ties are tricky at the best of times (hopefully everyone knows by now that the all-singing, lighting up numbers are not acceptable – not even at Christmas!) so keep it plain.

Don’t: Un-tuck Your Shirts. It’s easy for men to think that if they have their shirt un-tucked they will look ready for summer. Wrong. In most cases un-tucked shirts look messy and unprofessional. Rather than undoing the top button and allowing the bottom to hang out, opt for lighter materials and colours to achieve the summer look. If the first ‘summer shirt’ that springs to mind is the bright orange Hawaiian shirt (that your girlfriend/wife has tried binning several times) you’ve got the wrong idea. Plain pastel coloured shirts are ideal as well as the subtle (not Hawaiian) printed ones, and remember- the lighter the material, the better to keep you cool when it’s scorchio.

Don’t: Flip-Flops. Even though flip-flops are the chosen footwear for most people enjoying the sun abroad, flip-flopping over to your desk first thing in the morning isn’t a good look. No matter how amusing the sound is to you after a long winter, your colleagues wont appreciate the one-man/woman-band. They just aren’t acceptable for the workplace- ever. There are so many pretty sandals for women to show their perfectly preened toes in (and yes, they do need to be perfectly preened!) that flip-flops shouldn’t be an option. And for men, sandals are available (just NOT with socks) yet it’s safer to just stay covered up on the foot front, isn’t it?

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Building a Communityto Drive Sales

IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE COMMUNITY I HAVE BUILT OVER THE PAST 6 YEARS, I WOULDN’T BE WHERE I AM TODAY. BUILDING A STRONG COMMUNITY TO DRIVE SALES DOESN’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT AND WILL TAKE A LOT OF HARD WORK AND TIME BEFORE YOU START SEEING ANY RESULTS.

When it comes to building a community, you need to research your target market, and if you are building a community of the wrong people, you won’t be able to drive any sales. You need to be targeting those that are interested in your business and what you have to offer as a person.

After researching your target market, you then need to find a niche. I have spent over 6 years positioning myself as a Social Media Expert, and you only need to Google my name to see this. Because I spent a lot of time building the right community, I was then able to take my services to organisations that have access to my target market through my keynote seminars at events and trade shows internationally.

Just building a community isn’t going to drive any sales; you need to connect with them. I don’t just mean posting about yourself, you need to find out what they want from YOU. Over the past few years, I have noticed that my community continually engages with me whenever I share great content that will help their business. I really worked hard on being a thought leader, getting to share my experience through blogs, and with companies like RM Business with whom I am now a monthly contributor. This didn’t just happen - it took me a long time for people to respect what I had to say in the social media industry and it always will be a working progress.

When building a community to drive sales, you should not just be reusing the same content every two weeks, you need to be able to share fresh content constantly as well as being able to respond to followers (especially on Twitter) in real time. When it comes to sharing on social media, it is a risky game. What works for one company when trying to drive sales will not work for another company, which is why you need to be as unique as possible. Trying something new

may backfire, but if you don’t take the chance, you may never know the outcome.

Social Media is a great place to build a community once you have found your niche. We all started with 0 followers and have had to work up from there. I now have over 13,000 followers on Twitter alone, but don’t forget, I also started at 0! Once you have an interactive community, you will find that they will share all of your information for you, leaving you to really focus on engagement and driving sales.

A lot of people come up to me at the end of my talks at trade shows saying they don’t feel comfortable being “themselves” on social media. You don’t have to. Create an online persona, allowing you to feel more comfortable about what you are sharing. Extreme examples include Batman, Superman and Spiderman. They have a character in which they play during the night while the real people, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent and Peter Parker live their normal, day-to-day lives.

Finally, when it comes to seeing results from your community when driving sales, you need to be sure that you are actually converting, and to do this you need to track your online activity. Doing this will allow you to find the most responsive content so that you don’t waste time sharing the wrong information with your community.

Be patient when it comes to building a community to drive sales. You need to really enjoy what you are doing for your community to get behind you, and ultimately help your business drive more sales.

social media is a greaT place To build a communiTy once you have found your niche

Written by Warren Knightwww.warrenknight.co.uk@wvrknight

sales & marketing

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The world of marketing can be a bit confusing; there are so many different ways to get your name out there, yet most of us stick to what we know for simplicity. Take a look at our new and exciting ways to get yourself known and out there:

1. Get yourself some jazzy up-to-date business cards. For years now, business cards have been vital when marketing yourself, but now, as technology continues to grow, so has the checklist for business cards. Gone are the days where you would just include your name, job title and contact details. The newest must-have is a QR code (Quick Response code). A 2D barcode that can be scanned by most camera phones. QR codes can contain different types of data, such as: phone numbers, URL and SMS. Once scanned, they can direct you to a website, call someone or add their details into your phonebook and much more, without anyone typing in a thing. Not only is it impressive for potential clients, it will allow you to seem up-to-date with all the shiny new technology, yet they couldn’t be simpler to make - everyone’s a winner!

2. Know your strengths. To be able to positively market yourself, you need to know where your strengths lie. From this, you can create a mission statement which can help you with anything from the recruitment process, to persuading a customer to work with you. Showing yourself in a positive light is exactly what you need to do when marketing yourself, in a sense you are your own walking advertisement, so if you’re confident that you are the best person for a customer to work with, it’ll show. You need to know what you’re best at so you can give customers the best service possible. Rather than being average, you should become an expert in the part that you excel in. Once you are a recognised expert, marketing yourself should become a little easier and you can then gradually work on the other aspects of your field.

3. Have an amazing website. According to one study, 97% of people now look online to shop locally. Hardly anyone would dream of picking up the Yellow Pages to search for a company now days, it’s quicker and easier to enter the criteria into a search engine. You’re given a list of companies that match your search within seconds. The potential customer can be linked to your website with just one click, which is why it needs to look great. The first thing that they will notice is the look of the site; if it doesn’t look professional or appealing to the eye, the chances are that they will click off it and find another. If the potential customer likes the look of the site, they will probably stay, but how long for depends on the content. You should provide all relevant information about the company, what you do, the services you offer, contact details, and any other relevant pages- such as a blog page or testimonial page. You should include the link to your website on everything: your business cards, your social media pages, your emails and all printed media.

4. Be on top of your social media. Just as the amount of people using search engines has grown, so has the amount of people using social media. On social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it is easy for your company to have their own page. You can post links from your website as well as offers, images and other content. Social networking site LinkedIn, allows business people to connect with each other. You can add your personal skills to your page and once you’ve connected with people, they have the opportunity to endorse you for the skills you’ve added. You must always be aware of what you are posting on your social media accounts, as it is easy for potential customers to see. There are so many opportunities for social media disasters, that you need to remember ‘if you wouldn’t mind it being the front cover of a newspaper – post it, if not – don’t.’ When using social media marketing, there are several tips to help you stay on top: use Google Alerts to monitor your industry and to bring all relevant material to your inbox, make your LinkedIn page engaging and professional, create and use a Google+ profile, keep your personal Twitter and Facebook accounts private and create separate pages/profiles for your business, and always aim to build your personal brand.

5. Get around, get your face recognised and name known. Attending business networking meetings, seminars, business shows and forums is a great way to meet and converse with other business people. It is a way to find potential customers and form professional friendships, as well as meeting likeminded business people. As cliché as it is, it’s true ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’, therefore you always need to look presentable and know what to say. Prepare a brief introduction to tell the person who you are and what you do; remember to keep it short, you don’t want to bore them before you even know who they are. Business cards also come in handy when attending these events. Pop them in your pocket and whilst introducing yourself to someone, hand them a business card. If they are impressed with what you have to say, or if they want to contact you after, they won’t need have to wrack their brains trying to remember your name and the company that you work for.

Top 5 ways toMarket Yourself

24 rmbusiness.co.uk

Using Twitter for business has become a great way to get communicate messages to existing and potential customers, and businesses large and small are realising that in order to stay ahead of the competition, using a form of social media is an absolute must.

Everyone has an opinion on how and why you should use social media, and this article of course is no different. We’ve outlined a few helpful tips, along with explaining the terms and phrases used in the Twitter world.

Who should use Twitter?You should use Twitter to market your business if your customers and potential customers are using it.

Why should you sue Twitter?Because it is an amazing way to communicate with your customers. There’s no babbling, no long stories, plus it’s fast and frequent for those that want to consume a ton of information within a few minutes.

What do I put on Twitter?• Company news• Links to your blog• Links to your free stuff• Special offers• Retweet useful content• Links to useful content• Converse with people or tweets that you find interesting

Most people will follow you because they like reading what you have to say. Keep it user focused instead of all about you and you’ll do great.

How frequently should I tweet? Depending on how much you have to say and why you are using it, you should post from 3 to 10 times a day. Only tweet very frequently if you feel as though people will genuinely find your information good to read, otherwise it just looks like spamming. If you have that much to say, write a blog.

using TwiTTer for business #DON’T

CoNTINUAllY rETWEET oTHEr USErSA newsfeed full of retweets gives the impression that you don’t really have anything to say.

SPAM YoUr FolloWErSPeople will very quickly start to unfollow you and it demonstrates a lack of understanding of how Twitter works.

BE MUNDANE WITH YoUr TWEETSBeing boring is as bad as having nothing to say. Keep it punchy, informative or humourous. The weather and your breakfast doesn’t fall into one of these categories, unless you slipped on a banana skin whilst checking the weather out the window. In that case, stop leaving banana skins on the floor; it’s dangerous.

AUTo DMNo one likes receiving an automated direct message. It comes across as very un-human, and on a social networking site, the main point here is to be social.

