People often think that hard economic times are the wrong time to start a business, but many of the largest companies today got their start during the worst economic time in modern history: the Great Depression. During hard economic times, business patterns shift. People stop making their traditional purchases and look for something different. Companies that don’t adjust to this go out of business, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs with a clear vision for the future. Launching a business that succeeds during these times takes quite a bit of preparation but for those willing to put in the work, the rewards can be rich.

The first thing to do is clearly identify the product or service you’ll offer, the target audience, and your plan for success. Typically this is contained in a comprehensive business plan. A successful business plan considers every aspect of your proposed business, including products or services offered, projected prices, costs of operation, location, marketing, what need you’re filling (and the research to prove the need actually exists), business insurance, and more. If you’ll need a loan to start the business, a bank will require a copy of your business plan to evaluate your ability to repay the loan.

Just as the first three rules of buying a home are location, location, location, considering the placement of your business is critical. What other businesses are in the area? If you plan to open a cake decorating business, are there already two bakeries and another cake decorator in the area? What are the demographics of the area, including the income levels? What are the traffic patterns? Where does the public transport system run? All this and more should be considered when placing your new business, and the results of these findings should also be incorporated into your business plan.

Finalise the pre-work. This means that you obtain permits and licenses, if needed, and begin shopping for your actual location, if you’ll have one. Many businesses start from someone’s home, but there are other times you’ll want the credibility that a separate storefront gives you. If you will require a loan, now is the time to polish that business plan and perhaps even have an expert look it over before submitting it to the bank.

Once everything is ready, start interviewing any employees you plan to hire, purchase your supplies and equipment, and begin outfitting the space you’ll use to start your business. A website is critical. Whether you build it yourself or pay an expert, it must look clean, professional, and be easy to find. There are free website-design programs that can help you look professional and keep you on budget.

Once you’re open for business, make sure your products or services are all that you advertise and more, and put a premium on customer service. People remember a good experience they’ve had when shopping for a product or service. You want to be the business they remember with a smile, because that’s what will ensure your future success.

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Some people want to use their iPhone or iPad to do more than play video games. Some actually use them to remotely control their work computer. Take a closer look at some of the iOS apps that an entrepreneur can use to make their life easier here in this article.

Your iProduct Can Connect To Other Computers

TeamViewer for Remote Control

The iPhone or iPad can be used just like any other computer but thanks to their mobility they are much more convenient. For those with the entrepreneurial spirit,  mobility is important, and some apps are targeted just for them. The first is called “TeamViewer for Remote Control“. This is an app that connects to your other computers so that you can use them while you are are on the run. It is billed as secure and fast, working with Linux, Mac and Windows systems. It is already being used with 100 million computers in the world. It works with more than just an iPhone or iPad. The iPod Touch can also control another computer remotely. It comes in a free version and professional version which will cost $99 that’s £63.34 GBP. If you feel like jumping ship it also comes with an Android version as well.

An iOS App That Works The Market

etrade mobile pro app

Another iOS app dedicated to entrepreneurs is the “E*TRADE Mobile Pro” app. This works on the iPad but not the iPhone. It is for those who are involved in the market trade. It has real time quotes and breaking market news included. One of the features of the E*TRADE Mobile Pro iPad app is its security. No personal information is stored on the app. A lost or stolen iPad will not end up as a loss of a trading account. The app has graphs and uptick and downtick pointers. This app allows the user to do trading anytime and anywhere. The price is right. It is free.

An Entrepreneurial App For Webmasters

For the entrepreneur who is also a webmaster, there is “Analytics HD”. This is another app that will only work with an iPad, not an iPhone. It concentrates all the information from a Google Analytics program on one page. It is designed to be easier than looking at the web page version online. Multiple accounts are no problem and has the “today” report that Google does not offer. Date ranges can be customized easily. Some people prefer this app to logging in with their Mac. This one is going to ping the wallet or purse. It costs seven $6.99  that’s £4.47 GBP .

AnalyticsHD ipad app

Do you want to learn more on the author? Denis works for a media recruitment agency where you can get some interesting resources to help you get your dream job.

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What Your Body Language Says About You

People rarely realise that what they do is just as important as what they say. Body language is a nonverbal means of communication. Your posture, eye movements, facial expressions, and other types of body language all play a part in the message you convey to people. Sometimes people unintentionally give the wrong message because they’re not aware of how what they’re doing appears to other people.

