BUSINESS BLOG

 Community entrepreneurs are typically groups or organisations that seek out and act upon opportunities to transform communities and create a positive impact on community values. Why this is different to social entrepreneurship is that many social entrepreneurship models focus on individuals and disadvantage. Community entrepreneurship focuses on the community as a whole and creates a sense of abundance for all. Examples of activities can include: • A new indoor-outdoor community facility in a built up neighbourhood • A community focus on activities that reduce the carbon footprint • Business attraction in rural communities • Making strategic use of IT to connect communities • Creating community identities through music and the arts What does a Community Entrepreneur look like? They're in your community. They have a story to tell - a story that has transformed your community. Or they probably haven't stepped forward to make their mark yet? Maybe it's you...

When you decide to buy a franchise, you're giving your business a major head start in so many ways. By trading on an established name, you slash your advertising costs. Because the franchisor wants you to succeed, you have access to everything that they've learned in years of doing business to help you choose your site, develop your staff, design your store - in fact, in every aspect of starting up your own business. A franchise business opportunity gives you your best shot at succeeding in owning your own business - if you choose the best franchise opportunity for you. The start-up costs are part of the arguments against buying into a franchise business opportunity. Other cons include the monthly payments to the main franchisor of the business as well as marketing costs. If you want to use the corporate headquarters clever marketing campaigns, you have to pay for the privilege. Then there are the restrictions on suppliers and such. Usually the corporate headquarters of your ...

You cannot fail when you give more than 100 percent. In whatever endeavour you are doing, always give more than one hundred percent. You will find that whenever you do this, your rewards will always be far greater than the extra effort you expended. Some people refer to this success concept as going the extra mile. What it means is that you need to give people more than they expect. If you are working in your business and want to see it grow, the surest way to achieve it is by giving more. Customers are impressed when they discover a business that is innovative and gives them more than what they expected. Look for better and more efficient ways to do things. For example, make it easy to order from your site. Reduce the number of clicks to get to relevant information about your product or the order form. Don't be afraid of giving information for free. This is a crucial step in the online world to building credibility and trust. A free report or a sample (or extract) from your in...

We all make mistakes in business. The important issue is that we learn from them and apply the lessons in both our online and off-line business activities. One of my most costly mistakes happened about twelve years ago in the off-line business world. However, the lessons I learnt are just as applicable online as they are off-line. Having established a small mail order business part-time, I decided to expand the business using direct mail techniques. I had read all the books and attended a course and it seemed like the best approach to achieve my goals. After approaching various mailing list providers, I decided I had found the perfect list to reach my target market. Pricing was obtained from the list owner and he was happy to provide me with small quantities of names initially so that I could test his list. These tests were successful enough for me to decide to undertake two large mail campaigns one after the other. I was very confident that I would be receiving countless orders an...