Your invitation – Save Money, Reduce your Carbon Footprint and Improve your Market Positioning – Complimentary ‘Green Advantage’ Workshop for Tourism businesses

Business Link is pleased to be working in conjunction with Tourism South East, the region’s tourist board, in delivering a series of ‘Green Advantage’ workshops.  In a period of financial uncertainty and a surge of interest in green issues and more sustainable good practice, the leading edge course enables you to take advantage of this growing market by revealing how you can make significant savings, improve your green credentials and market yourself accordingly.  Attendance on the course also qualifies you for credits towards the Green Tourism Business Scheme, Europe’s leading sustainable certification scheme for the tourism industry.

The workshop is FREE and runs from 10.30 for coffee with the workshop commencing at 10.45 concluding at 3.15pm.

Complimentary lunch will also be served from 12.45 – 1.15pm.

Throughout the workshop it will cover how to:

Ø      Save money – reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink

Ø      Buy local – sourcing and promote other local produce and attractions

Ø      Create customer advantage and adding value to your customers’ experience and develop new ‘green’ products and services

Ø      Develop an environmental policy – get the best out of your whole team, make environmental choices and win from them

Ø      Communicate your green credentials and gain a marketing advantage by retain current and targeting new customers.

Ø      Stay ahead of the pack and capitalise on new business opportunities and boost your business’ performance

‘Green Advantage opened my eyes to the massive business advantage to be gained through tapping into the growing public interest in green issues’.

Be sure to reserve your space by calling 0845 600 9 006 or visit www.ruralbookings.co.uk

About the author: Paul Stanford http://www.paulstanford.co.uk/blog  has provided practical advice to hundreds of entrepreneurs for the past 5 years helping them to successfully start-up, transform and sell their businesses. Get in touch to see how his business http://www.4momentum.co.uk can help do the same for you. You have full permission to reprint this article provided this box is kept unchanged.

Copyright 2008 Paul Stanford

The notion of office design is a comparatively modern one. Since the start of “the working day” and “the office”, little attention has been focused on the way an work space was planned. If any layout was considered, it was normally restricted to the aesthetic appeal of an office and this has, sadly, remained the normal assumption when someone considers an office design. Whilst visual aesthetics stay as an important aspect of office design, modern companies now consider office design representing the much broader idea of space management. Cutting-edge office refurbishment not only produces a visually pleasing interior, it also aims to create an efficient and useable working space.

Office design is integral for a variety of reasons, for both employees and the company as a whole. For the business, modern office refurbishment provides the chance to create a place of business that asserts a strong corporate identity. It is here that visual aesthetics reach their most paramount function as they exist to show a visiting customer about the corporation, what it values, what its priorities are and how it perceives itself. First impressions count and the visual appeal of the space that customers see initially is most vital.

For staff, too, good office design is particularly necessary. Visually, a well-designed work space will improve employees morale. An workplace should be an inspirational area to work and not just a “working space”. Just as for customers, usingoffice refurbishment to brand a workplace with a strong corporate identity can encourage a positive work culture and motivate staff to work in a way relevant to the values of the corporation.

Modern office design software also has a more practical function as it takes into account how an office space will be used and uses that information to design a practical and useful workspace. It should also include features that will work to support workers with particular needs, such as workers with disabilities. In this regard, office design works in conjunction with workplace health and safety in order to build a cohesive, practical and enjoyable environment for all workers.

It is necessary to understand that office design is an continuing practicality, rather than a one-off design event. The office refurbishment must keep pace with the demands usual in a working space, where how an office is utilized is regularly evolving. New workplace and safety laws must also be met. Finally, the changing nature of a company’s logo and corporate identity is another reason why it’s necessary to keep office design up-to-date.

There are two options when deciding on an office design: whether it will be a new fit-out or whether it will be an office refurbishment. A new fit-out should be evaluated for current premises, as well as new ones, as it allows a company the special chance to create a tailor-made plan that works in perfect harmony with a corporation’s workplace requirements. The other choice is an office refurbishment, which is an good choice if the basic structure of the space is still relevant for staff requirements and gives the opportunity to update and modernize economically.

There are several aspects to contemplate in an office refurbishment. Priority should be given to thinking about how a workplace will be used. What are the traffic flows in the space? Where should meeting spaces be situated? What are the specific needs of staff who may have disabilities? All of these questions must be addressed by the office design software if a workplace is to work practically. Additionally, consideration should be given to the storage needs of an space, what equipment will be used and where it should be located, where the power and data points are (or should be), what kind of light sources are in the space and where they are coming from and any sound or sound-proofing requirements. Visually, consideration should be given to color schemes, brands and finishes that work together to build a contemporary effect that strengthens the corporate brand and identity.

When contemplating how to create and execute your office design, a business can hire a professional design corporation. There are many companies that concentrate on business design and a business can use this expertise to create a tailored design with a minimum of fuss. An alternative option is to use office design software. This is an option that has only become available to the general public relatively recently. It has the potential to let a corporation to cost-effectively redesign or refurbish their space. Whichever option is chosen, however, it should be the option that will achieve a company’s design ideas within budget.

For many it is a dream to start your own small business, become your own boss with your schedule. There are many things to consider before making that dream become a reality. Before quitting your job, you need to consider if you are ready to make this dream into a full-time commitment.

For any business to succeed it must have a business plan and if it is not presented don’t go with them. The primary value of any business plan would be to create a written outline that evaluates all aspects of the economics viability of the venture. It also includes a description and analysis of the business prospects.

If you choose to operate your own small business, this plan would be useful in a number of ways. Here are some of the reasons not to skip this valuable tool for your success. This will show you why it is important to plan.

Be conservative in predicting capital requirements, timelines, sales and profits because few business plans correctly anticipate how much money and time will be required. It’s best not to ignore spelling out your strategies in the event of business adversities. Use simple language in explaining these issues.

Often new entrepreneurs depend entirely on the uniqueness of their business or their patented invention. It is best to remember that success comes to those who start businesses with great economics and not just great inventions. As you put all of these factors together, your starting model will be easier to understand.

As a buyer, you obtain and examine the seller’s financial statement and records for the past 24-36 months. This will give you a basis for the offer because you have now collected all the information for what your net income will be. It’s also wise to ask for their personal and business tax returns.

Here is an example of items that make a great business plan. You should write out your basis business concept and gather all the data and specifics you can on your business concept. Refine your concept based on that data then, outline your data using, a “what, where, why, how” approach for your agenda.

Put your plan into a compelling form so that it will give you insights and a valuable tool in dealing with business relationships that will be very important to you. As your business continues to grow leave room to add: capable management, able financial control and consistent business focus. All of these factors will be necessary to show a healthy, stable and growing business.