FolloW PEoPlE To GET FolloWErSFollowers will come if you are interesting, informative, or delivering useful or humourous tweets. Follow the people that you want to listen to, not those that you think may follow you back.

#sales & marketing

IT’S NoT All ABoUT SAlES YoU KNoW

Twitter is a fantastic source of information, and by following people of interest and those that operate within your industry, you can discover the latest techniques, product launches and up-to-date news from the people at the top, right the way down to an independent blogger with good connections. Twitter is also great for talking to your customers, allowing you to directly respond to and assist with any of your customers needs.

News FeedThe newsfeed is the continuous flow of tweets from of all the people that you follow, displaying on your home page. It’s fast, and depending on how many people you follow, can include something completely different every time you look.

TweetsTweets are the 140 or less messages that display in your newsfeed. They can include images or links to external websites, and are the way that Twitter users share their thoughts, feelings and knowledge; or what they had for breakfast. 140 characters is a lot more difficult than it first seems and you’ll find yourself going over and over the same sentence, deciding which grammar crime to commit.

retweets (aka rT)Retweets are when you share the tweet of someone else to the people that you follow, appearing in your newsfeed. Your tweets can also be retweeted, and it’s also a great way for people that don’t follow you to see your tweets, and visa versa.

DMDM stands for Direct Message. This is a facility that Twitter provides to instantly and privately message people that follow you. The Twitter newsfeed is available for everyone to see, so using a DM is great for sharing private information.

HashtagHashtags are a word or words that users can include within their tweet, or search for, to find tweets on a particular topic. Don’t overuse these and make sure they’re relevant to what you’ve said in your tweet.

TrendingTrends are topics that are being tweeted about the most at that particular time.

JargON busTer

size guiDeProfile Picture 81px x 81px

Header Image520px x 260px

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26 rmbusiness.co.uk

When selling products or a service to customers, you need to remember that it isn’t all about a shiny-technology-clad sales pitch on your behalf. of course, a great pitch helps, but you need to think of the customer, after all- they’re the ones buying from you. Believe it or not, they know exactly what they’re looking for when they come to you, and it’s down to you to offer them just that. Sometimes you may need to persuade them to buy from you and not your competitors, which is where your sales skills come in.

The most important person in the sale is the customer, they dictate what they want and when they want it, how much they’re willing to spend and whether you can offer them what they want.

There are several things you need to keep in mind when selling to customers:

Building a relationship:

You should try to establish a professional relationship with your customer; as long as it stays professional. By all means find out about their personal lives if they’re comfortable with that, just don’t give too much away about yours. Caring about people is great and your customers will think so too, so ask them questions and find out as much as you can about them. You will eventually build up your own interpretation of the person and it will become a lot clearer and easier to approach them about new ideas or slight changes after you know what makes them tick. You will gather what selling strategies work best with them and they will feel easier talking to you about anything they aren’t happy with or want to change.

If customers have a great relationship with you, they’re more likely to be a loyal and returning customer; this means that you are less likely to lose them to competitors.

Their needs:

You should constantly keep in mind what it is that the customer wants and needs. For example, if they have asked you to provide them with a colour printer with a photocopier built in, that’s what they will expect you to show them and sell to them. Even if you provide them with the most exiting detailed speech and demonstration of a colour printer with a fax machine and touch screen technology built in but no photocopier, you are not satisfying their needs. This may show that you haven’t been listening to their requirements, which means that all of the hard work that you’ve put into building a strong relationship, was completely pointless.

Customers like to feel as though they are being listened to and that their wants and needs are more important to you than your own personal gain from the sale. If it’s easier, bullet point the main features of what they require so you can tick them off before you choose the product/service that you’re going to offer them.

It’s not all about you

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sales & marketing

Providing information:

Your customers would expect you to tell them as much as you possibly can about the product or service that you are selling them. The customer sees the salesperson as a specialist on the product/service and therefore wants to be able to ask questions and receive great detailed answers. It’s very rare that a customer will buy something without knowing the full details, however there are some that won’t ask questions and will just take whatever the salesperson throws at them. This isn’t the right way to go about it, you should make the customer feel at ease knowing that they can ask questions, although you should provide them with all of the vital information first and then ask if there is anything else they want to know. A customer is more likely to buy something that they know a lot about, and if you can provide them with lots of information on it, they will trust that you know what you’re talking about and possibly take your advice.

Showing them the benefits:

When selling to customers, there is usually a lot of persuasion involved. After telling them what it is and how it works, they need to know how it will benefit them. This is where the building of relationships proves necessary; you can use the information that you know about them to show the personal benefits. Depending on the product/service, it could make their home life better, their working life easier, they could let their children use it, or it could help out in those weekly meetings – use as much knowledge as possible. If you can remember this much about a customer, they will feel as though you do genuinely care about selling them the correct items. Most good salespeople are naturally good at persuading people both discreetly and professionally. If you’re selling a customer something that they already really want, you won’t need to use as much persuasion, although you should still explain the benefits. If the customer believes

that you genuinely listen to and care about what they have to say, they are more likely to become a returning and loyal customer.

Satisfy:

After you sell something to a customer, they should feel satisfied. Not only because they have bought the item that they need, but because of the level of service provided.

When you are a salesperson, if a customer comes to you requiring something, it’s your job to provide it. By the end of the sale, the customer should feel as though they have been listened to, understood and respected, they should feel as though they completely understand and know about what they have bought and how it will benefit them. Once the customer is happy with this, only then will they be truly satisfied with the sale.

genuinely lisTen To and care abouT whaT They have To say, They are more likely To become a reTurning and loyal cusTomer

28 rmbusiness.co.uk

EffECtivE invOiCing

Imagine the scenario; entering a shop and picking up an item you want, but without paying. or how about if you lived in rented accommodation and decided that you were going to pay your landlord a little bit late that month – it’s doubtful that you wouldn’t face some sort of consequence. But small business owners still struggle to receive their payments on time.

And it makes no sense as not paying for something is never acceptable, but for some reason customers do have the tendency to pay invoices late. So how can you avoid this from happening to help maintain a healthy cash flow?

After all, you’ve worked hard to get your business where it is, and if you’re a start-up, you want to avoid being one of the 70% who collapse within their first year - a terrifying statistic! And the main

cause is quite simply money. Managing your cash flow is one of the most difficult processes to control, mainly because so much of it is out of your hands. It is therefore paramount that you invoice effectively.

And while it is by no means fun, it is one of the most important aspects involved in managing your business. Think about it, by keeping your clients informed of what you expect, there will be no crossed wires in communication, meaning that your payment will be punctual and you will remain professional. No one wants problems, and especially no one wants problems to escalate into the courts because of money owed. The average business in the UK receives the money that they are owed after 25 days - nearly a month! But don’t worry, there are steps that you can take in order to maintain the flow of money.

Every business, whatever its size, likes the money that’s going in and out to do so on time. But how can you do that? read on to find out how to avoid the dreaded late payment.

Start as you mean to go onThe beginning is usually the best place to start, and so view it as the beginning of your relationship with a new customer. You can never make a second first impression, so make sure that when you first ask for money, you are polite – after all, good manners cost nothing and it is guaranteed to stand you in good stead, overcoming the touchy subject of money, that they have worked hard for and you are now asking them to hand over. And of course you’re grateful, so let them know that you appreciate their present and potentially their future business. So why not use the word “Thank you” on the invoice, to let them know that you are asking and not demanding their money. Another idea is to encourage testimonials from customers. If you’re good to work with, it will encourage other customers to want to work with you. Plus it’s always good to learn where you could improve too.

Be clearAn obvious point, but surprisingly overlooked by so many businesses. Clarity will save both parties so much time. So we suggest that you clearly include all of the necessary information, starting with clearly displaying the word ‘invoice’ on the document. Along with this, make sure your business name is obviously displayed, including contact information and their contact information plus a supply date, and date of invoice. An itemised list will help both sides when it comes to the boring filing, as will using a UrN so you know exactly what invoice is being referred to. lastly, the money. Ensure absolute clarity regarding the service, amounts being charged, whether this includes vAT and of course, the total amount owed, how you want them to pay you and what will happen if they do not pay by the specified date.

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money matters

Robertson MilroyChartered Accountants & Tax Advisors

FRee Initial Consultation 01708 475220mail@robertsonmilroy.com | www.robertsonmilroy.comCoopers House, 65a Wingletye Lane, Hornchurch, RM11 3AT

• Tax Advise including Capital Gains Tax & Inheritance Tax Planning • Audit, Accountancy, VAT, Payroll etc • Personal Tax Returns • Retirement Strategies & estate Planning • Business Start-Ups • Strategic Business Planning & Advice • Corporate Finance

Know your own obligationsDon’t fall into the trap that so many other businesses do by being unprepared. Make sure that you know your rights and obligations, to put a stop to problems arising. For example; did you know that you are required to retain your records by HMrC for six whole years? This will help for your own piece of mind too, in case a client disputes what was originally agreed, as you will have the paperwork to hand which separates the facts from the fiction. A good accountant can make you aware of what you should be doing, but it is a good idea to make the most of electronic databases to store information, to save space if nothing else. But do make sure you back up all information and change your passwords regularly.

Insist on a full depositBy their nature, people are likely to be more careful about what they agree to if they have to put their hand in their pocket. The same is true for clients. So before any work is started, insist on a deposit and signed contract, stating that the full invoice amount will be paid upon completion of work. This will usually ensure that you get paid the full amount as money has already changed hands, as long as the client is happy with your work.

