Many owner / managers starting a new business come out of so called "big firms" somewhere like the City of London, tired of the endless commuting, the cynical employers and bosses who are sometimes better described as "bonus sluts" the new business owner is usually somewhat of a battle scarred veteran in the world of commerce with an idea or concept that they genuinely believe will work as a business

Building a successful SME is challenging, the most obvious challenge being that what ever you specialise in, whether its computing, finance, a trade or even selling teddy bears. chance's are you have the specialist knowledge for that function, but in setting up your business, you have to very quickly learn about all the stuff that needs to happen in a Company. Some of it is going to be new to you. Marketing and sales, accounting and record keeping, hiring the right staff, Invoicing, negotiating terms with suppliers, dealing with the banks, getting your bills paid, and that's without even thinking about your product or service, it can be daunting, but there is always the experience you have already gained in previous employment, the only thing that has really changed is that you now have to make all the decisions.

There are many drivers for setting out on the road of self employment, and they can be those mentioned above, or the positive desire to make/build/inspire/lead or even just the desire to look in the mirror in the morning and be proud of the person you see, what ever it is that drives you, be sure of this, you will be living a life more interesting than most !

Just been listening to the CEO of ao.com on BBC breakfast, telling the world of his plans, which largely seem to be about "internationalising" the business, this closely follows an English teacher on the same show last week talking about the modern teachers need to exude "professionality", these little gems got us thinking.

When talking to clients about "The Wandwaver Way" one of our key messages is keep it simple ! Too many business get caught up in their own exclusive worlds using corporate speak and industry acronyms to communicate the most basic requests or instructions, it happens because the speaker feels the need to demonstrate their membership of the "in-crowd" but at best its meaningless babble and at worst its off-putting and counter-productive to the listening victim. Communication is an art form and if its done well it creates a positive image of your products and services, using clear simple words that are direct and tell the exact story is one of the best tools you can use. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by the use of corporate speak or insider industry terms, they are confusing and often misleading, and here's the rub, if the client doesn't understand what your trying to say, they are not going to buy !

We know there are "experts" out there who will expound on the benefits of drawing clients into a belief circle, how teaching them the insider phrases will tie them to you in some almost Machiavellian way, Psychobabble my friends ! we are much more inclined to believe that the repeated use of TLA's demonstrates a deep seated sense of inadequacy and a need for a lengthy spell on the psycho couch!

Keep your messages simple, your client will understand you, and in that understanding might well decide to buy from you, job done ! 

You might reasonably ask why we might link the end of the first financial quarter with the first great festival of horse racing of 2014, well, it goes like this...

Business at any level is a gamble, you should shorten the odds through effective planning, and in depth preparation, there are many curve balls out there just waiting for us all, so you might as well at least think about how you might handle them, what resources you might need, and, how you are going to continue to move forward when faced with a couple of challenges, What will you do if the client goes on sick leave? How are you going to react when the job gets scaled up or down? What happens when your supplier lets you down, do you have a back up? A professional gambler researches the field, the conditions and the market and lays money where those factors coincide in their favour. When you come to look at your first quarter results in a month or so, will you have backed a winner?

Here at Wandwaver we like to think we can read most markets and help our clients back the right mover, but if all else fails we will probably go twenty quid each way on Last Instalment in the Gold Cup !

Enjoy the Festival !

Lets be honest, you might never be a Wandwaving client, but that doesn't mean that the wizards cant assist you. We have come to realise that small and medium business rely on networking amongst themselves and their peers. More and more its true that when a door opens for one, it can open for many, so being part of an effective networking group can be critical to a new small business.

Wandwaver have joined BNI, its the worlds largest networking orginisation, and whilst we don't agree with every principle, one size does not fit all! We still believe that joining was a good idea. If you are serious about starting a new business, or you want to revamp a tired one, there are 2 things you should do, 1, drop the wizards at Wandwaver a mail and get some serious and practical business support and 2. Join your local BNI chapter!