Creating a website that achieves results for small businesses - and doesn't cost the earth

If you have never done it before, developing a new website can be confusing. It can be difficult to know where to start and the pitfalls to avoid. Whether you develop your own or pay a company to help you, click here to read our latest blog to find the answer to the following seven key questions you should ask yourself (and your web developer) to make sure your website delivers results.

1. How much should I pay for a new website?
2. What is my domain name and how much does it cost?
3. How much will it cost to host my website?
4. Is your website mobile friendly?
5. Why does content and design matter?
6. How will I get my website out there and improve my search engine optimisation (SEO)?
7. How will I make changes to my website? Who will maintain it?

Social media marketing for small businesses - it makes sense!

There was a time when social media was considered a passing fad. Yet today, with over three billion Internet users and over two thirds of these people having active social media sites, social media channels have become a critical part of the marketing mix for businesses large and small.

1. Why should I use social media?
You should definitely consider using social media if your current and potential customers/stakeholders use it and/or your competitors exploit it. In addition, social media is a relatively cheap way of gaining market presence and reaching out to your target audience.

2. Which social media platform should I use?
Every social media platform is different; the only thing all of them have in common is that they reach large audiences. By understanding your customers’ demographics and buying habits, you can find the most appropriate social media channel. For example, if you have a product that is targeted at young mums you may consider Facebook and Instagram. If you are selling a B2B solution you may think about posting relevant content on LinkedIn. If you are selling a service into local government you may consider Twitter....

For more advice on how to make the most of the vast opportunities that social media could offer your start-up or small business, please click here to read the rest of the blog on our website.

Click here to find out more about the services we offer.

Top ten tips for entrepreneurs

Top ten tips for entrepreneurs

Top ten tips for entrepreneurs by Susanne Hasselmann, Director, Scirum Ltd. 

Starting a new business is not an easy task, but a challenge that can be extremely rewarding, frustrating, stressful and fun! Above all, be prepared to adapt as your new business evolves - things often work out differently to the way you expected!

Over the years I have been involved in a number of start-ups, I have helped to re-shape businesses and have had to adjust by downsizing or closing operations. During this time I have myself learned from my mistakes, re-shaped my expectations and celebrated the successes.

Above all, I have tried to learn from others through observation, research and by talking to people who have been through similar situations. The following TOP TIPS are my summary of what I have learned. I hope these are helpful to you entrepreneurs out there!

1. Optimism rules!
2. Know where you are going – have a vision!
3. Know why your business is different - your unique selling point
4. Be flexible
5. Keep focused on your plan
6. Enjoy what you do – and thus do it well!
7. Sell yourself in the right way!
8. Know what you don’t know
9. Know when to stop!
10. Control your cash flow and start small

1. Optimism rules!

What makes a good entrepreneur? Optimism, determination and resilience! When you are let down by a partner or customer or when things don’t turn out the way you expected, you have to get up, brush yourself off, adapt and try again. I guarantee you that this will happen often. I always think that being an entrepreneur is like being a bulldog - hang on in there until you have exhausted all the options. Stay positive!

Don’t hang on until the bitter end though... – but we will come to that later.

2. Know where you are going – have a vision!

Always have a vision when you start. You need to know where you are going – visualise where you want to be in three/ five/ ten years’ time, set realistic financial goals, then think about how you will get there. Why are you different to other companies? What resources do you need? How will you design and manufacture your products/ service? How will you distribute? Who are your customers (describe them)? How will you let them know you and your product/ service exist? How will you service your customers? What are the barriers you can foresee that could stop you from realising your plan and how would you overcome these?

3. Know why your business is different - your unique selling point

What makes you different from others? What is your unique selling point (USP)? This could be the skill you have, the unique features of your product or the positive impact you have on other people’s lives. You need to make sure you know your USP, you test it in the market to ensure it is unique and you can describe it in one or two sentences – a strap line is useful in that respect.

4. Be flexible

You set out believing in an idea. You have a plan. However, when you start taking it to market you suddenly realise that the format or design is not quite right. In this case, be flexible and learn. Adapt to market needs. Be flexible enough to change your plan in order to achieve your ultimate goal and vision.

