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Is it a bird, is it a plane? No it’s an SME

28.10.10

The last few weeks’ headlines have been dominated by talk of deficits and cuts. So we thought we’d take a look at how the Private Sector will help overcome these measures and ride to the rescue of the economy.

With the Public Sector now being forced to make many of the cost cutting measures we in the private sector have been implementing for the last few years, the future of our economy rests in the hands of the Private Sector.  Whilst Cameron and his coalition may be courting the advances of the bosses of big industry, but it is not the big corporates that hold the key to economic success, and the government appears to recognize that.  David Cameron’s championing of the ‘big businesses of tomorrow’, is founded on the belief that with help from banks and government-backed enterprises, small business will thrive and boost economic growth in the UK.

Now, you may be thinking ‘how could my small business help the economic recovery?’  Government statistics show that in 2009, 83% of businesses in the UK employed less than 10 people. Only 1.5% of UK businesses employed over 100 employees. With SMEs representing the vast majority of UK businesses, it is clear that we are going to have a massive role to play in filling the gap left in our economy, when the budget cuts start to bite.

Dave Sumner Smith, Programme Director of The SME Hub states that SMEs account for 99.9% of British businesses, 59.8% of Private Sector employment and 49% of Private Sector turnover. In 2009, 82% of UK businesses had a turnover of £500,000 or under. 

So how does this translate for SMEs based in Hampshire?

As a Hampshire based SME, we were interested in seeing how the numbers stacked up for the Hampshire region. Government statistics show that Hampshire businesses follow the national trend. The vast majority of businesses are SMEs, with 98% of businesses employing less than 10 members of staff.  The same is true for turnover. Indeed, in 2009 there were only 565 businesses in Hampshire that have a turnover in excess of £5 million.

All the evidence points to the fact that SMEs hold the key to the UK’s future economic success and without us, our country’s finances would hang by a thread.

 So with growth so important, how does an SME begin to grow?  We believe a key component of growth is improving the performance of your marketing. Don’t leave it to chance. Like the budget cuts, important decisions need to be planned in advance. Investing in proper marketing preparation and planning can help today’s SMEs become tomorrow’s Corporates.

 

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Top Marketing Tips For November

27.10.10

• Save the Words, a clever new Website from Oxford University Press. The makers of the Oxford English Dictionary have developed the site based on the simple idea that a word won’t die if it gets used often enough. Each year hundreds of words are dropped from the dictionary, make a change and adopt a word today.
• Guerrilla Marketing on the Internet: The Definitive Guide from the Father of Guerrilla Marketing. Jay Conrad Levinson changed marketing forever when he unleashed his marketing tactics for surviving the advertising jungle on a budget. Learn how to use the internet Guerrilla style.
• GroupTweet, is a website where you can create a community that privately shares tweets. Think of it as an ongoing Twitter conference call, a great way to keep in touch with people working on the same projects.  

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The Holidays Are Coming

13.10.10

For many, Christmas is an important landmark in the calendar. For some, it’s the culmination of a year-long planning process, and for others, it’s a last minute shopping trip to grab the Christmas essentials.

Whilst, we were all enjoying the BBQs, beach trips and summer activities this August, the people at the prestigious British department store Selfridges, were busy preparing their Christmas department; a whopping 145 days early; the earliest it has ever opened. Displaying decorations, Christmas trees and tinsel, the festive shop opened as an extravaganza of everything Christmas.  Is this too early to start Christmas marketing, or is it an example of great marketing planning, attracting customers early?  Well, according to Selfridges, you can never be too early. Last year their festive shop sold 1,000 baubles in the first week alone, simply down to tourists looking for a small memento to take home.

Here at TLC Business, whilst we were enjoying the summer evenings this August, Christmas wasn’t far from our minds. We believe that it is essential for companies to prepare and plan for the festive season, months ahead of time.  It should be part of your yearly marketing plan. We don’t necessarily believe you need to get your Christmas products on the shelves at the height of summer, but having a plan of action for the year’s last quarter is a must.

It is not just retail businesses that benefit from this advanced planning. Many B2B organisations view Christmas as an unwelcome distraction that disrupts their business. Advanced marketing planning for the festive period is not just relevant for consumer-focused businesses. The period will impact on business of all sizes and across the majority of sectors. You need to be in tune with the needs of your specific customers. In our opinion, it’s never too early for companies to start preparing for this potentially lucrative season, to ensure they maximise the marketing opportunities that surround it.

This is especially relevant for online retailers.  Adding new features and festive graphics to your website will be appealing to the eye; however, don’t neglect less obvious areas, such as ensuring your site is prepared for the surge in festive traffic. Online retailers should be reshaping their email, SEO and pay per click campaigns to benefit from the Christmas boom period. Now is the time to ensure that your site is robust enough to deal with Christmas demand, in order to satisfy your customers, instead of damaging your brand value with a poor performing site.

With consumer lifestyles changing, more and more people are turning to the web for their Christmas gifts.  With more brands then ever competing for business online, it is important that SMEs establish their Christmas marketing ideas early and incorporate them within their yearly marketing plan, ready for implementation months in advance.  

Christmas may be a holiday for most people, but to many businesses it’s a prime opportunity to increase turnover and meet your financial objectives for the year. You may not be a big business like Selfridges, serving consumers, but that is no excuse to avoid planning your festive season’s marketing early, to maximise sales and get the results you require.

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