Partner Article

People can prosper despite economic downturn

It’s entrepreneurship focus week on Bdaily. One of the positive by-products of a difficult job market is that it often spurs people to take matters into their own hands and start their own business, writes Ed Reeves, co-founder and CEO of Penelope.

This is certainly true in the UK – with the biggest areas of growth being mums, young people and the over 50s. And SMEs are the largest base of the business industry accounting for 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses in the UK according to the Federation of Small Businesses. While many of these businesses have a great idea, they often lack the right tools to expedite success.

The majority of small businesses struggle with workload as they try to be everything to everyone. In turn, time is a precious commodity and to gain that competitive edge, you should utilise the best tools out there to help give your business a considerable boost. Here, Ed Reeves, co-founder of Penelope, outlines his top tools that you can call upon to ensure they work in an efficient, robust and smooth manner.

• IT – The key to success is organisation and this includes a robust IT system that is tailored for your businesses. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software offers you a single platform to input, store and access your most important data in a cost-effective way – and also means that staff can access information from home if needed.
• Telecoms – If you are a small team, additional help with phone duty is essential, but it is often too expensive to hire a full-time secretary. Telephone answering services or digital receptionists, specifically targeted for SMEs, can offer flexibility to answer your calls when you are on-the-go, in meetings or out of the office – ideal for companies in the middle of growth spurts.
• Outsourcing – Outsourcing for SMEs is nothing new, many have used it as a tool to work through the recession, but it is important to utilise this in an intelligent and strategic way. Look at your business, its strengths and weaknesses, and identify where you most need help – perhaps it’s accounting, IT or secretarial work. It’s also useful to remember that online outsourcing is incredibly competitive and thus, cost efficient.
• Tax & legal tools – There are a range of websites, including information from small business associations that offer low cost / free advice when it comes to tax and legal needs. Many of these online sites offer document templates, pay-by-the-hour legal advice or updates to relevant legislation.
• Social media – Although there has been significant growth for SMEs using social media, only 28.6 percent of SMEs use it as a medium of communication. For consumer-facing businesses, Twitter can be a great sales tool and for B2B businesses, LinkedIn groups offer an informal, easy way to speak to your target market. Social media advertising is also another cost-effective way to get across your message to a targeted group.

Hopefully the tools listed above give you a few tips and techniques on how to get the most of a work day and fast track success. If utilised properly, these tools will help you punch above your weight. As the old adage says, time is money.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Penelope .