Speakers Corner :: Business Startup Community

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Q. What support is available for me as a woman and an ethnic minority who has recently started a business

A. Hi there, Sorry for the delay in replying - I've only just been sent your question. I'm assuming you're talking about financial support as well as any other support too? For women there are a number of start-up courses that are completely free of charge and will provide support for you. To gain access to these in your area, contact your local Business Link on www.businesslink.co.uk. Once you've started, Everywoman (www.everywoman.co.uk) are running on online mentoring scheme that will give you access to a free mentor who can help you run and grow your business. The mentor will not run your business for you, but will work with you to talk through any issues you have and give general advice. In terms of financial support, there isn't much available I'm afraid. There are occassional loans and grants available, but they are few and far between. Check out www.j4b.co.uk - this has a list of all the loans, grants and awards available for you industry and is well worth having a look at. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Can you tell me if it legal for me to use two famous names as my previous employers for my introduction on my website.I am currently a designer for curtains and soft furnishings.Thanks Desings by Safya....

A. Hi there, Thanks for your question. Sorry for the delay in responding - I've only just been sent your question. I take it you (or the team) worked for these two famous people while you were working for another company? If so, I would urge caution about using the names on your website unless: 1) You have the permission of the famous people to use their names. 2) You directly worked on their project (not as part of a team that was led by someone else). Chances are that the famous people think that their work was done by your previous employers and they may not be happy at all if they come across their name on your website if they're searching on the web. There is however, no harm in mentioning these projects to potential customers, but I would urge caution on putting this in writing unless you have their permission. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Hi Helen I am in the development stage of starting a community/internet radio station ,and my target audience will be the African community in Croydon and South London.How do you think I can conduct valuable market research that will convince funders and financers that there is a market out there for me. Many Thanks Charles Ogunnowo

A. Hi Charles, thanks for your question. The first step in market research (but one that is often skipped) is to brainstorm some questions that you'd like to find out the answers to. So in your case, you might want to know how many potential listeners you have; what other radio stations are there (remember there are online only radio stations now too) already that might appeal to your target audience; how many listeners to they have; what would make your station different; if there's nothing already, what makes you think there is a need - and so on. Once you've written down your questions, it's easier to start answering them. For example, typing in "Census" into Google will give you access to the Census for statistics on your target audience. Researching online will give you access to all current radio stations and then you might want to think about doing a survey to ask people what they directly think. Hope this helps as a start. If you have any other questions or need some help doing the research, please feel free to contact me directly on 0845 644 9371 or email on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk

Q. Hello, could you please acknowledge me some of risks associated in business startup planning. planning.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I guess you're getting at what the main things are that people do wrong when they are writing a plan?!? Let me start by saying that because you look at all the elements of your business when you write a business plan, generally your plan should take away a lot of the risks associated with starting a business. However, there are some things that people get wrong. These are 1) Not doing enough market research - you must be able to satisfy me that there is a market for your business and this is not just what your friends and family have told you. 2) Overestimating sales - easy to do when you're first starting up. Try to have three cashflows - one below what you expect, one about average to what you expect and one higher than you expect. This will help show an investor that you've thought things through. 3) Not enough detail in the plan. Something that is very common is not giving enough meat on the bone. Try to imagine the person who's reading your plan is from another planet and has never heard of your business idea. Write your plan with enough detail to convince them. 4) Not getting someone else to read it through. Get an opinion from an outsider on your plan before you take it to an investor or the bank. 5) And finally, think about those what ifs...? An investor will want to see you have thought about what will happen if your business doesn't work or what you will do if you're sick etc. Put your contingency plans in there. Hope this helps Helen

Q. Hello, I am looking into setting up a Wedding Planning Service in my area. I know that there are not many others doing this in my area and none that are work solely as planners. How do I know if there is a market for my service? Also, how do I find out the right amount to charge for my service that will make sure I attract (or not put off) custom whilst covering costs and making a living? Many Thanks

A. Hi, thanks for your question. You're right to be cautious and look for other evidence that there is a market out there. But although there may not be direct competition - people who are doing EXACTLY the same as you, there will be people who are providing some elements of wedding planning i.e. the couple themselves, hotels in your area who may offer this service, cars, flowers, cakes etc who will be helping with the planning and organisation of the wedding etc. So, where to start? I would firstly look at the wedding venues in the area - do they offer a wedding planning service. Do you have any wedding fayres in your area? If so, go there and do some market research by asking couples how they are planning and organising their wedding. Also look on-line - are there any on-line wedding planning services that brides in your area can use or any forums (type in wedding forums on Google) where brides in your area have asked questions? You are looking to see how couples who are getting married are planning and organising their wedding at the moment. Re prices, I would look at areas that are similar to your area and find out what wedding planners are charging in these locations. I would then price your services roughly the same. Then concentrate on building your reputation so that you can slowly start to increase your prices. Hope this helps. If you have any other queries, please don't hesitate to contact me on 0845 644 9371 or email me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk Best of luck Helen

Q. Hi Helen, can you offer quick fire advice on online specialist clothing retail. thanks.

A. Hi there, I'm not sure exactly what sort of advice you're looking for, but I'm assuming that you're just starting up as an online specialist clothing retailer and are looking for some general help. If that's not the case, email me back and I can be more specific. Here's some quick fire tips that should be a start: 1) Do your research. Make sure you know who exactly will buy your clothing - be as specific as possible. Appealing to 'everyone' is hard work. 2) Remember to market and promote your business online and offline. There are hundreds of websites out there, so your customers have to know that your website exists. Use every opportunity you can think of to tell them. 3) Look at other online clothing retailers. What do you like about them? What don't you like? How can you adapt some of their ideas to your own business? 4) I'm sure you've thought about trading through e-bay. E-bay has a University now where you can learn how to maximise your transactions and get as much business as possible through your site. Check out www.ebay.co.uk for more details. 5) Working online can be quite a lonely place, so make sure you get out and about too, which can help build your contacts and develop your marketing. 6) Start small and think huge. People often start up online businesses because they want to appeal to everyone around the world. This is a great vision, but not one that will be accomplished overnight. Start with a goal of letting everyone know about your website where you're based and gradually expand from there. Hope these tips help. Helen

Q. Hi Helen, I want to open a bookshop + coffee corner in the next 2 months in my town (no bookshop there at the moment), my business plan is nearly done and I have not much money. I am quite confident I can get a loan as the people from the local council support my project. I am a mother of 3 and am 35. Do you think there is grands availables ? thanks a lot for any help you can give me.

