Why Bother With Federation of Small Businesses?

My Membership Certificate for the Federation of Small Businesses arrived today.

Delivered in a stiff A4 envelope that protected the precious document from creases and corruptions, it's now begging to be hung proudly on my office wall. Here it'll be enjoyed by me, the bookkeeper (with whom I share the house) and my teenage children, who'll probably take it as further evidence that their father's dabbling in self-employment has its roots in mid-life insecurity.

So, other than a shiny new certificate, what has membership of the FSB done for me?

On the face of it, absolutely nothing.

But that's a little unfair, because for the last month I've been under the invisible protective wing of their various support services.

True, I haven't needed them, but if I'd run into a tricky problem with a client I could have rung their free 24/7 legal helpline. I know a friend who justifies their FSB subscription on this service alone, because they've found it invaluable when resolving potentially difficult staffing issues.

If I'd have fallen seriously ill I could have benefited from free access to a personal nurse advisor, including home visits. I've heard of a newcomer to the FSB, with a pre-existing condition, who was able to use this service from day one and found it very useful.

Should I be bothered to go online I can get into the FSB library of legal and tax information, including downloadable documents I can use in my own business. At the same time (well, during the same visit to the website) I can add myself to the free online directory of businesses which is, apparently, visited several hundred times a day by potential customers.

One more freebie that I could take up is a free VoIP phone line, which apparently gives me a unique phone number for my business. As I work from home this might be a useful tool.

A significant, but hard to quantify, benefit of FSB membership is their research and lobbying of government. It's difficult to know exactly what difference organisations like the FSB make to government policy, but there's no doubting that they are an influencing force and they're promoting actions that benefit people like me - owners and managers of small businesses.

In addition to my certificate of membership I've received a stack of other paperwork from the FSB offering me all sorts of special deals that are unique or tailored to FSB members. How many of them I'll use I don't know yet. I intend to get along to some of their networking events to make new contacts.

The letter that accompanied the certificate closes with the exhortation, "Do not allow your membership to lapse thereby losing your protection." It'll be interesting to see whether, in 11 months time, I've decided that the benefits offered to me by the FSB are enough to entice me into paying for another year.

Step Up Your Health & Safety Assessments

It's estimated that about 100,000 people injure themselves on stairs in the workplace every year.

That's a lot of people falling down stairs. Fortunately, most of these accidents only result in minor injuries but a significant number have a long-term impact on the lives of those who slip or trip.

Angela Hurcomb, 55, from Hereford, is one of those whose life has been changed forever by a stair accident. She's had to give up horse riding and can't drive a car for more than half-an-hour at a time. She's still in pain after falling down a spiral staircase at her place of work in January 2008.

The incident cost her employer £5,000 in compensation, not to mention all the staff time and resources given over to dealing with the personal injury claim. While the retail chain she worked for could probably absorb these expenses relatively easily, a smaller business may have struggled.

Your firm probably has a staircase or two about the place and it's almost certain to see regular use. Your staff don't give it a moment's thought - most of us frequently go up and down stairs at home, at work or when we're out shopping.

But if one of them were to slip and fall their view of the stairs could change, literally and legally. You would be exposed to the risk of personal injury claim that could suck precious time and money from your business. You might also lose a valuable employee, possibly forever. Angela Hurcomb now works for someone else.

Have any of your staff complained about a possible risk on one of your staircases? A loose step, a slippery tread or a poor handrail? You should follow it up straight away, even if it's an informal observation. Angela Hurcomb complained to her employer about the staircase she eventually fell down and they failed to act.

Don't trust to luck or to the goodwill of your staff - even the most accommodating employee can become remarkably litigious when there's the possibility of a pay-off.

Health and safety is a perpetual source of frustration for small businesses. There's almost always more that could be done and it's a distraction from the real work that earns the money. But that doesn't mean it should be constantly ignored or put off. Investing a little time now could save you a lot later on.

