February 23, 2012

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The new fuel-efficient Civic – a great company car

January 30, 2012 By Daisy Lewis

If you’re looking for great company cars for your business then look no further. The latest Honda car to go on sale in the UK is the new honda civic 2012. And although it remains true to the Civic heritage, it has undergone a few changes that improve on the last generation.

As well as a few adjustments on the exterior like the reduction of the overly large rear spoiler that its predecessor had, Honda has also made some improvements on the inside, with better quality materials and greater room for both the driver and passengers. It has Honda’s ‘magic seats’ in the back – which can flip and fold over to face in either direction, or allow the transport of taller objects than the already roomy boot can manage.

The dash is driver-orientated with the rev counter at the centre, and a digital speedometer, but the mix of analogue and digital displays may not appeal to everyone.

The diesel can get from 0-62 mph in 8.5 seconds and has a maximum speed of 135 mph. So far, there’s been no mention of the possibility of a Civic hybrid making it to the UK, although there is one in the States, as well as a natural gas version. However, the diesel is the most environmentally friendly of the three engine choices in the UK. The 2.2 litre engine emits a very low 110g/km of carbon dioxide, which means that the first year’s road tax is free and that for subsequent years it will only be £20.

The 1.8 litre petrol engine has a top speed of 134 mph and can get to 62 mph in 9.6 seconds. There’s also a 1.4 litre petrol engine and the petrol engines average between 44 and 53 miles per gallon.

All the Civic 2012 range is better on fuel economy because they are equipped with stop start technology and an ECON button which instructs the car’s systems to operate at an eco-friendly, fuel efficient optimum.

It remains to be seen how popular the new Honda Civic will be in the UK, if previous Civics are anything to go by, they’ll be flying out of the showrooms.

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Things to think of when starting a business

January 30, 2012 By Daisy Lewis

Starting your own business is an exciting time, for anyone, but it can also be fairly stressful as there are so many factors to take into consideration.

If you are considering setting up your business, there are several things you will have to bear in mind before you begin and the things you will have to think about will be dependent on the type of business you are planning to set up.

 

For anyone planning on setting up a business that involves a premises, such as a shop, an office or a factory, there are of course building considerations to take into account. If you are setting up your own shop, office, cafe or anywhere that employees, colleagues or potential customers will have to enter, you will need to take into account accessibility considerations.

 

Ensure that the premises of your new business are compliant with health and safety regulations and they allow access for less able-bodied people, in the form of wheelchair ramps, stair lifts and stair rails, for example. This is an especially important consideration if you are planning to open a customer-facing business such as a restaurant, shop or cafe, as you could risk losing valuable business if your premises are not accessible. But it is also important that you offer accessibility to potential staff to comply with employment discrimination laws.

 

If you invest the time and money in ensuring these factors are all covered off at the beginning, you can save yourself a lot of stress and hassle further down the line. It is much better to ensure that your business is accessible from the start than to wait until you are losing out on custom or faced with the potential threat of discrimination lawsuits further down the line. You can find accessibility products such as stair lifts at Homelifestairlifts.co.uk.

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Start your own diy shop

January 20, 2012 By Daisy Lewis

If you are considering starting your own DIY shop then much of the advice you should follow is similar to that for anyone looking to set up any type of shop.

 

Firstly, consider whether you will be purchasing an existing DIY shop or starting from scratch. If you are buying an existing shop, it will obviously mean less work in terms of finding a premises and investing in the necessary shop fittings and equipment. It should also mean you have a customer base established, although this of course relies on the fact that the previous business owners were reputable and honest.

 

As well as a customer base and premises in place, choosing to buy an existing DIY shop will mean there are already relationships in place with suppliers (again, the previous owners’ reputations and practices are relevant here) and staff are already in place should you choose to keep them on.

 

Do your own research to determine whether the location is right for your business. If the previous owners are selling up because they failed to get enough custom, you need to determine that this is not due to the location of the premises to avoid making the same mistake. If the location is not ideal but you feel you can make a DIY business work where others have not, you may be able to bring the sellers down on price.

 

When starting any new business, money is usually a prime concern, and saving money elsewhere becomes increasingly important. You will probably find you need to save money in the home in order to fund your business before you start taking a profit, so consider money-saving techniques such as buying beds on finance and other vital household furniture from Bensons for Beds, rather than forking out for essential items in one lump sum.

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Protect your business from viruses

December 16, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

One of the many responsibilities of running your own business is protecting your assets, and your computers are included as your part of these. They also hold the key to much valuable information about you, your business, your bank accounts….the list goes on.

It’s estimated that over 150 malware programmes are written and released on the internet every day, so if you’re online at all, there’s a chance of your computer being infected with a virus.

So, it’s vital that you have good antivirus software installed on all the computers in your business.  You can do this by downloading a programme from the internet or buying a software package from your local computer supplier.