Make sure you are dealing with real businessesoften this is easier said than done. But the client will no doubt have spent some time researching you, so maybe you should do the same, so you know who you are dealing with. You can also make the most of the Internet to help your research – things like asking whether they are a limited company or a sole trader, and validate their word against your own findings. Why not even use Google maps to check the validity of their address.

Be aware of your last resortNo one enjoys going to court. It is a lengthy, costly and stressful experience for all involved. So when forming an invoice, make sure the client knows that you are expecting a payment and are serious about this expectation. Something called the late payment legislation has been created to give you the right to charge 8% over the base rate where a payment hasn’t been received alongside being able to make a late payment charge too. To avoid problems, keep invoicing down to a minimum, because as soon as the courts are involved, your business relationship will at the very least be fractured. So this option must absolutely always be your last resort.

30 rmbusiness.co.uk

ChallengesAccording to a recent study of 1,000 shoppers by Groupon, 48% wanted a better range of Independent Businesses and retailers to choose from on the high street, whilst 40% wanted to see a regeneration of the whole area. Only 33% actually went to the high street once a week.

Do we want to drive down to the high street, to be faced with a lack of car parking spaces, high car parking fees and a high street full of charity shops, estate agents and coffee shops? In a word, no! It’s much easier to go to the supermarket, which stocks most of the things we want, or to go to one of the out of town malls where the parking is cheap and easy, and all of the shops we want are under one roof.

In summary, the challenges faced by Independent Retail are threefold, as consumers look for quality, convenience, and value for money. Independent Retail can provide quality and value for money.

At Annecto, we are delighted to partner with www.bigbarn.co.uk (@findlocalfood) who promotes local produce to local communities. So as director, I decided to practice what we preach and go on to the BigBarn website and look for local farm shops to test out.

I ended up at Calcott Hall Farm in Brentwood (@calcotthall) and was amazed by the quality of the produce, the whole shopping experience, and the price! The produce was cheaper than supermarkets for the most part, and the quality was miles ahead – I’m now a convert. I buy all my fresh produce from them, and enjoy fruit and vegetables that actually taste good.

This is just one example, but I’m certain that it’s not unique; we just have to look a little closer at what’s around us, and change our perception of Independent Businesses. They aren’t backward, in fact, quite the opposite; they are the future for local communities, local jobs, and we need to embrace them.

ConvenienceThis is a major challenge to overcome and one that requires a change in habit from us, and a concerted effort to revisit the high street which is now changing for the better in many towns and cities across the UK.The High Street gives us more than just shopping though, it is at the heart of the community and is a place for us to enjoy spending time whilst buying what we need or want. The High Street is critical to the local economy as, according to a study by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies for the Federation of Small Businesses, for every £1 spent on the High Street, 50p-70 re-circulates back into the local economy. For every £1 spend out of town or online, only 5p trickles back into the local economy!It’s more than just convenience, we should embrace the High Street to support the local community and the local economy, but that only works if the quality Independent shops are there, and they are if you look closely.

I think it was Napoleon who once claimed that we were a “nation of shopkeepers,” and I believe that we are. We have grown from market stalls and small specialist shops back in the 50’s and 60’s, to close to 300,000 retail shops across the UK in 2012, with Independent shops forming the backbone of UK retail business. However, times are now different and will continue to change rapidly so for independent businesses to survive and grow, they will need to adapt to these rapidly changing times.

TechnologyMobile technology has evolved considerably in the last five years, with Smartphones and portable tablets becoming common place. These devices have been fundamental in changing the way consumers communicate and shop by providing us with instant and easy access to the Internet wherever we are.There is a new phrase called ‘showrooming,’ where consumers will visit a store to view products before finding and purchasing them cheaper elsewhere, all through their smartphone and often whilst they are still in the store.

Retailers have a choice of embracing new technology and working with it to communicate and sell to their consumers, or ignoring it and running the risk of being left behind.

According to the UK Payments Association in 2011, 14% of all credit and debit card sales were online, which clearly shows the importance of having a web site and to be able to sell online.

In addition, there are three points that each Independent Businesses should really consider:1. Connecting with their customers via Facebook and Twitter to promote their business2. Promoting their business through organisations such as @indieretailUK and @findlocalfood and ‘piggy backing’ their social media power to promote their business3. Provide free WiFi in the store and price matching anyone who you think is showrooming

Here at Annecto, we are proud to sponsor the ‘Support for Independent Retail Campaign’ which is being led by Clare Rayner, the Retail Champion. The support for independent retail campaign provides year–round support, advice, ideas and inspiration to help independent retailers, and those who serve consumers to get, and stay, open for business.

Website: www.annectouk.co.ukEmail: hello@annectouk.co.uklinkedin: AnnectoukLtdTwitter: @annectouk

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32 rmbusiness.co.uk

How to:Choose a Good Accountant

...before you go baring your business soul, double check that all prospective accountants are fully qualified...

©

money matters

Everyone says that when you know, you know. It will be like a scene from a film; your heart will skip a beat, you’ll smile when your eyes meet, and more than that, you just

can’t ever wait to see them. Finding the perfect accountant is even more important than finding your perfect partner. After all they will see your business exposed in a way that no one else will, so you have to trust them.

Here are seven essential tests that will ensure that you’ve found ‘the one,’ and giving your finances the chance to have the magical happy ending that you’ve always dreamed of, even is your love life isn’t quite so lucky.

Have you checked out their history before getting too involved?This is a non-negotiable rule! Would you trust just anybody with some of the most personal information about you – ranging from how much capital your business has, to whether you are going to face an employment tribunal? No, you would conduct several very thorough checks until you felt sure, so why would hiring an accountant be any different? The answer is, it shouldn’t be. So before you go baring your business soul, double check that all prospective accountants are fully qualified. Most firms are members of a recognised accountancy body such as the ICAEW (Chartered Accountants) or ACCA (Certified Accountants). And remember, although they may look good on paper, do they have relevant experience? Make sure your accountant has dealt with other small businesses, particularly those within your industry. For example; if you are freelance, you will usually be better off talking to a specialist rather than a more general firm.

How are they treating you?Are they treating you right? Such a simple question but answer carefully. For starters, does your accountant do what they promised they would? Are their fees reasonable, monthly, annual or even worse, hidden? Will there be entry or exit fees, and if extra work needs to be done, will you be charged extra? If you feel like they are taking you for granted, or their attitude towards you has changed, find someone who will treat you with respect – you don’t have to stay, it’s as simple as that.

Are you impressed by what they do?Alongside the standard and mundane daily tasks such as dealing with HMRC, organising the staff payroll and completing your annual accounts, do they ever go above and beyond? If you asked, would they help you by providing a reference for a mortgage, help you complete your self-assessment tax return, or provide independent financial advice? It’s worth thinking about.

Are they genuinely interested in what you’re doing?No one can be as passionate about your business as you are, but does your accountant want to see it grow and help it along the way?

How do they make you feel about yourself?You need an accountant that encourages your business ideas and vision, or you’ll really struggle to make it a success. It might be worth looking at the size of your business, and finding an accountant that can compliment it, as often the smaller firms can be quicker to react than the larger ones.

Can you talk about anything and everything?The biggest key to success is always communication. So you must feel that they can successfully communicate with Companies

House or HMRC, and that you can discuss your business openly with them. It might be worth choosing an accountant that uses online banking, as it shows efficiency and that they are forward thinking.

Is this relationship different from your past ones?Always meet several accountants first before you commit to one. You should trust your own instincts when deciding whether you want to work with them, and ask to talk to existing clients to see what they think. After all, if you ever want to sell up, or expand and buy another business, a good accountant will prove to be invaluable with their advice.

MUST AvoID IF:No one else likes them. Your opinion is more than valid, but if no one has a good word to say about your prospective accountant then you have to wonder why. Ask around and see what accountant your contacts recommend; you trust them, so you can’t really beat their recommendation.

lifestyle

33

Does your business have a social networking account? Well of course it does, but did you know that people could be stealing your pictures and potentially damaging your business’ reputation? You need to read on.

©

CORPORATEGOLF DAY

WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2013

Leyton Orient

Book your team now and play with oneof the LOFC players or management

Teams from £300 + vat to include •

18 holes of golf at the exclusive Crondon Park •Bacon butty on arrival and post round two course meal •

Evening entertainment and presentations •Goody bag including Nike Polo for each player •

Plus more... •

For full details email commercial@leytonorient.net or call 0871 310 1886

RM_Business_Magazine_August_2013.indd 37 15/07/2013 15:04

Symons & GayLLP Solicitors

Symons & Gay LLP was founded in 1911 and has been in business in South Street Romford ever since. Symons & Gay have an experienced team of Solicitors and support staff offering different areas of legal expertise, includingDomestic & Commercial Conveyancing, Wills, Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Deputyship, Litigation, Landlord & Tenant, Employment and Family Law. The firm provide Legal Aid where applicable. Symons & Gay feel their success is due to them being a friendly and approachable firm. We like to think that clients will receive professional advice but in a relaxed manner. The firm have Lexcel, the Law Society’s quality accreditation along with CQS, the Law Society’s conveyancing quality scheme. The firm offer a home or hospital visit for those unable to get to the office. We also provide a free 30 minute no obligation consultation.

