Tip-top resources worth exploiting
WITH the Olympics in full flow, the government is determined to drum up business from our foreign guests. After all, trade is what the wealth of nations is built upon. For its part, StartUp Britain has a free event on 6 August in City Hall on how start-ups and small businesses can explore overseas opportunities. Visit www.tradeupbritain.eventbrite.com to find out more.
The government is claiming to be open for business, but if you are not so sure you might want to take part in Deloitte’s annual survey of UK entrepreneurs (www.entrepreneurshipuk.com). Last year entrepreneurs complained that the government is relying on private business growth to take us out of recession, but at the same time failing to back a culture of entrepreneurship.
But whether you think this government is more enabling or constraining, there are plenty of resources out there for start-ups:
■ Smarta is a leading news, tools and advice resource for small business owners. www.smarta.com/smarta100
■ Axa Business Insurance’s Business Guardian Angel website for UK SMEs provides practical advice and free planning tools. It also hosts a live barometer of UK business sentiment. Respondents have the chance to win an iPad 3, simply by registering and submitting their business outlooks. www.businessguardianangel.com
■ VirginMediaPioneers.com is an online community of enterprising people to talk, network and collaborate with.
■ Teamly is a great tool for organising your top five priorities on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. Evan Rudowski, co-founder of the start-up SubHub says: “It keeps us focused on using our time for what matters most. We also conduct a ‘daily huddle’ at which everyone describes their top priority and how it fits in with our company goals and targets.” http://teamly.com
Twitter: @philip_salter