Here are a list of books I find useful when setting up or in running a business:
James Caan, author of Get the Job You Really Want and Britain's most dynamic entrepreneur, teaches you how to work for yourself in just one week in Start Your Business in 7 Days.
Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur. Every single day of my life I am bombarded by people with pitches. But 90% of new businesses fail, because their founders failed to ask themselves the simplest of questions.
I can save you years of wasted time and thousands of pounds of wasted money by giving you the ammunition to ask the right questions, and helping you make the decision that is right for you. I will show you how to spend a maximum of seven days deciding if your idea is workable and bankable. How to say 'I'm in', but equally importantly, to have the courage to say 'I'm out'. How to become your own Dragon.
Each piece of advice in this book is based on my thirty years of starting businesses. You will find all the fundamental ingredients for any new company, whatever sector you want to be in, whatever size of business you have in mind, along with the tools to make it work. You can be one of the 10% of businesses that do make it.
-James Caan
James Caan is one of the UK's most successful and dynamic entrepreneurs, having built and sold businesses since 1985. After dropping out of school at sixteen and starting his first business in a Pall Mall broom cupboard - armed with little more than charm and his father's advice - Caan went on to make his fortune in the recruitment industry, founding the Alexander Mann Group, a company with a turnover of £130m. A 2003 graduate of Harvard Business School, Caan's most recent endeavour has been to set up private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw. Caan hit our screens when he joined the panel of the BBC's Dragons' Den in 2007. He is a regular in the national and business press, advises on various Government programmes, and initiates numerous philanthropic projects via the James Caan Foundation.
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Have you got an itch? To start your own business, go to the North Pole, retrain, lose weight, get promoted, learn to play the ukulele? Or do you just have a nagging sense that there must be more to life? If there is something you really want to do, but secretly fear you'll never do it then you need this book.
The original Stop Talking Start Doing helped readers to move from talking to doing. To climb into the ring and face their fears about making their thing happen. It helped readers to understand why they had fears and why starting was easier than they thought. It encouraged them to start somewhere, anywhere.
The Stop Talking Start Doing Action Book will help you to identify where or what that starting point should be, and how to build from there to make your thing happen. It will help you to evaluate why you have procrastinated until now and identify the small steps you need to take to make it happen.
But it will help you to plan beyond that. It will help you see how you can execute your idea through small, simple steps that are right for you, rather than one undefined, daunting task. Find sources of inspiration that work for you and learn how you can draw upon them as you go, draw confidence from previous experiences, and find the self-discipline you need to make swift decisions along the way.
Identify your personal starting point
Take the first steps to set your plan into motion
Find your inspiration and self-discipline
Build confidence in your quick decisions along the way
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This new edition has been expanded to reflect the seismic changes in business over the last decade, in which once-invulnerable market leaders have struggled and many of the basics of getting established have become easier, cheaper and more democratic.
Today, business plans are no longer necessary. Social media has replaced PR and advertising as the key method of promotion. Crowdfunding is now a viable alternative to investors. Cloud computing makes basic infrastructure affordable for almost any new venture.
The Art of the Start 2.0 will show you how to effectively deploy all these new tools. And it will help you master the fundamental challenges that have not changed: building a strong team, creating an awesome product or service, and facing down your competition.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, own a business, or want to get more entrepreneurial within any organisation, this book will help you make your crazy ideas stick. It's an adventure that's more art than science - the art of the start.
