Enterprise news and opinion from Cobweb

This week, EnterQuest reached a significant milestone with this being the 500th issue of the bulletin since it was launched back in 2003. One consistent subject upon which we have steadfastly held our ground is that, despite what is widely claimed elsewhere, starting up and running a business is far from easy – in fact, it can be eminently difficult and merciless – something that most people are not cut out for…

Every year the final couple of weeks before Christmas brings the usual round of forecasts and predictions offering a mixture of interesting professional foresight from those who seem to know what they’re talking about, along with the typical self-promotions from the self-obsessed. Here are EnterQuest’s devilishly accurate predictions for what COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN next year…

Business support and advice agencies are currently facing record levels of demand for their services at a time when restrictions in the availability of funding are seriously hindering their ability to maintain their levels of service. The findings come from a survey of business support and advice organisations carried out by BAD News publisher Cobweb [...]

Lack of demand and the current economic climate is the number one problem facing 40% of firms, according to a new report from the Open University (OU)…

There are any number of reasons why a business project or an entire business might fail and it is generally a combination of factors which finally tips a business owner over the edge. Whatever the particular circumstances or stage of your business project here are five common failure factors which typically apply to new business owners, with some tips on how you can address them…

According to the ever-increasing number of business start up campaigners, especially those associated with the preposterous Business In You initiative, everyone in the country has a business in them and starting a business is easy…

In order to create a customer experience that is noticeably, or even slightly, different to anything currently on offer elsewhere, you will often have to find some surprising ways to go beyond what they are expecting…

If you listen to the raft of Government announcements and enterprise promotion initiatives in the UK at the moment, we should all be getting off our redundant or soon-to-be-laid-off backsides and starting a business or going self employed. Or more accurately, ‘starting an SME’, to quote ministers, civil servants and the gurus who mingle with [...]

We’ve either read or heard just about every bit of advice there is about what will or won’t make a small business either fail or succeed. And some of it makes us positively cringe. What’s even worse is that much of what gets said has become widely believed or accepted, while in reality what’s really [...]

A free consultation with a chartered accountant is being offered to start ups and small business owners under a scheme launched by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Around 2,250 ICAEW members across the UK have already signed up to the scheme, which has been welcomed by the Department for Business [...]