Being Stingy With Your Equity
It can be tempting to offer shares in your company to finance its growth. These days, there are plenty of investors chasing promising new companies…
Unique IQ is expanding!
Hot on the heels of securing significant investment from venture capital firm Midven, Redditch-based software company Unique IQ has enjoyed rapid expansion, welcoming eleven new members…
Should you be paying your interns?
Summer’s here, and along with the sunshine will come summer interns for many businesses around the UK. But how should you pay them? Do you…
Sitting is a Silent Killer
Help Employees Avoid Sedentary Risks in the Workplace While you might envision a high-risk workplace as one that places employees in frequently hazardous situations—such…
Top tips for managing remote workers
There are many benefits to employing remote workers for your business, such as reduced overheads and better flexibility. But managing them comes with its own…
Landlords are you compliant with the Tenant Fees Act 2019?
Landlords are you complying with the Tenant Fees Act 2019? What is the effect of the act? The Tenant Fees Act 2019 states that as…
Do you have a referral strategy for your business that works?
Many of us rely on referrals for a significant portion of our business – and yet for many of us this is ad-hoc at best.…
Delivering a great multi-touch campaign
A multi-touch campaign requires thought. In reality everything requires thought, but sometimes when we are busy it is all too easy to simply think “that’ll…
Cyber Breaches only happen to Big Business – Wrong!
We all hear and read about the big names that have their systems hacked or suffer a loss of data – NHS, EE and British…
Why You Should Exit While You’re Ahead – A Cautionary Tale
The very best time to sell your business is when someone wants to buy it. While it can be tempting to continue to grow your…
3 IT Needs to get right when setting up a new business
There are so many things to think about when setting up a new business. In this guide, I’m going to outline the key areas…
Managing maternity leave
You’ve signed the card and waved an employee off into parenthood. But what happens next? Perhaps you hadn’t thought that far ahead yet, especially if…
How Incorrect Payroll can damage your business
Payroll is an area in your business that can have large consequences when it goes wrong, without you even realising it. If there is an…
Are your interviewing techniques a help or a hindrance?
Interviews. You either look forward to doing them, dread them or get someone else to do them for you. Perhaps you feel you have…
5 Reasons Why Your Business Is Too Dependent On You
If you were to draw a picture that visually represents your role in your business, what would it look like? Are you at the top…
Stop Slipping: How to Prevent the Most Common Cause of Workplace Injury
Whether it be a slippery surface, damaged floor coverings (e.g. a rug or carpet), improperly stored equipment or a dimly lit area, a wide variety…
The Big Thing Holding Back Small Businesses
Small businesses stay small either by choice, or because they start chasing growth in the wrong places. When you strip away the layers, it all…
Contracts of Employment – Changes in the Law
Changes to Legislation – Contracts of Employment The ‘Good work plan’ due to be implemented in April 2020, sets out the governments vision for the…
Sellability Tracker – Generations Research
Have you ever wondered how you compare as an owner with your peers? The most recent data from The Value Builder System™ presents an interesting…
Why Companies are Adopting Subscription Billing Models
Volvo recently announced they will make their cars available on a subscription model where consumers will pay one fixed fee per month for access to…
What is the key to effective internal communication?
One employee missing your important email and asking questions could be brushed off as an honest mistake. But when the second, third or fourth person…
5 Ways To Package Your Service
If you’re a service provider, it can be difficult to separate the service from the provider. Your customers might demand you, which means you can’t…
ScaleUp Club is scaling up with Worcestershire Business Central Support!
ScaleUp Club is changing up a gear – you might even say it is ‘scaling up’! It is now running in partnership with Worcestershire Business…
Do you have a billion pound business hiding inside your company?
Asking customers to pay to join a special group of your best patrons can increase your revenue, encourage customers to buy new products and services…
10 Tips to Reduce Cyber Exposure
Cyber-security threats and trends can change year over year as technology continues to advance at alarming speeds.
7 things to do before signing a Letter of Intent
You may be years away from selling your business, but it’s never too early to understand what the process involves. If you have ever promised your…
How to spot and stop sexual harassment in your business
How to spot and stop sexual harassment in your business Just last week, a BBC documentary and trending advert from Gillette shed more light on…
Business Valuation
Deck: Business valuation goes beyond simple mathematics, but to get some idea of what your business might be worth, consider the three methods below. …
10 questions every clinic should ask before they outsource telephone answering and diary management
If you run a clinic you’ll know that managing a diary and answering calls can be quite a juggling act. All you want to do…
Why should you register a trade mark?