01708 744211www.symons-gay.co.uk | office@symons-gay.co.uk

35

legal

Symons & GayLLP Solicitors

Symons & Gay LLP was founded in 1911 and has been in business in South Street Romford ever since. Symons & Gay have an experienced team of Solicitors and support staff offering different areas of legal expertise, includingDomestic & Commercial Conveyancing, Wills, Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Deputyship, Litigation, Landlord & Tenant, Employment and Family Law. The firm provide Legal Aid where applicable. Symons & Gay feel their success is due to them being a friendly and approachable firm. We like to think that clients will receive professional advice but in a relaxed manner. The firm have Lexcel, the Law Society’s quality accreditation along with CQS, the Law Society’s conveyancing quality scheme. The firm offer a home or hospital visit for those unable to get to the office. We also provide a free 30 minute no obligation consultation.

01708 744211www.symons-gay.co.uk | office@symons-gay.co.uk

In April this year, the Enterprise and regulatory reform Act was given royal assent. But the effect that it will have on businesses has only just started to emerge, and you might want to listen. Firstly, cast your mind back to 2010 when the social networking site Instagram was first launched. It grew at such a rate that by April 2012, it was bought for a reported $1bn, keeping their 100 million active monthly users happy. Well, at least until December when the photo-sharing service sought to change their terms of service, stating that users of the site, “agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”

To confirm; this would have made everything posted to the site by users not just usable by Instagram in any way, but by third parties too. Unsurprisingly, the terms were changed back a mere one day later. Fast-forward to today, and the new legislation has been nicknamed the ‘Instagram Act’ as it allows publishers to use both copyrighted materials and images, provided that they have no real obvious creator. This ‘orphan work’ was traditionally only associated with out-of-print books.

But now, thanks to the internet, more and more works are being orphaned shortly after creation. How? Well somebody could tweet a picture, which in turn gets pinned on their Pinterest board, or posted to their Tumblr, Facebook or Instagram – quickly making it impossible to find the original source and rendering the copyright obsolete.

This would have made everything posted to the site by users not just usable by Instagram in any way, but by third parties too.

Subsequently, in terms of your business, the problem could be insurmountable. Social networks are now an integral part of a business’ brand and brand image, and the new Act potentially allows unprecedented access to your carefully crafted brand image, leading to irrevocable damage. Niko ruokosuo, CEo of crowdsourcing photo service Scoopshot, has said, “the Enterprise and regulatory reform Act means that orphan images can be used or licensed without permission or payment.

That means that photos shared online could show up in ads for just about anything, without any warning. Aside from being deeply unethical, the Act shows a complete disregard for the public’s rights.”

The Government says that the licensing of orphan works will only help to promote design and innovation. But if you’re a little more cynical and want to protect your business, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are steps that you can take. Essentially, any publisher that performs a ‘diligent search’ and still fails to identify the orphaned work can use it – despite neither owning the photos, having a licence, any consent, or release from the photographer that did own them.

Therefore if you want to do more, setting a watermark on your images is one way to let others know that they belong to you. You might also want to consider ‘metadata’, the information hidden in the picture such as the date it was taken, camera used, contact details or even your own copyright, which will make the ‘due diligence’ procedure much easier to control and uphold.

Consequently, despite the general backlash, this law looks to be implemented by April next year. And social networking won’t go away either, so if you want to uphold your brand identity, you would be wise to protect it and your copyright too.

business for the soul

That statement has probably upset several CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) consultants, but it’s a message that really does need to be understood, particularly when working with small businesses. Having a dedicated CSR budget to spend on “CSR projects” is clearly nice to have, and I’ll agree fairly essential for large businesses as they really do need to evidence how they are supporting society, but I’ll re-iterate; CSR doesn’t need a budget – at least not for smaller businesses.

Now that has been said, I’ll admit to being really excited because the CSR / CR agenda has taken yet another leap forward. On the 27th June the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) released a call for views on Corporate Responsibility - www.gov.uk/government/consultations/corporate-responsibility-call-for-views. Although, as the name suggests, CR is traditionally associated with big businesses, SMEs are specifically mentioned in this consultation. There is a very clear intention to encourage small businesses to adopt best practices and the Government is asking how they can support this.

Naturally I shall be responding to the consultation and urging the Government to give as much support as possible to SMEs. Not surprisingly, I have some very specific ideas! But support doesn’t mean encouraging small businesses to set aside a budget for CSR projects – unless that fits very comfortable with the business model.

The consultation closes on 27th September and the intention is that these views will be used to help develop “a framework of actions” to be published by the end of the year.

So what is the starting point if you don’t have a budget but would like to embrace a more socially and environmentally responsible way of operating your business? Well actually, the starting point is the same regardless of your financial position.

I suggest you take some time out of your business and have a nice chat with yourself! Think about your personal ethics. What is important to you – what are your personal ethics? And then ask yourself if those ethics are mirrored in your business operations. Does your company have an ethical policy? Does your staff know what the company’s code of conduct is? Think about your family and future generations – can you play a small part in helping to ensure their future? Think about your local community. The ‘wellbeing’ of that community impacts on you and your family doesn’t it? Think about the environmental impacts of your business – can you hand on heart say that you are doing as much as you can to reduce negative impacts that will affect future generations - as well as overhead cost implications in the more immediate future? Think about wider society – do you care about those living in poverty and inhumane circumstances?

If you care about any of these things, what role can your business play in that agenda?

You may have heard Richard Branson and international counterparts talking about Plan B recently. The essence of this is that we cannot continue ‘business as usual.’ All businesses, whatever size, need to think about the triple bottom line of People, Planet, Profit. So having done a little bit of soul searching, how do you develop your own Plan B? If you start by making sure ethics are embedded at the core of your business and that you really do consider people and the environment in your business decisions, you will have made an excellent start. If you can put aside a budget that’s wonderful, but a great deal can be achieved with just a little bit of thought and effort!

Jill Poet managing director of the Organisation for Responsible Businesses (ORB)www.orbuk.org.uk www.ResponsibleBusinessStandard.org.uk

CSR doesn’t need a budget! Leadership

Learningare indispensabLe

to each other

37

Leadership

Learningare indispensabLe

to each other

&

John F. Kennedy

inspirational quotes

38 rmbusiness.co.ukFriday 4th October 2013 • Thames Chase

f you want great entertainment from a top comedian plus superb food all in stunning surroundings you won’t need to venture into London’s West End. For Rory Bremner tops the bill at the Havering

Business Awards’ presentation night on 4 October at the beautiful 17th Century barn that forms part of the Thames Chase Community Forest Centre. Finalists will enjoy a bit of glitz as they sip their wine in comfort while soaking up a great atmosphere as they await the awards announcements. Winning means individuals and businesses will be able to capitalise on their success and use their win as a marketing advantage.

Evening Sponsorship OpportunitiesIf you want to raise your profi le by being part of the Havering Business Awards organised by Havering Council but you don’t intend to enter, there are plenty of ways to sponsor the awards ceremony without breaking the bank. Get your business name known among the many businesses represented on this great networking night for as little as £75.

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of sponsoring the event at Pike Lane, Cranham, get in touch with the awards team on 01708 560056.

See top comedian at business awards show

2013

Book Your Ticket!If you’d like to see Rory in person for a great night out you don’t need to enter the London Borough of Havering’s awards to be part of it. Tickets for the lavish event in Pike Lane, Cranham, are £80 plus VAT each and include pre-dinner drinks before you sit down to a fi ve-course meal with wine. This is the night where careers and businesses get a fantastic boost and even if you or your business is not entering into the awards this year, it’s a great opportunity to network with like-minded people.

For more details call 01708 433602 or email bookings@haveringbusinessawards.co.uk

www.haveringbusinessawards.co.uk

Sponsors of the 2013 Business Awards include:

I

Organised by:

190x245 HBA AD.indd 1 15/07/2013 10:44

lifestyle

39Friday 4th October 2013 • Thames Chase

f you want great entertainment from a top comedian plus superb food all in stunning surroundings you won’t need to venture into London’s West End. For Rory Bremner tops the bill at the Havering

Business Awards’ presentation night on 4 October at the beautiful 17th Century barn that forms part of the Thames Chase Community Forest Centre. Finalists will enjoy a bit of glitz as they sip their wine in comfort while soaking up a great atmosphere as they await the awards announcements. Winning means individuals and businesses will be able to capitalise on their success and use their win as a marketing advantage.

Evening Sponsorship OpportunitiesIf you want to raise your profi le by being part of the Havering Business Awards organised by Havering Council but you don’t intend to enter, there are plenty of ways to sponsor the awards ceremony without breaking the bank. Get your business name known among the many businesses represented on this great networking night for as little as £75.

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of sponsoring the event at Pike Lane, Cranham, get in touch with the awards team on 01708 560056.

See top comedian at business awards show

2013

Book Your Ticket!If you’d like to see Rory in person for a great night out you don’t need to enter the London Borough of Havering’s awards to be part of it. Tickets for the lavish event in Pike Lane, Cranham, are £80 plus VAT each and include pre-dinner drinks before you sit down to a fi ve-course meal with wine. This is the night where careers and businesses get a fantastic boost and even if you or your business is not entering into the awards this year, it’s a great opportunity to network with like-minded people.

For more details call 01708 433602 or email bookings@haveringbusinessawards.co.uk

www.haveringbusinessawards.co.uk

Sponsors of the 2013 Business Awards include:

I

Organised by:

190x245 HBA AD.indd 1 15/07/2013 10:44

Essex Chambers of Commerce, Practical HR Limited and law firm Birkett Long LLP - three of the best known organisations in Essex, have come together to create this unique package, ensuring that your staff management and compliance needs will be in expert hands.

The basis of Chambers HR Force is the “Essential” package which will include:

• You get your own bespoke HR website which includes all of your Employee Handbook content, Management Guidance notes and an HR area providing you with employment facts and HR information.