Correct Posture

Do you remember as a child your parents or teachers telling you to sit up straight? The reason they tried to instill this lesson in your mind at an early age is because posture says a lot about you. If you tend to slouch when you’re sitting, you look lazy or bored.

If you’re talking to someone and you’re standing slumped, they may thing you’re not interested in what they’re saying to you. Sitting and standing up straight means that you’re attentive and focused on what you’re doing.

Eye Contact

When you’re talking to someone, it’s rude to look around the room. You should always look at the person speaking to you; it’s a sign of respect.

Many people have inadvertently offended someone because they look around in the middle of a conversation. Even if you’re bored to tears, keep your eyes focused on the person speaking to you so that you don’t commit a social faux pas.

Facial Expressions

The face has a language of its own. Frowning and smiling both convey very distinct messages without any need for words. In some cases, that can be a good thing.

It’s good to smile when you want someone to know you approve of what they’re saying. However, smiling while they’re complaining isn’t a good idea. By the same token, you also don’t want to frown when someone is telling you good news; unless you want them to know that you don’t think the news is that great.

Eyes and Eyebrows

Raising your one or both your eyebrows can mean different things like you don’t understand what the person is saying or that you’re skeptical. Rolling your eyes and eyebrows up usually means you don’t believe something or you think the person is flat out lying.

The distinctions are very subtle, but most people instinctively recognise them. Just like you should think before you speak, don’t let your eyes betray your emotions unless you want them to.

Arms and Hands

Some people have a tendency to cross their arms. This can be interpreted as lack of interest, defiance or boredom depending on the posture and facial expressions being used at the same time. It’s usually a good idea to keep your arms relaxed by your side while someone is speaking to you.

Some body language is instinctive or a matter of habit; however, it’s a wise idea to be aware what kind of message you’re sending nonverbally.

People have been turned down for jobs, fought arguments and even ended relationships because they used the wrong body language at the wrong time. Instead of letting your body language work against you, think about how you appear to others and use it to your advantage.

About the Author: Tony Smith is a full-time writer with a passion for business, technology, and communications. When he’s not focused on those things, he can often be found studying the environment and issues surrounding fuel production at Marcellus gas sites and other shales around the country.

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However, he did this with a very unorthodox management style. In fact he flew in the face of the management technique of other Silicon Valley companies.

While Google and Microsoft promote openness and strive to make their employees happy, Apple is incredibly secretive and most employees lived in fear of Jobs: but it worked. So how did Steve Jobs achieve such success while ignoring all traditional notions of business management?

Steve Jobs’ autocratic management approach works for Apple because of their cult status in the technology world, and because of the genius of Steve Jobs and those he has appointed to replace him. For more traditional management techniques that also work for businesses visit our Management Training page which is full of helpful tips as well as information on the variety of Management Training Courses we offer.

Micromanaging

Steve Jobs was unique as a CEO in the decisions he made; everything had to go through him from design to launch of a product. Not just the big decisions but the little ones right down to the design of the Apple shuttle bus and what food was served in the canteens.

It has been reported that Google encourages its employees to spend 20% of their time on personal projects. The fruits of this tactic have included Gmail and Google News – both highly successful Google projects. Contrary to this, Steve Jobs ran the tightest ship in Silicon Valley. Every product was his own vision and woe betide the person who altered it. Clear vision coupled with effective communication meant that Apple’s aim was to release products exactly how Jobs envisaged them. This design strategy – avoiding the group effort of most manufacturing companies is risky – if Jobs comes up with a bad idea then a huge amount of resources have been wasted. The thing is – he didn’t come up with bad ideas.

There have been some big flops from Apple but Jobs blamed these on his employees not realising his ideas. Flops such as MobileMe were damaging for Apple but the idea itself wasn’t to blame it was the execution – as shown by Apple’s recent launch of iCloud – essentially an improved version of MobileMe that is closer to Jobs’ vision.

Steve Jobs’ micromanagement style in which he dictated everything at Apple only worked due to his knack for innovation and Apple’s relatively small amount of products. Proof of this is that Apple only have 12 mainline products for sale (each with a number of variations). It would be almost impossible for any other business to take an approach in which one person makes every decision. Effective delegation and trust in your employees to make key decisions is important in running a successful team.

Expertise

Apple was set up as a top-down management style in which employees are chosen for expertise and not experience. Shunning the training of managers, Jobs preferred experts each in control of a function in the place of a few well-rounded managers. For example – the manager of the online store would not chose photos for the store, that would be down to the graphics department.

