Business Management & Leadership Skills
March 6, 2010
Are you wondering why many women in business or black entrepreneurs are finding it challenging to start or grow their businesses successfully?
Do you know that numerous researches have identified that women and black businesses need a far greater support in:
• Business management
• Interpersonal & leadership skills
Do you know that in spite of these findings more and more women are going into business? In fact, various researches have shown that women owned businesses are growing faster than men owned businesses. Moreover, black women in business are growing faster than any other ethnic groups in the UK and dare I say the USA. This is “Good News” and I for one I am happy I am around to see this.
The Bad News- the support available for women in business and black business owners is not always adequate and a lot more needs to be done in this area. Coaching, mentoring and flexible training solutions are far and few between when it comes to support for women in business and black businesses. True, we should be grateful for what is available and I will advocate gratitude in all things.
So, what can I do about this? Well given that I now know for a fact that only 5% of businesses are successful, whilst the remainder find themselves extinct or die a natural death with three years (if they are lucky), I have been researching what it is that the 5% of businesses do that the 95% do not do. I set out to study the best business minds and got mentored and coached by some of the top successful business owners, authors, investors and coaches. The truth is this; you cannot start a successful business without the key ingredients for business success. You need to know what these ingredients are; otherwise you run the risk of wasting your time and money and giving up in the end. This is where the coaching, mentoring, training and consultancy services you get from me is different. It is holistic and robust. It helps you build a successful business from the inside out. It saves you headache and pain and helps you to bring the best out.
Take a look at my testimonials and you will see what people say about me. There are various products you can immediately access through this site. You can also attend our workshop events, tele-seminars or opt for online or face-to-face coaching.
Products:
1. Have you got what it takes to become an entrepreneur? – Entrepreneurial Indicator Test – Learn about the qualities and characteristic of successful entrepreneurs and practical strategies for developing these qualities. You also have immediate access to a self-assessment toolkit that you can complete and assess yourself against, using the results of the assessment to put together your personal development plan.
2. Developing the foundation for business success” is a great audio resource that will help you learn the core foundation underpinning the success of all businesses that have made fortune in monetary terms. You learn how to identify your passion, mission and vision and take steps to achieve them
3. How to generate, develop and protect you business ideas will show you how the mind works, strategies for boosting your creativity, tools you can use to fast track your creative powers, how to protect your business ideas from intellectual property theft and more.

4. My Business Is My Business is a great book that has been endorsed by millionaires who have personally taught me what they do differently from others. Now you can learn the secret of the millionaires.
5. To fast track your business, you want to become a member of my club where you get to learn a wealth of skills to help develop yourself and your business for accelerated growth. Go to http://www.bssleaningcenter.com
6. For personal development skills, http://www.bsslearningcenter
Sheila’s Newsletter For Small Businesses and Start-ups
October 2, 2009
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At BSS Management Consultancy, we value our customers and prospects and we would like to hear from you about our products and services. You can contact us by phone or by email during business hours. Our opening hours are: Monday – Friday – 9.00am – 5.00pm GMT & EST —————————————— Call Business Services Support Ltd. today on: +44 (0)845 226 4315 For further information contact us during the working hours (as above by phone) on: Our UK Office Contact Number Tel: 0845 226 4315 —————————————— Our USA Office Contact Number and Address World Trade Centre Tel: 1-302-724-4902 —————————————— Otherwise, send us an email: Enquiries @ BSS – Training Services |
Dear !fullname,
I am very pleased to announce the re-launch of my newsletter and I am confident this newsletter will go a long way into supporting your business (or aspirations to start your own business).
In this e-newsletter you will immediately access powerful marketing tools and tips to develop your confidence to sell more of your services and products, as well as maximize the potential of your staff.
The topics covered are wide ranging incorporating business skills and personal development. The aim is to ensure that you fully grasp that their is a direct correlation between business success and personal development/business skills.
It is always an oversight when entrepreneurs downplay the impact of their own personal development and dare I say their staff, on their overall business performance. The two are intricately intertwine and any shortcomings in one will dampen the temperature on the other. Enjoy your reading and let me have your comments.