• Your bespoke HR website is automatically updated with changes to statutory HR regulations and recommended policy documents - you don’t have to seek out these updates, they are provided for you as part of the package.

• Your bespoke HR website will enable you to manage your HR documentation with complete confidence.

• Updates to policy documents will be advised to employees via email - everyone will be kept informed - clearly and unambiguously.

• The ‘Essentials’ package includes the opportunity for two people from your Company to attend up to 4 HR workshops per year. For your convenience these are held in locations throughout Essex

• You will receive regular Employment Newsletters to keep you up to date with current HR news.

• Person to person telephone access* and support

• Your package will also provide telephone contact and support from a dedicated and qualified Employment Lawyer - an invaluable benefit in the event of concerns or problems.

Non-essential services - available at an additional charge The ‘Options’ package contains extra service components, which are charged for only if requested or used. This includes: • On site or in person expert HR support acting, for

example, as your HR department, attending and assisting at disciplinary, grievance, investigations or redundancy meetings and so on.

• Extending your ‘Essentials’ package website access to include extra or bespoke modules focused on areas such as Induction, Company Benefits, Pension Schemes etc (or any other content).

• Access to a reference request service providing different reference options that you can use for your new employees.

• Drafting of bespoke contracts of employment, compromise agreements or other non-standard correspondence.

• Additional support from qualified Employment Lawyers at reduced rates*.

• Employment disputes insurance cover

• Insurance cover is optional and only available to those also taking the ‘Essentials’ package. A quotation can be provided upon request.

The Chambers HR Force packages, benefits and relating costs are subject to continuous improvement. For the most up to date prices we recommend that you contact our Customer Services Manager, Deborah Ellis, by phoning 01206 765277

Gathering your details will take merely a few minutes, but it will mean that we can offer you a more tailored response. We are also running a free introductory event at Orsett Hall on 22nd October and a Chambers HR Force Breakfast at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford on 18th September. Log on to www.essexchambers.co.uk to find out more.

With employment laW becoming ever more complex, it is essential that businesses have access to up to date and correct hr and legal advice.

thurrockchambers hr force

40 rmbusiness.co.uk

The saying, ‘one bad apple spoils the barrel’ might sound obvious, but unscrupulous companies who go on to rip off hard-working residents make it hard for honest businesses to trade in what is

an already tough climate says Leader of Havering Council, Councillor Michael White.

We are rightly proud of the diversity of the local businesses in the borough. But where the majority ply an honest trade, a small minority try to get away with making money by unscrupulous means, ripping off hard-working residents and making a tricky financial environment even more difficult for shops and companies who play by the rules.

Well no more. We’re asking business owners in the borough to join forces with us and help the Council take on dodgy businesses by signing up to the Council’s Buy with Confidence scheme.This nationwide programme is open to all traders and vets applicants from a set of strict criteria with signed up members going on to gain independent accreditation. And in such uncertain times, such a positive mark of approval from a reputable source such as the Council can only be a boom for business.

To be approved, traders have to demonstrate to the Council that they are able to follow a set of guidelines put in place to further strengthen consumer protection. Guidelines include:

• Complying with relevant consumer protection legislation • Ensuring all staff are properly trained for work • Responding promptly and correctly to all customer complaints • Getting CRB checks for all staff which carry out work in people’s

homes.

So how will signing up to the Buy with Confidence scheme help your business?

• Approved members will get independent, and most importantly, reputable recognition of your high business standards

• A certificate of membership that can be displayed on business premises

• Use of the Buy With Confidence logo on premises, vehicles, documentation, products, and advertising

• Increased consumer confidence

• A stronger relationship with regulators based on assistance and advice

• A named contact for your business within Havering Council’s Trading Standards team

• A mediation service in the event of a consumer dispute which cannot be resolved between the parties concerned

• Training opportunities

For more information about the Buy with Confidence scheme contact the Council on 01708 433484 or visit the website http://bit.ly/15iQB7Q

councillor michael White, leader of the councilfor london borough of havering

help us stamp out dodgy traders and protect your business by signing up to our buy With confidence scheme

in the borough

The aim on Women in Business is to provide Havering Business Women with the tools

to achieve their full potential and aspirations, whether they have their own business, are thinking of starting up or wish to climb the career ladder.

This is an ideal opportunity to meet other women and network to share ideas.

Our next FREE event is on the 11th September at 5.30 p.m. held at Havering College of Further & Higher Education.

For further information contact Yvonne Bendall, Business Development Officer – yvonne.bendall@havering.gov.uk or 01708 432871.

Havering has lots of scope for a wide range of companies to set up in. Its location has many advantages being close to London’s Town Centre and the open countryside; there is a fantastic choice of residential areas with a wide range of prices. The above is boosted by Havering’s excellent road network, the A127, A13 and A12, and of course, the M25 Motorway crossing, the Borough should persuade any companies to come to Havering. However, with the Government urging us to use Public Transport, Havering comes out on top with the many bus routes covering every part of the area. The rail companies serving the areas of Upminster and Rainham to Fenchurch Street, Harold Wood, Gidea Park and Romford to Liverpool Street, and of course the quaint Upminster to Emerson Park Push and Pull train. The new Crossrail, due for completion in 2018, will offer links from Romford to Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road, Paddington, and onto Heathrow Airport. Whilst increasing London’s rail based transport capacity by over 10%, each train will be able to carry 1500 people. Going directly into London’s West End, it will connect with a wide range of transport services.

Havering has excellent schools, shopping centers, and open spaces. It is definitely the place to be.

Women in business

councillor ron oWer

havering - the place to beHornchurch Highstreet 2013 Hornchurch Highstreet 2013

42 rmbusiness.co.uk

Is networking changing? In the past few months I have been invited to or been to all kinds of networking events. What I have noticed is that the venues are gradually getting better and that there seems to be a concerted effort by the organisers to be modern in their outlook and realistic in what their group can do. They appear to be more businesslike and are open to ideas to improve their group to make things happen.

Just a suggestion – does your group have a time set aside during the meeting to ‘make it happen,’ in other words, have a brainstorming session to help each other’s business or a topic, which promotes lots of ideas and gets people thinking. Ideas sometimes come from the source that you would least expect, so let one of your group be the first to surprise you.

Also, I believe that there is more of a hunger from members in networking groups to make it work. If and when this economy turns around, the networkers who stay the course will be in a position to reap the benefits. Hopefully you are getting some benefit already and the people that you network with are doing business with you or providing useful contacts to make it worthwhile.

Talking of worthwhile, I hope those that went to RM Business’s first networking event at The Vertigo Lounge, Hornchurch enjoyed the evening and made many contacts.If you have any networking news or involved in organising a network group or event in the coming months please email me the details for consideration to be included on these pages.

T his month I visited the Essex Business Club who meet on the first Tuesday of the month at Moulsham Mill, Chelmsford. I am a member, but due to other commitments,

I have not attended for at least a year. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised as they have a new vibrant committee led by Nick Looby (Feet on the Ground Training Ltd) and there was a healthy turn out of about 30 members and guests.

On arrival I was given a professional name badge, which they prepare for every member, and considering that I have not attended for a long time and they did not know that I was coming, demonstrates that they are very well organised.

The meeting started at 7.30pm and the first half hour was networking with other members over tea & coffee, it was good to catch up with a few old members that I knew and the many new members that they have.

At 8.00pm Nick Looby called the meeting to order and introduced the main speaker who was Gina Gardiner, of Gina Gardiner Associates (Consultancy, Training and Coaching) is a renowned inspirational speaker specialising in Personal Empowerment and Leadership.

Her talk was called “Chariots On Fire - Creating The Positive Advantage” - with “Ten Top Tips for Strategic Thinking for Success”. The 45 minute presentation started with Gina explaining the problems she had to face after a skiing accident in the 1980’s and how she overcome the problems that this brought about, turning negatives into positives. This then led onto Gina presenting the top ten tips for “Successful Strategic Planning” which she explained in detail with some great sound bites and advice, which I am sure everyone present learnt something from.

This was then followed by a 20 minute break for more networking and refreshments, after which Nick Looby started a think tank session with the members asking them about their “Mindset and Motivation” for their business to succeed. There were some very interesting and honest accounts of the way people motivate themselves and their individual mind-sets, which gave a good insight to what brings about success.

I felt this part of the meeting is what many other clubs should be doing to help their members. If you are in the Chelmsford area, why not give the Essex Business Club a visit. It’s friendly and not expensive, plus a great business networking club.

