Finding suitable premises3. Legal aspects: including planning permission to use thepremises for your type of <strong>business</strong>, <strong>and</strong> the flexibility to alteror exp<strong>and</strong> the premises.4. Long-term requirements: are the premises suitable for yourlong-term needs or would you need to consider moving tonew premises as the <strong>business</strong> grows (meaning more costs).5. The importance of location: choosing the right location can besomething of a balancing act. Ideally, it should be convenientfor your customers, employees <strong>and</strong> suppliers - without beingtoo expensive. For shops <strong>and</strong> other retail <strong>business</strong>es, yourlocation must attract customers. If you rely on passing trade,you want to be in an area where enough people who wantyour product or service can see you. For example, key cuttersare often located in or around train stations. You could alsobenefit from customers who are attracted by other shops in ashopping centre.Did you know…• choosing <strong>business</strong> premises is one of themost important decisions you will make.• after wages, premises are the second highestoverhead for most <strong>small</strong> <strong>business</strong>es.• you should always draw up a specification listso you get the premises you require, not thepremises you necessarily want.For employees, the best location is easy to travel to. Good publictransport links make it easier for employees who don’t live withinwalking distance. Employees also tend to prefer workingsomewhere with good local facilities. Or you may want to be nearsuppliers for a quick, flexible service. Deliveries may be easier ifthere are good road <strong>and</strong> transport links.So decide how much you can afford to pay <strong>and</strong> build the cost ofpremises into your <strong>business</strong> plan <strong>and</strong> cashflow forecast. It isimportant that you do not take occupation of premises in the fainthope that the profits you make will cover your premises’ costs -they very frequently do not.“Once you decide to work foryourself, you never go back to workfor somebody else.”Lord Alan Sugar, Founder Amstrad Corporation15
Information <strong>and</strong>communication technologyUnderst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> utilising information <strong>and</strong> communication technology (ICT) is absolutely vitalin today’s hi-tech <strong>business</strong> world because it gives you the information you need to stay on top ofyour <strong>business</strong>.With constant developments in ICT it is sometimes difficult to keep track of what is available <strong>and</strong> what is most suitable for yourneeds. However, it is important to underst<strong>and</strong> your immediate <strong>and</strong> future requirements <strong>and</strong> make the best choice that fits these - withinyour budget.ComputersIt goes without saying that computers are at the heart of anyorganisation’s ICT system. They can be utilised in a number ofways, from stock control, record-keeping <strong>and</strong> sales promotion tocustomer profiling, database <strong>and</strong> financial management,research <strong>and</strong> more. And, of course, email <strong>and</strong> internet access.Whatever your <strong>business</strong>, there are specialist software packagesavailable for all your requirements <strong>and</strong> an IT solutions companywill be able to tailor-make a suitable system that will save you time<strong>and</strong> effort <strong>and</strong> transform the way you run your <strong>business</strong>.Think about how many computers you will need, whether theyshould be networked <strong>and</strong> whether laptops are better than desktopPCs. These days it is all about being accessible, so laptops<strong>and</strong> wireless connections are becoming the obvious route.What printer do you require <strong>and</strong> will you need to share it with othercomputers in your office? If so, will you need a server or becreating a peer to peer network? Also think about what you will beprinting. If good quality output is very important then you will needa higher-spec printer that will cost more to buy - <strong>and</strong> to run. Andfinally, what other peripherals are you likely to need - a scanner,digital camera, back-up device or portable/removable hard drives?Whatever system you install, ensure you regularly back up allyour data on a networked server or external hard drive, <strong>and</strong> signup for a maintenance <strong>and</strong> support contract for both theequipment <strong>and</strong> the software. You will be thankful for it when thecomputer system crashes - which it undoubtedly will.EmailEmail is essential for your <strong>business</strong>, for keeping in touch withsuppliers <strong>and</strong> customers <strong>and</strong> for sending files <strong>and</strong> informationquickly <strong>and</strong> efficiently. Do shop around to find the right packagefor you as there is a huge choice of suppliers offering varyingoptions for different costs. When you’ve made your choice,ensure your email address reflects your website/domain name(see below). If your <strong>business</strong> website is www.website.co.uk, your<strong>business</strong> will look most professional if the email address reflectsyour website, for example; info@website.co.uk.WebsitesA website can be a relatively low-cost way for a <strong>small</strong> <strong>business</strong> topromote itself to existing <strong>and</strong> potential customers. The technologyallows you to not only advertise your <strong>business</strong> <strong>and</strong> what it offers,but also to perform e-commerce (buying <strong>and</strong> selling) <strong>and</strong> othercomplex transactions online.You should first decide what you want your website to say <strong>and</strong>draw up a site plan diagram to demonstrate this. This can thenbe transferred into the website’s design by whomever youchoose to build the website. It is best to use the services of aprofessional web designer if you can afford to as designing agood website is difficult <strong>and</strong> complex. Establish how long it willtake the web designer to build the site <strong>and</strong> then ensure youagree on a final price <strong>and</strong> deadline date for them to work to - youcan’t afford a delay on the launch of your <strong>business</strong>. You mustalso consider whether you or the website designer will maintainthe website (keep it updated). The easiest way for this to happenis to have your website designed using a content managementsystem which enables <strong>business</strong>es to maintain website contentthemselves. If this is the route you want to go down then ensureyou get the necessary training in the software used. But if youopt for the website designer to maintain the content, you need toagree a cost for the maintenance package <strong>and</strong> draw up aschedule for when the updates should be done.You will also need to think about domain names <strong>and</strong> whether youwant a .com, .co.uk, .biz or any of the other available options,<strong>and</strong> finally you will need to find someone to host your site.The cost for this varies from a few hundred pounds a year tomany hundreds, depending on the complexity of the site.With all this done, you then need to get the website noticedbecause having a great site is little use if no one visits it. You needto work hard to ensure that you get as many individual visits to yoursite as possible <strong>and</strong> having a good website name has a big effecton search engine rankings. It is, however, also important to have ashort but descriptive name that people can easily remember if theytry <strong>and</strong> find your <strong>business</strong> through a search engine such asGoogle. You also need to think carefully about how you want yourwebsite to be described - so each page should have an individualtitle describing the page topic. Also think carefully about the page’scontent, using relevant words specific to your <strong>business</strong> mixed inwith your page text as this is what the search engines look for whenthey look at your site. Make sure that the page content changesregularly so that search engines are kept interested.You can get listed onto Google for free. All you need to do is tellthem that your site exists, by using www.google.com/addurl.html.16
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