Archives: portfolio

Startups Acquires is4profit

March 6, 2014 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, Internet, news.

Crimson Startups Ltd, the publishing company behind the Startups and GrowingBusiness websites, has announced its acquisition of is4profit Ltd, who run the www.is4profit.com small business advice portal.

StartUp Loans: Why Raising the Age Limit is So Desperately Needed

May 13, 2013 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, finance.

“StartUp Loans: Why Raising the Age Limit is So Desperately Needed” first appeared in the is4profit small business blog The first small business news story of the day today is that Lord Young, David Cameron’s Enterprise Adviser, wants to raise the age limit on StartUp Loans. This is a great idea and I’ll explain why…

Should SMEs Be Worried About the Demise of HMV?

January 15, 2013 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business.

“Should SMEs Be Worried About the Demise of HMV?” was written by Paul Mackenzie Ross and first appeared in the is4profit small business blog The news this weekend has been filled with stories about the demise of HMV. That’s not to say that the store, founded in 1921, will totally disappear, but it has been • Read More »

Computer Games and Small Business Strategy

November 16, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, games, philosophy.

Are SMEs Being Encouraged to Level Up too Quickly? I’ll admit it; I’m not particularly good at computer games. When I played Halo on the original Xbox against one of my younger brothers I got shot. Lots. On the Nintendo Wii versus my junior-school daughter, her wrist-flicks fired off aces without a single “proper” serve. • Read More »

Cash Mobbing Lifts Local Business

August 10, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: Books, business, philosophy, random.

Cash Mobbing Lifts Local Business” was first written by Paul Mackenzie Ross for the is4profit small business blog The flash mob is a public gathering where people use social media or other communications to organise and congregate on a public place and perform some usually pointless act and then disperse again.  Now, after the flash • Read More »

You Can Bank on Dave!

July 20, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, finance.

“You Can Bank on Dave” first appeared on the is4profit small business blog. So what happened in “Bank of Dave”, episode 2 last night? Burnley Savings and Loans has been lending a LOT of money. The problem is that they still don’t have their savings licence and cannot take deposits. But, on the bright side, • Read More »

The Bank of Dave

July 13, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, finance.

“The Bank of Dave” first appeared on the is4profit small business blog. A man in a pin-striped suit, asking for your money. Oh, no, not another banker…! Wrong. It’s Dave Fishwick, who made his millions as an entrepreneur with his own small business, and now he wants to hand some of that cash back to • Read More »

Saving the Village Pub

July 9, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, Pubs.

The Sycamore Inn, Parwich

“Saving the Village Pub” first appeared on the www.is4profit.com small business blog. I don’t know if you saw Countryfile on the BBC last night, but there was an excellent feature on saving the village pub, that most important but often-overlooked small business.

Independents Day 2012

July 4, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business.

“Independents Day 2012” was originally written for the is4profit small business blog When I woke up this morning the first thing my American wife said to me was “Happy Independence Day”. On this day in 1776 the United States declared independence from Great Britain and the rest, as they say, is history. I told my • Read More »

Leadership Styles

July 3, 2012 | By Paul Mackenzie Ross | No Comments | Filed in: business, philosophy.

“Leadership Styles” was written by Paul Mackenzie Ross and first appeared in the business advice section of is4profit.com Kicking off with an Example of Leadership Styles: The Football Manager Leaders may have any one of a number of so-called “leadership styles”. You can see them quite publicly, on the TV, in football managers, for example: