life were as easy as one of my legal agreements. I can fix most things with a clause or paragraph but not in this case: I am referring to the life of a little sick animal that has been placed on my lap by one of my daughters. As Mum, I am meant to be able to work my magic and heal it, but I fear this little pet rat is on its way out. Curled up in a little ball, barely breathing, barely taking any food. It breaks my heart because I am a rescuer and stubbornly believe I can fix anything. Not this time I fear.
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Archive for December, 2011
If only…
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
Better Business Bureau scam
Friday, December 9th, 2011I have been receiving e-mails recently from the Better Business Bureau- or so I thought. However, on closer inspection, I had a sneeky suspicion it wasn’t actually from them. The e-mail advised me that there was a complaint against my business and I should click on a link to find out the details of the complaint. I didn’t and instead did quick Google search against “Better Business Bureau” and found the following article which confirmed by suspicion that it was a scam:
The Better Business Bureau is issuing an urgent scam alert cautioning businesses and consumers about an e-mail that looks like it’s from BBB, with the subject line “Complaint from your customers.” This e-mail is fraudulent, the BBB said in a statement.
The BBB urges consumers to ignore the e-mail’s contents and delete it immediately. If you’ve already clicked on a link in the e-mail, run a full virus scan of your computer.
The return e-mail address is riskmanager@bbb.org, an address the BBB doesn’t use, and it’s signed with the address of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the national office of the BBB system. The e-mail contains a link to a non-BBB web site. Don’t click on the link.
The BBB is working with law enforcement to determine the source of the e-mails and stop the fraudulent campaign.
The BBB serving Alaska, Oregon, and Western Washington reports two weeks after fake BBB complaint notices hit businesses nationwide, it’s once again receiving local reports of these suspicious emails. The organization advises consumers to report fraudulent emails to phishing@council.bbb.org.
SO:Please do be careful with anything that you do not recognise. Another great option if in doubt is to go to any of the anti-virus companies e.g. Norton and they usually have a section on scams where you can enter details of a suspicious email and it will tell you if it is a scam or not.
Advice from successful female entrepreneurs
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011Stepping into the unknown is exciting, but it can also be intimidating. If you are in the process of starting a new business, you will no doubt appreciate a few words of wisdom from women who have already successfully founded their own businesses – which I have found on the website www.startups.co.uk.
You may already be familiar with Melody Hossaini and Claire Young, both having featured on the television programme The Apprentice. Hossaini founded InspirEngage International at the age of 24 (which provides young people with skills to help them set up their own enterprises); and Young founded the businesses School Speakers (which provides motivational speakers for schools) and Girls Out Loud (which aims to raise the aspirations of 13 to 18 year old girls). Julie Meyer’s business is Ariadne Capital (an investment and advisory firm), and is an investor on the online version of Dragon’s Den.
Melody Hossaini emphasises that at the outset, any budding entrepreneur needs to have a clear idea of what outcome they wish to achieve, and the motivating power of passion and confidence.
More specifically Julie Meyer advises seeking advice from people who are already in the market you are trying to break into. She states, “You need to risk sharing your idea in order to get feedback on it. Some entrepreneurs work in isolation either through fear, competitiveness or because they don’t have a network to discuss it with, but you need input to build a better concept.”
Once you have decided on what you wish to achieve, you will of course need to set up a business plan. Meyer recommends, “A good business plan should allow you to point to fixed costs, variable costs and forecasts for the next 12 months, which you should monitor on a month-by-month basis to see if you’re on track with them. If you’re wildly off base with your forecasts then you’ll know something’s wrong with the thought process. There are really three different business plans you should have prepared. The best case scenario, the worst case scenario and the one in the middle which you roll with. If a bank manager asks you what the biggest thing that could go wrong with your business is and you stare back blankly, that’s an instant giveaway you haven’t stress tested your plan. It doesn’t need to be bulletproof. You just need to think about what could go wrong and how you’ll mitigate against that risk.”
More advice comes from Claire Young, who stresses, “Work as a team. Listen with two big ears. You need strong leadership. Have a clear strategy, know your tasks along the way, and don’t be blinkered. Always see the opportunities even when things go wrong. Be proactive and don’t wait for things to fall in your lap.”
The Average British Entrepreneur
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011With job vacancies becoming increasingly few and far between, more young people are taking an interest in starting their own businesses. Nevertheless, most entrepreneurs are in their late forties, utilising the skills and knowledge they have learned from experience.
Currently only 14% of small and medium enterprises are led by a woman, or by a management team mostly comprised by women – but this percentage is rising, and Off To See My Lawyer are doing all we can to participate in this upward trend!
Statistics compiled by BERR indicate that although around 93% of owner managers and other self-employed people are white, ethnic minority groups are comparatively more entrepreneurial in general.
Nearly a third of all UK enterprises are currently located in London and South East England.
A New Era of Consumer Empowerment?
Monday, December 5th, 2011You are of course familiar with the Government’s endeavours to encourage the people of Britain to co-operate more with one another, and to take responsibility instead of relying on the authority of the State: a vision which David Cameron labels the “Big Society”. Lately the Government has launched a new programme called “midata”, which aims to increase consumers’ access to their personal data in a portable, electronic format, therefore enabling them to “gain insight into their own behaviour, make informed choices about products and services, and manage their lives more efficiently.” In turn, this will hopefully boost competition between companies (in terms of value and service) and drive innovation. In addition, if the dialogue between consumers and businesses is improved, it may facilitate the development of new personal information services and tools, and in turn create a new environment of trust and co-operation.
This may all sound very idealistic, but a number of businesses and organisations have already committed to working in partnership with Government to achieve the midata vision: voco Secure; billmonitor; British Gas; Callcredit; EDF Energy; E.ON; Garlik; Google; Lloyds Banking Group; MasterCard; Moneysupermarket.com; Mydex; Npower; RBS; Scottish Power; Scottish Southern Energy; The UK Cards Association; Three; and Visa. And a number of consumer groups and regulators are working with midata to represent consumers’ interests and concerns. As well as working towards potential benefits, their input plays an important role in identifying potential risks and helping determine how these can be addressed. Participants include: Citizens Advice; Communications Consumer Panel; Consumer Focus; Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); OFCOM; Office of Fair Trading (OFT); and Which?
