All posts tagged UK

How To Start And Grow Your Sign Making Business In A Recession

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Before starting any business and as an ongoing planning tool you need to create and maintain your business plan. As the saying goes, fail to plan, then plan to fail. Scribble down your ideas to start with, then using resource such as business link in the UK you can download a Business Plan Template.

If you are already a sign maker then I have some tips to expand first of all.

Digital vinyl printing can be an exciting venture. Digital vinyl is a cost effective material which lasts longer than the older materials. Furthermore it can be used for outdoor advertising.

Digital vinyl required of course special inks. If you buy compatible ink for a branded printer you may find that the warranty is voided. However if you shop around you will find reputable silvent printing suppliers who are supplying excellent and affordable warranties which happily run alongside compatible inks. And voila your problem is solved and your costs may be halved. A truely fabulous way to grow your business.

For newcomes to vinyl sign making you will need – A vinyl cutter, a computer with sign making software, a supplier to sign makers and a printer. The printer type is known as wide format, and solvent, eco-solvent printer.

If you buy your hardware over a 5 year period you will find minimal cash required to get going. One important consideration is a well ventilated room. Maybe you have a spare room, or access to a friends spare room to start off with. With interest rates being low you are sure to find a great deal with discount and a low rate of interest.

You’ll need a computer with sign making software to design the graphics and send the information to the cutter. The vinyl cutter usually comes with its own software. You can use it to design images or import files designed in other software or on specially developed websites.

There are suppliers who can provide the whole starter kit. If you take this route then you will be sent tutorials and may be offered telephone support. It depends on how much sign making knowledge you already have. The overall price may be higher than buying components seperately.

You will need the rolls of vinyl, premask, and squeegee to prepare the vinyl for application. We carry every supply necessary for complete sign making.

You will require substrates for the finished signs. This can be any solid, non-porous surface. A glass door, an automobile, or primed and painted wood.

There is much resource on the internet about how to do various aspects of the sign making. With the advent of video jug and you tube, there are videos which will show you how its done by the experts.

Lets look at the other aspects starting with financially. We need to work backwards here. Calculate how much profit per month you need to pay your bils. Do your research and establish the profit to be made from an average sign. Now calculate how many jobs per month you will have to do to break even and be able to get by.

When I started my own business, I cashed in shares, emptied my savings accounts and had enough cash reserve to live off for three months. I therefore had a three month plan to find new customers, do the jobs, and ultimatley the fourth month was make or break. Fortunatley for me it was make. Partly due to planning, I was able to enjoy the sales process rather than worrying and feeling pressurised. A year on and after attending several networking events business was booming which leads to the old cash flow problem. With planning and living within your means you will find success.

You will need to contact the tax office and register your business. There is an amount of flexibility about time given to register but I would strongly recommend registering as soon as you set up. The reason being that they can take eight to ten weeks to send through your tax number and you may need this for the family tax credits that you may be relying on.

You need to do your book keeping from day one. There are several book keeping packaging that make it simple to produce invoices, take payments, record expenses and materials costs. It will quickly produce balance sheets and profit and loss statements. Do not worry about doing your self assessment because the tax office will send you your pack well in advance explaining how to do self assessment and when they need it by.

If you find this daunting you may ask an accountant to do it and the costs for sole trader is usually quite low. They will also send by default a pack on how to run your own business. Obviously you need to keep receipts for everything from petrol, materials, to car expenses.

When you are starting out look out for deals on the internet. For example you may choose to use compatible inks rather than branded inks.

If you are starting to think about your own business then my advise would be do your research, use the internet, find out about pricing and remember it is not easy. However it can be the smartest move you ever make. Us any free resources like Business Link who will give you free guidance all the way.

You need to be self motivating, have a hunger and determination which will get you out of the bed and into the office each morning, and finally good skill.

Management Report For Woolworths Uk

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Introduction
Woolworths was a company that was started in the year 1879 in the City of New York. Its founder Frank Woolworth was interested in offering a one stop shop for a wide range of commodities at an affordable price. He transferred this same concept to the United Kingdom thirty years after establishing the same stores in the United States. He was well received in Liverpool with enthusiastic shoppers thronging the premises.

