Starting a business
Thousands of people set up their own businesses every year. Some do it because they want to work for themselves, others because they have a great idea and have spotted a gap in the market. And of course there are those that think they can make lots of money.
These are all valid reasons for starting a business. Commitment and motivation are vital and whatever it is that drives you to make it a success good.
Although enthusiasm is important, good planning is a must. Without a good business plan you could struggle to make a go of it.
There are many issues to think about:
1. What will the business do?
2. Where can it operate?
3. Will I need premises?
4. Do I need people to make it happen, or will I be flying solo for some time?
5. Can I fund the business myself, or do I need financial support?
6. How long will it take to get the business into profit?
7. Have I got what it takes to make it work?
There is no right or wrong type of person to run a business. If you are determined to make it succeed, and are prepared to work long hours, then you have the ingredients for success.
If you look at top business people, the one thing they have in common is determination. They do not give up at the first hurdle and they keep going until they succeed.
Be your own boss
Obstacles and setbacks
There will be many of these but how you overcome them will be critical to deciding whether or not you will ultimately succeed. If you are not the sort of person who responds well to setbacks, you ought to ask yourself whether you are the right person to be trying to get a business off the ground.
Finances
You need good advisers - usually an accountant and a lawyer - when you are handling complex issues such as finances, tax and business law. All businesses require a certain amount of administration and you will have to spend time going through paperwork. If you tend to bury your head in the sand and ignore detail, you need a good right-hand person who will concentrate on the detail. Not all great business leaders were good at the small print, but all good business people have someone close to them who is.
(source: www.thisismoney.co.uk/help-and-advice)
.........................................................
ONE RED PAPERCLIP BUSINESS!!
My name is Kyle MacDonald and I traded one red paperclip for a house. I started with one red paperclip on July 12 2005 and 14 trades later, on July 12, 2006 I traded with the Town of Kipling Saskatchewan for a house located at 503 Main Street.
That's right, Dom and I are trading the red paperclip house. With who? For what? Well that's where things get interesting:
We have no idea yet.
I'm not looking for anything in particular in exchange for the house, other than maybe several 1990 Burgundy Dodge Caravana with low miles. That aside, it would be great to trade with somebody who:
-Plans to live or operate a business in the house.
-Understands the house is a tourist attraction in Kipling, and important to the community.
-Also, if you know who these guys are, it will come in handy in a tie-breaker situation. -- Watch this video!.
If you'd like to make a trade offer for the house, please contact me at oneredpaperclip@gmail.com or call the number in the contact section of this website.
Really, I'm looking for nothing in particular, just to make a trade and see where this goes. So if you have anything you'd like to offer in exchange for the house, and I mean anything, be sure to send in your offer!
Details about the red paperclip house:
Located at 503 Main Street in Kipling Saskatchewan Canada
Fully furnished.
Two floors + basement
Three bedrooms
Two bathrooms
Refinished hardwood floors.
Fridge, stove, sinks, drawers, shelves...all the regular kitchen stuff.
Electricity!
Large grass front yard + large grass backyard.
Gas hot water tank + gas furnace.
close proximity to schools, restaurants, grocery stores, hospital, etc. Kipling has most services in town.
Giant red paperclip on the front lawn.
located a stone's throw away from the world's largest red paperclip.
Click on thumbs to see more pics of the house:
Once again, if you'd like to make a trade offer for the house, please contact me at oneredpaperclip@gmail.com or call the number in the contact section of this website.
Have fun,
Kyle
Labels: kipling, one red paperclip, oneredpaperclip, red paperclip, saskatchewan, who are these guys
6/17/2008 01:48:00 PM - permalink 76 comments links to this post
How to make an offer for the house To make an offer for the house, please:
1. Send your offer via email to oneredpaperclip@gmail.com
or
2. Call my cell in the contact section of this website.
You can read more about the house by clicking here.
Thanks!
Kyle
6/16/2008 12:50:00 AM - permalink 24 comments links to this post
franglais ***UPDATE: It looks like the video link is down. If anyone has a copy of the link, let me know!****
So I wound up in France on TV to promote the release of the french version of the one red paperclip book, which is called "un trombone rouge." The producers weren't comfortable with my learned-while-drinking-with-friends anglo-quebecois french, so they opted for the live french dub. The effect makes it pretty much impossible to understand what's going on, although my comprehension of french isn't exactly 100%, but the monsieur who did the live voice over has a very nice accent. Highlights of this video include the seemingly rude phenomenon of a guy answering live questions on french TV in english, sharing the stage with Jean Claude Van Damme, and giving the "who are these guys" guys not one, but two plugs. How sweet would it be if Jean Claude Van Damme starred in the one red paperclip movie, and those guys were the bad guys?
source: onepaperclip.blospot.com, by Kyle Macdonald
Showing posts with label Economy Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy Business. Show all posts
Friday, 29 May 2009
Business Communication
Working together: business communications
Effective communication is an essential part of a smoothly running business organisation. Communication involves the transmission of information from a source (or a number of sources) to receivers. The information is communicated in the form of a message. In the modern organisation there will be multi-channel flows of communication. For example a customer may request a new part from a supplier, with information on how to use that part in a piece of equipment. The supplier will then communicate with the customer setting out instructions for using the part, as well as sending a delivery note, invoice, and further sales literature. Increasingly these interactions will be carried out by electronic media such as through a sales website, e-mail communications and other means.