A. Hi there, Thanks for your question. Grants are unfortunately very few and far between these days - there are some available, but only if you tick various boxes i.e. your business is heavily involved in the environment for instance. Check out www.j4b.co.uk to find all the grants in your industry that are available. There is another source of funding that you might want to tap into too - loan development funds - if you go to http://www.cdfa.org.uk/cmdirec2.php you should be able to find finance providers in your area who will be able to help you. I've just written a fact sheet on getting funding - if you'd like a copy, please email me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and I'll be happy to email it to you. Hope this helps Thanks Helen

Q. Hi Helen I am working for a company that publishes a magazine aimed at PA's and secretaries in 3 specific regions. The magazine is a simple concept and the success is 100% due to us, the telesales team who generate the revenue. I am planning on starting my own magazine from very humble beginings, but am confident that if I have a decent website, I can create enough interest early on to generate some sales. I am thinking that I could do this from a home office for the first few months, and once I have generated enough interest/finance, I can move into premises.. What do you think?

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Sounds like a good plan to me, but remember it's not really about what I think (as it isn't my business), it's about what you think. So if you're happy with your plans, then go for it! I was talking to someone today about what makes a successful business and I think there are three things involved: 1) Hard Work 2) Luck and taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves and 3) Believing in yourself (very important). On the issue of setting up a website and creating interest, remember that setting a decent website up is only half the story - you'll need to promote it, capture people's contact details and then build a relationship with them too. Email me for my factsheet on promoting your website at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and this should give you some tips that will help you. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. hi helen. i am in the process of starting a processing and packaging of dried spices and chilies business. my question therefore, is how to go about signing a contract with a packaging company, to supply me on a monthly basis. kind regards, stella.

A. Hi Stella, thanks for your question. Before you sign a contract with a company, I would go through a couple of trial runs with them to make sure you're both happy with the relationship and the supplier can meet your needs. Have another supplier in mind too and try them both so that you can see which one is best for you. Once you've chosen the one you want to work with, you need to arrange a meeting with the supplier to work out the details of the contract. Even if you live far way from the supplier, I would always recommend a face-to-face meeting with them if possible - let's face it, if you were working with someone, are you more likely to give your best work, if you've met them and like and trust them? Before the meeting, sit down and write down what terms and conditions you'd like them to meet and where you're prepared to compromise so that you remain in control of the meeting. Run these past a lawyer before you go in. Business Link run a scheme where you can get free access to a lawyer for half an hour or so (see www.businesslink.gov.uk). Then, once you're happy set up the contract - make sure it's signed and then monitor things to make sure it's working for you. I would also recommend having a clause in your contract so that it can be amended after 6 months or a year so that if anything needs amendment, it's quite easy to do. Best of luck Helen

Q. I need finance for my company, where can I get finance and employed managers and office ataff. I am stack for everything I need help for financing my company.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. There are a number of places where you could get finance from. These are: 1) The bank (either a loan or an overdraft); 2) Your own savings 3) Friends or family 4) The Prince's Trust (if you're aged 30 or less); 5) An Enterprise Agency (speak to Business Link - www.businesslink.co.uk) if you're over 30; 6) A venture capitalist or business angel (check out www.angelsden.co.uk). I would explore various options and see which one is right for you. You will definitely need a business plan though and if you would like some help writing this, please contact me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk or call on 0845 644 9371. For employed managers and office staff, again there are several places where you could go to get them. You could 1) Advertise in the local paper; 2) Post your job online; 3) Talk to the local colleges to see if there are any students looking for jobs; 4) Talk to the Job Centre (where it is free to hire people) 5) Go through an employment agency. Hope these ideas help. There is lots of potential ways you can go about financing your company or hiring a member of staff - you just have to explore all the options and choose one that is right for you. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Can you give any pointers to where I can find out about eligibility for grants? There will only be two us at the start of the business producing books under licence and selling them worldwide via web and distributors.

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. Now, here's the really bad news. While there once were lots of grants around for new businesses most of them have stopped now and there's very few around at all. This is because there are nearly 4 million small businesses in the UK and the Government can't possibly help them all - however, they do occassionally have small grant scheme to cover things that are 'topical' i.e. at the moment it is sustainable development and women in business. You can check out what grants may be around at the moment by going to www.j4b.co.uk. This site is free to register on and will give you access to the grants that are around at the moment. Hope this helps. Thanks Helen

Q. Hi Helen, I am planning to start up a tea house, how do I start to do the market research?

A. Thanks for your question. Market research can roughly be divided into three areas: customers, competitors and the market overall. The easiest one to start with is competitors. Go to Yell.com (online yellow pages) and also Google and do a search for all other tea houses around where you're planning to set up. If there are none, you need to give this some thought - a) is there a market then (why hasn't someone done this before?) and b) what other competitors do you have? Other competitors could be other cafes, pubs and restaurants in the area. They may not be tea shops, but they will take customers away from you. When you've found your competitors you need to research them - what do you like, what don't you like, visit them and see how busy they are, what prices they charge and so on. Once you've looked at your competition, go onto your customers. Research for your competition should have given you some insight into this - what sort of people visited them? What sort of people visit or are based at the area where you want to set up? Go to the census 2001 (type this into Google) and find out how many people live in the area. Then write a profile of your customers being as specific as possible. The final area is the trends and this is often the hardest one to do - as a starting point, check out the Cobweb info reports - they give a four page summary of an industry - http://www.cobwebinfo.com/. Another resource that may help is reading the book "Anyone can do it" by Sahar Hashemi. This is an excellent help for anyone setting up a coffee / tea shop and shows you what they went through. In the limited characters I've got, it's difficult to give all the advice I have about doing your own market research, but I have set up an e-course which you can access via my site that teaches you how to do your own market research. You can access this at: http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Start-up-ecourses.php. Best of luck

Q. would you be able to help me find out the going rate for an artist to draw pictures for. how muck would the going rate be please?

A. Hi, thanks for your question. There are two ways to find out the going rate. You can either check out www.a-n.co.uk, which researches artists. If you go to Fees & Payments under the Professional Practice part of Knowledge Bank, you should find the information you're looking for there. As well as this, I would also contact a few of the local artists in and around your area and ask them. You can either pose as a potential customer and ask then to quote for a job. Or, why not be honest and tell them you're just starting out and need some help and advice - perhaps you can suggest starting a local artist's club too where all local artists can get together and share help and advice. Good luck. Helen

Q. i am starting up a greeting card company and would like to know, how i would go about finding out prices an artist would charge for their drawing

A. Hi, there are two things here: prices for greeting cards and prices for artists. To get prices for artists, check out www.a-n.co.uk which has loads of help and advice for artists starting out. You then need to think about getting prices for greeting cards companies. The best way to do this is to visit some of the craft fairs or local craft shops around where you live. Often they will stock greeting cards made by other local artists. Ask the shop what mark-up they put onto the cards and then you should get some idea of how much they sell for. I've also put some more competitor advice in another posts similar to yours about artists, so check that out too. Best of luck. Helen B

Q. Hi I've been planning my business for many years now and keep putting myself off! I had a friend who was interested in starting with me but soon faded away. what I'd like to do is start my own introduction agency. not a online dating agency,much more focused on relationships/friendships not one night stands! But I seem to come to a stand still when trying to think of how to obtain those first important members/clients. Also I want to do face to face interviews.I have such a passion for this to work,which is why I've picked up the idea again.who can I speak with to guide me?