Should you register your logo as a trade mark? A name, logo or brand style is really important when it comes to gaining recognition as…
One Hidden Thing That Drives Your Company’s Value
You already know that your company’s revenue and profits play a big role in how much your business is worth. Do you also know…
The Danger of Market Timing the Sales of your Business
The other day I was speaking with a successful CEO in his fifties who runs a heating and air conditioning company generating eight million dollars…
The Importance of Building a Safety Culture
Of course workplace safety is important to you. But how important is it to your employees? If you don’t know, it may be time to…
Four ways to improve knowledge sharing in your SME business
It is not uncommon for a small business to be fuelled by multitaskers who wear various hats throughout the day. As the leader of such…
Pivotal moment …
Hi everybody and welcome to this week’s blog coming to you from sunny Aberystwyth!! Talking to people who use Excel but not to its…
Beware of over-reliance…
Are you over-reliant on one person? Is there that member of your team, that you think, “if anything ever happens to them…” Are you…
WHAT YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE SAYS ABOUT YOUR EXIT PLAN
In our experience, your age has a big effect on your attitude towards your business and how you feel about one day getting out. Here’s…
What a Study of 14,000 Businesses Reveals About How You Should Not Be Spending Your Time
In an analysis of more than 14,000 businesses, a new study finds the most valuable companies take a contrarian approach to the boss doing…
The Six Elements
Every business needs marketing resources. For some, a business card and a Facebook page may suffice. Others may need a whole suite of tools –…
3 Simple Tips to Help Win the Battle Against Email
We all spend far too much time dealing with email. If I was to have a look at your inbox, how many emails would I…
The dangers of using a same or similar name of an insolvent company
There are many complex issues that can arise out of the decision to use the same or a similar name to an insolvent company, also known…
Thinking Vs. Doing: The Owner’s Dilemma
There’s a steady breeze from the northwest, which cools the warm Caribbean afternoon. Framed between a palm tree and the turquoise water, you notice a…
It’s time to address the time wasters on your team
It’s time to address the time wasters on your team Before we talk about the time wasters on your team, it’s important to note that…
Do you know what you don’t know?
Conscious incompetence is when you are aware of of what you don’t know. One of the keys in running a successful business is to…
Growth vs. Value: not all revenue is created equally
When you look ahead to next year, will your growth come from selling more to your existing customers or finding new customers for your…
How to engage with the enemy
The value of a competitor analysis However you view your competitors, it’s important to have an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Going undercover to…
Having a MAIL eMERGEncy?
MS Word to perform Mail Merges, this can be a thorny problem, and I get loads of questions about it, so I hope what follows…
How to Improve Your Positivity and Be More Productive
I’m sure that we can all recognise the effect that our attitude can have on our lives. When we’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by our…
Send your clone out to do your marketing!
The problem with selling a consultancy or training service is that you are selling something intangible. That requires a tremendous amount of trust and a…
How to level up your team through L&D
If you were to pick an employee at random from your company and ask them “What did you learn last week?” could you be confident…
5 Lessons From Home Depot’s Acquisition of Blinds.com
Jay Steinfeld built Blinds.com into a £100 million e-tailer before selling out to Home Depot. Here are five things that made it a spectacular exit.…
Upcoming Events in October 2018
Accelerate, Scale up and Game On: Grow your Business Gill Hutchinson of Aardvark Marketing Consultants is speaking at Accelerate, Scale up and Game On: Grow…
The Anatomy of a Successful Exit
Stephanie Breedlove started Breedlove & Associates in 1992 as a way to pay her nanny. The big payroll processors weren’t interested in dealing with one…
It’s all gone quiet….all gone quiet
A comment made frequently to me by many a small business about GDPR is “all the hype leading up to 25th May and since then, there…
What’s the difference between a VA, a PA and an EA?
Sweet FA some would say and there is definitely some confusion about what these titles actually mean. However, there are a number of important differences…
How can a content marketing strategy take you from £30k debt to £426,000 revenue?
Allan Corfield was nearly £30,000 in debt when he lost his job as an architect. He didn’t need to be in such a big hole,…
Help! I’ve received a fake review on Facebook!
Introduction: Over the last few weeks, a number of businesses I know have received very negative ‘reviews’ on Facebook from accounts and people that are…
The Downside of Selling Someone Else’s Product
Are you tempted to re-sell someone else’s product to boost your topline revenue? On the surface, becoming a distributor for a popular product can…
The Surprising Secret To A Big Exit
We get to see a lot of company founders who are contemplating an exit. Some of our customers get lucky early in life, but…
Back Strain: A Workplace Risk for Every Employee
Back injuries are common in the workplace and are typically the result of a strain or sprain to back ligaments or muscles, the spinal cord,…
A Legal Guide to Setting Up a New Business
Andrew Bradley, takes a look at some of the matters you need to consider from a legal point of view when starting your own business. …
How an IT business is bringing in more leads using a new approach
Citrus Computing Case Study The Company When Breda Hadley and her business partner Keith Rose first launched their business Citrus Computing, back in 2011, they initially ran…
Your team’s attention span is decreasing! Or is it?