Spin Your Staff For A Change

Have you rotated your staff recently?

No, I don't mean set them all spinning on their office chairs - tempting though that might be.

I'm talking about rotating their roles. Getting them to do one another's jobs for a while. Or even better, having a policy of switching every six months or year so that over time everyone gets to do all the jobs in the office.

If you're a typical manager, as I am, you'll already be listing the problems this would bring. Productivity would drop. Some would struggle to get to grips with new tasks. Skills built over months or years would be wasted. Why put your business at risk in this way?

As a freelancer one of the services I offer is CV writing. In 2009 I wrote over a hundred Curriculum Vitaes for professionals. Some that stand out are the successful managers who achieved recognition and promotion by creating effective teams, and one way they did it was through staff rotation.

As I said, you've probably already listed the negatives, so let's look at the positives. By changing their job people get a deeper appreciation of what's involved in different roles. They discover that Sam in marketing isn't just surfing the internet all day or that Jo isn't as slow as they thought because it really can take all morning to input a pile of invoices

This new knowledge sparks creativity and better ways of doing things, as people realise how one job impacts on another and they begin to find ways to making the office work more effectively. It also means it's easier to find sickness or holiday cover for a specific task.

Another benefit is the cut in the risk of fraud. People in positions of trust can be tempted to take advantage of gaps in the system and help themselves - it happens at all levels. Suspicious activity may only be uncovered when they leave or take an extended break. Rotation of roles reduces the opportunities and temptation, and prevention is always better than fixing the problem.

Of course there are some jobs that can't be shared across the office. You can't ask Sam who does marketing to take over from Jo the bookkeeper, or vice versa. But not all organisations have roles with such sharply defined skills, and it's possible that Jo has some great ideas about marketing. In turn, Sam may bring a useful perspective to managing the finances, if given the opportunity to get involved in some way.

What would happen if you were to spin everyone on their chairs, at least metaphorically? Would it create disruption to long-established working patterns and practices? Would it allow you and your staff to see things in a different way?

Perhaps you should give it a go to see what happens. You might be surprised at the benefits that it brings.

Business Networking isn't Scary

Why do we find it difficult to talk to strangers?

I've been to a couple of networking events in the last week - the Business South trade show and a Business Link meeting in my home town.

At both I heard a clear message being presented - people are reluctant to engage. Business Link's speaker, ex-BBC man Roy Sheppard, was blunt about it. "Most of you want to run away at this point," he said, when we were asked to talk to someone we didn't know.

He was making a joke but the fact that over forty business people turned out to hear him explain how to network effectively was proof that it's not a skill many of us are comfortable with. And our town was only one stop on a road show of multiple venues in the south.

At Business South I watched the usual dance between exhibitors and visitors - the former lying in wait at their stalls, trying to catch the eye of passers-by and inject a quick "hello" to open a conversation; the latter scurrying past with their eyes firmly fixed on something in the distance.

I'm sure that part of the mystery and worry about networking is because we don't have a clear understanding of why we do it. There's an expectation, often self-imposed, that networking is a very thin veneer for selling. And most of us don't enjoy selling.

My approach to networking is not to proactively promote what I do. I want to hear what people have to say to me, which may include their sales pitch. I listen politely and ask questions about what they do and why. I demonstrate interest but make no promises. If I think I can share their information with someone who'd genuinely find it useful, I tell them so. I don't offer them a business card but I'll give one if they ask, which is quite often.

Inevitably when someone is talking to me they'll ask what I do, so I tell them and I explain the benefits of copywriting to businesses. I believe they listen more attentively because they've invited me to speak and they usually ask more questions and, at some point, request a card.

For me networking is about building a web of contacts. I can't predict what value they'll be to me in the future, nor I to them.

But one thing I do know: if I never make the effort to speak to them I'll never become a part of their network, nor they of mine. So ideally I want to talk to everyone, and I suggest that you do too.