If you don’t have anything installed as yet, it’s a good idea to start with an online scan.  These are popular as you don’t need to download a file for it to do its work.  But, if your system gets infected with a virus or Trojan, you may find it impossible to get online at all, so it’s far safer to install some antivirus software now – prevention is better than cure.

There is a huge range of internet security software to choose from, including free antivirus downloads, through to full-blown internet security suites that not only have antivirus, they also have spam filters, anti-spyware and firewall as well.

Shop around and look at what different packages include.  Get advice from people in your business network as to which programmes they have found reliable – or not.  If you’re not sure which to go for, sign up to a trial version for 30 -90 days and try it out for a few weeks before committing yourself.

When considering your business computers, don’t forget about protecting any smartphones that you have. With internet access and email facilities, mobile devices are just as susceptible to attack as computers.  Mobile antivirus programmes are available from the same companies that sell antivirus software for computers.

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Growing a business from the ground up

December 15, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

These days, everyone seems obsessed with getting rich quick through business.

This is because the success stories really make the headlines. You get a Mark Guttenberg type of phenomenon, particularly when it becomes almost a legend as in his case through the film “The Social Network” and suddenly that’s what all the young up and coming wannabee entrepreneurs want.

What they don’t see is that for every meteoric success story, there are maybe another few hundred that didn’t make it – not only didn’t they make it, but they had to re-start their careers from scratch having effectively wasted their time in a hopeless venture.

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t dream of success – rather that you should be willing to really put in the hours to achieve a steadily growing a business from the ground up in the way that others have done for hundreds of years.

Overnight rampant success happens to very few people and very few businesses. Far more people get wealthy gradually by careful investment, shrewd business planning and, more to the point, a great deal of very hard work. Anyone in real; estate, for example, who has had the opportunity in the past to connect with David Lichtenstein will be able to tell you that business gurus like David have built their success steadily.

Sure, they’ve taken balanced risks and they have all suffered major setbacks, but they all made steady and balanced progress on a “two steps forward, one step back basis” working hard all the way down the line.

The reality is that while you’re out there dreaming of some crazy idea that might make a million overnight, there are 99 other people building a solid business little by little supplying metaphorical white sliced bread – the day to day stuff of life we all need in other words.

 

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Top Ten Office Efficiency Tips

December 6, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

One of the best ways to impress your manager at work is to be thoroughly efficient. Making sure that you are poised, organised and calmly in control of your workload will always be looked upon favourably and show your skills in a positive light. If you could do to brush up on your efficiency skills then here are my top ten tips for efficiency in the office – and they are great ways to improve your prospects too!

 

  1. Always arrive slightly earlier than your official start time. A 9 o’clock start means coat off, computer on, coffee made and working at 9am – not walking through the door.

  2. Don’t over-stretch your lunch hour or leave early. I’m not advocating skipping breaks or working late into the night, just make sure you give your employer hard work for at least the number of hours they pay you for.

  3. Watch your cigarette breaks. If you are a smoker and in need of a fix every hour or two then consciously knock the time off your allocated breaks. It will not go unnoticed by the boss or by non-smoking colleagues either.

  4. Keep on top of your admin. Filing is boring but if you do it every day it will only take a few minutes. Apply the shredder confetti cut to sensitive information and unwanted paperwork and deal with anything pending as quickly as possible.

  5. Always have a ‘to do’ list. Whether on a note pad or your PC, make a note of all allocated tasks, keep track of your own progress and prioritise on a daily basis.

  6. Have a tidy inbox. I’m talking emails: deal and file your emails as you would with actual paper. There may be no such thing as online office shredders, but that shouldn’t stop you deleting and emptying your email waste paper bin regularly.

  7. Never forget. Keep your ‘to do’ list and diary ruthlessly up to date so that you never forget a meeting or an appointment. Prepare properly and always have the right information easily to hand.

  8. Under promise and over deliver. Try to complete tasks ahead of their deadline rather than always rushing at the last minute. It will be noticed higher up, believe me, and you will be much more in control of your job.

  9. Never turn down the opportunity to do a colleague a favour. Help people out and go out of the way to show them in a good light – great team players can become great team leaders.

  10. Be honest at all times. If you make a mistake then own up quickly and make suggestions as to how you can rectify the problem.

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Seek business advice from proven winners only

November 22, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

Have you heard the old saying that those who can’t do it teach it instead? This is obviously a huge insult to teachers of all types around the world and at all levels of education. But you also know there’s a kernel of truth about it.

How many times do you read advice on different areas of business given to you by people who haven’t actually been there and done it themselves? There’s an absolute surfeit of empty advice out there from a whole host of people who feel sufficiently qualified to give it to you without having done anything much themselves!

My advice is to ignore all this stuff – unless you need it for academic purposes only. If you want and need real, practical, hands-on advice about any aspect of your business, seek that advice from someone who’s been there and done it and made the mistakes – but who has learned from those mistakes. In this way, you can learn extremely valuable lessons from the past, from real experts without making these same mistakes yourself. This is absolutely crucial in my opinion.