This is a unique strategy of managing staff that allows the best possible staff to be working exclusively in their field of expertise but is also very rigid. Rather than promoting fluidity between departments Jobs kept them separate and required each executive to make sure their area was perfect instead of concentrating on somebody else’s.

Hiring the right people is an important management strategy and is one of our 5 Top Tips for reducing employee turnover

Responsibility

Steve Jobs insisted that every project at Apple had a DRI – a directly responsible individual. Those in charge were particularly vulnerable to this and were expected to deliver results.

This method of risk management doesn’t give staff second chances. An example would be the launch of MobileMe in 2008 which became a a huge flop. Jobs reportedly assembled the team for an angry dressing down and proceeded to replace the responsible executive on the spot. Apple staff weren’t just responsible for creating great products that sold – they were tasked with reproducing the Steve Jobs vision accurately.

Assigning responsibility is an important part of risk management but it the level of responsibility at Apple is excessive – although it is refreshing to see Vice Presidents held more accountable than lower employees it promotes instability within a business. This only works because of the top-down management style – using qualified but not experienced personal often with little to no management experience. Instead of having well-rounded executives overseeing a variety of products they have clear, concise roles and so are replaceable by a person with the same skills. A well-rounded manager overseeing a number of projects is often protected because of the resources it would take to train somebody up to replace them.

Secrecy

In stark contrast to other Silicon Valley businesses that promote transparency by allowing their employees to post blogs and release software early to developers, Apple shrouds their business and their products in secrecy. Not only are products kept back from the public but even from other employees.

It has been reported that employees are kept separate and only have access to their own areas of the Apple campus – there are even ‘no tailgating’ signs at Apple (see left) discouraging employees to try and sneak a look at other departments. This means that very few employees knew the details of whole projects thus lowering the risk of details leaking to the public.

Staff were even told not to mention projects to their families. Apple’s secrecy has backfired a number of time – noticeably at new product launches. Apple fans know that keynote speeches mean new products and are whipped up into a frenzy of rumours in the keynote run up – if the new product doesn’t meet expectations there is a level of disappointment that overshadows the release.

The latest iPhone launch is a good example – most people were expecting a brand new iPhone 5 and Apple came under a lot of criticism for just releasing an update to the iPhone 4 (albeit with a number of impressive new features).

Keeping products hidden until launch is also risky as it doesn’t allow for external testing – many companies release products early (as beta versions) to allow developers/select members of the public to test them. This gives them time to work out any glitches before the full product launch. This didn’t seem to bother Jobs as he famously responded to Apple users complaining of poor call functions on the iPhone 4 by telling them they were holding it the wrong way.

Fear

The most well known aspect of the Steve Jobs management strategy is fear. Every employee at Apple from top to bottom knew that failure under Jobs meant a severe telling off at best, the sack at worst. This is an incredibly negative management strategy that only works for Apple for one reason – it is the most desirable job in the world for design, software and hardware engineers.

Apple has a surprisingly low turnover for a company that instils fear in it’ employees, but even though ex-staff have spoken out that they were unhappy and paid less than at other similar jobs, they would stay because of the prestige that came with the role. Apple are an anomoly when it comes to treating staff in such a way – Google for example use the exact opposite method. They keep their employees happy and comfortable with volleyball courts and slides. they ask new employees about their favourite snacks and keep them supplied all year!

It’s a dangerous game using fear to motivate employees – if you want to see the other side of the coin here are our Top 10 Motivation Tips that work for businesses and don’t have staff looking over their shoulders in fear of the sack.

It is yet to be seen how much of Steve Jobs’ controversial management strategy remains at Apple – will they begin to follow other Silicon Valley companies like Google or has Jobs ensured that Tim Cook and co will keep the Apple management style that Jobs created  - an autocratic, secretive company that has some of the leading experts in the technology industry in their employment.

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I did; I found it riveting, and that was long before the shaving foam appeared. It started me thinking about the line between the “organisation” and the staff, and who’s responsible when things go wrong.

We also looked at some of the legal aspects of the accountability of businesses in our tips for preparing for the UK Bribery Act 2011

Actually, UK law does recognise the concept of holding the “organisation” to account (especially for safety), and directors of companies and trustees of charities are legally accountable individually and jointly. This means they can be sued for something an employee did. They have to make sure there are proper systems and procedures, and that staff know and understand them, and they have to monitor that the systems and procedures work and that staff comply with them.