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Marketing Tips –
Boost the
bottom line of your business
As a consultant/coach, and approved by many of the business support agencies across the UK, I am privileged to work with many businesses as well as learn new systems and tools that improve the top and bottom line of real businesses.
Many of the tips I share in this newsletter can easily be adapted to fit your own business regardless of your industry. I am sure by now you would know that marketing and sales are the lifeblood of a business. But ultimately sales without profits and hard cash in the bank account will send your business to the gutters.
It is true that without any cash a business will not survive, hence the famous adage ‘Profit is fantasy, cash is king.’ With this in mind, lets us look at some of the basic things you can do in this economy to jump start your marketing and sales effort.
Next issue I will cover tips on improving your cash flow.
1. Ensure the products you are selling is in demand and that you are clearly focusing your client’s attention towards the benefits your products offer as opposed to the features of your products. Remember, when you buy a drill from a merchant what you really want is a hole not the drill. The drill is just a means to an end. So check how you are selling your products. Are you selling benefits or are you selling features? Benefits focus on the customers where as features bring the focus of attention on you. Remember, the customer does not care about you, they care about their needs being met.
2. Align your business with the needs of the market. Sell what the market is willing to pay for not what you think the market should pay for. Just because your business has been selling to one particular market in the past twenty years does not mean it should continue to do so in the future when the market has clearly changed. Marks and Spencer learned this lesson the hard way. I met a business recently who after being in business selling successfully to the private sector has to rethink their strategies when the private sector stamp down on their spending. Guess what? Suddenly the public sector market becomes attractive. Be flexible and make adjustments.
3. Develop a database of prospects and customers and stay in touch with them. There is a lot of CRM systems in the market. You are spoiled for choice. Remember, the money is in the database list and the more you interact with your list the more they are likely to remember you and your service.
4. Sell more products to your existing customers and new one by adding to your menu on offer. Your backend product lines should be developed so that you increase the spend per customer and grow your business geometrically. This is how Jay Abraham puts it in his Extraordinary Marketing System; move away from linear marketing into the world of geometric marketing.
5. Offer loyalty discounts or coupons to stimulate purchase and do so consciously and with care. You want to ensure that your discount program will not jeopardize the financial viability of your business as some businesses have sent themselves down the drain offering discounts at the expense of viability. Remember, sales revenue and profitability are not the same thing. Check my book on this topic and learn more.
6. Invest in training your staff so that they will improve productivity and customer satisfaction/ retention. This is not a time to cut back, this is the time to think and act creatively.
7. Inspire prospects and customers to buy from you through gathering and publishing testimonials from past and existing clients. Be sure to ask satisfied customers to offer you testimonials and to do so honestly. To boost credibility, make sure you add the name of the person, their email address and/ or business name next to the testimonial- Put these simple tips in place today and I guarantee your business will start generating more sales and profit.
Tips From Three Millionaires on How to Build a Successful Business
Grow Your Business- Marci Shimoff, Kristin and David Morelli reveal their secrets.
These three powerful individuals all came from humble beginings and build their business into a multimillion empire. All three are now working together and are revealing their secrets to entrepreneurs who aspire to learn proven strategies for business success.
You will be amazed what you will learn. It is not very often that you get this type of opportunity to link up with successful individuals with authenticity and credibility like Marci Shimoff, Kristen and David Morreli.
Listen to what Marci said in the video which you can access through the link below. Did you know that happy people earn one million dollars more than saddos over their lifetime? Click the link below now and find out more.
Watch Video Now »
Feng Shui- Does it Work
You may have heard about feng shui and you may be wondering what it is. Well, recently, I met with Diamond Feng Shui Marie Diamond, while she was in the UK. Marie by the way is one of the stars in the film ‘The Secret.’
My meeting with her lasted for one hour and I have to say she blew my mind and took me to a new dimension. I had no idea that our success is a function of our heavenly luck (33%), earthly luck (33%) and environmental luck (33%) until I met with her. Marie says, "if you can manage to score 20% at each level, you are on your way to success."