'The Art of the Start 2.0 is the ultimate entrepreneurship handbook. Kawasaki's generous wisdom, tips, and humour reflect his successes and failures. We can all benefit from his insights' Arianna Huffington, president and editor in chief, Huffington Post
'A successful entrepreneur requires three things: a garage, an idea, and this book - Guy's irrepressible guide to the raw essentials of life in a young company' Michael Moritz, Sequoia Capita
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Review by Christopher Saunders
This is a great book. I'm an avid reader of business books, but I have never read a book on increasing sales that packs a greater punch than this one. Chet Holmes has included more useable information in each chapter than many authors put in their whole book, that is not to say that everything Chet teaches is new, not all of it is, but the difference between doing something and doing something well is in the detail and that detail is here, set out in a logical easy to follow methodology that has brought astounding results all over the world. I particularly liked his views on pigheaded discipline and determination, it's obvious of course, but it's nevertheless essential and underpins all the key strategies this book will teach you. I can't wait to get started on building my own Ultimate Sales Machine.
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Most new businesses fail. But most of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. The Lean Startup is about learning what your customers really want. It's about testing your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late.
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Image from markrhodes.com
Very good book if you are doing your own book-keeping and you are not an accountant
Practical Accounts and Bookkeeping In Easy Steps
Image from Amazon.co.uk
From DocStoc
However, every year countless businesses get hit with an audit they never saw coming, and it ends up wasting their precious time and money. Where did they go wrong? Here are 10 little-known audit triggers that every business should know (and some suggestions on how to avoid them):
1. Having more contractors than employees.
It’s tempting to classify your workers as contractors rather than employees, since it can alleviate your business from the stress of handling payroll taxes. The IRS is on the lookout for businesses that mislabel workers to cut corners, and it is especially suspicious of businesses that have a lot of contractors. Make sure that your company is properly classifying its workers here.
2. Claiming “miscellaneous” deductions.
If you want to avoid an audit, do your best to avoid claiming too many deductions categorized as "miscellaneous" or “other” under Schedule A. Instead, itemize your expenses in the most relevant categories in Schedule C, and if you have a more unique deduction, do your best to clearly explain what it is.
3. Extremely high executive compensation.
Because high salaries reduce a company’s overall income (and therefore their overall tax liability), the IRS takes a close look at high-income earners and shareholder-employees in C corporations. Learn more about how to prevent scrutiny for “unreasonable compensation” here.
4. An inconsistent social media profile.
Yes, you read that correctly. If auditors are suspicious of unusually high deductions, they will seek out any available information to corroborate your tax claims; sometimes, this involves looking at your social media activity. So if you are planning to deduct business trip expenses on your taxes, be careful about tweeting photos that make it look like a party vacation rather than a professional excursion.
5. Family members on your payroll.
It’s certainly not uncommon to hire a family member, but the IRS will want to make sure you’re not simply trying to get more money out of the business or give family members gifts with less tax liability. If you have any family members working for you, make sure they are actually working the hours specified and aren’t suspiciously under-qualified or inactive in their position.
6. Reporting your net income rather than gross revenue.
A lot of business owners unintentionally report their net income on Schedule C rather than their gross income from sales. For example, if someone purchases your product on Amazon, you may receive an Amazon Payment with the processing fee already taken out. You should report your gross income (the total amount before the fee was taken out) in Part I, and then report the processing fee as an expense in Part II.
7. Excessive home office deductions.
Although the IRS has slightly loosened its grip on home office deductions, they are still widely considered a red flag if you are claiming a hefty deduction in comparison to your business income. Be especially wary if you are claiming:
Both a home office and a rented office space
More than 50% of your home
A lot of expenses for home maintenance and utilities
This one should go without saying, but failing to meet any deadlines set by the IRS makes you appear inconsistent and increases your likelihood of an audit. This doesn’t only apply to your annual tax returns; other deadlines, such as your quarterly estimated tax payments, are just as important.
8. Missing any tax-related deadlines.
This one should go without saying, but failing to meet any deadlines set by the IRS makes you appear inconsistent and increases your likelihood of an audit. This doesn’t only apply to your annual tax returns; other deadlines, such as your quarterly estimated tax payments, are just as important.
9. Using the wrong accounting method.
There are two basic accounting methods, cash accounting and accrual accounting. Most companies can use the accrual method, but not all companies should use the cash accounting method. Learn the difference between the two, and make sure that you are using the correct system before filing.
