SBC MEETING JULY 2006
Our July meeting was once again a joint
effort in collaboration with the Lightwater Business
Association (LBA), set up by Mike Loughton, who is both
an SBC Member and the Secretary of the LBA. Mike organised
the same venue as for our last joint meeting, the splendid
Tudor Barn meeting room at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Lightwater,
where they lay on a very fine spread.
Networking brainstorm!
The structured networking session which starts most
SBC meetings was as usual led by SBC’s Paul Cawthorne.
It took the form of a round table brainstorm of various
business topics and questions proposed by attendees,
and proved very productive, with some excellent suggestions
and solutions arising from the good-natured discussions.
This was followed by ‘informal
networking’ (our technical term for laying into
the substantial buffet – the chicken wings were
a particular triumph, as many sticky fingers attested!)
Marketing Development explained…
The main evening session started with new SBC Member
Graham Whittle of Going4Growth (www.going4growth-ltd.co.uk)
explaining how he helps businesses to grow their markets.
In simple terms, we all have existing products or services
which we sell to existing customers. So far, so obvious.
In order to grow our business we either need to sell
more of those products to our customers, or to new customers,
or sell different products to existing or new customers.
Equally straightforward – but perhaps not quite
so obvious!
Graham revealed the 8 methods he uses
to develop markets for his customers, and illustrated
some of them in a case study of how he has worked with
an automotive parts distributor to increase their turnover
and profits by a six-figure sum for a minimal outlay
– fascinating and impressive stuff, so thank you
for sharing it with us Graham!
Business and the law
Our host for the evening was SBC’s Philip Jones,
who together with Mike was responsible for arranging
the event. Phil introduced our main speaker, SBC Member
Frankie Tierney of Herrington Carmichael Solicitors,
on the subject of Legal Issues Facing Small Businesses.
Frankie is an accomplished speaker with
a vast repository of knowledge about legal matters as
they relate to businesses. Members had proposed topics
they would like to see covered in advance, and inevitably
there were more than time allowed for. Frankie did a
great job of explaining legal complexities in plain
English, and making it all highly entertaining too,
holding her audience in a state of rapt attention throughout.
Show me the money!
One of the most popular subjects was ‘Getting
Paid’ – and Frankie suggested that prevention
is better than cure, so keep your paperwork and admin
up to scratch. Above all, make sure all your clients
read and accept your Terms and Conditions – whether
online or on paper. You may reach the stage where you
need to pursue a claim, so Frankie went through how
County Court Claims work, tips and tricks on how to
fill in the forms so you win, which local courts were
more efficient than others, how to use this to your
advantage, verbal agreements, what bailiffs can and
can’t do, statutory demands… it was a master-class!
Frankie was equally authoritative and
amusing on directors’ and owners’ responsibilities
and liabilities, and the intricacies of fiduciary duties.
Finally she exposed some of the anomalies and limitations
of the new Age Discrimination legislation, where the
principles are in conflict with the Government’s
own minimum wage laws, as well as making long-service
awards illegal. Surprise, surprise!
What a bargain!
We resisted the urge to ask Frankie how much that amount
of legal advice would have cost ‘over the counter’
– but we’re sure every one present got great
value from the evening as a whole, so thanks go to Mike
and Phil for arranging it, and to Graham and Frankie
for sharing their considerable expertise with us all.
After the meeting it was but a
short stroll to the Club Bar, where we saw the Italians
dismissing the Germans from the World Cup, and enjoyed
a relaxing drink.
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