How a wave of ‘restaurantrepreneurs’ are cooking up new business models

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innovation, innovative ideas, internet marketing, new trends, small business, small business SMM

From Helen Dhaliwal’s Red Hot World Buffet – a high-quality ‘all you can eat’ buffet – to Rebecca Mascarenha’s neighbourhood-style restaurants, Emma Sinclair looks at a new wave of ‘restaurantrepreneurs’ cooking up a treat for savvy diners.

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Are you a closset enterpreneur? What would you do if you had the opporutnity? Let us know below …

Thinking of starting your own business? Go to Solent Business Growth Network or call 02380 768495.

 

One in four Brits want to start a business

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enterpreneur, entrepreneurship, passionate, small businesses, SME, Start up business, start up support, start ups, Start your own business, Startups

“UK entrepreneurship is on the rise, with one in four people wishing to start a business, according to research from business software provider Sage.

The YouGov study of over 3,000 participants found that new businesses in the north east could be set to grow the most, with 11% from this region planning to start up, compared to 9% in London.

Doing something they are passionate about full time was the most popular incentive for people from the north east to start a business, with 38% of participants giving this as their key motivation.” read the full artice here

Are you a closset enterpreneur? What would you do if you had the opporutnity? Let us know below …

Thinking of starting your own business? Go to Solent Business Growth Network or call 0800 612 9976.

MS Office 365 – useful or another fad? What do you think?

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cloud computing, clound, collaborate to innovate, innovation, innovative ideas, MS Office 365, online collaboration, small business, workzmarter

I have always been a  keen user of MS Office and have enjoyed the comfort of using Outlook to manage my days and the joy of now using icloud to connect Calendar, Contacts to my ipad and iphone! No more copying.

“If you’re a small business or startup, Microsoft Office 365 should be on your technology shortlist. It’s a cloud-based suite based on the world’s most popular office software that launched in late June. It will likely get small businesses and enterprises to start considering cloud software solutions if they haven’t already. Microsoft also hopes this offering can edge into the space Google Apps has had to itself for several years.

After testing the suite’s small business tools for several weeks, I’m convinced that it’s a strong option for small businesses, startups, and enterprises. It’s possibly even better for small companies than Google Apps. With a promise of 99.9% uptime, generally reasonable pricing, a deep list of features, and rich cross-application compatibility, I can see many businesses wanting to use Office 365.

Opinions are mixed on just how useful the Office 365 will be to small businesses and nimble startups. Our own Matthew Lynley made the case that startups with young personnel that grew up with social networking won’t see Office 365 as the ideal solution for them. But frequent VentureBeat columnist Peter Yared argued that Office 365 will clobber Google Apps and similar cloud software options because it has familiarity and considerably more features.”  read more  – http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/29/hands-on-review-microsoft-office-365/

So has anyone any experience of using 365? Is it really the one fo the future or is Google APps still a strong contenter? And what about Windows 8 and how will that work with all of this?

Workzmarter provide a range of business services to help you to work more effectively – from training and coaching you to providing virtual assistants to do the work for you – Call 02380 768495 or email enquiries@workzmarter.com

Entrepreneurs emerge using New Enterprise Allowance…

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Enterpreneurs, NEA, new Businesses, New Enterprise Allowance

The government’s New Enterprise Allowance is helping hundreds of businesses across the UK get off the ground and employment minister Chris Grayling is therefore keen to see the project extended.

Since its launch in April last year, the programme has helped 4,560 individuals to realise their dream of becoming their own boss and having their own business, figures from the Department for Work and Pensions have revealed.

As a result of these positive results, Westminster is now considering whether to offer mentoring support to individuals who have been on jobseekers’ allowance for more than three months in a bid to get more Brits to start their own companies.

Minister Grayling said: “I’m delighted that hundreds of businesses are setting up every week thanks to our New Enterprise Allowance. Even in tough economic times there are opportunities out there and we’re ready to back those who have an idea that can work and the can-do attitude to make it a success.

“With 4,560 businesses up and running we’re already helping to unleash a new wave of entrepreneurs.” Read more                             Published by Tim Hill

The Federation of Small Business are promoting a campaign this year – “Real Life Entrepreneurs” and  we would like to hear from anyone who has a story about setting up business this year. Let us know what you think.

For further information about our workshops, one2one training  call 02380 768495 or email socialmedia@workzmarter.com.