10. Self-employed travel and entertainment.
Being self-employed or a sole proprietor makes you a bigger target for the IRS right off the bat. You will need to meet rigid substantiation rules in order to deduct meals, flights, hotels and other travel expenses. Especially when deducting entertainment and food expenses, keeping a receipt is not always enough; keep detailed records of the location, who was in attendance and the purpose of the gathering.
The Final Step
If you really want to avoid being flagged by the IRS, one of the best things you can do is e-file. Using online software significantly reduces your chance of an audit, since all of your numbers (and errors) will be checked by the system before submitting. Tax software like TurboTax can point out potential red flags and help predict your likelihood for an audit, so you can clear up any issues before filing. E-filing also reduces the risk of being flagged for illegible or unclear handwriting.
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From DocStoc
With just over 70% of the U.S. labor force on the job market, it’s important for employers and recruiters to know exactly where to find the top talent. Luckily, a recent Jobvite study looks into the new job marketplace and helps recruiters map out a plan to land the best candidates.
Our Growing Job Market
The job market is teeming with prospects. Jobvite’s study found that 71% of the American workforce is on the market; this includes both the employed and unemployed who are actively seeking new work, and those passive seekers who are employed but are open to a new job. Digging deeper, the study found that 51% of employed workers are either actively seeking or are open to new jobs. The most active demographics in their job searches are the 18-29 and 40-54 age groups, which each make up 30% of the job market.
Looking into employee turnover, Jobvite found that about 33% of workers change jobs at least every 5 years, while 18% change every 6 to 10 years. The remainder, about 47%, plan to stay at their current jobs for more than 10 years.
So with the number of job seekers on the market and the high average turnover of American workers, where exactly should small business owners go to build their teams?
The Best Sources for Candidates
While the internet has introduced a large number of job boards and marketplaces, Jobvite’s study found that the best source for recruiters to find talent is probably the most old-fashioned: referrals. Broken down further, the top recruiting sources for finding good candidates are:
Referrals (64% say they provide high-quality recruits)
Social networks (59%)
Corporate career sites (59%)
Jobvite discovered similar findings on the other side of the job-seeking spectrum:
40% of workers found their “favorite or best” job through a personal connection
21% found it through a social network
20% found it through an online job board
These findings show just how important an employee referral program can be. It not only empowers your team to help find new members; it can also make the process quicker, cheaper and more effective. But focusing solely on referrals would be an injustice, as the study found that a robust online presence is also necessary to find the best talent.
Social and Mobile Recruiting
There’s no question that social media and mobile are the new essential outlets for marketing, but Jobvite also found that they’re vital for effective recruiting. The study found that there are about twice as many women “social job seekers” (those who turn to social media to find, vet and contact potential hirers) than men. According to the study, “social job seekers are younger, wealthier, more highly educated and more likely to be employed full-time”:
30% of social job seekers earn over $100k per year
25% are of the 30-39 age group
21% are 4-year college grads
A whopping 76% of these job seekers found their current position through Facebook, but 32% connected with a LinkedIn member to gain perspective on a potential employer, and 29% shared a job opportunity with a contact through Twitter. So if you’re hoping to land one of these high-achieving social seekers, be sure to optimize all your social channels to help garner the best results.
A second category of new recruits are classified as “mobile job seekers” (those who use smartphones and tablets to surf for opportunities). These make up about 43% of the U.S. job market. The study found that 60% of mobile seekers are males and that they are more likely to have higher rates of turnover. Not surprisingly, it found that Millennials and younger workers make up the majority of mobile job seekers.
The full stats on mobile job seekers should undoubtedly highlight the importance of mobile recruiting for small businesses:
54% of job seekers age 18-29 have Android phones; 43% have iPhones
34% of job seekers age 30-39 have iPads
27% of job seekers expect to be able to apply for a job from their mobile device
37% of Millennials expect career sites to be optimized for mobile
As these figures show, if you don’t have a mobile site that lists your openings, at least find a job marketplace that does. Failure to do so just might cause you to miss out on your ideal new worker.