THE RM BUSINESS GUIDE toNETWORKING

Written by Barry Hicks

43

what’s on

thursday 1st august

Nexus Network GroupMeet De Rougemont Manor - 6:30amwww.nexusnetworking.co.uk/index.php

Essex Business Forum Brentwood Meet Warley Park Golf Club - 6:30amwww.essexbusinessforum.com

BNI Barking & Dagenham College Integrity Chapter - 6:45amStephen Webb contact 01708855125

The Business Cafe Meet The Barn Brasserie, Great Tey - 6:45amwww.businesscafe.biz

Essex Business NetworkBasildon - Campanile Hotel - 8amBrentwood Marygreen Manor - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Friday 2nd august

Essex Business NetworkChelmsford Golf Club - 7amWitham, White Hart Hotel - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Havering Chamber of CommerceQueens Theatre, Hornchurch - 7:30amwww.haveringbusiness.co.uk

Biscotti BrentwoodMarygreen Manor, Brentwood - 10amwww.businessbiscotti.co.uk/essex/brentwood.html

tuesday 6th august

Essex Business NetworkSouthend, Park Inn Palace Hotel - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Brentford Borough NetworkingMarygreen Manor, Brentwood - 8amContact Andrew Brabham-Neil 01277 220819

Wednesday 7th august

Essex Business NetworkRedbridge College - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Select NetworkingChelmsford - 7amwww.select-network.co.uk

Eppnet Business Networking Meet The Bell Epping - 7.15amwww.eppnet.co.ukContact. Tom Arnold 07971962617

Brentwood Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Meeting Marygreen Manor - 7.45amwww.brentwoodchambers.co.uk/events.php

thursday 8th august

Nexus Network Group Meet De Rougemont Manor - 6.30amwww.nexusnetworking.co.uk/index.php

Essex Business Forum Brentwood Meet Warley Park Golf Club - 6.30amwww.essexbusinessforum.com

BNI Barking & Dagenham College Integrity Chapter - 6.45amStephen Webb contact 01708855125

Essex Business NetworkBasildon - Campanile Hotel - 8amBrentwood, Marygreen Manor - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Brentwood Networking GroupMeet Old Brentwood Ashwells Road - 8amContact, Colin Kirby 07717855435

Friday 9th august

Essex Business NetworkChelmsford Golf Club - 7am Witham, White Hart Hotel - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

tuesday 13th august

Essex Business NetworkSouthend, Park Inn Palace Hotel - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Wednesday 14th august

Essex Business NetworkRedbridge College - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Select NetworkingChelmsford - 7amwww.select-network.co.uk

Eppnet Business Networking Meet The Bell Epping - 7.15amwww.eppnet.co.ukContact. Tom Arnold 07971962617

thursday 15th august

Nexus Network Group Meet De Rougemont Manor - 6.30amwww.nexusnetworking.co.uk/index.php

Essex Business Forum Brentwood Meet Warley Park Golf Club - 6.30amwww.essexbusinessforum.com

BNI Barking & Dagenham CollegeIntegrity Chapter - 6.45amStephen Webb contact 01708855125

The Business Cafe Meet The Barn Brasserie, Great Tey6:45amwww.businesscafe.biz

Essex Business NetworkBasildon Campanile Hotel - 8amBrentwood Marygreen Manor - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Friday 16th august

Essex Business NetworkChelmsford Golf Club - 7amWitham, White Hart Hotel - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Monday 19th august

EBANG Dragon Enterprise Centre, Rayleigh - 3.45pmwww.businessadvisoressex.co.uk

tuesday 20th august

Essex Business NetworkSouthend, Park Inn Palace Hotel - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Brentford Borough NetworkingMarygreen Manor, Brentwood - 8amContact Andrew Brabham-Neil 01277 220819

Wednesday 21st august

Essex Business NetworkRedbridge College - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

44 rmbusiness.co.uk

what’s on

Eppnet Business Networking Meet The Bell Epping - 7.15amwww.eppnet.co.ukContact. Tom Arnold 07971962617

Select NetworkingChelmsford - 7amwww.select-network.co.uk

thursday 22nd august

Nexus Network Group Meet De Rougemont Manor - 6.30amwww.nexusnetworking.co.uk/index.php

Essex Business Forum Brentwood Meet Warley Park Golf Club - 6.30amwww.essexbusinessforum.com

BNI Barking & Dagenham CollegeIntegrity Chapter 6.45amStephen Webb contact 01708855125

Essex Business NetworkBasildon - Campanile Hotel - 8amBrentwood, Marygreen Manor - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Brentwood Networking Group Meet Old Brentwood Ashwells Road - 8amContact, Colin Kirby 07717855435

Friday 23rd august

Essex Business NetworkChelmsford Golf Club - 7amWitham, White Hart Hotel - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

tuesday 27th august

Essex Business NetworkSouthend, Park Inn Palace Hotel - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Wednesday 28th august

Essex Business NetworkRedbridge College - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Eppnet Business Networking Meet The Bell Epping - 7.15amwww.eppnet.co.ukContact. Tom Arnold 07971962617

Select NetworkingChelmsford - 7amwww.select-network.co.uk

thursday 29th august

Nexus Network Group Meet De Rougemont Manor - 6.30amwww.nexusnetworking.co.uk/index.php

Essex Business Forum Brentwood Meet Warley Park Golf Club - 6.30am www.essexbusinessforum.com

BNI Barking & Dagenham CollegeIntegrity Chapter - 6.45amStephen Webb contact 01708855125

The Business Cafe Meet The Barn Brasserie, Great Tey - 6.45amwww.businesscafe.biz

Essex Business NetworkBasildon - Campanile Hotel - 8amBrentwood, Marygreen Manor - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Friday 30th august

Essex Business NetworkChelmsford Golf Club - 7amWitham, White Hart Hotel - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

tuesday 3rd septeMber

Essex Business NetworkSouthend, Park Inn Palace Hotel - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Brentwood Chamber of CommerceMarygreen Manor - 7.45amwww.brentwoodchambers.co.uk/events.php

Brentwood Borough Networking Marygreen Manor, Brentwood - 7.30pmContact Andrew Brabham-Neil 01277 220819

Essex Business ClubMoulsham Mill, Chelmsford - 7.30pmwww.essexbusinessclub.org.uk

Wednesday 4th septeMber

Essex Business NetworkRedbridge College - 7am www.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Eppnet Business Networking7.15amwww.eppnet.co.ukContact. Tom Arnold 07971962617

thursday 5th septeMber

Nexus Network Group Meet De Rougemont Manor - 6.30amwww.nexusnetworking.co.uk/index.php

Essex Business Forum Brentwood Meet Warley Park Golf Club - 6.30amwww.essexbusinessforum.com

BNI Barking & Dagenham College6.45amStephen Webb contact 01708855125

Essex Business NetworkBasildon - 8amBrentwood - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Brentwood Networking Group Meet Old Brentwood Ashwells Road - 8amContact, Colin Kirby 07717855435

Friday 6th septeMber

Essex Business NetworkChelmsford Golf Club - 7amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Havering Chamber of CommerceQueens Theatre, Hornchurch - 7.30amwww.haveringbusiness.co.uk

Essex Business NetworkWitham, White Hart Hotel - 8amwww.essexbusinessnetwork.co.uk

Biscotti BrentwoodMarygreen Manor, Brentwood - 10amwww.businessbiscotti.co.uk/essex/brentwood.html

*For up-to-date information please visitwww.rmbusiness.co.uk

45

contact us today

01708 475789hello@rmbusiness.co.uk

*estimated monthly readership

rmbusiness

10,0007,500

printed

copies

rea

ders

deliver

ed t

o

business owners

distributed at 20+ networking eventsO O

30,000every month

rm business magazine

*

46 rmbusiness.co.uk

lifestyle

Plasters: The simplest and smallest thing to slip in your bag, yet we still forget. If you decide to wear your pretty new heels to work, be prepared! Are sore, blistered feet enough to make you turn down a girly gossip over a drink with your friends?

Don’t let your feet take control of your social life; with a few little strips you can be up and about, leading your friends from bar to bar! However, we are aware that sometimes a few plasters just don’t cut it – boo. Many people advise women to keep a pair of flats either in their bag (depending on the size) or at work for those real shoe emergencies!

from desk To drinks

You can always rely on your friends to cheer you up; it’s just a shame that it’s always after a long day at work. Hair all over the place, rubbed off lippy and sore feet – sound like you?

Well not anymore. Take a look at our desk to drinks handbag essentials, and you’ll always be prepared for those surprise pick-me-ups!

Hair Bands: When you leave home in the morning with your perfectly styled hair, we can almost guarantee that it won’t be staying that way for long – unless you have a hairspray of steel!

A good ole hair band can always save the day, whether your hair has become frizzy or has gained an annoying kink; a quick up-do is always an option. Without a proper hair band, the only other option is an elastic band, which most people know is pretty much hair-suicide. You could even carry a mini hairbrush and clips if your hair is your pride and joy.

Make-Up: Carrying your whole make-up bag around all day could be a bit OTT, which is why you need to know the must-haves. If you find that your skin gets shiny throughout the day, it would be a great idea to carry a face powder and brush. You can easily nip to the toilets and apply to the shine-prone T-zone (forehead, nose and chin). If you wear lighter, natural coloured mascara throughout the day, remember to bring a darker colour along.

This means that you can layer it up to achieve a darker, thicker and more dramatic look – perfect for when you’re off out. If you’re a lippy lover, always remember to take it with you, as it is bound to rub off throughout the day. If you don’t do bold lipsticks, be sure to carry a lip-gloss or balm – dry lips isn’t a good look.

Perfume: Carting your large bottle of expensive perfume around in your bag isn’t the best idea, especially if you’re a bit heavy-handed with your bag.

Most perfumes now come in travel-sized bottles, which are a lot less likely to break and a lot less expensive. If you smell nice, you’ll feel more confident, so wear your scent with pride- just not too much of it. Travel sized deodorants and body sprays are always handy for a quick freshen-up, especially in those sticky summer months.

Nail varnish: There’s nothing more annoying than chipping your nail varnish, especially when you’re out and can do nothing about it! When you’re at work there are so many chip-hazards (typing too aggressively, exposing your nails to harsh chemicals, or accidently picking them) that it’s almost foolish not to take it along with you. If you’re in a rush to get straight to the pub then you can give your nails a quick swipe of colour, wave them about like a crazy person and you’re ready to go!

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John Parrett, owner of Fox Tailoring felt this many years ago and wanted to know why?

He read a book on colour and was amazed to find out that the colours that looked best depended on your skin, eye and natural hair colour. He delved further into this and found that there were companies that advised on what specific shades of colour you should wear.