Ever heard the phrase “Humans have a shorter attention span than a goldfish”? Perhaps you have quoted it yourself. This attention-grabbing headline has spread like…
Six steps to preparing for an intern
If you’ve never had an intern before, you could be forgiven for thinking you hire one to pass on your wealth of business knowledge, so…
Unique IQ Rebrand
We are proud to announce the launch of our new logo and website as part of the ongoing evolution of Unique IQ’s brand. Our business has grown…
Open For Business – Think Aluminium
Funding received by Think Aluminium from WBA has delivered huge benefits to its production process
Open For Business – Industrial Switchgear
WBA support received by Industrial Switchgear Ltd has 'injected a huge confidence boost' into the company
Open For Business – Adder Bookkeeping
With help from WBA support, Adder Bookkeeping was able to invest in 'crucial business development activity'
Open For Business – Unique IQ
WBA support received by Unique IQ has 'injected a huge boost into the company'
Upcoming Events in June and July 2018
Grow your business with Scale Up Club There are just a few days left to book your place on our next Scale Up Club. It’s…
From a system “held together with sticky tape” to a professional business… with support from BizSmart
BizSmart has been working with and supporting Worcestershire business owner Sarah Preece for several years, and with the dedication and commitment shown by Sarah and her…
Tax Tips for Business Owners
Tax can be a minefield for business owners and it’s certainly not straightforward. BizSmart Select Member Simon Cook of SRC Accountancy Services is an experienced…
Improving efficiency in your business
Business efficiency Business efficiency is a critical part of growing a successful business. As you streamline your systems and processes, becoming more efficient will…
How to turn your customers into raving fans using email marketing, blogs and social media posts
People are often reticent to start sending out regular email marketing, post to a blog or share content on social media. They worry about…
Case Study: Perrigo Consultants Recruit More Staff to Grow
Dave Perrigo of Perrigo Consultants in Stourport on Severn first started working with BizSmart five years ago, at the point where he started his business.…
Case Study: Business growth with Areca Design
Having a sounding board is key When we asked Mick Hurst at Areca Design about the benefits of working with BizSmart, he emphasised the…
Smart Matters – October 2017
Smart Matters: October 2017 Can a Virtual Assistant deliver tangible support? Do you run your own business or work in a large company? Do…
Smart Matters – July 2017 – Cyber Security and £10k+ Grants
Smart Matters: How to protect your business with cyber security As we’ve seen in the news lately, cyber security is not to be taken…
Smart Matters June 2017
How can you find your X-Factor? What’s the bottleneck in your business or industry? What if you could gain control of that bottleneck? Discovering your…
Smart Matters May 2017
How to Measure What Matters Measure Measure Measure – We all know we should be keeping a close eye on our business performance. We’re…
Smart Matters March 2017 Newsletter
I’m sure you’re sick to death of everyone telling you the best way to go about setting goals for 2017, but I promise that this…
Smart Matters February 2017 Newsletter
The Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing As an employer, the dos and don’ts of interviewing are important, but there are a number of considerations…
Smart Matters January 2017 Newsletter
Achieving Business Success in 2017 Did you take stock of everything you achieved last year? Celebrating your wins and the goals you’ve achieved…
Smart Matters November 2016 Newsletter
Global business relationships – tips for growth BizSmart Core Adviser Steve Parker has learnt a huge amount about maintaining fantastic business relationships with people of different…
Smart Matters September Newsletter
Does your business need a mobile app or a responsive website? When deciding whether your business needs a mobile app or a responsive…
Smart Matters August Newsletter
Catch up on BizSmart news and resources Investing for growth – borrowing money to grow your business Borrowing money to grow your business…
Smart Matters July Newsletter
Catch up on BizSmart news and resources How to maximise your chances of winning a tender Winning a tender is always a cause…
Smart Matters June Newsletter
Here’s this month’s Smart Matters June Newsletter Catch up on BizSmart news and resources The eagle who thought he was a chicken Some…
Smart Matters May Newsletter
Here’s our new online version of the Smart Matters May Newsletter, bringing you this month’s news from BizSmart. Should you take on an apprentice?…
Smart Matters April Newsletter
Here’s our new online version of the Smart Matters April Newsletter, bringing you this month’s news from BizSmart. Help your business stand out with memorable…