Getting back to Messrs Murdoch, their main message was “We knew nothing”.

Imagine a similar scene: you’re discussing with one of your staff some major disaster that’s happened in their department, and they say “I had no idea what was going on.”

My guess is you might reach one (or several) of the following unattractive conclusions:

• They’re clearly remote / out of touch and not making an effort to find out what goes on
• Their staff are clearly too scared of them to tell them honestly what was going on.
• Their management is so lax they don’t notice anything and their staff can get away with murder.
• They did know what was going on but they didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
• They did know what was going on but they’ve been “selectively” ignoring it or they didn’t care as long as staff got results.
• They did know what was going on but bottled out of dealing with it.

Now imagine you have to sit in front of a judge or your most important customer and explain what happened and why. Scary!

Management and Leadership Tips – What Can We Learn?

So what can we learn from all this for our own organisations? I think there are some common-sense do’s and don’ts.

If you don’t already – you might want to make sure that your organisation is doing the following:

• Do have policies or codes of business ethics making clear what your rules are, and make sure staff see them and understand them.

• Do have regular discussions with everyone about what’s ok / not ok for people to do and why – not just covering what’s unlawful, but especially what’s legal but unethical as far as your organisation is concerned.

• Do make clear to managers that they must be role models and that they’re responsible for knowing what’s going on and for making sure staff act appropriately.

• You can use appraisals and quality systems to help ensure people act appropriately.

• Do help managers by training them to deal with difficult people and situations (see our post on dealing with difficult people).

• Don’t “selectively” ignore an illegal or inappropriate practice because it’s difficult to deal with or because it saves cost / increases profit. It will come back to bite you!

• Do take action as soon as you see something wrong happening.

If you or your organisation needs help with any of the aspects listed above, you might like to consider some of the following training courses:

• Leadership Training
• Performance Appraisals Training
• Management Training for New Managers

As for the Murdochs and News International … who knows what’ll happen next.

Thanks to our Management Trainer Christine for providing these tips

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Health and Safety Training Courses

According to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) every year on average:

• 220 people are killed
• 30,000 people injured
• 33 million working days are lost to injuries or ill health
• 25,000 people leave the workplace permanently because of harm suffered at work

The combined cost to British businesses for all of the above is somewhere in the region of £20 billion

Many of these costly work related injuries and absences can be avoided if managers receive proper Health and Safety Training.

We are pleased to announce that Silicon Beach Training is now offering accredited IOSH Managing Safely training here in Brighton, Sussex.

Attending an accredited health and safety course can not only reduce your organisation’s insurance premium costs, but can also enhance your business reputation, and increase productivity and profitability considerably.

Our 4-day Managing Safely course is priced at just £695 + vat, which includes assessment and certification.

Our first courses are coming up on:

• 12 – 15 September 2011
• 15 – 18 November 2011

Call us now on 01273 622272 or e-mail info@siliconbeachtraining.co.uk for more information and bookings.

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“A good listener tries to understand thoroughly what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but before he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is…” (Kenneth A. Wells)

Listening is one of the most useful skills we can have. How well we listen has a major impact on how we do our job, and on the quality of our relationships with others.

Active Listening intentionally focuses on who you are listening to, whether in a group or one-on-one, in order to understand what he or she is saying.  As the listener, you should then be able to repeat back in your own words what they have said to their satisfaction.  This does not mean you agree with, but rather understand, what they are saying.

Active Listening is a key business skill, and is covered on our Management Skills training course as well as our Leadership training course in Brighton, Sussex.  We also offer a course specifically on Active Listening Skills which can be arranged on a private or on-site basis if you want to focus on this topic alone.

Active listening is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding. Often when people talk to each other, they don’t listen attentively. They are often distracted, half listening, half thinking about something else.

For example: When people are engaged in a conflict, they are often busy formulating a response to what is being said. They assume that they have heard what their opponent is saying many times before, so rather than paying attention; they focus on how they can respond to win the argument.

Are you a good listener? Think about your relationships with the people in your life – your boss, colleagues, subordinates, best friend, and spouse. If asked, what would they say about how well you listened? Do you often misunderstand assignments or only vaguely remember what people have said to you. If so, you may need to improve your listening skills. The first step is to understand how the listening process works.

