In Good Company

COVER......Page 1
TITLEPAGE......Page 4
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 6
THANKS......Page 11
 About us......Page 12
The ‘entrepreneur’ thing......Page 13
The ‘small business’ thing......Page 15
The ‘woman’ thing......Page 16
How the book works......Page 17
The right idea......Page 20
The right attitude......Page 22
Identifying the best idea......Page 24
3 How much value potential does the idea have?......Page 25
The right time......Page 26
How the idea for Kirsty’s previous business came about......Page 29
Finding your inspiration......Page 32
Top tips for finding inspiration......Page 33
Get the basics: you don’t always need your own idea......Page 34
Finding out about your competition......Page 37
Get the basics: protecting your intellectual property......Page 38
Protecting your idea......Page 41
Having a Plan B......Page 44
Ten of the best business ideas – ever!......Page 45
And ten of the worst . . .......Page 48
Your elevator pitch......Page 49
The power of the written word......Page 51
Our goal-writing guidelines......Page 52
Get an ideas process......Page 54
2 MONEY......Page 57
Advertising and sponsorship......Page 60
Get the basics: choosing your trading status......Page 61
Get the basics: selling company shares to raise equity finance......Page 66
Get the basics: funding your business......Page 74
Get the basics: costing your business......Page 83
Managing your money......Page 88
A crash course in electronic book-keeping......Page 89
Writing a business plan......Page 94
Get the basics: why write a business plan?......Page 95
What your business plan should contain......Page 97
FAQs......Page 100
3 PEOPLE......Page 102
Human resource planning......Page 104
Write a job description and a job specification......Page 106
Where to find staff......Page 109
Conducting interviews......Page 117
The job offer......Page 120
Personnel files......Page 124
Contracts of employment......Page 125
Managing staff......Page 127
Understanding yourself and your role as a leader......Page 131
Retaining your staff......Page 133
Get the basics: maternity and paternity leave......Page 134
Managing the performance of staff......Page 136
If you need to get rid of someone......Page 138
To sum up . . .......Page 141
4 FINDING PREMISES......Page 142
Get the basics: premises – your three main options......Page 144
Office hunting......Page 150
How to find business premises......Page 158
To sum up . . .......Page 160
5 GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: MARKETING......Page 161
Identify your market......Page 162
Find a channel to your market......Page 164
Get the basics: writing marketing copy......Page 174
Get the basics: search engine optimisation......Page 182
Get the basics: writing a press release......Page 194
Branding......Page 196
Writing your marketing plan......Page 197
To sum up . . .......Page 198
6 GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: SALES......Page 200
The sales process......Page 202
How to win prospects and influence people......Page 205
Decision-makers......Page 208
Networking FAQs......Page 210
To sum up . . .......Page 215
7 YOUR BUSINESS AND YOU......Page 216
Balancing business and kids......Page 217
Balancing work time and personal time......Page 222
Balancing your business and your health......Page 226
Manage your time......Page 229
Your personal wellbeing account......Page 232
Dealing with stress......Page 234
Looking the part......Page 235
To sum up . . .......Page 239
8 EXIT......Page 240
How long do you want to run the business for?......Page 241
To what extent do you want out?......Page 242
Typical exit options......Page 243
Valuing your business for sale......Page 244
MBOs and MBIs......Page 245
To sum up . . .......Page 246
THE END?......Page 247
USEFUL LINKS AND NUMBERS......Page 249
INDEX......Page 254