A. Hi, thanks for your question. It's such a shame you've been put off before; I'm glad you've come back to the idea again. In terms of getting customers my first piece of advice to you is to write down a profile of them - do this for men and women separately. So you might start by saying - women, between the ages of x and x, looking for love, been divorced, widowed or been unlucky in love etc. Break down the profile in as much detail as you can. Then think about where you might find this person - so for women, you might find them in hairdressers, spas, gyms etc. Once you've got an idea of where you would find women and where you would find men, start promoting in these places offering them a free tips sheet on how to be successful in love or ten tips to find that perfect person. That way, you will get people to say 'I'm interested' and you can start building your list. Your list then is the perfect platform for you to follow up with these people, run events for them and do face to face interviews. You might also want to contact a few existing introduction agencies to see if they'd be willing to talk to you about how they got started - contact a few that are not based in the area where you are which will help persuade them to talk to you. Hope this helps. I've got a free factsheet on marketing your business and if you'd like this, please contact me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and I'll send it over. Best of luck with this. Helen

Q. Hi Helen. Hope you can help with this. I am finding it difficult to open a business bank account. I have a poor credit rating from past financial difficulties. I started a mobile marketing and advertising business late in 2007 and I already have some clients. Any advice how I can open an account? Thank you.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. I do sympathise - it is hard in these circumstances. Banks these days want reassurance that although you may have made mistakes in the past, you're not likely to make them in the future. So bearing this in mind, most of them will allow you to open a basic bank account that will restrict you initially. Once you prove that you can manage this properly, they will then relax their restrictions gradually for you. Banks who tend to be a bit more sympathetic are Nat West and Barclays. The other solution is to open a personal account and use this for the business - as long as you keep your business and personal finances separately, this solution should be fine. Finally, you might want to try the Post Office too who will often let you open a basic bank account. While a basic bank account might not be the best situation for you initially - be patient, you will be able to increase the facilities offered eventually. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Hi, I am looking into starting up a creche/day nursery - where would I find what regulations there are that I would have to comply with? Many thanks.

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. The regulations that you need to comply with are: Anyone who provides day care for other people's children, (day or night) must be registered with the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). You must complete registration with Ofsted before your service opens. You will also need to do CRB (criminal records bureau) checks for yourself and your staff. It is also advisable to have a first-aid certificate, health and safety rules written up and attend a health and safety course. If you're providing food, you will need to have a food hygiene certificate and be subject to inspection by the Food Hygience Inspectorate. More information is available from www.hse.gov.uk and your local Business Link (www.businesslink.org.uk). Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Hello, Could you please advise me regarding rent of shop. any advise before sighing a lease contract and what it mean rent plus premium. Thanks

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. Before you sign ANY lease, please make sure that you have it checked over by a solicitor that you've chosen. Some landlords will recommend a solicitor to you, but I would always choose one of your own - that way you can be assured that they're working for your interests. You should make sure break clauses (which mean that you can get out of the lease) are in the agreement, so that if you decide your business has grown in 5 years time and you need to move to bigger premises, you're not stuck with a lease for 25 years (I've seen it happen)! Rent plus premium means that some landlords will charge a premium of around 2.5% to protect them in case you don't pay the rent at any point in the future. If they're charging this, it's suggesting that you need to read the rest of the agreement very very carefully to make sure you understand exactly what you're getting into - so, please make sure you see a solicitor before you sign anything. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. hi helen, I have started my business. but I m not really sure where to start looking for potential customers..its a translations business.

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. To get some ideas on how you can get customers, grab yourself a sheet of A4 paper and a pen and then get ready to be creative. Now, put yourself in your customer's shoes and on the paper, write down as many places as you can where you would go if you were looking for translation serices - it doesn't matter if these ideas are wacky or different or completely mad, just get them all down on the paper. Try not to filter your ideas either - it's easy to think "well that's not going to work" and not write the idea down. Try to get all the ideas you can down on paper. Do this exercise with a friend and you'll get even more ideas. Try not to stop writing ideas until you have at least 20 things on that piece of paper. This exercise should give you a really good insight into where your potential customers are likely to go when they're looking for translation services and then I would recommend you start using your ideas to look for customers. Hope this all makes sense. As always, if you would like a copy of my 50 ideas to promote factsheet, please just email me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and I'll send it over. Best of luck. Helen

Q. hi helen, annabell here, what kind of written contract should i use when employing artists to draw pictures for me?

A. Hi Annabell, thanks for your question. I take it artists will be used by you in a sub-contractor relationship (that is the customer will go through you, you will give the work to the artist, who will come back to you and you'll go back to the customer)? If so, the artist will be a supplier to you and you're right to assume you should have a written contract to govern their work. Start by grabbing a blank piece of paper and brainstorming all the points you want to cover in the contract. Get a friend to help you with this - you'll come up with more points between you than you would do if you do this exercise on your own. Then type up all these points into a written contract. The artist should sign it as should you and both of you should have a copy. You can get so-called legal documents from websites (just type legal documents into google), but if things go wrong, the main thing is that you have everything in writing, NOT the document you've used. Hope this makes sense. Please feel free to contact me if you need any more clarification. Just on another note, there is a piece of legislation called IR35 (check out the inland revenues website to view this) that says if a subcontractor works only for you, they could be deemed to be employed in law, so make sure that the artists you use are either employed or work for other people as well as yourself. Best of luck Helen

Q. hi helen, what are the main steps when producing a business plan?

A. Hi, thanks for your question - and blimey what a huge one. I've got a whole 30 days e-course on writing a business plan - (see http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Start-up-ecourses.php for more details) and that is packed with information. In a nutshell though, start by writing the easy sections - when I say easy what I mean is that you will know the answers without having to do any further research i.e. what the business idea is and how the business will work; the people in the business; the legal status; your aims and objectives. Then move on to the harder areas. The first one you should tackle is your market research - look at your target customers, your competition and general trends. The information you gather at this stage will give you the information you need to do the finance sections and the marketing section. After market research comes the financial section - start with your costs and list down everything that will come out on a monthly basis and then look at your sales and what you have coming in. Finally, write your executive summary, which summarises all the information in your plan. I've got a factsheet on writing a business plan that I'd be happy to send you if you email me at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk. It's difficult to be thorough on answering this question as I have limited space to write in, so I hope this brief answer has helped. If not, please feel free to email me (email address in text above) or call me on 0845 644 9371. Best of luck Helen

