Enterprise news and opinion from Cobweb

Being a small business owner or sole trader is one thing, but being an entrepreneurial small business owner – one that thinks and acts in a way that can set you apart from most of the other small firms operating in your sector or industry – is a different matter altogether…

This week we’re going to take a look at some common, and occasionally fatal, mistakes that are made by new business start ups – and sometimes by their supposedly more experienced counterparts…

One of the biggest worries facing new business owners, or anyone thinking of starting up their own venture, is that they won’t be able to compete with all the bigger players that are already out there and established in their sector…

How can you develop a reputation where people sit up, take notice and do the talking for you, and where they spread the word to others about how good your product or service really is? You need to look for ways to make your customer experience over and above what they were expecting…

The role that the small and micro-business sector plays and contributes to the health of the economy in the UK should never be understated. In 2012, over 4.5 million small/micro-business proprietors accounted for 47% of private sector employment and 35% of total private sector turnover…

One of the reasons people don’t buy from you is the perceived risks they believe they are taking by purchasing your product or service. One strategy to help eliminate these risks is to offer a solid guarantee that will make their purchase risk free, or at least reduce the risk as much as possible…

The business world just isn’t fair. The smartest and most solvent of people, the hardest workers, those with the brightest ideas, and those who are quickest to get a new product on the market go bust just as easily, and quite often more easily, than anyone else…

Being a first-time business owner often involves becoming a first-time employer somewhere down the line – and for some starts ups, this is the case from day one. Being your own boss and having people working with and for you is not only a pleasure (of course), but also at certain times quite painful, frustrating and distracting…

Whether you like it or not, if you are a business owner you’ll get your share of complaints and a certain amount of returns and refunds. Instead of being upset at customers who complain, be grateful for them. View them as an opportunity, an important part of your quality improvement process…

Generally speaking, people who set up and run their own business rarely, if ever, in the early stages consider the possibility of having to close their business down. Yet from day one, this could happen for all sorts of reasons…