Start-up Spouses Keep Britain in Business…

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entrepreneurs, innovative ideas, SHAB, small business SMM, Small business support, spouses in business., Start up business, start up support, Start up wives and girlfriends, SWAG, virtual assistance, virtual assistants, virtual book keeping, Virtual PA, workzmarter

“More than two-thirds of small business owners rely on partners for practical, unpaid support”  - Simply Business

- 48 per cent of spouses help partners when they should be doing their own job
- 52 per cent of small business owners would not be able run business without spousal support

Entrepreneurs may be the backbone of the UK economy, but new research reveals

Men & Women support their spouse’s businesses – the equally vital role being played by their partners – with the wives, girlfriends, husbands and boyfriends of Britain’s small business owners contributing an estimated £8.8 billion to the nation each year.

According to a survey by Simply Business, the UK’s largest business insurance provider, more than two thirds (64 per cent) of small business owners call upon partners for unpaid practical support, such as admin, DIY, accounts and customer liaison.
Coined ‘SWAGs’ (start-up wives and girlfriends), and ‘SHABs’ (start-up husbands and boyfriends), these unsung heroes work an average of 6.5 hours per week for their partner’s business, with a significant 14 per cent working more than 20 hours, equating to almost half the hours of an average full time position.
The majority of SWAGs and SHABs (67 per cent) do so while holding down a full time job and almost half (48 per cent) admitted helping when they should be at work themselves.  Read more...

Does your spouse support your business and what sort of problems or benefits does this provide?  Have you ever thought about using a Virtual Assistant?

Workzmarter provide a range of business services to help you to work more effectively – from training and coaching you to providing virtual assistants to do the work for you – Call 02380 768495 or email enquiries@workzmarter.com

Workzmarter shortlisted for Logica Sustainable Stories…

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back office servcies, innovation, innovative ideas, outsourced, outsourced servcies, small business, work together, workzmarter

Logica launched the Sustainability Stories competition 3 months ago to find the one project that they could help with €20,000 worth of consulting. They believe that the path to the future is through innovating now, so they set up www.sustainability-stories dedicated to projects from around the world. They had 73 competition entries for their judges (Vodafone, University College of London, Microsoft, GreenMonk, the Club of Budapest and Logica) to assess.

The winner was  GreenRiders, a Finnish company that facilitates the sharing of transport but  the judges were also really impressed with the two runners-up – Nudge from the Netherlands which takes citizen-driven ideas to help drive sustainability, and UK’s Workzmarter which uses technology to assist people, like mothers or the disabled, work from home. We’ll be telling you more about their work in our next couple of blogs so keep tuning in.  Read the full press release here

Workzmarter (then called 7×7) won two awards from SEEDA for best use of teleworkers in 2005 and 2006 but the competition form overseas call centers made it difficult to compete.

“We have always liked the idea of teams of virtual assistants working from home, using the technology and providing back office services to small businesses” says Carolyn Fujii, Operations Director  ” But we have to change the attitude of small business owners who try to do it all themselves and not consider outsourcing their support work. It works very well and helps to employ people who may not otherwise be able to engage in business. Our VAs were very hard working and professional.”  So watch out for the the rise of Virtual Assistants – 247virtualoffice.co.uk

Workzmarter provide a range of business services to help you to work more effectively – from training and coaching you to providing virtual assistants to do the work for you – Call 02380 768495 or email enquiries@workzmarter.com

Trends in US and Europe: Facebook via Mobile Phone

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Badges, Content Distribution, Contest, Controversy, Define New Concepts, Directories, e-marketing, facebook, facebook business page, Foursquare, google, google plus, Guest Blog Posts, Hampshire, How to Content, innovation, innovative ideas, Internet, internet marketing, linkedin, Lists, marketing, marketing agency, marketing strategy, new ideas, new trends, online, online marketing, online marketing service, online marketing tools, small business, small business SMM, social business, Social media, social media connect, Social Networks, southampton, twitter, worksmarter, workzmarter

An analysis from comScore shows that Facebook & Twitter brands have developed a growing mobile audince. On average, slightly more than half of US smartphone owners (50.9%) and 31.7% of European smartphone owners accessed Facebook on their device in the three-month period ending June 2011. Meanwhile, Twitter reached 12.5% of the smartphone audience in the US and 7.4% of the European smartphone audience.

