You wouldn’t be on your own if your business was feeling a bit cash-strapped at the moment. Government measures to encourage the banks to assist small business with cashflow issues may be a help to some, but frankly this may not be quite the panacea we were hoping for. We’ve been reading about business angels which may just be the answer to your prayers…
What are business angels?
Business angels are private investors on the hunt for a good return for their money. Business angels are often skilled, senior business players themselves, operating in networks locally, nationally and online. Not unlike the premise for Dragon's Den, they invite registered members to send solid business plans, which they will then review and potentially, buy into, in exchange for a share of the business on the table.
Feeling brave?
Angel’s Den is one particular network of business angels who also organise speed-pitching events, the next of which is on 2 February in central London. If you’ve seen Dragon’s Den, then you’ll understand how this may operate, however we are assured it is with none of the usual accompanying humiliation…
Angel’s Den is overseen by the official body, the British Business Angels Association. There is a fee to register and a further fee to submitting a business plan. There is no fee, however, for taking a look at their site, which offers lots of useful advice on planning, as well as testimonials, case studies and more:
http://www.angelsden.co.uk/
Find the British Business Angels Association
Angel’s Den is just one of a number of angels networks operating across the UK. Go to the British Business Angels Association website to see a full list and find out more about opportunities which may work for you:
http://www.bbaa.org.uk/
Please share!
As always we are keen to hear about your experiences – with business angels or otherwise. Please post your comments below or contact the TT team on 0845 075 1044.
TT
Business Support Services for UK and Foreign companies and entrepreneurs. Our services allow companies to have an immidiate structure and presence in the UK. - Company formation - Virtual office - Personal assitant. - Marketing Development - Accouting, legal and HR support - Onshore and Off-shore services. Visit our webite: www.tailoredtime.com or contact us at contact@tailoredtime.com - tel: +44 207 243 6455
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Online boosts small business by 20 per cent
More people are online than ever before. Internet advertising revenues are continuing to grow at a pace completely out of kilter with most other sectors, and now accounts for a whopping 19 per cent of the market, which is only 0.6 per cent behind total press display advertising and 3 per cent behind TV.
But what does this mean to the SME?
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) conducted recent research which indicates that businesses that use internet advertising smartly can expect to grow their revenues by around 20 per cent. The FSB’s annual survey of its 8,700 members showed 43 per cent of respondents reporting notably positive sales increases by internet-related advertising.
So how can I make it work for me?
Internet advertising solutions can be cheap and simple. In its simplest form you can start by reviewing and improving your website and making sure you get smart with tagging and blogging (see TT blog, 20/01/09). Beyond this, you should be thinking about getting your web links added to as many relevant websites as you can – speak to suppliers, business colleagues, networking associates. And ultimately if you can demonstrate decent footfall figures for your site, you can take this to the next level and sell space on your site to other advertisers. Equally if you want to place ads on other sites, when compared to other media, online is very competitive both in the costs and the increasingly large numbers it reaches.
Right I’m going to move all my marketing budget to online…
Not so fast. It’s worth bearing mind, that what is a very attractive marketplace today could be very crowded in the not too distant future. At TT we try to keep ahead of the game by combining our online advertising with offline and by allocating our advertising budgets across a few options, to maintain an effective business profile to a variety of audiences. Additionally we try to keep abreast of developments in digital/online media by looking out for courses and seminars to keep our online work smart. To this end we found a great site, http://www.netimperative.com which offers tips, predictions, news, courses and much more for internet advertisers.
Please share!
As always we’d be interested to hear what you have to say, please get in touch or post your comments below.
TT
But what does this mean to the SME?
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) conducted recent research which indicates that businesses that use internet advertising smartly can expect to grow their revenues by around 20 per cent. The FSB’s annual survey of its 8,700 members showed 43 per cent of respondents reporting notably positive sales increases by internet-related advertising.
So how can I make it work for me?
Internet advertising solutions can be cheap and simple. In its simplest form you can start by reviewing and improving your website and making sure you get smart with tagging and blogging (see TT blog, 20/01/09). Beyond this, you should be thinking about getting your web links added to as many relevant websites as you can – speak to suppliers, business colleagues, networking associates. And ultimately if you can demonstrate decent footfall figures for your site, you can take this to the next level and sell space on your site to other advertisers. Equally if you want to place ads on other sites, when compared to other media, online is very competitive both in the costs and the increasingly large numbers it reaches.
Right I’m going to move all my marketing budget to online…
Not so fast. It’s worth bearing mind, that what is a very attractive marketplace today could be very crowded in the not too distant future. At TT we try to keep ahead of the game by combining our online advertising with offline and by allocating our advertising budgets across a few options, to maintain an effective business profile to a variety of audiences. Additionally we try to keep abreast of developments in digital/online media by looking out for courses and seminars to keep our online work smart. To this end we found a great site, http://www.netimperative.com which offers tips, predictions, news, courses and much more for internet advertisers.
Please share!
As always we’d be interested to hear what you have to say, please get in touch or post your comments below.
TT
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