“I always loved clothes and fashion from an early age and all my money went on clothes,” said John. I loved certain colours and therefore bought them and wore them. All my friends knew I liked clothes and always commented on them, but not on me wearing them. One day a friend said that maybe I should look into this “colour thing” as he felt I looked better in some colours and not so good in others.

As I said, I liked certain colours and these were the earthy colours, browns, golds, greens, rusts, yellows etc. Maybe I thought they were rich looking.

I went and had my colours analysed by one of these companies and it was an incredible experience, one that changed my whole attitude to colour, and by using it in my business, has changed the attitude and lives of many others.

Skin Undertone

Apparently we have a skin undertone colour, which is either blue or yellow. We cannot actually see it when we look in the mirror, so how do we determine this?

You are sat in front of a mirror in natural light and alternatively a swatch of silver and gold fabrics are placed around your neck to see the effect that is has on your face. I was mesmerised.

What happened?

The silver fabric (representing blue) seemed to calm my face, making me look relaxed. The gold fabric (representing yellow) seemed to re-act against my face, making me look tired, showing lines and bags under my eyes and making me look unshaven. They also put a few colours, blue based i.e reds, blues, navy etc and yellow based i.e browns, yellows, greens, etc. The result was the same. I looked better in the blue-based colours than the yellow. They asked me about my hair colour, I started to grey (silver as I called it) at a young age. They asked me if I tanned or burnt and checked my eye colouring. All of this was important to my own personal colours.

Come on what happens next?

This determined that I had a blue base to my skin. What colours should I wear then I asked. All will be revealed I was told.

I was shown a colour wheel, bit like a paint colour chart. Down one side were blacks, navys, greys, reds, blues, pinks all blue based colours. On the other, browns, golds, yellows, greens etc all yellow based colours. So I could wear all of the blue-based colours I asked. Yes and no I was told.

Bold or Muted

Apparently your skin tone, along with hair and eye colouring will determine whether you should wear BOLD blue-based colours or muted blue-based colours. It was the process of elimination. I was draped with bold & muted blue-based colours, again to see the reaction. This was, for me, incredible. I came alive wearing the bold colours, blacks, navy’s, greys all good business suit colours, shirts in white (not easy to wear but everyone does) icy pinks, lilacs, blues, strong stripes and bold checks. T-shirts in bold bright sunny colours, cerise, mauve and reds. Colours I had never dreamt of wearing - colours I had never worn a lot of.

Reaction

The strange thing was the reaction of other people. There comments were “you look really good in that” the operative word “you”. They never said that before. They liked my clothes but never said I looked good in them.

Result

I had to learn how to do this, as it would bring a fantastic dimension to my business. I therefore trained as a ‘Professional colour analyst’ and now use it when working with clients, or with couples who are getting married. The whole process takes approximately 2 hours sitting in front of a mirror.

As Fox Tailoring has developed and expanded over the years, John is now unable to personally see clients but recommends them to the company that trained him. Once they know their colour palettes, they come back to have their suits and shirts made in their specific colour ranges. Alternatively the company also passes on to Fox Tailoring their clients as they know that John understands the concept and can finalise their wardrobe for them, not only in colour, but in style and design.

“One of the best investments I have ever made. Hence the statement.”

“YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO CREATE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION”

ever wondered why you look good in some colours and noT so good in oThers?

Fox Tailoring, 187 Station Lane, Hornchurch, Essex, RM12 6LL | 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7RS

01708 563 995 | 0800 021 3182 | E-mail john@foxtailoring.comTwitter: @Foxtailoring | LinkedIn: John Parrett | Facebook: Fox Tailoring

48 rmbusiness.co.uk

Ask any event organiser, and they will tell you that to plan something truly special, be prepared to put in

long hours months before the date. The same is true for the annual Duke of Essex Polo Grand Prix, but with every detail perfectly executed, the hard work had certainly paid off.

Last year, it seemed like lucky number seven for the annual Duke of Essex Polo Grand Prix. But this year, all expectations were exceeded, even the weather came out to celebrate the stunning event, not to mention showcase a few changes. For the first time in it’s eight-year history, the tournament was hosted in the stunning Hylands Park Estate, Chelmsford. The reason? Well anyone who has attended in previous years will openly admit that the event, which has firmly become a key date for the British social calendar, has continued to grow and grow. Indeed, a spokeswoman agreed, saying, “We just outgrew Gaynes Park Estate in Epping. We needed to make sure that the guests were happy. We listened to people’s comments over the years and felt that it was time to move on. Now, with the larger venue we can make it a real family day, as well as a corporate event.”

We have to agree, the impressive British countryside, not to mention the home of the grade II listed Hylands House expertly proved that this venue is so much more than just the site for the gigantic V Festival, and it is a place

that can be enjoyed by much more than just A-list musicians.

This was also the first year that the polo was under the ownership of Kingg and Grand Prix events and Mathew McGaun, co-owner of Grand Prix Events has stated, “Hyland’s House is part of the Hyland’s Park Estate which covers an impressive 574 acres. Like many stately homes across the country, the main house stood empty for a number of years until the current owners restored the Grade II listed Villa to its former glory. Hyland’s Park and the house itself is quite simply a beautiful setting for the Duke of Essex Polo Grand Prix, combining tranquil landscaping, formal gardens and wide open space for further adventure.”

The polo is now also fully sanctioned by the Hurlingham Polo Association-the governing body for polo in the UK, Ireland and also a few of the Commonwealth countries. As a guest, all you had to do was look around the event to see its credibility – an international standard polo arena, some of the world’s finest players and world class entertainment ensured that the event truly deserved its title as the ‘sport of kings.’

Fans of the sport were treated to a whole weekend of excitement, another first for this year. And despite all of the speculation about the changes, the event truly did live up to the hype. On Saturday we were treated to thrilling top level polo, kicking off at 12 midday sharp, courtesy of the very first match

49

business start-up - growth

of the weekend. The LEA polo team, owned by private jet specialists London Executive Aviation, played against the Kingg’s team, while later on that day, the second match saw Interlagos v Bentley.

But as we all know, the modern day spectacle of polo is as much about the social occasion as it is about the sport itself, and what a weekend it was. Event organiser, Tracey Zetter explained, “Polo is an exciting event and at The Duke of Essex Polo Grand Prix 13, our aim is to deliver an exciting, family friendly weekend, which will be talked about for many months after.”

For the first time ever, VIP guests, that was us, were able to drive up to the door in their chauffer driven car. Connoisseurs of the event will know that this is in stark contrast to last year when ladies had to use shoe covers to stop their beloved Louboutins getting spoilt. This was just as well, as it was a whole weekend on your feet to see all of the entertainment available for everyone to enjoy, ranging from families right up to the celebrity VIPs such as Bianca Gascoigne.

Fresh from Britain’s Got Talent, the junior dance group sensation, Youth Creation wowed fans with their energetic routines and contagious energy. Or if you prefer your music a little more classic then you were also in luck, as soul legend Jaki Graham was there singing just some of her greatest hits like ‘Set me free’ and ‘Round and Around.’

For the younger polo fans there was the ‘Dinky Derby’ and the Essex Dog Display Team entertained the 8, 000 strong crowd. Fans of thrills were entertained by the event’s main sponsor, Lookers, showcasing the new Range Rover Sport and inviting guests to ride the Land Rover Experience mini Terrapod. There was even formula 1 simulators, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, shopping village, arts and crafts, and access to all the rides and games on offer. The Gourmet Food Village even offered a Champagne and Oyster Garden. There was also the Viking Village, Show Jumping Challenge and you could hang even hang out with the Heart Angels from Heart FM – Entertainment that would surely please even a Royal guest.

And while polo has never been known as an affordable sport, this year’s Duke of Essex Polo Grand Prix had a variety of tickets, ranging from the £20pp family ticket to the £8, 000 Black Grand Prix Package, where a whole new world of luxury was unveiled in beautiful marquees, a five star menu and a cocktail bar complete with champagne or even Pimms – perfect for the hot summer weather.

Although, all the cash being splashed was not just for show, there was a Grand and Silent auction for the incredibly deserving charity, Great Ormond Street. The Duke wanted to raise money for pioneering child health research, such as intravenous pumps and provide help for children with craniosynostosis; a condition that makes

the baby’s head fuse together much too early restricting growth and development of the brain. There was incredible sought after prizes such as a helicopter into the Glastonbury Festival next year, and two tickets for the World Cup final in Brazil next year – but there was also incredible generosity shown too. Thousands of pounds were raised, supporting the amazing charity and really changing young people’s lives.

But it was only once the polo finished, divots trodden and ponies safely put away, the real party really began in the VIP Paddock Night Club. With top DJs such as Justin Wilkes from Kiss FM, all held exclusively for Black, Gold, Silver and Dusk guests, we were treated to a wonderful night out through the state of the art sound and lighting, making it a highlight of the whole event.

The Duke of Essex Grand Prix 13 is ‘the Sport of Kings’ and undoubtedly was one the hottest events of the summer, roll on next year. Note from the RM Team:An extra special thank you to the team at Fox Tailoring for our beautiful bespoke tailored suits and to James Read Opticians for our super chic Ray Ban sunglasses!

50 rmbusiness.co.uk

car review

DEALERS SAY 38% OF CUSTOMERS ASK ABOUT CO2 EMISSIONSDealers are reporting a rise in the number of consumers asking them for CO2 information as part of the used car buying process, according to the latest survey from vehicle information expert, .

DEALERS SAY 38% OF CUSTOMERS ASK ABOUT CO2 EMISSIONSDealers are reporting a rise in the number of consumers asking them for CO2 information as part of the used car buying process, according to the latest survey from vehicle information expert, .