Best Practices for Recruiters
Posting open positions on popular job sites should be a given, but the stats highlighted above should show recruiters that they need to optimize their practices beyond that to find the best job candidates. LinkedIn is a great place to start, as the study found that 94% of recruiters turn to the site for help, but only 36% of job seekers are active on LinkedIn, so it’s important to spread out your social efforts across many channels. The majority of seekers are on Facebook, so build and utilize a page to your advantage; Twitter and Google+ are also good channels to find and connect with potential workers.
Creating social pages and listing jobs aren’t the only steps needed to find the best talent in today’s job market. Social media is also a great resource for vetting candidates. Jobvite found that 93% of recruiters look at potential employees’ social profiles, and 42% have reconsidered a candidate (both negatively and positively) after viewing their profile. So creating a social profile on the aforementioned sites will not only allow a candidate to find your openings and learn about your company; it will also give you access to their profiles to learn more about them. And while online activity may not always make or break a candidate, it’s always nice to get a little preview of your potential new hire.
Source
“2014 Jobvite Job Seeker Nation Study”
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From DocStoc
There are many factors at play when it comes to employee morale, and some influencers are subconscious, murky or much more pervasive than we think. Many entrepreneurs, executives and employees themselves do not fully understand what influences their own emotions and desires throughout the day. Here are some rather surprising, scientific and statistically based facts that may change the way you think about about worker happiness.
1. Stress is the nation’s most underestimated business expense—it costs American businesses $300 billion every single year.
To put that number in perspective, it’s over seven times more expensive than the cost of bad customer service. According to the American Psychological Association, this heavy loss is due to stress-related absenteeism, drops in productivity levels and employee turnover, which chip away at growth throughout the year.
2. Be careful with the AC—being cold can intensify feelings of isolation.
Studies show that being physically cold can lead to increased feelings of loneliness, without the individual being aware of this connection. Meanwhile, a burst of physical warmth—similar to personal warmth—has the power to help people ameliorate feelings of rejection. That being said, consistently high temperatures can also make workers feel sluggish. Experts suggest keeping your office temperature dial around 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Hourly employees are happier than salaried ones.
This fact may come as a surprise, but it has been supported by a study from the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Findings reveal that hourly workers feel happier than salaried employees, and researchers theorized this discrepancy might be due to hourly workers’ focus on the concrete “worth” of their time each paycheck.
4. A noisy workplace can unintentionally trigger erroneous releases of adrenaline.
Even though some people claim to enjoy a workplace that’s abuzz with activity, a study reveals that loud workplaces raise levels of epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), whether or not employees report feeling bothered by the noise. Prolonged exposure can lead to unintentional reductions in motivation, trouble sleeping and even poor posture!
5. The No. 1 reason employees leave isn’t money or opportunity.
While circumstances will always vary, many leaders misunderstand the motivations behind employee attrition. Although many workers decide to leave their jobs for a promotional opportunity or a higher salary, a study of more than 10,000 employees revealed that their primary reason for leaving was actually to escape work-related stress.
6. Optimal levels of employee motivation are achieved when they are challenged—but within reason.
Everyone knows that workers prefer to work in a goal-oriented and challenging environment. Studies reveal that in order to achieve the highest levels of motivation and satisfaction, an individual’s task must be difficult yet achievable, and be both perceived as a challenge and objectively be a challenge (based on their skill level). The ability to properly assign and delegate these perfect challenges, of course, falls on a great leader.
7. Flexible schedules unequivocally boost satisfaction and performance while reducing turnover.
Everyone appreciates having a flexible schedule, but it goes beyond simply making employees happy. Employees whose work schedules conflict with their family priorities are three times as likely to quit their jobs, and there are countless examples of successful companies (big and small) that noticed significant reductions in costs when they offered schedule flexibility.