5. Keep focused

Whatever you do, ensure you keep true to your vision and where you want to be in three to five years’ time. You may have to adapt your plans but only because you are staying true to your final goals. Keep focused on your customers and your finances! Make sure every decision you take gets you one step closer to your ultimate goal.

6. Enjoy what you do – and thus do it well

Being an entrepreneur is not a 9 to 5 job. It is a lifestyle. You will spend evenings and weekends working on your ideas, making sure the finances are stacking up and the product is perfect. Therefore, in order to do this you really need to love it. You will only succeed if you enjoy what you do!

7. Sell yourself in the right way

Start-ups are based on an idea that you have generated. You will need to sell it. You need to be credible, realistic and not over the top. If you don’t have a large company behind you with a brand people recognise, selling becomes more difficult. As a result, you are in the first instance selling yourself – remember that. Networking is the most important activity for you now. Use all the contacts you already have to let them know about your venture, make new contacts through social media, join local business groups and attend business networking meetings or speak at conferences (that way you usually don’t have to pay).

8. Know what you don’t know

To be able to enjoy what you do and to channel your energies into the areas of business where you can have the most impact you need to think about the areas of business where you do not have the relevant expertise. Make a list and think about how you can enlist appropriate help. You might like to ask a number of people to mentor you or you might think about outsourcing some of your functions to a company such as Scirum Ltd www.scirum.biz who can help. Plan how to fill the knowledge gaps you have.

9. Control your costs and start small

Finding investors is always difficult. You can go to your bank but unless you have a well thought out idea you are not going to get very far. The same is true with grants that are available for start-ups and other funding sources. I always think that you need to prove your concept first which means you need to get out there and test the market. My rule is never to spend more than £5,000 on an initial proof of concept and never to lose more than £20,000 in a business idea. Suffice to say, I have never lost any money so far – and this is where we get to tip number 10.

10. Know when to stop!

The most important thing to know is when to stop. Make sure that when you draw up your plans you include a list of things that will tell you ‘you need to stop now.’ Think about how you would define success and failure and develop some lines you will not cross, i.e. need to have first order by month X and will not spend more than Y on this idea. What happens if market conditions change dramatically - a recession or changes in exchange rates?You will be tempted to overstep these lines because the next contract is just round the corner, but DON’T. Get out before it gets you! Most successful entrepreneurs have to fail before they win big.

Scirum Ltd offers help to start-ups and small businesses. Please see our start-up web page or page for small business. .

To contact us please go to www.scirum.biz, call Tel: +44 (0)1264 860060.or e-mail us.

Join us on Twitter for more updates.

Do as I say, not as I do – the pit of doom for regular blogging

What is my New Year’s resolution? To follow my own advice. When I sit with a client  and develop their social media and marketing plans I always say: “Whatever you do, when you start a Twitter account, Facebook page or blog, make sure you update it regularly.  Include thoughts that are personal to you, maybe talk about an interesting article you’ve read recently or some new research that’s relevant to you and your blog readers. It’s all about making your page interesting and informative.”

 

What has happened to me in the past? I failed miserably. Client work took precedence, staff changed and all my time was taken up with the day-to-day operations of running my business. Consequently, I ran out of time and I stopped writing blog articles. Shame on me! I’m not the first or last person to have fallen into this trap. But not anymore!

 

So, what will I do in future to ensure this doesn’t happen again? My New Year’s resolution is to set aside just a couple of hours every month to update my blog. It won’t be long. It won’t always have to be full of statistics, quotes and research. The idea of a blog is to impart thoughts, based on interests and experience. With this in mind, I’m sure we all have something useful to say – and even I can probably stick to that. So, watch this space!

Susanne Hasselmann
Director, Scirum Ltd

www.scirum.biz
@scirum

What are the demographics of each of the top ten social media channels?

Statistics from 15^th June 2014, therefore showing most recent results unless otherwise specified.

1.   Facebook – Still has a large number of young users, but the amount of older generation users is growing, now used internationally and in more high income households too. The average user is on Facebook for over 20 minutes per day. 57% of users are women.

