Trademark applications have fallen 30pc from their peak, indicating the decline in business activity and new product launches.
Category: In Business
Advice on growing your small and medium sized business, SME, in the UK. Hiring and managing staff and finance plus marketing all on one website
Train to Gain: It pays to develop the skills of your workforce
One of the most effective funding initiatives by the Government is to help you increase the skill levels of your employees. You are encouraged to review your company’s strategy and ensure that all staff development and training will effectively support your business objectives. Then you need to specify the actions required to develop the strategy through an organisation and development plan agreed with your staff.
Is your business Britain’s best?
Business Matters is pleased to announce that we have partnered with one of the UK’s most exciting small business competitions of 2009. The Pitch will see entrepreneurs and small business owners from all over the nation competing to win a massive £50,000 of business related goods and services.
Pitching their idea to a panel of top industry experts, entrants will be asked to demonstrate the innovation, market knowledge, customer engagement and financial viability of their business. The contest kicks off in June with heats in Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London, followed by a grand final later in the year. The Pitch promises to offer a real taste of how resourceful UK entrepreneurs are reacting to current economic conditions, bucking the downturn with innovation and creativity.
Embracing the Olympic dream
Whilst watching the recent episode of The Apprentice we were struck by the use of The Olympics and London 2012 branding so we spoke to John Mackenzie, partner of leading IP solicitors Pinsent Masons for his advice of how to embrace the Olympic spirit without falling foul of the law.
The do’s and dont’s of workplace humour
We spend a lot of time at work. For many people they spend more time with their colleagues than they do with their family and friends. In these circumstances, it is only natural that as the working relationship evolves, the environment develops in such a way that people can find opportunities to let off steam by laughing and joking with each other.
Many employers actively encourage employees to find ways to make their work fun because, lets face it, a happy employee is more productive and none of us want to spend the day with a lot of miserable people.
SpinVox CEO & co-founder Christina Domecq named as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’
The Award was presented at a gala reception in London by CNBC, in partnership with the Financial Times, to honour those CEOs who are making a difference through leadership and innovation in their industry sectors.
Initial nominations where made by CEOs from European companies in the FT Global 500, whilst the final winners were decided by a panel that consisted of EBLA 2008 winners from companies such as Arcelor Mittal, Autonomy, Fiat and GE, plus representatives from CNBC, the Financial Times and IMD business school.
Winners of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards announced
The winners of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards were announced today (Tuesday 24 March 2009) at a ceremony at the Institute of Directors (IoD), London.
They were each presented with a trophy and £1,000 prize money by Alistair Darling, who made time to chat to finalists and hear their positive stories.
National Business Awards: The business oscars unveiled for 2009
Recognising and rewarding business excellence, innovation and success, The National Business Awards, sponsored by Orange have launched its eighth consecutive regional Awards programme.
Do Customer’s Respond the way you would Like?
What happens when you ask for directions? You interrupt someone, stopping them from going about their business, yet people are rarely rude. This is because of the way we ask. We will normally say, ‘Excuse Me’ in a slightly deferential way. We continue, ‘I wonder if you can help me? Could you tell me where Bromley Place is?’
How to get the most from your sales staff in difficult times
When economic conditions are hard, leading a sales force can seem like the most difficult job in the world. One of the main ingredients to achieving outstanding results is to ensure the team is motivated. The key to motivation is recognition. Ultimately, everyone wants to be appreciated and their hard work acknowledged.
How to survive in 2009
With the recession predicted to last for the whole of 2009, many of us will come back to the office in the New Year, with some trepidation. However, with the right mechanisms in place, it will still be possible to find the opportunities that are out there and prosper.
25 common characteristics of successful home working entrepreneurs
Regardless of your definition of success, there are, oddly enough, a great number of common characteristics that are shared by successful businesspeople. You can place a tick beside each characteristic that you feel that you possess. This way, you can see how you stack up. Even if you don’t have all of these characteristics, don’t fret. Most can be learned with practice and by developing a winning attitude, especially if you set goals and apply yourself, through strategic planning, to reach those goals in incremental and measurable stages.
Finalists of the Enterprising Young Brits Awards 2009 revealed
The finalists of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards have been named and must now pitch to a panel of judges including successful entrepreneurs and representatives from HM Treasury and the Institute of Directors (IoD), but now YOU the public have the chance to help them on their way to success.
The Apprentices 2009 unveiled
The identities of the fifteen contestants taking part in this year’s Apprentice have been revealed.
Eight females and seven males will compete for a job working with multi-millionaire Sir Alan Sugar in the business-based reality show. The series kicks off on March 25 on BBC One.
This year’s hopefuls include a city stockbroker, a teacher, an award-winning restaurant owner and an ex-professional footballer.
Make working from home…work
Working from home has been a growing trend over the past five years. Now, with people taking redundancy payments and turning their backs on corporate life, it’s set to become even bigger. But before you take the plunge, consider the pros and cons in order to avoid the pitfalls.
“Don’t you watch TV all the time? Or sleep in?” are the two most frequent questions IT entrepreneur Katherine Mellon* gets asked when she reveals she works from home. They’re also the most common misconceptions about this increasingly popular way of working.