ROADS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

England’s major roads have received a guarantee of a large increase in funding, locked into a long term settlement, backed by law. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has published plans for

extra lanes and improved junctions.

BENTLEY TRAINEES CONTRIBUTE TO LOCAL CHARITY PROJECTS

The Industrial Placement Students have raised just under £9,000 and dedicated over 175 hours of their time to the NSPCC Crewe Service Centre, Rainbow House and The Cheshire Academy of Integrated

Sports & Arts.

For more information visit www.RMbusiness.co.uk

HONDA JAZZ DOMINATES THE WHICH? CAR BEST BUY SUPERMINI CHART

The British built Honda Jazz has taken an impressive first and second place in the Which? Car Supermini Best Buy category, further

reinforcing its reliability and popularity.

ASTON MARTIN CELEBRATES CENTENARY AT GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

The luxury British sports car maker’s exciting display at the Festival was the CC100 Speedster Concept, a stunning celebration of their

excellence and a brave pointer to its potential future design direction.

This monTh’s car news

51

NO MONEYTO ADVERTISE?What about that cappuccino you have every Friday morning? #JustSaying

RM Rewards cost just £10 per month

Sign your business up today! www.rmrewards.co.uk/browse

01708 475789hello@rmrewards.co.uk@RMrewards

52 rmbusiness.co.uk

vs

sage

Companies are always on the hunt for new and improved ways to strengthen and share their customer’s information to help maintain long lasting and profitable relationships. This means that the software has had to adapt too and expand to meet their growing needs. Surely enough, somewhere between the chaos of spreadsheets and Post-it notes a solution has been found – contact management. This electronic database, full of contacts, allows businesses to record and track customer interactions through much more than just their emails. The benefits to your business are countless. Firstly, by storing all of your customer’s information in one place, productivity will naturally increase and you will be able to enhance your all-important relationships with your customers, suppliers; in fact anyone you conduct business with thanks to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications.

And while a number of CRM systems exist, arguably the two best known are Salesforce.com and The Sage Group Plc. But what management software do you chose? Both are easy to use but there are also a number of important differences too. HoSTINGBoth software systems use Cloud Computing in very different ways – but what is it? Well, if you check your Hotmail email account from your laptop at home, or use your desktop at work to update your LinkedIn page, you’re actually already using the Cloud! In its most basic form, the Cloud just needs an internet connection to access technology-enabled services. The true beauty of Cloud though is its simplicity, meaning that it minimises the common risks seen with product development. So with Salesforce and the cloud computing technology, you will have the freedom to devote more time and effort to your business, rather than worrying about IT maintenance work and upgrades. Whereas Sage uses SAAS (Software as a Service.) This can mean an application that your firm runs and uses that isn’t located on your premises. But Sage’s CRM system offers a true SaaS solution, built completely in the Cloud.

CoSTSo which one is the best one for your business? Salesforce prices vary depending on which features you want to use and the number of users that your business has. Contact Manager is the most basic CRM service for up to 5 users and costs £3 per user per month, while at the other end of the scale is the Unlimited package which costs £170 per user per month. However it has been reported that in order to have automated weekly backups, you will need to upgrade

Have you ever stopped to think if your business is using the right software? Well you might want to, because if you haven’t ensured

that you are using the right package, you could increase productivity by switching to a programme that suits the needs of your business

better. So which one do you chose?

53

vs

sage

technology

to a higher edition. But most versions of the software do come with a 30 day free trial. Prices for Sage CRM range from £20 per user per month to £50, but for the more sophisticated software packages, you will need to contact Sage for a quote. All packages come with a free 30-day trial to provide users with instant access to the software, and allow organisations to have full control over the data users can access.

INTErGrATIoNIt has been reported that Salesforce has a weak integration with MS Outlook and MS Office, as your contacts must exist in both MS Outlook and Salesforce.com before they can be synchronised. In contrast, Sage SalesLogix does integrate with Microsoft Outlook and Office. Exporting reports to Excel in Sage can also be completed by a single click.

SoCIAl MEDIA Salesforce.com have proven to be truly innovative, as seen through the launch of Chatter, a Facebook-esque tool for businesses. They also recently bought Radian6 and Buddy Media.“We couldn’t afford to wait,” says founder Marc Benioff. “These deals form a new division within Salesforce, the Marketing Cloud, which will help brands know what is being said about them on social networks and then tailor messages to those audiences.” So you can use social.com, an advertising tool to you to select your demographic, and use Buddy Media to push your ideas through social media.

Sage CRM Cloud offers specific packages for small to medium sized businesses. It integrates with key social media applications including LinkedIn, Twitter, Yammer and Facebook, so you can engage with customers to generate loyalty and increasing revenue. For example, you could use Sage CRM for Twitter to view and manage your Twitter feeds, whereas their integration with Yammer can be used to drive productivity and gain a real insight into your customers.

Our money would be spent on Sage, and it should be on your list of programmes to consider too, not least because it is specifically designed to grow with your company and is currently the world’s most popular contact manager software.

But whatever programme you do consider, your real choice should start with the basics. Despite what the marketers say, a CRM system is nothing more than a database. Both CRM systems are in the cloud, have features specifically designed for email and can effectively communicate with social media sites. They can both be accessed from a smart phone which makes them a powerful tool to use. But before you go spending any money on technology, make sure you have set it up correctly and have a good administrator, because without a good team, you won’t get good results – whatever the system.

54 rmbusiness.co.uk

rM rewards now has 6000 registered rewards members!

#JustSayingrM rewards cost just £10 per monthSign your business up today! www.rmrewards.co.uk/browse

T: 01708 475789 | W: www.rmrewards.co.uk | E: hello@rmrewards.co.uk

Warrington Chase provides specialist accountancy recruitment solutions for the East London and Essex regions. We tailor our service and price to your business and ensure we get you get the right person to look after your finances with minimal disruption to your busy schedule.

T: 01708 629721W: www.warringtonchase.co.ukE: daniel@warringtonchase.co.uk

We offer free, impartial and independent advice to businesses; identifying and delivering training to meet business needs. One of the key goals of the service is to make sure that both the training and the skills advice are impartial, flexible, responsive, and offered at a time and place to suit businesses.

T: 01708 462800W: www.havering-college.ac.ukE: employerenquiry@havering-college.ac.uk

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If you know that you can’t run a company without IT, but it just seems to cause you headaches, you need help. Not just someone to sell you the latest gizmo, but someone to help you ensure your IT system does what YOU want it to do. Call us today to see how we can help.

T: 0845 0940010W: www.softlinksolutions.co.ukE: info@softlinksolutions.co.uk

Essex Chambers of Commerce is a fully independent body offering a comprehensive and continuously developing range of business services. For more information about Essex Chambers of Commerce and how we might assist you and your business aspirations please visit our website. Should you have any questions we will be pleased to assist you.

T: 01206 765277W: www.essexchambers.co.ukE: enquiries@essexchambers.co.uk

We have a passion for helping business’s go forward, by generating new business. This is quite simply really, lead generation. You supply the data, your target market, we make the calls and build a relationship with your prospects, sending emails and ultimately booking a meeting for you to present your company.

T: 07796 441476W: www.bellconsultancy.euE: sue@bellconsultancy.eu

Positive Media believe that successful communication is at the core of every successful business. Piecing together the necessary components to create a winning marketing campaign entails creativity, passion and a successful understanding of the campaigns end goal.

T: 01708 475767W: www.positivemedia.co.ukE: hello@positivemedia.co.uk

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Symons & Gay provides a broad range of legal services to private individuals and small to medium sized commercial organisations and non profit-making bodies of all types.It undertakes work funded privately and work funded by the Legal Services Commission and other third parties.

T: 01708 744211W: www.symons-gay.co.ukE: office@symons-gay.co.uk

The Business Start-Up Master Class.Book Now! Places strictly limitedwith over £1500 of free business tools included with every programme.

Starts 24th June 2013 for five days.Fast forward your business growth, today!

T: 07758 237696.W: www.thebiznessguru.comE: simon@thebiznessguru.com

At SLR Investment Consultants Limited we share investment ideas with the aim to increase your income for today and your wealth for tomorrow through asset backed products, secured on property and land. To arrange a free, no obligation consultation at a time and place to suit you please contact us. SLR Investment Consultants Limited is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is not authorised to offer advice to the general public concerning any regulated or unregulated investment or product.

T: 020 3245 1126 / 0800 083 1349W: www.slrinvestmentconsultants.comE: lesley@slric.com

Kosho now in its 2nd year as raised the standard for bars in Essex providing the best music, atmosphere and drinks deals in town. The stylish West End theme makes it the trendiest bar in Essex which is why we hit capacity every night. If you would like to hire Kosho exclusively for your company we can cater for all events from corporate meetings to pop video shoots, available from Sunday to Wednesday.

T: 07501 314589W: www.koshobar.co.uk

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Time 107.5 is the local commercial radio station for the London boroughs of Havering, Barking, Dagenham and Redbridge plus surrounding areas.

Broadcasting 24 hours a day from studios in the centre of Romford Time 107.5 provides local news, up-to-the minute travel information and one of the widest choices of musical entertainment that you will find on the radio.

T: 01708 731643W: www.time1075.comE: lorna@timefm.com

Havering Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents over 200 Businesses who employ over 2,750 people. We have been around for 25 years and now we have a new business address and a new partnership, working for business with the London Borough of Havering.HCCI is the voice of business in Havering.

T: 07913 477 631W: www.haveringbusiness.co.ukE: office@haveringbusiness.org.uk

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