Read more, free Ebook: 45 AMAZING SOCIAL MEDIA CHARTS & GRAPHS TO SELL MANAGEMENT

For further information about workshops, one2one training and our Social Media Connect  distribution service call 02380 768495 or email socialmedia@workzmarter.com.

Calls-to-action should be in every one of your marketing tactics

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Badges, Content Distribution, Contest, Controversy, Define New Concepts, Directories, e-marketing, facebook, facebook business page, Foursquare, google, google plus, Guest Blog Posts, Hampshire, How to Content, innovation, innovative ideas, Internet, internet marketing, linkedin, Lists, marketing, marketing agency, marketing strategy, new ideas, new trends, online, online marketing, online marketing service, online marketing tools, small business, small business SMM, social business, Social media, social media connect, Social Networks, southampton, twitter, worksmarter, workzmarter

Calls-to-action should be used in each and every one of your marketing tactics: emails, social media updates, press releases, trade shows etc.
The fastest way to grab someone’s attention is by making your call to action stand out from the rest of the page and making it dominant. Good writing matters in marketing; being able to articulate ideas clearly is key to capturing the attention of prospects. This rule is crucial when it comes to calls-to-action also the size it is important too.
Your call-to-action needs to be above the fold so viewers don’t have toscroll down in order to see it.

Read more, free Ebook: MASTERING THE DESIGN AND COPY OF CALLS-TO-ACTION

For further information about workshops, one2one training and our Social Media Connect  distribution service call 02380 768495 or email socialmedia@workzmarter.com.

Social Media Trends in US – Do consumers expect something for “Like”?

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Badges, Content Distribution, Contest, Controversy, Define New Concepts, Directories, e-marketing, facebook, facebook business page, Foursquare, google, google plus, Guest Blog Posts, Hampshire, How to Content, innovation, innovative ideas, Internet, internet marketing, linkedin, Lists, marketing, marketing agency, marketing strategy, new ideas, new trends, online, online marketing, online marketing service, online marketing tools, small business, small business SMM, social business, Social media, social media connect, Social Networks, southampton, twitter, worksmarter, workzmarter

EaxctTarget reports indicate that more than 6 in 10 (63%) Facebook users who “like” a brand/ product on Facebook expect something in return. Results from research also show that a leading 58% of Facebook likers expect both access to exclusive content, events or sales, and discounts or promotions through Facebook. Only 37% do not expect anything to happen.

Read more, free Ebook: 45 AMAZING SOCIAL MEDIA CHARTS & GRAPHS TO SELL MANAGEMENT

How can LinkedIn work for your business

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Badges, Content Distribution, Contest, Controversy, Define New Concepts, Directories, e-marketing, facebook, facebook business page, Foursquare, google, google plus, Guest Blog Posts, Hampshire, How to Content, innovation, innovative ideas, Internet, internet marketing, linkedin, Lists, marketing, marketing agency, marketing strategy, new ideas, new trends, online, online marketing, online marketing service, online marketing tools, small business, small business SMM, social business, Social media, social media connect, Social Networks, southampton, twitter, worksmarter, workzmarter

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network online today with an astounding 135 million users and a targeted audience of business professionals. It is important in order to achieve a better and successful networking to have completed your profile 100%.
1. Professional image as your profile
To make a good first impression and it is essential to attracting connections too.
2. Create a compelling headline
You only have 120 characters at the top of your profile to describe what you do, so use compelling keywords so the right professionals on LinkedIn can discover you.
3. Work Experience
List your current position and at least two past positions. Again use descriptive keywords if possible as the ones you quoted in your headline if possible, and don’t forget to describe your role for each position.
4. “Summary” section
This section will give you the possibility to describe who you are and how you help people. It is preferable to write your summary in the third person.
5. “Specialties” section
It is important that you use customer-focused keywords for the simple reason that this section will help you show up in search results within LinkedIn.
6. Recommendations
Request recommendations that can be displayed on your profile. The best way to receive recommendations is to first give them! (you will need 3 recommendations in order for your profile to be completed)
7. “Interests” and “Groups and Associations” sections
Each of these terms will be hyper-linked and will take you to other users in the network who share these interests.

Read more, free Ebook:  LEARNING LINKEDIN FROM THE EXPERTS

For further information about workshops, one2one training and our Social Media Connect  distribution service call 02380 768495 or email socialmedia@workzmarter.com.