2.  Twitter – Younger population, equally represented across income brackets. eMarketer suggests that this year, 25.4% of British Twitter users will be 25-34 year olds and 24.5% will be 18-24 year olds. The company also suggest that the fastest growing group is people aged 65 and up. 54% of users are men.

3.       LinkedIn – International audience. Gender distribution is 50%. Mainly used by 25-44 year olds who count for 28% of UK users, closely followed by the 55-64 year olds who made up 13%. The average user is on LinkedIn for 7.3 minutes per day.

4.       Pinterest – Mostly used by tablet users and women, 83%. It has 70 million users worldwide, with 1090 visitors per minute with a growth in international traffic in 2013 by 125%. The average user spends 15.8 minutes on the site. 32% of users are aged 18-34, and 45% are 35-54 and only 23% are aged 55 and over. 50% of all users have children.

5.       Google+ - Good for building relationships with other businesses. The most male orientated social network, although no official figures released yet. Google+'s female audiences are most likely to be 25 to 35 year olds. The majority (42%) of users are young adults, mostly 18 to 24. In the UK a great deal of users are single.

6.       Tumblr – 168.4 million Tumblr blogs. Very popular amongst teenagers looking for ways of self-expression, Tumblr is where the youth hangout. It is popular equally with males and females. It is more popular with 13-25 year olds than Facebook. Average user spends 23 minutes on Tumblr.

7.       Instagram – Used for photos. There is a higher percentage of female users than male, majority of users are aged 18-29 previously associated with Pinterest. Lower income households, less than 30,000.

8.       VK – Popular in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, and Israel, former Soviet Union area. Used in a similar way to Facebook. The most successful social network in Russia with over 106M users worldwide. 

9.       Flickr – Photo sharing platform, in 2012 studies showed that it was used mainly by women, in the UK aged between 35- 44. There are 92 million registered users. In January of this year, 66% of social network users were aware of Flickr, but only 3% of the 8% with a registered account use it. A study from 2010 suggested that Flickr users are unique individuals embrace and are affected by the culture they are born in.

10.   MySpace – Similar to Facebook, post videos, photos and message people, studies from 2012 show it was used mainly by women in the USA aged 45-54. 36 million registered accounts. In January of this year, 73% of social media users in the UK are aware of MySpace, but only 2% of the 9% of social media users that have an account actually use it. 

At Scirum, we have a dedicated team who take care of our clients' social media planning and digital presence. If you are thinking about increasing your social media activity, why not give us a call (01264 860060) or email us?

Grace O'Brien, Digital and Marketing Executive, Scirum Ltd.


For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group.

Why does your business need a social media plan?

There are two main reasons why you would want to use social media channels for your business: your current and potential customers/stakeholders use it and/or your competitors exploit it. If either of these two are the case, you have your justification for having a social media strategy.

Social media allows you to increase the reach of your audience and easily tap into new market sectors. Social media is also a great tool with which you can start building much closer relationships with your customers by involving them in your business, for example, by asking them to share their experience and product applications. Often you are able to pick up invaluable information that will lead you to develop improved or new products and services. Social media also allows you a relatively cheap way of circulating information about your business to current and potential customers and stakeholders, improving your ability to inform them more quickly and thoroughly.

At Scirum, we have a dedicated team who take care of our clients' social media planning and digital presence. If you are thinking about increasing your activity on social media, why not call (01264 860060) or contact us?

Susanne Hasselmann, Director, Scirum Ltd

For more useful tips and answers to common questions from SMEs, visit www.scirum.biz or follow us on Twitter and Google+, like us on Facebook or join our LinkedIn group. 

Top Ten Tips for Entrepreneurs

Top Ten Tips for Entrepreneurs by Susanne Hasselmann, Director, Scirum Ltd. 

Starting a new business is not an easy task, but a challenge that can be extremely rewarding, frustrating, stressful and fun! Above all, never expect things to turn out the way you wanted!

Over the years I have been involved in a number of start-ups, I have helped to re-shape businesses and have had to adjust by downsizing or closing operations. During this time I have myself learned from my mistakes, re-shaped my expectations and celebrated the successes.