8. Breaking up the day with any sort of physical activity can improve your productivity (even more than it improves your mood).
We all know working out is good for us, but studies show that breaking up the day with any sort of physical activity, no matter the intensity or duration, can improve performance when it comes to increasing output, managing time-sensitive demands and generally being more tolerant of co-workers and yourself. While most of us refer to exercise as a “mood booster” the study surprisingly concludes that productivity is even more positively affected by midday exercise than mood.
9. Employee commuting is directly linked to worse health and steep business expenses.
We all know commuting is a bad thing, but most employers are unaware of how directly it affects their business. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that the further people commute, the higher their body mass index and blood pressure, which can adversely affect healthcare costs. Employees who commute get sick more often, and unbeknownst to many, about 5 million workers call in sick every year simply because they can’t handle the stress of their commute. While commuting is usually unavoidable, consider offsetting some of the stress by allowing commuters more flexible work schedules (see No. 6) so that they can work around the traffic.
10. Office layout matters—greater employee proximity and fewer barriers increase job satisfaction.
While everyone needs a semblance of private space to get work done, studies find that being within close walking distance to other employees and having fewer physical barriers (which act as deterrents for conversation) is critical for increasing impromptu and face-to-face employee interaction. These exchanges are essential for employee job satisfaction, collaboration, commitment to a business, communication and overall productivity.
The reality is that happiness is a fickle, finite, precious and elusive resource that will naturally ebb and flow throughout a worker’s career. You will never be able to make every single employee happy all the time, but by understanding the complexity of their motivations (even the ones they might not even fully understand themselves), you may be able to collectively increase the happiness of your team and the success of your business overall.
Article by Rochelle Bailis
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From DocStoc
It’s no secret that effective marketing is key to an enterprise’s growth, but there are many marketing secrets that are buried beneath a mythical façade. As the internet introduced many new marketing channels, it also fostered many new marketing misconceptions.
Follow along as we try to debunk these myths and find the truths that lie beneath them.
Myth 1: The No. 1 Goal of Marketing Is Acquiring New Customers
A common marketing misconception is that a new company’s focus should always be on landing new customers. While increasing your customer base is always important, studies show that marketers should shift focus away from customer acquisition in favor of customer retention.
FiveStars Loyalty, Inc., recently conducted a study that compared stats about customer acquisition and customer retention. It found that while the majority of marketers (63%) think acquisition is of the utmost importance, your returning and loyal customers actually drive a significantly higher amount of revenue, despite representing a smaller share of your customer base.
The study calculated that loyal customers (those that have visited your business at least 10 times) account for only about 20% of your total customers, but that 20% makes up about 80% of your revenue and 72% of the total visits to your business. It found that while the probability of making a sale to a brand-new customer hovers anywhere between 5 and 20%, the probability of making an additional sale or upsell to loyal customers is around 60 to 70%. In the most telling stat of all, the study found that loyal customers have 10-times more lifetime value than new customers.
For completely new businesses, the sole focus should be landing customers, but once those customers start flocking, don’t completely neglect them. Devise a strategy to engage with customers after their purchases are made. You can:
Send out emails thanking them for their visit, offering them tips for making the most of their purchase and highlighting products related to their purchase.
Offer small rewards for their participation in surveys asking about their visit.
Direct them to your blog, or encourage them to join your social media community.
Offer special discounts and coupons for return customers as part of a loyalty program.
Devise another creative reward within your budget that will remind customers of the benefits of doing business with your brand.
Create loyal customers out of new ones, and focus efforts on keeping them happy. The referrals and word-of-mouth advertising may just go a lot further than that customer acquisition strategy you were planning on rolling out.
Myth 2: Clever, Eye-Catching Creative Is the Most Effective Form of Marketing
As this year’s Super Bowl came and went, business buzz surrounding the event was focused mainly on advertising. The outrageous prices for a 30-second spot led observers to question the effectiveness of spending that much cash on advertising. When people highlight the best ads of the Super Bowl, focus is typically given to clever copy and creative visuals, but recent studies show that might not be the most effective form of marketing.