The effectiveness of communications depends on:
1.The clarity of the message.
2.The quality of the medium used to transmit the message. The medium is the means of communicating e.g. e-mail, telephone, letter, etc.
3.Any distracting 'noise' that prevent the message from effectively getting through. For example, if the recipient receives lots of e-mail messages, they may fail to give proper attention to the sender's message.
3.The ability of the receiver to decode the message. For example, they may not be able to understand the instructions given.
There are two main forms of business communication:
1.Internal communication, i.e. communication within the business.
2.External communication, i.e. communication outside the business.
Internal communication
Typical forms of internal communication include:
Electronic mail. This has rapidly become the most common form of written communication within an organisation.
Company websites. A website will typically involve a portal or section dedicated to internal communication with and between employees.
Company databases. In most large organisations including banks like Abbey, employees will be able to access a number of company databases e.g. to access details of customers accounts when dealing directly with customers.
Face-to-face interactions. Dealing directly with other employees in an organisation is a regular occurrence and provides an excellent way for sharing ideas and for working co-operatively.
For example, in an Argos store an essential ingredient of processing customer orders is interaction between customer service staff.
At the Inland Revenue, a major aspect of working together is being 'approachable and understanding at all times' in dealing with colleagues.
Meetings can either be of a formal or informal nature.
In manufacturing companies like Nissan teams of employees regularly meet to discuss issues about quality.
Phone communications are another important form of oral communication with most large companies having a low cost internal telephone system.
An internal memo (memorandum) is a short brief message to another member of the same organisation. Typically memos today are sent by e-mail.
Staff magazines, notices and posters on staff notice boards provide other means of internal communications.
Typical forms of external communication include:
1. Written communication in the form of letters, and advertising material such as leaflets, brochures, posters, etc.
2. Oral communication in the form of phone calls, and
3. direct face to face interactions.
Online communications
Oral communication is very important in service industries and staff in organisation like banks, insurance companies etc are specially trained for such work. Oral communication through call centers is particularly important as a poorly trained operator may lose a business millions of pounds worth of sales or custom.
Online communications - have become particularly important with the development of e-commerce. Most large companies have commercial websites enabling customers to buy online.
The Inland Revenue has created a website which enables customers to fill in their tax return online, Cummins the engine manufacturer has an extensive website enabling customers to find out information about servicing and maintaining their engines online. Help is provided to customers through pop-up help facilities.
Television advertising - is another important source of visual communication, and companies like Kraft and Cadbury-Schweppes typically launch new products through exciting television advertising campaigns.
The Times 100 is a good example of a modern business that uses online communication to reach its target audience. The Times 100 provides real case studies about leading business organisations both in an online format and in photocopiable resource packs which are sent out to every school in the UK. Today, thousands of students from all over the world study The Times 100 online, browsing and printing off the case studies, examining theory topics, and testing their knowledge through quizzes and activities. A great advantage for the student is that they are rapidly able to access the parts of the resource that most interest them, as well as being able to interact with the resource in the manner that is most suitable to them.
Email - electronic mail carried on the Internet. Online - being connected to a network - typically on the Internet. You can also refer to a resource being online when it is available on a website. Portal - is a website that leads you to other websites.
(source: www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--working-together-business-communications---388.php)
Effective communication is an essential part of a smoothly running business organisation. Communication involves the transmission of information from a source (or a number of sources) to receivers. The information is communicated in the form of a message. In the modern organisation there will be multi-channel flows of communication. For example a customer may request a new part from a supplier, with information on how to use that part in a piece of equipment. The supplier will then communicate with the customer setting out instructions for using the part, as well as sending a delivery note, invoice, and further sales literature. Increasingly these interactions will be carried out by electronic media such as through a sales website, e-mail communications and other means.
The effectiveness of communications depends on:
1.The clarity of the message.
2.The quality of the medium used to transmit the message. The medium is the means of communicating e.g. e-mail, telephone, letter, etc.
3.Any distracting 'noise' that prevent the message from effectively getting through. For example, if the recipient receives lots of e-mail messages, they may fail to give proper attention to the sender's message.
