Cressida Johns

Should I start a business during the Coronavirus Crisis?

Cressida Johns Uncategorized

As strange as it may sound, actually this could be a really good time to think about starting a business!! Yes, it’s scary out there at the moment.  But the world is currently on pause, a bit like December when everyone is waiting until the New Year to make any new plans.  And a bit like that, once the dust settles after this crisis there will be a sudden – and very large influx of people immediately making plans and carrying on with their lives. That makes this, actually, an ideal time to plan a business.  You have a few of months to get everything in place ready to press the button as soon as everything settles down.  You probably find yourself with more time on your hands than usual.  It’s also really healthy to have a project to work on. You may be thinking that you have no idea …

Trademarks – Are they really worth it?

Cressida Johns Uncategorized

This article is taken in full with full credit to www.lawbite.co.uk As part of the anticipation and enthusiasm of starting a new business, entrepreneurs typically settle on a trading name, secure domain name and often incorporate their business at Companies House. Does this protect the brand itself though? The short answer is no. Brand protection, such as trademark, is a separate consideration which is not achieved by these measures and which often goes neglected. Here at LawBite we are frequently asked whether putting trademark protection in place is worth the cost and effort involved. This post hopefully helps to answer the question! Trademarks can be registered for many different aspects of a brand, including names, logos, slogans, shapes and even things like sounds, colours and multimedia sequences. If you unsure about your business’ position regarding IP and trademark, please take advantage of our Free Intellectual Property Checklist which includes a …

Facebook for Small Businesses

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

Love it or loathe it – of all the available social media sites, Facebook is the most popular for small business owners wanting to grow their business (even if they don’t use it for personal reasons) – and with good reason. For one, there are over a billion people each day using Facebook. For another, most small businesses are keen to promote themselves within their local area and Facebook is perfect for that. All that said, the people at Facebook don’t make it easy for you. They introduce new algorithms seemingly every day to make it very difficult to grow a business for free through their site. Don’t be put off by this though, Facebook is still an invaluable tool to grow your business once you understand a little on how it all works….and that’s what I’m here for……keep on reading…. How to get started If you don’t already use …

Avoiding the Revenue Rollercoaster

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

It’s a common problem.  One minute you’re flooded with work, the next there are weeks…or months…of nothing.  Perhaps your business is fairly new and you aren’t seeing the sales you want despite your best efforts? So many business owners tear their hair out – or worse, in those times of drought think that their business is failing – if this happens enough times, it can make you want to give up entirely. The only way to stop ‘the revenue roller coaster’ is to ongoingly evaluate what you are doing and have done and look for patterns so you can take action to fix the problem at it’s route. The most common trap that people fall in to is that they’ll work really hard marketing/selling their business from which they get some great results and find themselves quite busy. But because they’re a small business owner which effectively means that in …

Set up your new business

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

Administratively there is quite a lot to do to set up a business.  It can seem quite overwhelming but don’t worry – the following list will take you step by step through everything you need to do. 1.  Choose and purchase a domain name for your business.  Obviously you can only do this once you’ve got your business name decided upon.  There are a few things to consider when selecting your domain name.  It’s a little like choosing a company name actually! Ensure your domain name is easy to type and avoid slang – such as u instead of you (it may make your site harder for your customers to find) Keep it short – the longer your domain name is, the more chance it could be mistyped.  Short and simple is the way to go. Target your area – if your business is local you could consider including your …

Creating a Marketing Strategy….that works!

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

So often overlooked…but fundamentally the most critical element to the success or failure of any business….your marketing strategy. Does the word ‘marketing’ scare the pants off you?  If so – you’re not the only one.  For many small business owners, the term ‘marketing’ refers to having to spend a great deal of money on advertising that is entirely hit and miss and probably won’t yield any addition to their bottom line. What you may not realise however is that ‘marketing’ doesn’t just refer to advertising it’s so much more than that.  Furthermore, you don’t need to have a huge budget to market your business successfully. The main thing when it comes to marketing is that you do it continuously – when you’re trying to build your business, you market it, when things are going badly you hit the marketing…and when things are going well…guess what…you need to keep marketing.  Now, …

Creating your Business Plan

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

How to Create a Business Plan If you’re not sure if a business plan is REALLY necessary or think that is sounds like an awful lot of work then I recommend first heading over to my article on ‘The Importance of Having a Business Plan‘ before you read any further. Assuming you’ve done that already, or are fully committed to the importance of this task – we’ll get stuck right in! This article will walk you step by step through all the sections of your business plan.   Don’t expect to get it all done in one sitting – there’s a lot to think about and will be a fair amount of research to do too.  It’s a big undertaking and will be a working document that you will use and review time and time again. There are lots of different ways of writing a business plan – some are …

Obtaining Finance for your Business

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

  An Intro to Your Finance Options As if starting a business wasn’t scary enough.  If you need to obtain finance to enable your business to get going – or if you’re an existing business owner and need finance in order to expand – this can make life even scarier! Now, before I go any further, I need to make it clear that I am not a financial adviser, nor am I qualified to offer financial advice.  I am able however to give you some solid things to think about, to help you explore your options and to help you prepare to apply for finance. Before you do anything else you need to make sure that your business plan and marketing strategy are both completely up to scratch.  If you haven’t got one or other of these then now’s the time to get on it!  You’re going to need both of those – and …

Wow with your Website

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

In this day and age, no business can afford NOT to have a website – but if you’re spending a lot of time, energy and money getting people to your site then once they’re there you need to know that, that effort hasn’t been wasted. Thankfully, these days it doesn’t cost the earth to get a good website done and in fact if you’re relatively computer savvy and you don’t need a website that is too complicated then potentially you could even develop one yourself! There are four elements that are critical for a successful website: Design & Development, Copy, Usability and Readability. I once read that a website should be like the 100m sprint – rather than a cross country.  Both are races but the sprint has a straight run from start to finish with nothing in the way until the runner has crossed the finish line.  The cross …

Does GDPR Affect Small Businesses?

Cressida Johns Uncategorised

  WHAT  a minefield!!!  As of tomorrow (25th May 2018) GDPR is fully in effect and companies big and small seem to be scrabbling around at the last minute to get ready for it!  But what is GDPR?  Does it REALLY matter to small business owners? In answer to the first question – GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation.  It’s the changes in the law that come into effect on 25/05/18 that mean that ALL companies, no matter their size, have to be much more responsible for how they collect, store and use the personal information of their clients or potential clients.  Effectively, this is being done to make SPAM a thing of the last.  Will it work? That remains to be seen. “But I only run a hobby business, surely I don’t need to bother” I hear you say.  Unfortunately this new law applies to anyone and everyone …