Columns, blogs and opinion from some for UK small business owners

Lord Sugar’s way off the ball with Clegg comments

4 November 2010 Columns, Opinion Charlie Mullins 0 Comments

I really cannot keep quiet over Lord Alan Sugar’s recent comments that the Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg are like ‘Leyton Orient suddenly being planted in the Champions League’.

The Apprentice: Task Five – Fashion

4 November 2010 Columns, Opinion Business Matters 0 Comments

Week five on The Apprentice and the boardroom has never been so catty – the three candidates to face Lord Sugar (Paloma, Alex and Sandeesh) all seemed ready to backstab each other. I have to say, after last night’s show, it never ceases to amaze me what the board room can bring out in people!

Business advice: Building your team over time

2 November 2010 Advice, Columns Business Matters 6 Comments

This time, I want to talk about a couple of growing pains that we had building a team. To start with, I think it’s important to explain a bit about the growth of A Suit That Fits to give you some context.

The Apprentice: Task Four – Selling to the trade

28 October 2010 Columns, Opinion Business Matters 0 Comments

Last nights Apprentice really set the bar for this series, with both teams coming into the boardroom with quite a profit to show off to Lord Sugar. Unfortunately there always has to be a losing side but with a £76,000 profit, Jamie’s team certainly shouldn’t hang their heads in shame.

Cloud computing can drive sales success

28 October 2010 Columns, News Business Matters 0 Comments

Having an efficient and effective sales strategy is key to the success of all SMEs – particularly as they battle to build a strong customer base in their critical early years. Unfortunately, they are often held back by expensive and unwieldy IT systems that drain their resources and make the process of converting sales slow and unwieldy.

Sleeping in the day: It’s ok

27 October 2010 Columns, Opinion Business Matters 5 Comments

I think that sleeping in the middle of the working day is ok. I know this is going to be controversial.

Excuse me….

26 October 2010 Columns, Opinion Charlie Mullins 0 Comments

I’ve got an issue with some of the things that have come out of the CBI conference that I just can’t ignore…

The Apprentice: Task three – Bakery

21 October 2010 Columns, Opinion Business Matters 0 Comments

Week three and all the contestants have now had the chance to get a real taste of what the Apprentice experience is all about. With Dan and Joy being fired in the first two weeks everyone must feel vulnerable.

Presenting and The Apprentice

18 October 2010 Advice, Columns Business Matters 1 Comment

Whilst watching Week 2 of The Apprentice, I joined in the Twitter debate along with many other viewers and noted a few issues that surprised me and that I also find fairly worrying.

The Apprentice: Task Two – The Beach Accessory

14 October 2010 Columns, Opinion Business Matters 0 Comments

So to task two and the beach accessory – I love the fact that they met at Heathrow, there would have been that little bit of excitement in the candidates of ‘Where are we going?’ ‘What do you think the task is?’ and then Lord Sugar delivers the fact that they are not going anywhere!!

How to have a merry, multi-channel Christmas!

8 October 2010 Columns, Marketing Business Matters 0 Comments

With Christmas now a mere 12 weeks down the road, this could be the last chance for retailers to make adequate plans for everyone’s favourite annual shop-fest.

But what does Christmas mean to your business? Are you set up to capitalise on all the available opportunities? Are you even aware of what those opportunities are – particularly from a digital or multi-channel perspective?

With all of the above in mind, here’s my early Christmas present to you, in the form of my ‘5 top tips for multi-channel festive domination’ in the run up to Christmas 2010.