Many people are stuck because they do not fully comprehend these different dimensions of the human race and I shall be bringing more information and tips about Feng Shui in my future newsletter. Did you know that your physical environment can impact the level of your productivity?
The more clutter your environment, the more stuck and unclear you are about your life. If you are experiencing stuck in your life, you may want to quickly check if you have clutter in your house or office space. The immediate action you can take is physical space clearing.
Clear all the clutter from your house and I mean all the clutter, then observe your feeling in the environment; you will begin to experience a shift in your energy space and a sense of clarity and strengths.
Until the next issue, stay tight for more Feng Shui tips. Do you want a better relationship, money and health? Check out this column in November.
The Secret to Attracting
Money By Joe Vitale
Shhh! Here’s the REAL Secret to Attracting Money!
Joe Vitale released his third Nightingale-Conant audio program early this year, called ‘The Secret to Attracting Money.’ Of course, you already know that like Marci Shimoff, Joe was one of the teachers in the movie the Secret. There is no question that there are some financial issues needing to be resolved, and they will be.
But, this is nothing new. We’ve survived the Great Depression (when times were far worse) and twelve recessions. We can handle this one, too.
The truth of the matter (that the media never tells you) is that there are money making opportunities in every challenge. Even today’s recession.
For instance, someone right now is becoming wealthy by seeing a problem as a product. Did you know many people are buying stocks at unheard of prices and selling them for huge profits right now and every other day?
Did you know people are buying up real estate at ridiculously low prices and holding it for the next boom?
Many people are taking advantage of their recent job loss and starting new businesses at a record pace – finally doing what they love.
In fact…if you are feeling like a victim of today’s recession or the negative media – let’s turn that around right now.
Here’s what I want you to do…
1. Choose one of the fear-based messages currently being relayed in the media. (Just turn on the news and you’ll find one instantly).
2. Then write down some creative ideas that might be money making responses to the “apparent” challenge.
It may take some time – but you can do it. In fact, in Joe’s new Secret to Attracting Money program he has cleverly and carefully addressed this issue under the section, "How to Make Money In Any Economic Climate."
When you listen to this one section alone you’ll see for yourself how easily you can make money starting right now, wherever you live.
Win up to $150
Suits and Fragrances
Participate in our Monthly Competition and win up to $150 suits and fragrance.
I am sure you would like to know how you can enter this competition. It is simple. You simply have to invite up a minimum of 10 people to sign up on our Reward Program, that’s all it is. The winner is the person with the highest number of referees.
All you need to do is spread the word about our products in BSSRetail.Net » and CheapWholeSaleShop.Com » Ask them to sign up on either mailing list and mention your name when they do so. At the end of the month, the winner will be announced.
Popular Fragrances
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About Sheila Elliott
Sheila is the founder of BSS Management Consultancy and BSS USA Inc. She is also the author of My Business Is My Business-Learn How to earn a fortune, endorsed by Mark Victor Hansen, International New York Best selling Author and co author of the Chicken Soup Empire.
To have a sneak preview of this book, visit…
http://www.businesservicessupport.com
/business_startup.php
Sheila trains, coach and consult small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in business management and personal development skills. For specialist advice in home business opportunity, business start-up and growth, contact Sheila by email http://www.businesservicessupport.com
/business_startup.php
Sheila trains, coach and consult small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in business management and personal development skills. For specialist advice in home business opportunity, business start-up and growth, contact Sheila by email
The secrets of successful businesses
December 2, 2008
Minority owned businesses in the UK are on the rise with recent statistics showing women playing a significant role in the business community. In my local area (London Borough of Greenwich), one cannot help but to notice a steady increase in the number of ethnic businesses springing up on the high street and this trend is expected to continue into the future.
Whilst this trend is a step in the right direction, new businesses, and to a large extent existing ones, will need to be sensitive to the challenges of building a successful business. Business support services can play a significant role in the nurturing and development stages of businesses. Equally important are opportunities for sharing best practices.