Q. dear helen do you recomend weather to have a buisness ltd or partnership

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. The answer to this question very much depends on how risky you feel your business is. I presume that you know the differences between the two types of legal status (if not, drop me an email to helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and I'll go through them for you). If you have huge personal assets, I would recommend limited company, but otherwise consider a partnership as you can always change your legal status after you start. You might also consider a LLP (limited liability partnership), which is a hybrid between a limited company and a partnership. You have all the protection of a limited company, but are taxed as a partnership. Either way, don't forget to have a written agreement between you in place so that you are both clear on where you stand - I have seen partnerships forget to do this with some nasty consequences if things go wrong. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Hi, I am planning to start a concierge services targeted at the afro/Caribbean community. How do go about doing the Market Reasearch and what are your thoughts on it viability.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Funnily enough I've done a couple of market research projects on the concierge industry, so I know the sector fairly well. It's a fairly young industry, but one that is growing. I haven't come across one targeted at the Afro/Caribbean community yet, but that doesn't mean that there isn't one out there. If there isn't, what it's suggesting is that you need to do a lot more market research to make sure there is a market for your idea. You'll need to look at your competition, your customers and perhaps do a survey on your target market and the market trends. Start by doing a search on the Internet for concierge services and find out as much as you can about this market. When you've exhausted this, then you need to start focusing on the Afro/Caribbean market. It might be worth you sending me an email on this - helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk - as I have an e-course on doing market research and can also help you specificially with the research that we've already done on the concierge market. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. hi helen i have started a furniture business in Oldbury West Midlands. I have got good products and

A. Hi Khalid, thanks for your question. Whenever you're promoting a product or service, you need to think about three things: 1) Getting other people to be aware of your business 2) Building your reputation so that people know you're an expert in your field and 3) Getting customers. For 1) and 2), if you email me at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk I'll send you my list of 50 ways to promote your business for free or low-cost. Pick about 5 ideas off there and implement them at the same time. After a month, choose 5 more ideas and implement these too and so on. To get customers, you need to think about who they are and where they would naturally go to find your product or service (for instance if you were a child's nursery and wanted to attract mothers, you might go to schools, nurseries, post offices, supermarkets etc). If you promote where your customers go, you'll be much more likely to find them. The trick to marketing though is to do some. You should be doing some marketing once a week at the very least if not more. Send me an email with your contact details on there and I'll give you a call to see if we can come up with some more ideas for you. Hope this helps for now Helen

Q. ear Helen,I am planning to make my own brand T shirt in Indonesia, with creative words to be printed on it. So how do market this product ?and how to approach high street retailer? because i am only private individual.Thank you

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. Let's deal with your second question first - approaching high street retailers. The start-up shows on TV make it look easy don't they? But, in reality you need to start from the bottom up. That means, to get into high street retailers, you'll need to start by going to a few independent shops sell goods that your target customer will buy. The usual way it works is that if they like your t-shirts, they will ask you to give them a sample (usually 10 or 20) so they can see how well they sell. You get paid if the t-shirts are sold in the first instance (make sure you have a written agreement with the retailer that this will happen). If your t-shirts sell and everything goes well, usually they will place an order with you. Again it will be a small amount at first, which will increase as your goods become more popular. Over time, as you establish yourself and prove that customers like your t-shirts, you can move onto bigger stores. Unfortunately, this won't happen overnight - so start small, think huge. As to your other question, how do you market this product, there are a huge amount of opportunities. Send me an email to get my 50 ideas (helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk), but as a starter of the top of my head, you might want to think about wearing your t-shirts wherever possible and getting family and friends to wear them too. The aim of this is that other people will start asking where you got them from and you can start getting a word of mouth reputation. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Q. I have a jute industry. We make good quality of jute hand bag, wine bag and lots of other accessories. Can you please advice me how can I sell and get buyers in the UK market for my products.

A. Hi there, OK for this one, your best bet is to contact Business Link. They run a Passport to Export scheme and will have experts who will be able to help you with find buyers in the UK market. Contact them on www.businesslink.co.uk. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. could you email me a copy of your 50 ways to market your business thank you peter . I have an oppertunity to start a business importing products from china . This will be shown on a mainsteam tv documentery on three channels there will be two importand distribution experts to hold my hand and guide me through the whole process , how to source ,how to negociate and all i,ll need to know about shipping and taxes .My question is this , with this being on mainstream television and on three mainstream channels i know there is scope to advertise who would be interested in sponcering me

A. Hi Peter, if you let me know your email address by emailing me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk, I will be happy to send you the 50 ways to market your business sheet. Not sure I've 100% understood your other question - I think you're asking how to you get companies to sponsor you and give you money for building your business? Is that right? If so, the question back to you is what's it in for the company? I've worked with people who want sponsorship before and what you need to realise is no-one is going sponsor you unless there is something in it for them. So, that's the first question you need to answer for them. Think of at least 5 different benefits they would get for sponsoring you. Then you need to think about the types of companies who might be interested and I suspect this would be those companies who are already successful in exporting or importing and want to build the profile of their company. If your question is who would be interested in advertising during the breaks on the channels though - don't worry too much about this, the tv companies will sort this out for you. Hope this helps. If I've not given you the answer you're looking for, please email me and I will try to help. Thanks Helen

Q. Hi Helen, I am looking to set up a new fashion line aiming at a specific market (16-30 yr old mothers) and have drawn my own unique designs. I have researched the market and know that there is a gap in the market place for my product but am struggling to move onto the next step. How would I go about getting these products made and then marketed and would I have to patent my designs? Thank-you hope you can help..