Above all, I have tried to learn from others through observation, research and by talking to people who have been through similar situations. The following TOP TIPS are my summary of what I have learned. I hope these are helpful to you entrepreneurs out there!

1. Optimism rules!
2. Know where you are going – have a vision!
3. Know your USP
4. Be flexible
5. Keep focused on your plan
6. Enjoy what you do – and thus do it well!
7. Sell yourself in the right way!
8. Know what you don’t know
9. Know when to stop!
10. Control your costs and start small

1. Optimism rules!

What makes a good entrepreneur? Optimism, determination and resilience! When you are let down by a partner or customer or when things don’t turn out the way you expected, you get up, adapt and try again. I guarantee you that this will happen often. I always think that being an entrepreneur is like being a bulldog - hang on in there until you have exhausted all the options.

Don’t hang on until the bitter end though... – but we will come to that later.

2. Know where you are going – have a vision!

Always have a vision when you start. You need to know where you are going – visualise where you want to be in three years’ time, set realistic financial goals, then think about how you will get there. Why are you different to other companies? What resources do you need? How will you design and manufacture your products/ service? How will you distribute? Who are your customers (describe them)? How will you let them know you and your product/ service exist? How will you service your customers? What are the barriers you can foresee that could stop you from realising your plan and how would you overcome these?

3. Know your USP

What makes you different from others? What is your unique selling point (USP)? This could be the skill you have, the unique features of your product or the positive impact you have on other people’s lives. You need to make sure you know your USP, you test it in the market to ensure it is unique and you can describe it in one or two sentences – a strap line is useful in that respect.

4. Be flexible

You set out believing in an idea. You have a plan. However, when you start taking it to market you suddenly realise that the format or design is not quite right. In this case, be flexible and learn. Adapt to market needs. Be flexible enough to change your plan in order to achieve your ultimate goal and vision.

5. Keep focused

Whatever you do, ensure you keep true to your vision and where you want to be in three to five years’ time. You may have to adapt your plans but only because you are staying true to your final goals. Keep focused on your customers and your finances! Make sure every decision you take gets you one step closer to your ultimate goal.

6. Enjoy what you do – and thus do it well!

Being an entrepreneur is not a 9 to 5 job. It is a lifestyle. You will spend evenings and weekends working on your ideas, making sure the finances are stacking up and the product is perfect. Therefore, in order to do this you really need to love it. You will only succeed if you enjoy what you do!

7. Sell yourself in the right way! Network!

Start-ups are based on an idea that you have generated. You will need to sell it. You need to be credible, realistic and not over the top. If you don’t have a large company behind you with a brand people recognise, selling becomes more difficult. As a result, you are in the first instance selling yourself – remember that. Networking is the most important activity for you now. Use all the contacts you already have to let them know about your venture, make new contacts through social media and attend business networking meetings or speak at conferences (that way you usually don’t have to pay).

8. Know what you don’t know

To be able to enjoy what you do and to channel your energies into the areas of business where you can have the most impact you need to think about the areas of business where you do not have the relevant expertise. Make a list and think about how you can enlist appropriate help. You might like to ask a number of people to mentor you or you might think about outsourcing some of your functions to a company such as Scirum Ltd www.scirum.biz who can help with both. Plan how to fill the knowledge gaps you have.

9. Control your costs and start small

Finding investors is always difficult. You can go to your bank but unless you have a well thought out idea you are not going to get very far. I always think that you need to prove your concept first which means you need to get out there and test the market. My rule is never to spend more than £5,000 on an initial proof of concept and never to lose more than £20,000 in a business idea. Suffice to say, I have never lost any money so far – and this is where we get to tip number 10.

10. Know when to stop!

The most important thing over anything else is to know when to stop. Make sure that when you draw up your plans you include a list of things that will tell you ‘you need to stop now.’ Think about how you would define success and failure and develop some lines you will not cross, i.e. need to have first order by month X and will not spend more than Y on this idea. You will be tempted to overstep these lines because the next contract is just round the corner, but DON’T. Get out before it gets you!

To contact us please go to www.scirum.biz or call +44 (0)1264 860060.

Join us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter for more updates.