This article reveals what well known and respected business veterans say about the sources of their success. I am sure we can all learn from them.
Successful businesses take their customers’ perception about their products and services very seriously. They generally focus on quality, innovation and profitability. Under promising and over delivering is a guided principle that underpins their ethos. In addition they understand that their business is as good as the people who work for them. Consequently, cultivating a culture that values, respects and develops staff is a common strategy employed by successful businesses to gain the support and commitment of their staff. As a result, they are able to stem the cancer of high staff turnover that is prevalent in unsuccessful businesses.
It is a well-established fact that people will make or break a business and successful businesses understand this philosophy all too well. Successful businesses have retention strategies, which could take on various forms. One such strategy includes involving their staff in decision making through focus groups aimed at innovating, creating new products and encouraging a strong listening culture right across the organisation. In the final analysis, one cannot underplay the importance of strong leadership, competent managers and staff, integrity and honesty in the formula for business success.
Sheila Elliott is the managing director of Business Services Support Limited
http://www.businessservicessupport.com
email sheila@businessservicessupport.com
Getting the best from your staff
December 2, 2008
Many businesses purport that their greatest asset is their staff. On the other side many claim that their greatest headache is their staff. Whatever camp you belong to, be rest assured that people are vital to every business no matter what the technocrats may like us to believe. It is true that we live in the age of technological advancement and evolution with many businesses queuing to take advantage of the next automated system that comes into the market with a promised tag to streamline business processes, improve quality of services and products, deliver added value to customers and, to top it all, increase profitability for investors. Your staff are invaluable assets to your business but sadly there are very few managers that are adequately skilled to deal with staffing issues efficiently and effectively. Some even believe that staff are assets that must be controlled, until they are threatened with a resignation or strike action.
This article seeks to provide information on strategies successful managers use to get the best out of their staff. It is hoped that readers will benefit from this article and ensure their businesses improve their approach to managing staff in the future.
To start of with, you need to know that people are different in many respect and successful managers generally strive to know their people well enough to ensure they receive the necessary support to effectively undertake their jobs within the standards set by the business. Some of the differences in people include their learning styles, which can sometimes miss the radar of managers. You will be surprised to know that people take in information differently, with some learning through reading books, others through observations and reflection and others through practical hands on approach. Equally, some people are thinkers and learn best using their auditory senses, others are more visionary and learn better through images whereas others are kinaesthetic and learn best through their emotions. In the light of all of these differences, successful managers generally provide support using mediums that are most appropriate to the learning style of their staff, as opposed to using as “One-Size-Fit-All” Approach.
Successful managers are acutely aware that it is not sufficient for their staff to know the overall objectives of the team, as well as the roles and responsibilities of individuals in the team. They take steps to communicate clearly to their staff and make time to deal with matters affecting their wellbeing. Whilst doing all of this, they simultaneously ensure that the overall objectives and goals of the business are kept well in focus. Getting the best from staff is a balancing act between the managing the needs of the business and the needs of staff. Both needs should be given careful attention to avoid management paralysis, staff apathy and demotivation. This brings me to yet another point.
People are special types of resources in a business; they provide services to the business and must be treated with respect and value. Managers who consistently get the best out of their staff do not demean their staff and certainly avoid situations that will lead to humiliating staff. Remember this simple formula:
“Getting the best from your staff = motivating staff + providing them with skills and knowledge required to do the job effectively”.
To motivate staff and train them effectively, a manager must know their staff well enough to ensure their proposal for performance improvement and motivation strategy is appropriate.