A. Hi, thanks for your question. If you were advising me what the immediate next step was - what would it be? Too often we get caught up with all the stuff that needs doing, just think about the very next thing you need to do and do that. Once that's done, think about the very next thing you need to do and do that and so on. In other words break all the steps down on paper into individual tasks and then start to work your way through them. I think the issue here is that you're thinking too much about all the things you've got to do - if you break them down individually you'll find it much easier. Hope this helps Helen

Q. As a mature (34) Biological Sciences graduate with an interest in business I am aiming to get involved in the commercialisation of biotechnology research. A possible opportunity has arisen to work with a talented jewellery designer, helping her to grow her fledgling business. Do you think it would be time wasted working in such a different industry or would it be valuable experience of life at the 'coal-face' of business startup? Thanks.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. I think it would be valuable experience for you, but at the end of the day, it's not my decision. Obviously something is holding you back or you wouldn't be asking this question. Sit down with a friend or with a piece of paper and ask yourself the question "What's stopping you?" Once you've identified what's holding you back, you'll be in a much better position to decide whether or not this avenue is for you. Hope this helps Helen

Q. Hi HelenI am looking to buy fairly large quantities of solid glass balls the size of a tennis ball. Can you perhaps advise where I can find suppliers/manufacturers? Thank you

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Here's how to find out where you can find suppliers/manufacturers - it's all to do with how you search on the Internet. I'm writing a tips sheet on this in my monthly bulletin, so if you'd like a copy, please email me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and I'll make sure you receive it. For now, you'll need to go to google and experiment with your search terms. Try glass balls, "tennis ball size" - the speech marks around a term force google to come back with sites that have this term in them - play around with where you place the speech marks to see what the results are. You may also want to try approaching some glass retail shops - how they work is they order products directly from the manufacturer, so technically you'll be speaking to a distributor when you speak to them. There are several glass retail shops online and if you use the search terms I've suggested above, you should come up with some shops that can help. If that doesn't work or you're still struggling then email me again. Thanks Helen

Q. What is the advantages and disadvantages of setting up a business as a charity.

A. Hi there Good questions. Problem is, you will have a very long answer. When setting up charities, many issues have to be taken into account to decide what would be the best corporate structure, and most of the time, this would depend a lot on your funding arrangements, and initial capital setup. I suggest you call our Business Services team and speak to Sandip Sohal on 0845 257 6470 for further assistance. Regards

Q. I am on the process of setting a new business. Selling a variety of goods on line, e.g Fragance oil, textiles and jewellery. At present I am doing market research and seeking further advise. I am on the process of buying a variety of textiles from a business in Paris and selling it on line through my website or on E-Bay Please advise on permits, licence, VAT, Custom & Excise; basiclyy any thing that I need to know about importing from EU country. Please note that this is new to me.

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. Importing and exporting is a very specialist area, so I'm going to refer you to the absolute 'experts' in this field. The best people for you to speak to are Business Link (www.businesslink.co.uk). They run a Passport to Export scheme and will be able to answer all of your questions on importing and exporting. Thanks Helen

Q. My name is Shan and I am on the process of starting an online business, selling Mauritian goods such as Tropical flowers, Fragance oli, jewellery and textiles. My and I are doing a market research and we are planning our website. We have not come up with any domain name yet. Please advise. Thank you.

A. Hi Shan, thanks for your question. I'm not sure what you're looking for. Are you looking for some advice about choosing a domain name? If so, I would usually suggest that you use the name of your business for your domain name so that people don't get confused. If this isn't possible, try changing it from a .co.uk to another ending like .org.uk or .com or .net. You can go to my website www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk and check whether the domain name you want is available. If I've got the advice you're looking for wrong (I wasn't entirely sure what you wanted advice on, please feel free to contact me again). Thanks Helen

Q. hey im doing a coursework for starting off a new business for my a level. my idea was a coffee shop, would you have any ideas for how i could promote my business? (i plan for my idea to be a traditional Coffee shop and about the size of a newsagents)

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Sorry about the delay in replying to you - I've only just been sent your question. The first thing to think about when you're coming up with ideas to promote your business is who your customers are and where they might go. For instance, if your customers work in offices, they might go to the gym, restaurants and wine bars, supermarket, golf and so on and then you can get some ideas of where to promote. In addition to this, you need to think about how you will make people aware of your coffee shop - you could do this through competitions, press releases, sponsorship, entering competitions and also how you can show you're experts in the area of coffee - you could do this by writing articles and tips sheets, speaking about coffee and so on. For more ideas on how to promote your business, feel free to email me for a copy of my marketing tips sheet which includes 50 ideas to promote your business - helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk. Hope this helps. Thanks Helen

Q. What advice do you have for someone starting a specialised security training company when competing against larger established companies, with regards to marketing

A. Thanks for your question. I can see your dilema - it can feel as though you're going up against the larger companies when you first start your business, but smaller companies often have a lot to offer when compared to the competition. For instance, you can be more flexible, respond more to your customer's needs, can be more cost effective and so on. To compete against the 'big boys' you should place as much emphasis as possible on your experience, reputation and references from past clients when you are talking to your potential customers - the aim will be not to dwell on the negative (that you are a small company), but to emphasise the positive i.e. why the customer should choose you. If you need to build your experience, reputation etc (and this can be difficult when you're first starting out), I would suggest that you think about taking smaller jobs to begin with or even volunteering for jobs. That way, you can make sure that you can stress the positive when you talk to customers and build your reputation. You can also learn a lot from your competition too, so instead of seeing it as "them versus us", try to learn from what they do to win business and apply the same techniques to your new company. Best of luck. Helen Dowling

Q. I am about to launch my business called Elite Life. It is a Concierge and Lifestyle Management and my main target market is affluent ABC1s affluent young people who reside in E14. What would be the most effective marketing strategy?

A. Hi there, Thanks for your question. The first thing that pops into my mind is - although your target is affluent ABC1s young people residing in E14, how do you know that they are (a) looking for concierge and lifestyle management services and (b) have heard of this service in the first place? So my question back to you before you can start looking at marketing is "Have you done your market research?" If you have and made sure there is a market for your idea, then we can go onto marketing. Concierge and Lifestyle Management services is a relatively new, but growing area. As such, there is not a great deal of awareness about this service out there at the moment. One of the things you might want to think about is targeting every media publication/radio station/website etc that appeals to young affluent people in E14 and doing a PR campaign to get the awareness out there. PR doesn't have to mean press releases - it can be letters to editors, sponsorship, volunteering, editorials, articles, tips sheets, speaking events etc etc. As well as this, I would also look at deliberately going to the places that ABC1s affluent young people residing in E14 go to. Start talking to your target market, getting to know them and finding out where they go for leisure and fun and then start going to these places. But before you do any of this, make sure that these people are actually your market and will buy what your products and services (your market research). You can also email me for my 50 marketing ideas - helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk to give you more ideas for marketing. Hope this helps Helen

Q. I have just found this site so am a total newbie but would like to say hi to everyone. I am looking for advice on researching the market targeted at night shift workers. I need to know in particular how many night shift workers on average in towns and cities around the uk , in particular the wolverhampton area as this is currently where I am situated but would be willing to move if research proved I had a larger target market of night shift workers some where else. I have tried searching local directories but found this of little help most places are shut at night.Also is there anywhere I can obtain lists of factories in towns as I believe this is where a large portion of workers at night maybe.Is it expensive to obtain professional help with research , is it work putting substancial amount of my investment in this area or struggle on myself, please can anyone advise as not sure which way to turn , Jazz