Article by Andrew Knowles, freelance copywriter.

How to Maximise Impact at a Trade Show

Are you planning to have a stand at a trade show or promotional exhibition?

If you are, you want to ensure that you get the best value from your investment of time and money. Setting up and running a stand is relatively easy - successfully promoting your brand and generating valuable leads can be much more difficult.

Here are ten tips for getting the best from a trade show or business exhibition, based on experience as both an exhibitor and attendee.

1. Visit an event as part of your planning. Go to a trade show as a visitor to critically assess how the exhibitors are running their stands. See what appears to work and what doesn't, what you like and what you don't like. Ideally go with someone else to get a broader range of views.

2. Set clear and measurable objectives. You need to find ways to measure the benefit of exhibiting, with the most obvious being the number of leads generated. Other measures to support this could be the number of people spoken to or even the number of business cards collected. Set targets, both daily and for the entire event.

3. Make it look good. Your stand's appearance, even if it's a tiny booth, is part of your marketing message. If it looks cheap, what does that say about your business? Professionally produced graphics and a consistent appearance will make a huge difference. By saving a few pounds on your marketing material you could be losing a lot more in missed opportunities.

4. Have a clear and immediate benefit statement. Make it obvious what problem your product solves and how it can help customers. Most trade show stands are headlined with company names and a summary of what they do, and if you speak to someone on the stand they repeat the same information. A great way to start is by asking a question, such as: would you like to save money on [whatever problem your product solves]? The answer's always going to be 'yes', allowing you to take the conversation further.

5. Proactively greet people as they pass. If lots of visitors seek you out and keep you busy, that's great. But if not, you need to find a way of keeping your stand busy and engaging with visitors who'd otherwise walk past. A friendly 'hello' is often all it takes to catch someone's attention and make them stop, and it's better to engage with people than waiting hopefully for someone to stop for you.

6. Make giveaways available to anyone. One objective of exhibiting is to build your brand and you never know whether today's casual visitor could become tomorrow's potential customer. Everyone you engage with should leave feeling good about your business and if that means offering them a branded pen or the chance to enter your prize draw, then do it.

7. Engage with competitors. A business exhibition is a great way to find out what the competition's up to and to share experiences. You can probably learn from them, but expect them to reciprocate!

8. Don't eat smelly food at your stand. It might seem obvious, but when you're busy it's tempting to take that hot snack back to the exhibition hall. How will the next visitor to the stand feel when you offer a greasy handshake and brush the pastry crumbs from your lapel?

9. Make every visitor feel important. You're at the show to look for leads and build your brand but these require different skills. Looking for leads means focusing on people who may want your product while strengthening the brand means leaving everyone feeling positive about who you are. Don't qualify out people as you talk to them and starting looking over their shoulder for the next prospect. Your body language tells them you're not interested in them and that will devalue your brand.

10. Have a formal debrief and record how it went. Once you're back in the office it's easy to put the trade show behind you and focus on following up the leads. Take time to sit down with colleagues and record what worked and what didn't and any other lessons you learned from the show. This will be an invaluable resource next time around.

Nancy's Medical Billing Operation

Today's business start up story comes from the USA - the land of opportunity.

Nancy McClendon, from the Detroit area, has recently launched Horizons Comprehensive, providing electronic medical billing and related services to organizations and doctors.

With over 20 years experience in the medical claims sector Nancy is confident that she has the knowledge required to create her own business. Medical claims procedures can be complex and in the US organizations need the confidence that their supplier will deliver a highly professional and cost-effective service.

Nancy laid the foundations for her business a few years ago when she sensed that her employer was considering major changes. Early in 2009 the cut-backs began and by October she was no longer in employment, allowing her to focus full-time on the new venture she'd been planning.

Horizons Comprehensive finally went live in December 2009. The first few contracts are already being processed and Nancy expects to see significant commercial activity in 2010, with the business reaching its target level of operation the following year.