Over the next few weeks, we will be giving free consultation advice to businesses that need help in financial and human resource management. If you would like to take advantage of this do send me an email. For advice and support on this subject, contact sheila@businessservicessupport.com
Sheila Elliott is an expert in business and personal development strategies. She is the founder of Business Services Support Limited and the author of My Business Is My Business- Learn How To Earn A Fortune. For more information about are free articles visit, http://www.businessservicessupport.com and http://www.sheilaelliott.com
A Profitable Bankrupt Business
December 2, 2008
Some of you may be asking if it is possible for a business to be profitable and bankrupt at the same time. Well the simple answer to this question is “Yes it is”. A business can be profitable and be cash-strapped all at the same time. In practice, there are many businesses that precariously operate in this way. Some of them are under the misguided belief that their business is financially healthy just because they are generating strong profits. The connection between profit and cash is hardly made by such businesses until their bank informs them that their cheques can no longer be paid due to lack of cash.
Understanding the rudimentary principles of interpreting and evaluating financial statements accurately can help businesses identify whether their business is profitable and liquid. In reality is cash is king, whereas profit is fantasy. A business with no cash will soon become insolvent regardless of whether it is profitable or not. In this article we will explore strategies businesses can implement to ensure they generate healthy cash and profits at the same time.
The first strategy is to set up a clear policy on credit sales. Such strategy can include approving customers’ credit lines based on their credit ratings. To do this you must have a system in place to determine customers’ credit worthiness before approving credit lines. The next stage is to determine how much credit period to extend to customers. In determining the credit period, it is always advisable to find out what the normal practice in the industry is (e.g. 15 days, 30 days or more) and what credit period you can expect from your suppliers and bankers to cushion you over this period. All too often, small businesses in particular, give very long credit periods to large businesses only to run into cash flow problems owing to its inability to make timely collections from these customers. One way to get around this problem is to stipulate the payment terms clearly on the invoice before issuing it to the customer, as well as to charge interest on outstanding invoices after the approved credit period. But remember, the policy of charging interest on outstanding invoices after the credit period must be clearly communicated before it is enforced. Failure to communicate terms in advance could result in damaging the business’ relationship with its customers. Most successful businesses operate this policy and as a business owner you can do the same.
Other strategies you can use include using factoring agents, insuring against the risks of bad debts, negotiating competitive credit terms with suppliers and giving discounts to customers for prompt payments. For advice and support on this subject, contact sheila@businessservicessupport.com
Sheila Elliott is an expert in business and personal development strategies. She is the founder of Business Services Support Limited and the author of My Business Is My Business- Learn How To Earn A Fortune. For more information about are free articles visit, http://www.businessservicessupport.com and http://www.sheilaelliott.com
Unlocking the gem in business planning
December 2, 2008
Why do some businesses believe they have no need for a business plan until they run into financial difficulties, whilst others spend colossal sums of money preparing a business plan exclusively for their shelves. These are questions I have asked very often as I work with SMEs, who consistently fall fowl of this practice. It may appear that the benefits of business planning are not quite understood by these businesses and hopefully this article will help shed some light on the subject.
From a practical perspective, it is inconceivable to find any reliable products in the market including our homes that was developed without any planning time set aside for the determination of the design, development and implementation process. One cannot deny that the process of planning can be time consuming and tedious, particularly as the benefits of the process is not immediate and often far from sight. However, lurked within the planning process is the opportunity to discover flaws in original ideas which in return provides opportunities to improve them?
So what are the benefits that can be derived from business planning and how can a business maximise their returns from the process. First thing first, business planning is a management tool that aids the delivery of strategic objectives. The strategic objectives set out what a business want to do and where. A business plan simply helps map the path to achieve corporate objectives. But it must be stated that just because an organisation prepares a business plan does not automatically mean it will maximise the potential benefits from the planning process. Getting the best results from business planning demands the management of the organisation possessing the right level of skills and competencies required to deliver a business plan as well as the motivation to do so. A business plan can look great on paper but unless someone rolls up their sleeves and get on with the work to bring the plan into reality, it will ultimately die with the business.
Therefore when an organisation prepares a business plan that is supported by a competent and motivated management team, as well as a competent workforce, here are some of the gems that can materialise:
- Effective alignment of a business’ resources in markets that draw on their strengths
- Effective development of marketing strategies born out of critical evaluation of operating market
- Better resource planning for effective delivery of corporate goals and objectives.