A. Hi, thanks for your question. At the last count, in 2003, almost four million people do some sort of shift work most of the time, according to the Office for National Statistics. I haven't had a look as to whether this number can be broken down by area, but I would suggest that the Office for National Statistics is the place to start. As to lists of factories in towns, try http://marketingfile.com as they keep various lists of things and they may well have a list there. Otherwise, try doing a search for factories in www.yell.com or in Google and see what comes up for Wolverhampton. Re professional help with research, I would be happy to have a chat with you (there is no charge for having a chat) to see whether we could help - we do quite a bit of research for start-up businesses and our prices are reasonable. Give me a call on 0845 644 9371 or email me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk. Hope this helps Helen

Q. hi helen, i am on the initial steps of opening a business i have no office, no money, but big ideas, i have managed to do a website and am getting advice on to how to register the business, am also ging to the new business coference, any reccomendat

A. Hi there, I would always advise someone starting their own business to start small and think huge, so you're definitely doing the right thing. It sounds like you've made a great start on planning your business and now the next thing for you to do is put together a business plan and do some market research. This will do two things. Firstly, it will convince you that you really do have a great business idea and that it is possibly to set it up and secondly, it will help you to map out everything you need to do to get your business up and running. On top of that, the statistics also show that of those people who write a business plan, 90% are still going 18 months later, whereas without a business plan 90% will fail. Business Link run low-cost start-up courses that can help you put together a business plan and do some market research or why not check out my low cost e-courses that can help you do your own market research and business plans: http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Start-up-ecourses.php Hope this helps and best of luck Helen

Q. Hi,I am starting my own cleaning company focusing on end of tenancy as well as common area cleaning and I want to get a price list of what I should be charging for the different areas. Is there a way I could get this besides calling thousands of cleaning companies?RegardsMelody

A. Hi, thanks for your question. I actually did this analysis back in 2003 for a cleaning client. Here's what I concluded: Competitors tend to be separated into two main trends. Some where the company operates as an agency, with the aim of finding a cleaner for the client. In these cases, the client pays the cleaner directly and pays the company an agency fee for finding and monitoring the cleaner. In other cases, the company employs the cleaner directly. As such, any charges are paid to the company, who in turn pays the cleaner. In either case, generally the payment of the actual cleaner is between £6.00 per hour to £12.50 per hour. Some companies also charge VAT additionally, while others charge this inclusively. Most have a minimum requirement of two or three hours per session. Where agencies are concerned, there are companies who charge a management fee either as a one-off or as recurring charges in addition to the payment made to the cleaner. There is great variation in these amounts, which range from £10 per month to £250 + VAT per quarter. Interestingly, there is a quasi-system also in operation by some competitors, whereby the client pays an hourly amount for the cleaner, such as £7.50 per hour. However, £5.50 of this will be paid directly to the cleaner, with the remaining amount being paid on a regular basis to the company. As the pricing strategy is one of the ways in which competitors differentiate themselves from each other, the variations in these systems are unsurprising. However, due to the vast numbers of companies providing this service, pricing strategies are becoming standardised and can not be relied upon as easily to provide a unique selling point. Please note that this was done in 2003, so could do with being updated. We also did a complete breakdown of each competitor's prices. If you would like to have a chat about doing this research for you, please contact me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk or 0845 644 9371 Thanks Helen

Q. Hi, my partner and I want to start up a specialist online bookstore and are finding it very difficult to organise our thoughts and turn them into constructive things to do to start moving forward - ie we are brimming with ideas of what to research and how we might do this but it is very overwhelming to look at how much we have to do and just have no idea of where to start! Thanks for your help.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. It's not an unusual situation that you're facing - lots of new businesses go through this. To break this down, grab a large piece of paper and a pen and sit down with your partner. Now, literally dump all your thoughts down on paper - don't worry about organising them, just get them down. Do this over the next two or three days until you're sure you've captured everything. Hopefully, this exercise will help you realise that there's not as much as you thought there was and make you feel a bit better. The next step is to go through each item and work out whether it needs to be done now, in a month, six months or in a year. Prioritise each item like this and then take a clean piece of paper and put all the tasks you need to do now together; all the ones you need to do in a month together etc. If this list still seems too overwhelming, break it down again - what do you need to this week, next week etc. Or if it's still too big, what do you need to do today, tomorrow etc. Using this technique will help you break things down into more manageable chunks and help you realise where you need to start. Hope this helps - feel free to post a question again if you need any more help or the technique outlined above doesn't work. Thanks Helen

Q. Hi Helen, I am looking into starting a nightclub, but I woudl like to get facts and figures on how often people go out and how much they sepnd on drink and what they drink etc. do you know where I can get these from? Thanks

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. Try looking at http://www.nightclub-business.com/forum - they've got a great forum that should answer most of your questions, plus sample business plans etc - if you need any more help, they are specialists in this industry, so should be able to point you in the right direction. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. can you help me with the my business plan as it will be our first

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Yes, I can help you, but I'm not sure from your question what you would like help with. If you would like us to help you write it, please contact me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk or call on 0845 644 9371. If it's something more specific that you're looking for help with, please feel free to contact me and I will give you further help. Thanks Helen

Q. I want to start an online business, buying and selling products, I would like to know whats the best business structure to start an ecommerce business? and is it true that operating as a limited company, wholesalers will you more discount on products??

A. Hi, thanks for your question. The legal structure you should take should always go on financial risk. If you think about a dog walking business, the financial risk is fairly small - I probably won't have invested a great deal of money and I probably won't owe people a great deal of money, so I'd be better as a sole trader. If I was starting a pub, the financial risk would be much, much higher, so I'd be better as a Limited Company. So, looking at your business, you need to think about the financial risk - how much money are you investing into the company; will you be making very large purchases; are you borrowing a lot of money - in other words if it all went wrong, how much would you PERSONALLY be likely to lose? If it's high, then you'd be better as a limited company - if not, you'd be better as a sole trader. If you are going to be a limited company though, I'd advise you check it out with an accountant (ask if they'll give you a free half hour) before you go ahead with this. In terms of wholesalers, the advantage of being a limited company is that they can check online that you're an actual company, so they may be reassured by this. Having said that, if you develop a relationship with the wholesaler and pay your bills on time etc, you will build up trust and they'll be more likely to give you a discount on products whether you're a limited company or not. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Hi Helen I have a business plan almost ready but need help and finance to search for properties. I am really looking for partners or even someone who would invest at a very early stage. I have to work full time until I get funding as I need to pay my bills so am in a tight situation as I cannot pursue my business ideas fulltime due to circumstances. Do you have any ideas? Cheers May

