Small Business Blog

Founder of ConstructaQuote releases book

Posted on February 8, 2012 by ElWood

Busting the myths surrounding how to set up in business, multi-millionaire Lyndon Wood, owner of insurance company Constructaquote, shares the secrets of his success in his new book, Diary of a Fortune Hunter.

Pre-order your copy today at Amazon.co.uk

‘Act, don’t plan,’ says Lyndon, ‘I am amazed how many business owners live the glory of “Owning their own business” and then start writing a business plan then a marketing plan then forecast and so on. This may make them feel in control, but what they really need to be doing is getting out there, winning customers and growing their business’.

As someone who built a substantial high growth business from nothing, Lyndon thinks too many business owners get their priorities wrong, chasing venture capital and investment, making plans and mapping strategy when what they really need to do is stay close to their business, keep an eye on what’s happening and constantly focus the business on profit and growth.

Diary of a Fortune Hunter shares Lyndon’s personal experience of growing a successful business in a straight talking, no nonsense way. He shares 52 real experiences with 52 solutions he applied to grow his empire – here are a few:

Act don’t plan
Work with reality, not your or anyone else’s idea of reality
Delegate so you can focus on the stuff that really matters
Stop looking for investors
Connect with the people who’ve supported you and build a strong network
Hyper Growth strategy

Starting his first business at the age of 19, Lyndon has learnt everything there is to know from experience – mistakes as well as successes. Diary of a Fortune Hunter shares this business wisdom so you don’t need to make the same mistakes but can power up your business with the help of Lyndon’s insight and advice. The book will be supported with its own website where you can ask Lyndon questions and comment on Lyndon’s blog.

If you are serious about growing your business, make sure you get your copy of Diary of a Fortune Hunter and put Lyndon’s 21 years of real life business learning’s and sensible, wealth generating advice to work.

The book can be purchased at

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Apple poaches Dixons chief executive

Posted on February 1, 2012 by ElWood

Apple has poached the chief executive of Dixons John Browett. Browett has worked at the struggling electronics firm since 2007 and has been appointed as the senior vice president of retail at Apple. He will be in charge of Apples retail strategy which continues to expand around the world. Apple currently has 361 stores worldwide and will be opening 40 new locations this year. 30 of the new locations will be outside the US with China’s expanding retail market interesting Apple.

No one could blame Browett for jumping ship. Dixons shares have lost more than 30%of their value over the past year, which wiped £50m of the value of the company. Not to mention the fact he will be swapping offices in Hemel Hempstead for Apples Californian HQ!

Wouldn’t you swap this

For this?

Browett replacement will be Sebastian James who has been working with the company since 2008. The Dixons chairman said “I would like to thank John for the very considerable contribution he has made to the group through the renewal and transformation plan over the last four years. The Group is now in a significantly stronger position and can look to the future with confidence. I wish him well for the exciting opportunity ahead.”

With last week’s announcement that Apple had recorded record sales of over £8bn in the last 3 months of 2011, its will be exciting times ahead for John Browett.

If you are thinking of a change in career read our guide on the safest job in a recession.

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Time to be Brand You

Posted on January 20, 2012 by ElWood

This recession is not going to lift, because it’s the end of the industrial era, says Seth Godin marketing mastermind and business author. He warns employees that unless you understand how much the economy has changed and are willing to change your attitude and mindset you’ll be on a road that’s going nowhere.

Godin says even average employees doing an average day’s work have got to wake up to how much the world has changed. He warns that there will be someone or something out there that can probably do what you do, but for less money and that means any thoughts anyone may have had about job security is history.

‘For 80 years, you got a job, you did what you were told and then you retired,’ said the author in a recent television interview.

‘But the days when people were able to get above average pay for average work are over,’ he said.

Advising employees to ‘take their career into their own hands’ Godin said that there’s no point waiting for anyone to give you permission to do the things you want to do. If you want to write a book you can publish it yourself. If you are an artist you can set up shop on a site like etsy.com.

‘We’ve arrived at an age where you choose yourself,’ he said and that the days when you worked with a pension plan or job security are over. It’s time to differentiate yourself, offer something different, make yourself unique and then people will pay you more.

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Google Punishes Their Own Company

Posted on January 6, 2012 by ElWood

Google punishes them selves Google has decided to take action against its own company Google Chrome. The web browser has had its internet search rankings penalised for at least 60 days. The move comes after the browser had used external blogs to promote their product and include links on their blog posts. It’s unclear if money had exchanged hand and weather the link could have been classed as paid links, but Google search has obviously decided what they were doing was against their guide lines.

As a result if you search for “Browser” in Google, Google Chrome no longer appears on the front page (in the organic search results) and does not appear until around page 7. Although you can still see a paid listing for Google Chrome, this is likely cost the company thousands in lost revenue and extra Pay per Click advertising.

The internet advertising company (Essence Digital) behind the mistake said that Google did not authorise a campaign to pay for sponsored blog posts, and have therefore apologised to Google. I’m sure Essence Digital will be checking they have the relevant Professional Indemnity Insurance in place in case Google Chrome decides to take them to court.

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New Year, New Business? – 5 tips to help you succeed

Posted on January 3, 2012 by ElWood

2012 is here and there is expected to be record number of entrepreneurs setting up new businesses. With the lack jobs and low interest rates 2012 is going to be busy for budding businesses. We have put together 5 tips to help you set up your business in the most professional way possible.

1) Have a plan
a well-structured business plan will be needed to source any investment from a bank. It will also be useful for setting goals for yourself and working out how to cope when you have a slow month. It is vital that you put some income away when you have busy period, this will then act as a safety net when you have a quiet spell. Business Link has a good guide to setting up a business plan here.

2) Set Up Your Company
setting up a limited company in the UK is easy, quick and affordable. Visit www.theformationscompany.com and for £4.99 you will be registered with Companies House and receive a Electronic Certificate of Incorporation. You even get £50 cash back if you open a business account with Barclays.

3) Getting Paid
One of the most important parts to any business is the ability to receive payment. Only being able to take cash payments is not only difficult to record and administer but it also unprofessional if you can’t accept credit cards. If you are running an online business you can accept car payment through PayPal or WorldPay. If you need help with invoicing for work already carried out you can use services like Fresh Books or Invoice Machine to help you create professional looking invoices and keep a record of them.

4) A professional web presence
a professional looking website is a must for any budding business. A good website can be the difference of your business succeeding or failing; a great website can bring in more customers than you can possibly imagine. Take time to choose the right design to attract your target audience. If budget is an issue, you can set up your own website on a blogging platform like WordPress, There are hundreds of thousands of themes to choose from.

As well as a professional looking website, your email address is also important. Having an email address like yourbusiness@gmail.com is good but having a email like info@yourbusiness.com is a lot more professional. Create an email address using your domain name and your customers won’t think twice about replying to your emails.

5) Don’t give up!
50% of new businesses fail within a year. Most successful businesses don’t return much profit in the first year, most of the income needs to be put back into the business to help it grow. This can be disheartening for even the most enthusiastic entrepreneurs, but if you stick at it, it can be more than worthwhile. Being your own boss isn’t always easy but it can be very rewarding.

Don’t forget to visit http://www.constructaquote.com/ for more business guides and to get a business insurance quote