For more information on this topic, contact sheila@businessservicessupport.com
Sheila Elliott is an expert in business and personal development strategies. She is the founder of Business Services Support Limited and the author of My Business Is My Business- Learn How To Earn A Fortune. For more information about are free articles visit, http://www.businessservicessupport.com and http://www.sheilaelliott.com
Dealing with customer complaints intelligently
December 2, 2008
This is part two of managing marketing risks. Many businesses underestimate the power of dealing with customers’ complaints intelligently, oblivious of it importance in the marketing equation of their business. Do remember that as long as you are in business, there is a risk that you may not satisfy your customers’ needs from time to time and when this happens, the degree to which you can handle the situation wisely will make all the difference in your ability to retain your existing customers. So let me start off by asking you a very serious question.
What is your attitude to customer complaints? Do you perceive a complaint as an unnecessary evil in the marketplace or do you see it as a platform for improving your business services or products. Whatever your disposition towards complaints, one thing is certain, you will ultimately see the results of the way you handle them in your business performance.
In this article, I will be sharing with you some strategies that can used to deal with complaints intelligently. Successful businesses have mastered the art of using these strategies and there is no reason why you can’t do the same. But before we begin to examine these strategies closely, there are a number of key points we must first establish.
How do you rate your customers in the scale of things that matters to you? Are they at the top of your priority list or is the desire for big profits the most important in your list. It is a well-known fact that businesses exist to service their customers. Without customers, businesses have no relevance in the marketplace. So why do some businesses forget such a salient point- something that is so fundamental to their very existence.
Businesses that understand the need to service their customers properly through effective resolution of their problems will ultimately thrive over those that do not. After all, it is the customers that pay the business’ bills. Your customers’ perception of your business is very crucial to its survival. Regardless of what your Board of Directors, Staff or Shareholders think about your products or services, if the customers think your products are good, then guess what, they are, and vice versa.
So how do successful businesses handle complaints intelligently? One strategy used is known as the “LAST Model”. Let me now summarise this model for you -L= Listen, A= Act, S=Solve and T= Thanks.
This may seem such a simple model, but in reality many businesses do not follow it. The “LAST model” simply advocates that customers must be treated with respect when they complain about your services or products. One way to show respect towards them is to listen to their complaints actively with genuine intention to resolve them amicably. Remember, customers have no obligation to give you any feedback in the first place. It is much easier for them to take their customs elsewhere than to spend their precious limited time providing you with feedback that can ultimately benefit you. The benefits of listening to your customers are tremendous. Firstly, it is an opportunity to find out what is wrong with your business, so that you can fix it and become a great business in the marketplace. Secondly, it is also an opportunity to engage in meaningful interaction with your customers, as part of your product and service development processes.
When it comes to listening, it is important that we do not confuse this with hearing. Active listening involves focus and attention to the information being communicated from the perspective of the customer. It is not an opportunity for you to defend your position but rather to understand the perspective of your customers so that you can solve their problems more effectively. Provided you listen very well, you can then act appropriately to solve the problems. After solving the problems, by all means show some gratitude and thank your customers for their time in sharing their concerns with you. Looking at this model carefully, I am sure you will agree that your customers will be more than happy to continue doing business with you if they are able to share their concerns openly without fear of being treated badly. Why don’t you try implementing these strategies today in your business? For more information on how you can develop your listening and problem solving skills, why don’t you send an email to sheila@businessservicessupport.com
Sheila Elliott is the managing director of Business Services Support Limited
http://www.businessservicessupport.com
Intellectual Property
November 10, 2008
Protect Your Business Ideas from Intellectual Property Infringement – and boost your income
How much does your business idea worth? Perhaps you have not thought about this question before. Your business idea is the greatest asset of your business. If you fail to protect it, you will soon be out of business. Way too many entrepreneurs make the mistake to treat money spent on patent, copyright and trademark as an expense. They fail to recognise the dire consequences that come with limited or no intellectual property cover. This resource page has been put together for you to access relevant sites that have ample information on intellectual property. To find out more about what intellectual property is here are two key websites you can learn from
1. USA- http://www.uspto.gov
2. UK- http://www.patent.gov.uk
You can save significant sums of money if you familiarise yourself with the requirements for intellectual property cover. You need not use legal avenues for trademarks and copyright requirements as these can easily be done by yourself if you go through the free online resources on these recommended sites. A word of caution; if you are in doubt about any aspects of the information on these sites, you are strongly advice to contact their office directly for clarification. Please do not contact BSS Management Consultancy or Sheila Elliott to clarify any information on these sites.