A. Hi May, thanks for your question. It sounds like the best thing you need to do is to write a business plan - this will help any potential investor to see whether your idea is a business they would want to invest in. If you email me at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk, I'll send you a business plan fact sheet to help you write your plan. Once you've written your plan, check out www.angelsden.co.uk who can help you find an investor that might be able to support you. In terms of a business partner, you can post on my forum at: http://exceptional.proboards101.com/index.cgi and ask for a partner for your business. My final piece of advice for you is to have a really good think about how you can get the things you want without spending any money - be creative. Think about second hand, bartering with other people (you provide them with something and in return they give you something you want) or shop on e-bay. Work on planning your business while you build up your money and you should be fine. Let me know if you need any more advice. Thanks Helen

Q. Hi Helen iam a carpenter & builder by trade and i have recently started a refurbishment company called eco refurb with the focus on a greener refurbishment can you please advise on best type of marketing as most domestic clients do not wish to pay extra for this servis as it is already over crowed can you best advise on some direction to best tap in to this growing market? as 50% of the UK’s carbon footprint comes from constructing, using and maintaining buildings? thanks Stuart

A. Hi Stuart, thanks for your question. Funnily enough I was talking to a company about this issue the other day. You're absolutely right - at the moment, people don't want to pay extra but I suspect the day will come when we all do (but that day isn't yet). In the meantime, why not offer people a choice? Make it clear that you can provide this service and show them the difference in terms of the carbon footprint if you use greener refurbishment instead of traditional methods, but don't force this onto them and do it more traditionally if they want to. Gradually, I think you'll be asked for the eco friendly ways more and more, but I think this will be a slow process and not one (unfortunately) that happens overnight. Let me know if you need any more advice. Thanks Helen

Q. Hi. I design t-shirts but would now like to branch out into t-shirt dresses. Do you perhaps know of any company from whom I can source different styles of t-shirt dresses. Thank you

A. Hi there, good question. I did a search on the following in Google: suppliers, "t-shirt dresses" - make sure you put the speech marks around, it forces Google to bring you back sites with both words in there. It seems that there are some available on e-bay and on a couple of other sites. Have a look at these and see whether it's what you're looking for. Otherwise it might be worth contacting the suppliers you get your t-shirts from and asking whether they can also supply the t-shirt dressers too. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. I have just stare a commercial cleaning business,whit is the best way to get more contracts.thanks for any help you can give me,Tom

A. Hi Tom, Thanks for your question. The first thing that occurs to me is have you found out what your customers do when they want to appoint a commercial cleaning company? Do they go to the Internet; do they ask people they know; do they go to Yellow Pages etc? Ask your current customers what they did and who they talked to in order to find out abot commercial cleaning companies. This should give you some good ideas what to do to get more customers. You might also want to try going along to some of the breakfast meetings - type BNI, BOB Clubs, BRE, 4networking into Google and have a look at these networking clubs to find ones in your area. Go along to a couple of the meetings and see whether it's for you. I know quite a few commercial cleaning companies who have got several contracts from joining these groups, so I think it would probably work well for you too. You can usually go along to two meetings without joining to try them, so have a think about doing this. Hope this helps.

Q. Hi Helen, Like most people i want to be my own boss and run my own business. how ever like most lack security, the bank and accountants all say i have a viable business plan but due to lack of security are unable to assist with the financial help i require. Ive taken a look at most oppertunities their is and still hit a wall with lack of security. Ive studied the small firm loans scheme and find it misleading however im unable to apply for this due to the sector i wish to follow, thus being transport. please can you advise what avenues their are for me to consider, thank you. stuart scrivens

A. Hi Stuart, Thanks for your email. Yes, I'm afraid the banks need a lot more reassurance these days to lend money. First question, do you need to borrow money and what do you need the money for? Is there a way you can get the item for free or for a lower cost? The first instinct of most people is to say no to this question. But, think about it - is there another way? If you decide you still need money, but the banks won't lend, I would be tempted to investigate http://www.cdfa.org.uk/cmdirec2.php - this group of companies are charities who lend money to people who can't get money through the banks. They may do match funding with the banks (you get half from them and half from the banks) thus providing you with some security. Hope this helps - I've got a free factsheet on the do's and don'ts of raising finance for your business. If you'd like a copy email me on helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk. All the best Helen

Q. hello hellen, can yu tell me the basic steps to producing a business plan, and the key points please.

A. Hi there, thanks for your question. It's a difficult one to answer in the space I have available - it's so long that we have a 30-day e-course on my site - check out http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk/Start-up-ecourses.php. The best thing you can do is email me at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk and I'll send you a copy of my business plan tips which go through the basic steps to producing a business plan. Hope this helps Helen

Q. Hello Helen, My wife and I are setting up a business. We will produce Jerk Chicken ready meals for the British market. We have a business plan and done some marketing. How do we go about selling our product?

A. Hi, thanks for your question. One of the easiest ways to start selling your products is to have sample tasting sessions - first of all do this so that your target market can give you some feedback (and by this, I don't just mean friends and family, who tend to be very kind - I mean strangers). That way you'll have evidence of whether or not people like them. Once you've done this, go out to the shops and other retail establishments where you'd like to sell them and invite them to tasting sessions or take small samples to them. To get into shops, usually they will only take small orders to start with and you will only get paid if they manage to sell them. Once you've established yourself, you'll be able to get bigger orders. You might also wanted to consider market stalls as well - although this might not be where you want to be longer term, it will help you to get established in the market. Best of luck Helen

Q. I am in the process of establishing a company with a colleague. The growth of the organisation will be based around the recruitment, training and retention of part time Associates. Clearly, our investment in recruitment and training of these Associates could be undermined if we are not able to retain their services. Could you advise on the contract we need to have with these Associates to ensure they do not use the skills acquired through our training our name to work elsewhere or for themselves.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. I take it you mean by Associates that they will not be employed by you? In other words, they'll be self-employment and just provide services for you when you require them - is that correct? If this is the case, then you will need to be very careful in the eyes of the law. The government has devised a ruling called IR35 - check out the HMRC website for details. This states that if self-employed people work for you and for you alone, then they are deemed in the eyes of the law to be EMPLOYED by you. Your associates MUST therefore work at least 40% of the time for other clients on a self-employed basis to be classified as self-employed. Now to your second question of investing in recruitment and training of these associates. If you plan to recruit associates on a self-employed basis, I would deliberately chose people who already have the vast majority of the skills you're looking for, rather than specifically training them. You should have a contract with them that specifies what work you want them to do and that they are not allowed to take your clients from you, but unfortuantely a contract only goes so far. Even if you have a contract, there is no guarantee that it will stop them doing this - a contract just provides you with protection in a court of law about what's been agreed. I know this all sounds pretty depressing, but I would advise you to think about a different way of doing things i.e. one way could be to choose already self-employed associates with the skills you're looking for and sub-contract the work out to them. Another way could be to employ them in your company so that you have a lot more control about what they do. Hope this helps. Please come back to me if you need any further help. Best regards Helen