In fact, as B2B Technology Marketing Community recently discovered, the most effective form of content marketing is probably the least flashy: customer testimonials. The study asked marketers to characterize media as either “effective” or “ineffective” marketing channels. Those receiving the highest scores were customer testimonials, case studies and in-person events.
Another study found that 70% of consumers don’t accept advertising as truth; they do, however, trust and value the thoughts of their peers. The study found that 63% of social media users feel consumer ratings are the best sources for product information. It also found that 90% of people believe brand recommendations from friends, while 70% believe consumer ratings. Respondents also had a 71% likelihood of making a purchase when referred by social media.
While this might be a surprising find, it’s also great news for small businesses.
Building and managing a creative team of copywriters and designers is costly and time-consuming, but as these highlighted reports show, small businesses should avoid a focus on the creative. Instead, establishing a greater social media presence that encourages and allows consumer interaction and engagement can be a great place to focus marketing efforts. Conducting simple surveys of your customers and highlighting positive responses on your site can also be an effective yet inexpensive marketing strategy.
Either way, for small business owners struggling with tight marketing budgets, there are plenty of cost-efficient ways to maximize returns on your marketing investments.
Myth 3: The More Emails You Send, the More Customers Ignore Them
While the aforementioned studies confirm the widely held belief that consumers don’t trust advertisements, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t pay attention to them. A quick YouTube search will result in many commercials recorded and uploaded by brand advocates and viewed by hundreds of thousands of users, ads that consumers actually went out of their ways to view. And just as people enjoy commercials from their favorite brands, there are plenty who anticipate the weekly mailers filled with coupons sent to their houses.
So why is it assumed that email marketing blasts are any different?
The truth is that some advertising benefits consumers, and the more they’re exposed to that beneficial marketing, the more open they’ll be to take advantage of it. Email marketing is also different from traditional media, as many consumers actually sign up to receive the newsletters, meaning they’re expected and even sometimes welcomed by subscribers. So while the belief is that more emails translate to more ignores or poorer metrics, the truth is actually the opposite. Email marketing agency Alchemy Worx reports that when marketers increase the amount of weekly email sends, the number of consumers who open one or more emails actually doubles, which significantly increases revenue.
This doesn’t mean you should flood inboxes with a deluge of emails, but you also shouldn’t hesitate to send a couple messages per week, as long as each of those emails can provide value to the customer. Segmenting your market to allow for more personalized messages has shown to increase the effectiveness of email marketing, so mix up your generic blasts with a couple that are geared toward a geographic segment or a consumer group that bought a specific product. Get creative with your efforts, and try different subject lines, different content, copy, visuals, etc. Test everything, and focus efforts on what proves effective.
The real truth is that what works for some businesses won’t work for everyone. Those who blindly follow the advice of others are responsible for perpetuating outdated marketing myths, so remember to take all marketing “truisms,” including the ones highlighted above, with a grain of salt. Take some time to understand your brand and your customer base, and use the findings here to personalize your own marketing efforts to see a greater return on your dollar.
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Print Book: Ready Made Company Minutes and Resolutions
Kindle Book: Ready-Made Company Minutes & Resolutions: What every busy company secretary or company record-keeper needs
101 Ways to Pay Less Tax: Tax Saving Advice and Tips, from the Experts (Lawpack)
Understanding Accounts Made Easy
301 Legal Forms, Letters & Agreements
Ready-made Personnel Records (Law Pack)
Tax Answers at a Glance 2013/14: Instant Answers, Advice and Tips from the Experts (Lawpack)
Business Letters & Emails Made Easy
Book-keeping and Accounts
This book is very good (for anyone doing their book-keeping for the first time).
Practical Accounts and Bookkeeping In Easy Steps
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