1. http://www.cipa.org.uk/members/directory/default.asp?m=f&dir=1
2. http://www.kellysearch.com/us-product-66405.html
With regards to patents, it is strictly recommended that you seek professional advice from an approved patent agent. Many entrepreneurs that have opted for the cheap option have fallen into hard times, due to the substandard cover provided by so called experts, which exposed their intellectual property to infringement with no recourse to the law. You want to ensure by all means you do not become a victim of intellectual property infringement. To access approved patent agents go to the site listed below.
One of the mistakes that many entrepreneurs make is to disclose commercial information to friends or colleagues they consider a trusted party. This can be a financial disaster for your business because you have no control or way of stopping your friends or colleagues leaking the information to others or even stealing the information under your nose. Like it or not, this has been the experience of some entrepreneurs. To ensure that you do not become a victim of a breach in confidential information with commercial value, you must always get a third party to sign a “Non Disclosure Agreement” before giving third party access to your business plan or business ideas. If they fail to sign the “Non Disclosure Agreement,” do not progress with the engagement as it is clear their intentions are suspicious. Think about it, why will any honest person refuse to sign a “Non Disclosure Agreement”?
There are many free “Non Disclosure Agreement” templates on the internet and many are tempted to use them. However, they are not robust enough and in many respects they do not protect you fully from a breach of your commercial information. To ensure your business ideas and plans are fully covered, you need to get a qualified solicitor to write a “Non Disclosure Agreement” for you that covers all angles. Sadly, many entrepreneurs violate this rule and when they do so, they often find someone stealing their ideas which quite frankly were not valued enough by them. Remember, ignorant of the law is not an excuse. I want to emphasise again that you stay clear from any free template for “Non Disclosure Agreement” no matter what its source. As long as it is free on the internet, you can be assured it is not of a robust quality and moreover it is not tailored specifically for your business needs.
If you need a “Non Disclosure Agreement” put together for your business, do contact us on 0845 226 4315 and we will be glad to link you up with one of our recommended legal partners that provide this service at a competitive rate.
Pick up the phone and contact us today for support in this area.
How to take control of your Money- Lessons from the richest man in Babylon
September 20, 2008
How to take control of your Money- Lessons from the richest man in Babylon
Women in business and black entrepreneurs I want to share with you something awesome. Do you know that right now there are people experiencing abu
Principle One- Learn and cultivate a well-grounded understanding of the definition of money? Money is the reward for services rendered. You need to understand that borrowing money comes with a price tag which must be paid for in cash or otherwise. If you find yourself engaging in excessive consumerism to satisfy your excessive desires, this is a clear indicator that you do not have this firm grasp of the definition and the price of money. However, this level of understanding whilst important is only the start of the process of taking control of your money.
Principle Two- Irrespective of the amount of money you earn, the first person that should be paid is “You”. The principle shared by the richest man in Babylon is this; pay yourself 10% before paying anyone else. This is money for you; not to be used for entertainment but rather to be invested for your future retirement income at the very least. Aside paying yourself, you want to also help others and that takes me to the third principle.
Principle Three- Pay 10% of your income to a charity of your choice. In the Christian religion this is called tithing. This is a prosperity principle, which many of the wealthy practice irrespective of their income bracket.
Principle Four- Keep your expenditure within 70% of your income. If you practice this principal on a regular basis you will be unlikely to run into financial difficulties particularly if you invest wisely all spare cash including the 10% you put aside for yourself.