Q. Hello Helen i wanted to ask if i want to start wright business plan from what i need to start and where i can get a help for that?Thank you.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Sorry for the delay in replying - I've only just been sent it. A business plan is about writing down where you are now, where you are going and how to get there. So, the first thing to do is write down what you want to achieve in your business and then think about everything you need to do to get the business there. Think about your marketing, your market research, finance, your prices, your business idea and how it works, your team & you and write down what you need to do to reach your goals in each of these areas. Why not also contact me for my free business plan guide by emailing me on info@exceptionalthinking.co.uk which will give you more tips and hints on writing a business plan? I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks Helen

Q. Hi, my name is Lily and I am really interesting in starting a business about Organic Food so could you please advise me how to start doing this as I dont have idea what is the most important I have to keep in mind? thanks a lot for your advise.

A. Hi Lily, thanks for your question. I think the best thing for you to do is contact your local Business Link (www.businesslink.gov.uk) and go on a three day business course. They'll be able to tell you everything you need to know and think about when you're setting up your business. They'll also be able to point you in the right direction to attend food hygiene courses; find premises etc. Hope this helps Helen

Q. Is it better to be a sole tader or a limited company? I am in the process of setting up an online vintage fashion website and am really unsure which would be best. Thank you.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. Determining what type of legal status to have goes mainly on the finanical risk of your business. How financially risky do you feel your business is? If it's not very risky, then you would be better as a sole trader - you'll be the owner of the business, keep all the profit and make all the decisions and it's free to set up. On the downside (and the reason for asking the risky question) is that if anything goes wrong, you'll be personally liable for any money you owe to people (in other words, if you owe money they could potentially take your house or car to pay for the debts). With a limited company, they won't be able to do this. Having said that 99% of all businesses are sole traders and if you borrowed a personal loan and didn't pay it back, you'd be personally liable for that too. In your business, I would have thought you're unlikely to owe lots of money to lots of people and any debts are likely to be small ones. As such, I'd say you would be fine as a sole trader. However, if you're still not sure I'd recommend you speak to an Accountant who can help you make the decision that's best for you. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. I have a great product and it is in great demand. However, I need a cost effective way to advertise my business to encourage clients. Any suggestions?

A. Ah...the age old question. How do you get customers? I wish I could give you 5 marketing ways that would be guaranteed to get you business, but unfortunately it doesn't quite work this way. The first thing you need to do is to get to know who your customers are. Put yourself in their shoes and think about where you would find this type of person. For instance, if I was looking to attract women, I would go to schools, nurseries, doctor's surgeries, supermarkets, women's clothing stores etc as I'm likely to find women in these places. When I get there, I could put up posters, do a talk, speak to women directly, do a competition or something else. You also need to think about where your customers would go if they were looking to buy your product or service and promote in those places. Look at your competition and where they promote their products and services and promote in the same places. Doing a bit of research on your customers and thinking about your marketing from your customer's point of view should help you come up with some cost effective ways to promote and advertise your business. I've got a factsheet with 50 marketing ideas on there, which is too long to put in the space I have available, but if you email me at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk, I'll send it out to you and anyone else who would like it. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. My business is a very personal one. It concerns hair pieces and wigs. How do I get over the taboo and openly advertise the merits of using my service in a positive way

A. Hi, sorry for the delay in answering your question - it's only just been sent to me. Have you thought about teaming up with cancer charities and doctor's surgeries or oncology services that can refer people directly to you? You also might want to think about sponsoring some events or attending them with t-shirts on with your company name on the back like Race for Life for instance. Also look at how the cancer charities promote - you may well be able to promote in the same way as them, as they'll be promoting sensitively too. Don't think of your business as a taboo - you provide a very valuable service that I'm sure will be incredibly welcomed by the customers you provide products for. Hope this helps. Helen

Q. Hi Helen, My name is Sonia and I make and sell hand made greeting cards/wedding stationary.the sales so far has been among family and friends.My local florist and a shop display my cards too.I want to set up an internet shop as well as to supply to big names in the card industry, but do not know how to start.I do not have business skills/knowledge. Would you be able to help and advise.

A. Hi Sonia, Thanks for your question. I'll look at both of your questions separately. Firstly about supplying to big names in the card industry - although programmes like "The Apprentice" make it look easy, unless you have contacts already in this field, you will have to go the long way round on this. You should initially concentrate on building your reputation in this field so that when you do approach the big boys, you can say "I've done this, that and the other". You can build your reputation by doing things like entering awards, getting involved in charity events, getting your cards into all the local shops in and around your county etc. Once you feel you've built your reputation, then is the time to approach the big boys. It is likely even then, that the big boys will take a small sample of your cards to test how they sell - this is probably going to be on the deal that you only get paid if and when they sell. Once they've proved a demand, they'll be more likely to place larger orders. Good luck, be patient, don't give up and eventually you will be successfully. Re the internet, this one is easier. Just find yourself a website designer (approach 3 or 4 and see which one you like best) and ask them to build you an e-commerce site. Make sure you have a content management system in there (where you can change the cards as you design them). E-commerce sites and content management systems do cost more (typically around £2K), so make sure you think the site through (the designer should be able to help you with this) before you go ahead. Hope this helps Helen

Q. Hello Helen, I am planning to start up a travel agency, could you please give me some advice? What are important things I should know? Thanks a lot.

A. Hi, thanks for your question. For this business idea, I would strongly recommend you write a business plan and do a lot of market research. The travel agency business has gone through a lot of changes in the past few years, with high street retailers losing out to their online counterparts. You therefore need to make sure there is room for your business in the market place and perhaps do a survey to see how your customers are reacting to travel agents these days. I would also go and speak to a few travel agents and see how they're handling this market. In short, you need to find out as much as possible about this industry, write a business plan and do as much market research as possible to make sure your new idea is positioned in the best way.We've actually got a sneak preview on our 30 business plan e-course at the moment, where you can receive days 1 to 3 free of charge. This should help you get a head start on writing your business plan - simply email me at helen.dowling@exceptionalthinking.co.uk to see our sneak preview. Hope this helps. Helen