However, the retail chain store industry has undergone numerous dynamics and Woolworths seems to be a victim of these circumstances. The report shall highlight some of the internal and external challenges that have affected the company. Additionally, an analysis of the company will be done with reference to the theme of globalisation and recommendations for improvement given as a result.

Description and analysis of the internal and external factor to which Woolworths UK is subject

1)Internal factors
Woolworths is affected by some human resource based issues plaguing the retail industry. For instance, some clients have asserted that before purchasing items in any retail store, they usually consider behaviours of the stores employees. Woolworths has received numerous reviews about this aspect. Consumer surveys have indicated that a half of retail purchasers are happy with Woolworths consumer service while the other halves have asserted that their employees are rude. Consequently, the company has to work on the latter percentage. (Hammer and Champy, 1993)

Marketing strategies are crucial in running any business. For companies to dwell in the retail sector today, they need to portray a clear theme in their advertisement and marketing strategies. Woolworths marketing manager asserts that the companys marketing strategy is largely centred on three major categories and these are;
Family
Entertainment
Home

These three themes are what make Woolworths stand out. However, other critics assert that Woolworths is severely lacking in this area. They claim that while other retail chain stores are distinct and stand out depending on specific themes; Woolworths has nothing special that makes it unique. Consequently, this is a marketing or branding issue that will affect future decisions made by Woolworths.

Demand determinants are also instrumental in determining how Woolworths performs in the UK market. There are a number of things that UK consumers look for when shopping in retail chain stores and some of them include
Convenience
Quality of items
Price
Brand recognition (Chopra and Meindl, 2000)

When one talks about convenience, they are referring to the ease of reach with which one can find commodities in retail stores. This is usually depicted by the manner of arrangement. When commodities are arranged haphazardly, then customers may not be enticed to come back there. Woolworths seems to have failed in this regard because many consumers complain of its haphazard nature. For instance, when one steps into a Woolworth store, they are likely to find childrens costumes placed together with table mats and the table mats may be placed alongside video games or other kinds of things. Consequently, it can be argued that Woolworths sense of appeal in terms of convenience is quite wanting. However, it can also be argued that this haphazard arrangement is what contributes to Woolworths uniqueness. This is because it is kind of a spur of the moment alternative rather than a distinct kind of arrangement. (Price Waterhouse, 1995)

On the other hand, convenience can also be assessed through a stores location, when stores are located in busy streets or in accessible places, then demand for ones items may increase. Woolworths may receive a plus for this aspect because their stores are conveniently located and one does not have to look for parking to get into their stores.

Brand recognition and quality of items are an important demand determinant. Once a company fails to deliver in terms of these parameters then there is fertile ground for failure. Woolworths have been praised by some consumers for their high quality items. However, there are still other buyers who have not been satisfied with their commodities claiming that they are a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Lastly, demand for commodities in this industry is affected by the price of its commodities. In analysing whether Woolworths is doing well, it is essential to look at what other companies in the industry are doing. Most of the commodities offered by Woolworths are sold by other competitors such as Asda and Tesco at cheaper prices. This means that Woolworths decisions need to be changed to respond to these challenges.

2)External factors
One of the major external factors affecting Woolworths is closely associated to its operating aspect. The retail chain industry is quite a huge industry since the numbers of stores located in the UK are numerous and this means increased competition for Woolworths. Additionally, the industry is not export oriented. Most products are sourced from outside and then bought into the region thus making players here to become susceptible to international forces that may sometimes be difficult to predict.