So let us now look at how you should invest your 10%? There are certain principles you must follow. It is fundamental that you preserve your capital if you are to grow your spare cash. Therefore, wise investment is critical. Investing in schemes that guarantee the preservation of your capital through collaterals that are of higher value to your capital should be the most critical focus in your investment decision. If you and I invest recklessly or emotively without careful attention to these principles, we will run the risk of loosing our future money and our grandchildren simply because we have allowed their parents to die in hands of reckless investments.
Taken together, the keys to taking control of your purse are:
· Have a healthy relationship with money
· Take control of your expenditure and limit it to 70% of your earnings; if you want to spend more, earn more; you have the mind and intellect to earn more
· Pay yourself 10% of the income you earn consistently
· Invest wisely for a decent return on investment and with a guaranteed protection to your capital
How many of these principles do you currently follow? If you need help with your handling of money, I can help you or link you up with partners who can. Please send your comments in about this post.
How To Spot Home-based Business Opportunity With Integrity
September 20, 2008
I have often wondered where to start with this. However, now that I have been running my business from home for the last two years, I think there are tips that I can provide to newbie’s selling online services and products.
First thing, lets us talk about how to spot profitable homebased business with integrity. Let examine some questions here.
Is there a quick criteria that people can use to spot the scams from those opportunities that are genuine?
The answer is simple, YES.
There are many scams and good opportunities out there and you just need to do your own due diligence to make the separation easy for you very quickly.
The criteria I find useful and one that I now use religiously to sift through the scams from the good opportunities is set out below for you.
All you have to do is ask a series of questions and depending on the answers you can then determine whether to proceed with the homebased opportunity or not.
1. Who is behind the business? It is important to check out the people behind the business. If you don’t do so, you may well be acting irresponsibly at best or at worst dishonestly. Get a telephone number from their site and definitely call them and ask questions. If there is no contact number, then I am extremely uncomfortable to deal with the business.
2. What is in the public domain about the opportunity? Google is a very great resource to use for this. I very often check the name of the opportunity in Google and find out what people have said about it as well as make my judgement based on the balance of probability or my intuition. If the positive outweighs the negative, then I am content. People are more predisposed to moan about things that are not pleasant and it is common practice to post their experience on the net.
3. What is the business selling? It is important the business is legit and that it is selling a product of value. The last thing you want to be involved in is pyramid selling. For that reason, I will very often buy the products myself and test it before I promote it to others.
4. What is their credential for paying affiliate? Do they have reliable systems in place? This is extremely critical. I will test this by buying a product from my affiliate site and check if I am paid for the product sold in commission I will immediately recognise the business as having a reliable system in place. There is nothing worst than promoting other peoples products and services in the expectation of commission payment only to fine you get no commission for your work. So it is up to you to check the logistic and reliability of the commission payment platform used by the business.
5. Are the products or services being sold congruent with your values? I can’t profess to being indifferent in this area. There are somethings in life that I will never sell no matter the price tag or commission paid out. You must ensure you choose a programme that you are comfortable with. Its pointless making lots of money but being worried and not at peace with self after acquiring the money.
Finally, taking all this together, you can see why I choose to be affiliated with some my home-based opportunity such as:
1. Success University – http://www.bss.successuniversity.com
Almost everyone in the programme is publicly known and their products on personal development are highly esteemed. Zig Ziglar, Les Brown, Denis Waitley and more
2. Freebies Force-http://www.spmelliott.makemoneywithfreebies.com/
Again, all the products that are being promoted are well known. Companies such as Wendys, Proter and Gamble and more
So now you know it. There are great opportunities out there but you need to sift through to find them and always uphold a value of integrity in your dealings with opportunities.
Author:
Sheila Elliott FCCA, MBA
Founder of BSS Management Consultancy
http://www.businessservicessupport.com
http://www.mybusinessismybusiness.com
http://www.spmelliott.makemoneywithfreebies.com
http://www.bss.successuniversity.com













