A few weeks ago I wrote a post entitled “Startups Acquires is4profit” but then everything on my blog went quiet. Well, the story behind the headline goes a little something like this…
is4profit
Texas Joe Reigns in Dragons
“Texas Joe Reigns in Dragons” was originally written by Paul Mackenzie Ross for the is4profit small business blog
Last night’s episode of Dragons’ Den on BBC was a corker.
We saw a pitch for an “umbrella” for a rotary dryer, an exercise mat that you can wear around your waist and yet another bid for funding for a range of sauces… [at least it wasn’t cupcakes – Ed]
But the best pitch of the night came from Joe Walters, a native Texan living in London, and he was wearing a cowboy hat and a rhinestone suit, accompanied by a bluegrass band singing “Put that jerky in your mouth, mouth, mouth”…
StartUp Loans: Why Raising the Age Limit is So Desperately Needed
“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?
“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
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. That’s just not tennis. As for driving games, I’m used to wrestling with a wheel & stamping on pedals, and the last time I remember fighting in a Judo match, I don’t recall manically pressing a convoluted button combination to throw my opponent.
But strategy games, ah… that’s another matter. And what does this all have to do with small business, I hear you say?
A SMART Business is a SMARTER Business
“A SMART Business is a SMARTER Business” was first published in the business advice section of www.is4profit.com When looking for ways to improve your business one method of working is by using SMART objectives. First coined in a 1981 edition of Management Review, S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym/mnemonic for: S – Specific M – Measurable A – … Read more
The Business Benefits of Marginal Gains
“The Business Benefits of Marginal Gains”, written by Paul Mackenzie Ross, first appeared in the small business blog section of www.is4profit.com
My Managing Director and I were discussing the subject of business performance and commercial efficiency the other day when he mentioned the recent story of the British Olympic Cycling team boss, Dave Brailsford.
How Do Small Businesses Capitalise on the Olympic Spirit?
This article was first published on the is4profit small business blog in September 2012
Cast your mind back to just a few weeks ago and recall the London Olympics 2012. Look at the current buzz surrounding the Paralympics 2012.
From the spectacle of the opening ceremony to the Olympic venues, the crowds, the medal table and this little island country punching well above its weight…
London 2012 and the Paralympics have been touted by some as “the People’s Games” and in other places to have been “the greatest games ever”. The Olympic Committee has promised a lasting legacy, even setting up the London Legacy Development Corporation to handle the handover and the future of the event’s assets.
But really, what’s in it for small businesses?
Cash Mobbing Lifts Local Business
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 mob, we have the cash mob – or cash mobbing.
So what is cash mobbing?
The Rise of Localism?
A couple of days ago I read an interesting piece over on the BBC News website about Totnes in Devon; the town is soon to be home to a new branch of the national chain Costa Coffee.
Now Costa Coffee is a brand that is well known in the UK with some 1,375 shops in this country, and some 800 stores abroad; so what’s so special about it that this proposed coffee shop in a southwest town makes the headlines over at the BBC?