The nature of a business usually determines the level of investment required to get it off the ground. Nancy has made a substantial investment to buy the equipment and resources that she needs to deliver a professional service from day one.

She's also having to deal with the usual problem facing a start up - a significant drop in income. When you've been earning a good salary for 20 years it can be hard to adjust to a different way of living. Nancy's not afraid of that challenge and has cut her living costs dramatically. Like the cash she's put into the business, it's an investment in her future, as are her long working hours.

Nancy has learned that when you're starting your own business you can't be an expert in everything. She had to find a way to promote Horizons Comprehensive and decided to use sales and marketing reps with the skills and knowledge needed to open the right doors. She understood that the steps taken to make potential customers aware of a business will determine the level of success.

Her advice to anyone starting their own business is: "It is not easy but at the end of the day you have a satisfaction that is unexplainable. Never give up."

If you'd like to know more about the services that Nancy's business offers, why not pay a visit to the Horizons Comprehensive website?

Have you set up a business in the last few years? Have you got a story to share? Drop us a line via email.

Read more business start up stories like this one.

Problems Facing Business Start Ups

Starting a business is easy. Making it succeed can be incredibly hard.

Almost everyone who enters the world of self-employment must overcome a variety of challenges. Here are some of the main problems they'll face, and that you'll probably have to deal with if you decide to go into business for yourself.

1. Finding customers - If you open a shop on a busy street you'll have people coming in from the first day. But if you're selling web design services or running an online service it's harder for people to find you. Winning the first few customers is a struggle for many start ups.

Ideally, as you plan your start up you should line up one or two customers in advance. Find people through your network of friends, family and colleagues. You might have to offer incredibly good deals to secure them, but having a couple of customers in place helps with word of mouth marketing and testimonials and it introduces you to the demands that they place on you.

2. Being taken seriously - This can be a huge problem for the young or for women, particularly those without a professional background. Friends and family may find it hard to see you as a business owner, which reduces their value as a networking resource.

The best way to overcome this is through success, measured by generating an income that you can live on. Unfortunately their attitude can make this harder to achieve, which is why it's important to maintain your confidence and keep a clear sense of purpose.

3. Knowing how to do everything - No one is an expert in every aspect of running a business. As a sole trader you'll be doing the business planning, marketing, selling, administration, bookkeeping, and customer support. If you're offering a service you need to have those skills as well. A common complaint from those going into business is that they don't have the knowledge or ability to cover all these different roles.

You need to identify early on what you can do and what you can't, or at least what you like doing least and what impact that will have on your business. Where possible try to get some help in the difficult areas. For example, there are plenty of people around with bookkeeping skills who'd be happy to sort through your receipts from time to time and write up the accounts.

4. Finding the time - Of all the resources you need to run a business, time can be the hardest to deal with because you can't create or borrow more of it. Ask anyone who's setting up their own business how many hours they work and the answers will be 'lots', which usually means 10-12 per day, often for 7 days a week.

Before starting your own business you need to be confident that you and your family can cope with the demands it will place on you. There's no way to be absolutely sure until you start, but it's an issue that must be addressed in advance. If your family are used to you working 9 to 5 and you give that up for self-employment, they have to know that the hours will be much, much longer in the early months or even years.

This is not an exhaustive list of the issues faced by those setting up their own business. But it gives a flavour of the challenges that await if you're thinking of going in this direction.

It's not all hard work and problems. Being self employed is also hugely rewarding in terms of personal satisfaction and if your business succeeds there are going to be financial benefits. You are also master of your own time to a considerable extent, although there will still be deadlines to meet or specific hours to keep.

Every day, all around the world, people are setting up new commercial enterprises. They're motivated by many different factors and they have differing expectations of how easy it will be. Most of them will quickly discover that working for yourself is extremely demanding, but if they make it over the first few hurdles they'll also find it brings many benefits.