Four Steps to Active Listening

1. Hearing. At this stage, you simply pay attention to make sure you hear the message.
2. Interpretation. If you fail to interpret a speaker’s word correctly it may lead to a misunderstanding.
3. Evaluation. Decide what to do with the information you have received.
4. Respond. This is a verbal or visual response that lets the speaker know whether you have gotten the message and what your reaction is.

Active Listening Tips:

• Don’t talk-listen. People like to have a chance to get their own ideas or opinions across. A good listener lets them do it.
• Don’t jump to conclusions. Many people will tune out a speaker when they think they have the general idea of the conversation.
• Ask questions. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “Do you mean….?” or “Did I understand you to say….?”
• Overlook a speech problem, a twitch, or sexist language. Paying too much attention to these types of distractions can break your concentration.
• Keep an open mind. The point of listening it to gain new information.
• Listen to others’ points of view and ideas. It could turn out to be fascinating.
• Provide feedback. Make eye contact, nod your head and if appropriate, interject a comment such as “I see,” etc.

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£1000 Training Grants

Training Grants are limited – application forms below…

Businesses who employ between 2 and 249 people can apply for up to £1,000 of matched funding towards any training courses that will help to develop their organisation’s people management skills. The new Leadership and Management Advisory Service (LMAS) is designed to help eligible employers  fund training and development opportunities for their senior leaders.

This funding can be used towards a range of  Silicon Beach Training’s courses, including our Management Training and Leadership Training courses, as well as other personal development programmes like our  Appraisals Training and Change Management Training courses.

If you are interested in applying and would like to discuss the courses we have available, please call us on 01273 622272 or email info@siliconbeachtraining.co.uk

Is my Organisation Eligible for a Leadership & Management Training Grant?

The Leadership & Management Training Grants are open to any organisation which:

• has 2 to 249 full time equivalent employees
• can display the potential for high or fast growth, defined as:
  • if trading for more than 12 months have the potential to increase turnover by 20% each year for three years
  • if trading for less than 12 months have the potential to achieve a turnover of £500,000 within three years of trading

How Can I Apply for a Training Grant Towards a Course at Silicon Beach Training?

1) Identify Suitable Training

Identify the training course or courses that you would like to attend – remember, the courses must help you to increase your organisation’s people management skills – so the following courses would be applicable:

• Management Skills for New Managers Training
• Leadership Skills Training
• Appraisals Training
• Change Management Training
• Plus a wide range of other training courses – please call or e-mail us to discuss your requirements in more detail
• In addition to our public scheduled courses you can also use the grants towards private or bespoke training

If you have not yet identified a suitable training course, a skills broker will be able to provide you with free advice

2) HOW TO APPLY: Organisations in the South East & South West

Download Training Funding Application Form

If your company is based in the South East or South West, you should apply for funding via Skills South East – to do this…

• Download the Application Form
• Complete the details, including the Silicon Beach Training course (or courses) you would like to attend in the “If training has already been identified” section
• Once completed return to info@skillssoutheast.co.uk with “Leadership & Management application” and your  Company/Organisation Name in the subject field

3) HOW TO APPLY: Other Regions

A list of the organisations providing the Leadership & Management Advisory Service in other areas, links to download application forms and the e-mail addresses to return the forms to are below:

London – Exemplas
Download Application Form
Tel: 01707 398202
Return Application form to: stuartw@exemplas.com

Yorkshire and the Humber – Exemplas
Download Application Form
Tel: 07739 647388
Return Application form to: simona@exemplas.com

North East – NBSL
Download Application Form
Tel: 07971 317565 (Joy Gair)
Return Application form to: l&mreferrals@nbsl.org.uk

North West – LMAS
Complete Online Form
Tel: 0845 112 0527
Email: leadership@business-enterprise.net

East of England, East Midlands and West Midlands – LMAS
Download Application Form
Tel: 0845 894 8969
Return Application form to: lmas@embltd.co.uk

How Much Training Funding Can I Apply For?

You can apply for up to £1,000 in matched funding.

This means that you must pay the same amount towards training as your training grant covers – for example:

• If you require training worth £1,000, you must contribute £500 – with the other £500 covered by the grant
• If you require training worth £2,000, you must contribute £1,000 – with the other £1,000 covered by the grant

If you have any questions relating to any of the above, please feel free to call Colin Welch at Silicon Beach Training on 01273 622272 or e-mail colin@siliconbeachtraining.co.uk

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