Let’s consider a specific case in point. If you’re looking to invest in any form of real estate business, then why not go to someone like David Lichtenstein, well-known founder and CEO of USA-based real estate business, Lightstone Group? David founded the company in 1988 and has certainly learned from his mistakes – going on to build a solid business through sound business practice.

Lightstone also looks for properties in distressed situations, particularly those with distressed sellers or troubled capital structures. So the company buys quality real estate on market weakness. This kind of advice is given free by the company.

There are hundreds of other examples around. Just remember that whatever aspect of advice you really need, it’s best to seek it from proven winners only.

 

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Ensure your data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands

October 7, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

Whether you’re a newcomer to the business world, or a seasoned veteran, it’s important for you to make sure the data and valuable information you hold doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Increasingly, emphasis is being put on data protection. With the age of the internet comes the increased threat of data being lost or stolen, which can result in companies receiving hefty fines.

While you don’t want your clients and customers’ data being taken by someone, you also don’t want your business’s information being bandied around in any way. If your darkest secrets fall into the hands of one of your biggest competitors, you could be in serious trouble. So, in order to counter this risk somewhat, you should office shredders within your workplace.

Paper shredders are extremely useful to have in your office, as they allow you and your staff to dispose of information and data quickly and easily, without worrying about someone else seeing any important details.

You need to try to do everything possible to protect your information and shredding is a great way of doing this. As an added bonus, your actions will also be helping the environment. Once your papers are shredded, you should recycle them, helping to reduce the number of trees being felled around the world to make paper. The energy which goes into recycling paper is significantly less damaging to the environment than the energy required to make paper from scratch.

It takes around 24 trees to make just one tonne of paper, so just think what a difference you could be making if you recycle.

Shredding really is the best thing for you to do within your firm – you’ll be doing something to help the environment, at the same time as protecting the valuable data within your company.

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Keep costs down

September 27, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

The number of women who are running their own business online is increasing every day, and these days it is easier than ever to get started.
The traditional model of launching a business now seems outdated.
No longer do you need an accountant to set up a company for you. You don’t need to buy or lease premises for your store, and there’s no need to worry about hiring employees.
Instead, you can sell products on your site as a hobby. Your website is your store, and you can do all the work yourself quite easily.
However, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed from the “old fashioned” way of doing business, and that’s the importance of the bottom line.
Whether you’re Starbucks or Jane Brown running a website from her spare room, the equation is simple. Sales $1, expenses $1.50 = failure. Sales $2, expenses $1.50 = success.
So until you have launched and are bringing in significant amounts of money, it’s best to limit your outgoings as much as possible.
You could opt for free webhosting, which takes the pressure of you in the early days. Once you business is doing sufficiently well, you can then think about upgrading to a paid hosting service. The same thing goes for all business essentials such as antivirus software. Following good security practices is essential to avoid issues, but if cost is a concern there is no need to buy expensive software. There are plenty of good free antivirus downloads available. Free trial versions such as Kaspersky free antivirus will let you evaluate whether it is worth investing in a more sophisticated antivirus program once your business is making profit.

One path to success that many people take is drop shipping. Again, unlike the old way of doing business where you have to buy product from a wholesaler then sell it on, drop shipping allows you to reduce your outgoings.
With drop shipping, you promote the products of a particular manufacturer and take orders, but you never actually handle or store the goods yourself. The manufacturer handles the inventory and does the fulfilment, and you just take your profits out of the sale price.
Because there are no inventory costs to you, you can set up an inexpensive niche site to tests and promote different ranges of products.

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Protect your data and boost your green credentials

September 19, 2011 By Daisy Lewis

Businesses must make sure nowadays that they take data protection extremely seriously. It’s the age of the internet, which means it’s all too easy to lose people’s personal information in cyber space. But physical documents still exist as well and it’s vital for firms to see data protection as being important, or else they risk receiving fines in some countries around the world.

When you’re disposing of anything with personal details or information on it, you really should have a confetti cut shredder to hand. This will allow you to cut the paper into tiny pieces, meaning you won’t need to worry about who could potentially get their hands on the information.

As well as helping you to boost your company’s security, paper shredders are a great way of boosting your green credentials. You can recycle all the paper you shred, which can really help your firm do its bit to help the environment. It’s best to recycle everything you can, as at least then you know there will be fewer trees deforested in order to produce paper for you to use at work and you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint.

Businesses around the world are increasingly looking for ways to be greener and this is just one simple thing you can do to help out.

Companies should definitely be taking their data protection very seriously, particularly if they hold valuable information on their clients and customers. They have a legal obligation to look after this data, whether they are in the private sector or the public sphere.

With so much emphasis put on looking after data, it’s clear that looking for ways to dispose of information in a sensible manner, which is also eco friendly, is a great idea.

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