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I've heard this so many times and thought what a load of tosh, especially looking at the lack of traction on my youtube channels.

Then I watched my kids dive straight into Youtube searching for stuff, so have put it on my to-do list to revisit and do better 

Top post. It's true about trolls and abuse.

Someone told me a while ago that if people start having a go at you, then take it as a compliment and mean your popularity is on the rise  At least that's how I take it when I get someone taking a pop 

For me personally it's been a mixed bag. With 2 businesses, one has done really well (MLS) and one has slowed, so equalled each other out. But things are definitely picking up again, so I count myself really lucky and my team have remained working throughout.

Working closely with other business owners, particularly on our Trusted Trader business, we've seen the direct impact, with many businesses on the verge of bankruptcy, unable to trade. Some had shelled out tens of thousands in materials for scheduled work they unable to start, or customers had cancelled.

Online businesses are always going to be more resilient, but online businesses don't build houses, fit boilers or replace fuse boxes. So it's been a terrible time for many businesses.

Lots of business owners have been stressed over having to furlough employees, taking it personally and feeling guilty, even though it has meant the difference between hanging on or bankruptcy. 

Government aid such as furlough payments or grants have been well received, but if you are paying rent on a building yard and machinery or vehicles, £10k won't go far with no revenue coming in.

But there has also been lots of stories of business owners diversifying and adapting. Window blinds companies repurposing things like shower curtains and turning into temp transparent screens, to proper purpose-built corona proof glass partitions. Then we have had carpet cleaners and domestic cleaners moving into covid sanitising, using proper chemicals and PPE, and keeping carehomes safe.

It's been a devastating time for a lot of companies, small and large. There have definitely been seismic and positive changes to peoples attitude to technology, and flexible working. But sometimes watching the news, there is an assumption everyone can work from home and their business is online. 

We're about to enter a period of unemployment that people under the age of 50 have never seen, which shows there have been a lot more losers than winners during this terrible time 

Well I'm pleased to report my April debtor has just paid up as promised, so now down to £8k outstanding 

Keep thinking positive waves, not sure that's a business principle, but works for me 

Originally Posted by Andy-C

“It is hot , but at least here it cools down at night, so I'm grateful for that

Next thing it's going to be a water shortage as 20 thousand odd new houses are all sharing the same amount of water as 25 years as there have been no new reservoirs built in many years”

Such a ray of positivity Andy 

Should be some thunder to freshen things up this afternoon 

Genuinely admire your enthusiasm, but I'm hearing running before walking?

Your choices really are down to time and cash, ie how much you have spare of either.

If you want a full crash course in business, then see a business coach. Here's mine, Andy Hemming you can see if there is an Action Coach nearer to you. It won't be cheap, but your head will be spinning for the next 10 years and your business will grow.

Likewise, there is James from Akcela on the forum who I'm sure would be happy to help.

If cash is an issue but you are time rich. Then get reading and learning. You are surrounded by opportunity and resources. You're on this forum, join others, join networking groups. Just Google business support groups, they are everywhere.

If you really want to go for it and a business coach is out of your league at the moment, then get educated. Go to college, study online, but do a business course and learn the fundamentals. 

I went from lorry driver to business owner with no concept or understanding of how it all worked. I have no idea how I managed to stay in business looking back at the mistakes, missed opportunities and lack of business nonce. A huge dose of luck and then a massive catchup learning exercise with a coach which I should have done years earlier  

There has never been a better time to start a business. You can run an international drop shipping business from your smart phone. You can design and have products created in volume without owning a factory. The progress of technology and innovation is incredible, along with the sheer volume of help out there to support you. But get educated, read lots.

Try this thread, and read the E Myth. Timeless classic that lays out the structure of business and systems.
Business Books and Inspiration - Recommendations

Best of luck, let the roller coaster begin

People spin this in all sorts of directions and take also take content out of context, and change it to waffle (bit like my posts).

Content will always be king because you are communicating a message / product or service. Without communicating it, you are not going to be able to explain / educate / sell to a potential audience / customer.

Where people get this wrong is they decide they need 15,000 words on page with <insert keyword here> repeated 500 times.

If your content is very well written, designed to be interesting, educate or make a person think, then you have Royal content. That same content will also do spectacularly well in the search engines. The more people that interact on your page, pause, read it, consume it, navigate round your site in search of more information, or even go for a sale will not go unnoticed by the Google God. All these visitor interactions are signals that are hoovered up by the search engines and thrown into the mix of signals that dictate where your page will show up for a given search result.

A page with a single line saying "buy my widgets" with nothing else to support it, will probably rank as badly as a page that is badly written, stuffed full of keywords and bores you to death and is 15,000 words long.

So content is king, but maybe we should really say bad content is crap, good content is ok, exceptional content is king 

Great post and bain of all small business owners lives!

Just toting it up, currently owed £9,500, so your average isn't far off   

It's always big suppliers and local authorities that are the late payers and you end up wasting time chasing. It seems to be an institutional thing that large organisations sit on invoices for 30, 60 or 90 days. To be fair not all, some are very regular and prompt payers. I know which of my suppliers will pay quickly and who won't before sending the invoice. It's been worse during the COVID-19 crisis, people have definitely been sitting on invoices, which compounds the issue. One supplier, in particular, is now outstanding from 01 April. I have been promised payment by this Friday, we shall see... 

Day to day sales are done on a pay before proceeding, which is means instant cashflow and no invoice issues. But this doesn't work with larger contracts who are always large organisations with procurement departments and layers of inefficiency  to traverse before getting paid 

Aha, but we did 

Now it's back to the Bahamas 

If you haven't seen this, it is well worth exploring and going through it with your kids.

The website and resources are called Thinkuknow, but is part of the National Crime Agency, specifically CEOP Command (Child Exploitation and Online Protection).

You choose the age range, then there are related videos the kids can watch, and then a game at the end to cement their understanding. There are also resources for adults, as well as a reporting function if kids or adults have had any problems online or concerns.

With kids spending longer online than they probably would do normally due to homeschooling and lockdown restrictions, it might be worth making sure any bad habits or lack of understanding are nipped in the bud.

Check it out, www.thinkuknow.co.uk obviously spread the word.