Start Up Britain

Start Up Britain

Although It is certain to help many new start up businesses get off the ground, the Government backed “Start Up Britain” campaign doesn't go into much detail on how to promote your products/services effectively and cost efficiently on the Internet. Yes, a website is absolutely essential and constructed and maintained correctly will definitely bring you increased business.

Websites

The downside? Well, websites historically can range from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds and if you choose the wrong website designer you may find you lose that investment because very few people are visiting your site. There are free websites available on the Internet so these are obviously the answer aren’t they?

Free Websites

If you commit to a free website you will end up with your site being build around a common template so you may find extremely similar sites on the Internet albeit they will be promoting different products. You need to remember that visitors like to see a professionally designed bespoke site to give them confidence in your services. A free website sends out all the wrong signals and may create more problems than it solves. Neither will it be optimised so that the search engines can find you. It will do your business no good at all if it only appears on page eighteen of Google.

Rent A Website

Rent A Website will design a professional website for you from only £14.99 per month with a set up cost of only £29.98. There is no contract. There is no termination penalty. If you wish to cancel, just stop paying. It’s as simple as that. There are no catches. On top of that, they will keep your website up to date for you and redesign your site annually to keep it fresh for NO EXTRA CHARGE. They have taken the risk and cost out of having a website and added simplicity. In fact, if you rent a website, it’s 100% tax deductible.

To see what else is included as standard, visit the website .www.rentawebuk.com and have a browse. They will even design a logo for you at no extra charge.

Website Health Check

If you have already published a website for your business, why not visit their sister site www.dp-group.co.uk and try out the FREE website health check. It will highlight if your site is working as it should. It may also save you a lot of money.

Supermarkets

If you live in or near a small to medium sized town, have you had a good look around it recently? It's changed. All those little interesting bespoke shops are disappearing only to be replaced with Pound shops and those boring fancy goods shops with I consider to be a contradiction in terms. Our town seems to have replaced these shops with a multitude of Bakery’s. Maybe they're trying to tell us that we're too thin or something. I just can't figure it.

One of the reasons that this is happening is the continued growth and expansion of supermarkets. They are convenient, easy to park at, and you can play dodgems with the trolleys. You can buy a whole range of goods without trampling down the high street calling in at several different shops. We are a captive audience as far as they are concerned. So much so, that sometimes you find you haven't got the bargain you thought you had.

Frans therefore has a prediction for you. Within the next 10/15 years, all those little independent shops will disappear. Supermarkets will expand and expand so that you have most of your needs without going anywhere else. Bespoke goods can be pre-ordered from their on-line catalogue so that you can pick up your purchases next time your in town. Sure, this will suite most people, but what about those independent shopkeepers? If they can't entice customers to their shops, they’re finished.

Not necessarily. There have been several surveys carried out over the last eighteen months, which shows that people are spending more and more online. In fact, internet sales now outstrip any other sales and this includes the construction industry. All in all this is good news for the independent. Another door has opened, another opportunity has presented itself. All they need is a simple web site which is Search Engine Optimised. Clean, cheap, efficient. Lower overheads means greater margins. A well designed web site gives the independent another crack of the whip. “But what about the cost?” I hear them cry, and they're right, you have to speculate to accumulate. You don't have to pay a fortune for a site, www.rentawebuk.com will rent you a website from as little as £9.99 per month. Have a look. It may be just the thing you're looking for. (We were going to call it International Rescue but apparently someone’s already done that).

Frans LaRoc