3.The ability of the receiver to decode the message. For example, they may not be able to understand the instructions given.
There are two main forms of business communication:
1.Internal communication, i.e. communication within the business.
2.External communication, i.e. communication outside the business.
Internal communication
Typical forms of internal communication include:
Electronic mail. This has rapidly become the most common form of written communication within an organisation.
Company websites. A website will typically involve a portal or section dedicated to internal communication with and between employees.
Company databases. In most large organisations including banks like Abbey, employees will be able to access a number of company databases e.g. to access details of customers accounts when dealing directly with customers.
Face-to-face interactions. Dealing directly with other employees in an organisation is a regular occurrence and provides an excellent way for sharing ideas and for working co-operatively.
For example, in an Argos store an essential ingredient of processing customer orders is interaction between customer service staff.
At the Inland Revenue, a major aspect of working together is being 'approachable and understanding at all times' in dealing with colleagues.
Meetings can either be of a formal or informal nature.
In manufacturing companies like Nissan teams of employees regularly meet to discuss issues about quality.
Phone communications are another important form of oral communication with most large companies having a low cost internal telephone system.
An internal memo (memorandum) is a short brief message to another member of the same organisation. Typically memos today are sent by e-mail.
Staff magazines, notices and posters on staff notice boards provide other means of internal communications.
Typical forms of external communication include:
1. Written communication in the form of letters, and advertising material such as leaflets, brochures, posters, etc.
2. Oral communication in the form of phone calls, and
3. direct face to face interactions.
Online communications
Oral communication is very important in service industries and staff in organisation like banks, insurance companies etc are specially trained for such work. Oral communication through call centers is particularly important as a poorly trained operator may lose a business millions of pounds worth of sales or custom.
Online communications - have become particularly important with the development of e-commerce. Most large companies have commercial websites enabling customers to buy online.
The Inland Revenue has created a website which enables customers to fill in their tax return online, Cummins the engine manufacturer has an extensive website enabling customers to find out information about servicing and maintaining their engines online. Help is provided to customers through pop-up help facilities.
Television advertising - is another important source of visual communication, and companies like Kraft and Cadbury-Schweppes typically launch new products through exciting television advertising campaigns.
The Times 100 is a good example of a modern business that uses online communication to reach its target audience. The Times 100 provides real case studies about leading business organisations both in an online format and in photocopiable resource packs which are sent out to every school in the UK. Today, thousands of students from all over the world study The Times 100 online, browsing and printing off the case studies, examining theory topics, and testing their knowledge through quizzes and activities. A great advantage for the student is that they are rapidly able to access the parts of the resource that most interest them, as well as being able to interact with the resource in the manner that is most suitable to them.
Email - electronic mail carried on the Internet. Online - being connected to a network - typically on the Internet. You can also refer to a resource being online when it is available on a website. Portal - is a website that leads you to other websites.
(source: www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--working-together-business-communications---388.php)
Friday, 23 January 2009
UK in recession
UK recession confirmed
-Fears over the state of the economy have been confirmed after figures showed Britain is in recession.
-Britain in recession, data confirms
The economy contracted by 1.5 per cent in the final three months of 2008 - the worst performance in more than 28 years, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The estimated fall in quarter-on-quarter gross GDP comes after a 0.6 per cent decline in the previous three months - a "technical" recession, as defined by two successive quarters of negative output.
The annual rate of output in 2008 is also set to make for grim reading in what will be a far cry from the 3 per cent seen in 2007.
Figures already published this week confirm an increasingly gloomy economic picture.
In the latest manufacturing sector survey, data showed activity slumped to its worst since July 1991 over the past three months, with the outlook the bleakest in 28 years.
Official statistics revealed that unemployment increased by 131,000 to 1.92 million in the three months to November to the highest level in more than a decade
(source: www.uk.news.yahoo.com, 10:45 GMT)
-Fears over the state of the economy have been confirmed after figures showed Britain is in recession.
-Britain in recession, data confirms
The economy contracted by 1.5 per cent in the final three months of 2008 - the worst performance in more than 28 years, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The estimated fall in quarter-on-quarter gross GDP comes after a 0.6 per cent decline in the previous three months - a "technical" recession, as defined by two successive quarters of negative output.
The annual rate of output in 2008 is also set to make for grim reading in what will be a far cry from the 3 per cent seen in 2007.
Figures already published this week confirm an increasingly gloomy economic picture.
In the latest manufacturing sector survey, data showed activity slumped to its worst since July 1991 over the past three months, with the outlook the bleakest in 28 years.
Official statistics revealed that unemployment increased by 131,000 to 1.92 million in the three months to November to the highest level in more than a decade
(source: www.uk.news.yahoo.com, 10:45 GMT)
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