It is also interesting to note the fact that the retail chain industry is slowly being outcompeted by supermarkets. Times have changed over the past few years and the sale of non household items within the retail industry is no longer a reserve for companies such as Woolworths alone. Supermarkets which were once associated with the sale of food alone now offer almost all household items under one room. This increased competition from other categories of business has affected the overall productivity and performance of the company. (Porter, 1985)

Market size is an important factor that affects the any kind of business. This is largely because the rate of growth of the market largely reflects the amount of consumers available to purchase ones time. Statistics indicate that the UK retail chain sector is slowly reaching saturated levels. There are stores for almost every type of product under the sun. For instance, when one is looking for old suits then they may choose the option of going for Argos, when they require music CDs, then they have the option of going to Zavvi. Consequently, Woolworths is placed at a position where they are competing for a stagnating market i.e. one that is growing at very low rates yet the number of industry players is on the rise.

Other external factors affecting Woolworths decision making processes are also linked to the way they go about making their personal decisions. For instance, the issue of taxation is quite important in determining whether Woolworths succeeds or not. Since it depends on exports for most of their commodities, then the company is affected adversely by international tariffs in trade. However, it should be noted that the retail chain store sector is not highly regulated by the UK government and this is a plus on the part of Woolworths.

Globalisation
1)How globalisation influences policies and decision making at Woolworths UK
Enterprises and corporations alike are highly influenced by the concept of globalisation and Woolworths is not an exception. Before critically analysing this issue, it is essential to clarify its meaning; globalisation is defined as the increased level of contact between a certain entity and the rest of the world, through globalisation, mutual understandings, personal friendships and world citizenry is created. However, in terms of business entities, globalisation may not be a positive. This is largely because it causes increased competition which may be difficult to out manoeuvre especially when one lacks the capacity for change.

Woolworths UK was a brainchild of the US based subsidiary. Consequently, it had transferred knowledge and business structures from that part of the world to the United Kingdom. This meant that the company ought to have created a local solution to the local UK environment. Local marketing appeal for international companies such as Woolworths is crucial in succeeding in their market. This can only be done by incorporating all the external and internal factors. The United Kingdom was not the original company base for Woolworths; consequently, they needed to look for ways in which they could adopt to the local culture in the UK.

The UK consumer culture has changed dramatically over the past few years. This is as a result of increased levels of exposure brought on by information technology. Consequently, consumers are well aware of their rights and they also know where to find cheap bargains. This is actually the reason why Woolworths has not been performing very well; most consumers want a retail store with preset themes or one with cheap products.

Since so many other retail stores are available, then Woolworths has been pushed to the periphery in light of this competition. It should be noted that globalisation has played a large role in promoting this information driven consumer culture. Through interaction with other parts of the world, the UKs technological status has dramatically improved. People can get important retail information at the touch of a button and this makes them very choosy. In other words, globalisation has boosted information technology which has heightened consumer awareness and thus diminished demand for Woolworths products which do not represent the best value for money.

Globalisation has highly affected shopping behaviour among a series of consumers owing to the fact that it has promoted more job opportunities. Many UK consumers are constantly moving form country to country while conducting business, getting educated or working for a certain multinational. This therefore means that globalisation has created situations in which the UK consumer has very little time in his or her hands. People are now working for more hours and most of them have very little spare time for themselves. What this means for Woolworths is consumers also have little time to spend in their retail outlets. When going for shopping, buyers may be interested in spending as little time as possible in such outlets so that thy can get back to their busy schedules. Decision making in Woolworths must be such that it centres on meeting this need to save time when purchasing. (Kubeck, 1995)

Globalisation highly affects the productivity levels at Woolworths through its supply section. This is because now Woolworths and other retail chain stores have a wider supply base to choose from. They can source their commodities at a cheaper price from other countries of the world or they can locate high quality goods from suppliers in continents. Depending on how Woolworths reacts to this, global supply sourcing can either be a positive or a negative. It can be positive when good suppliers are chosen. However, it can be negative when Woolworths has been outcompeted by other retails who manage to get cheaper goods at lower prices.

Globalisation has also raised the level of competition among various industry players in the retail chain store sector. This is because globalisation favours growth of multinationals. The UK is plagued with a series of multinationals such as Tesco, Wal-Mart, Asda and many more. These multinationals create greater competition because of their diffused processes and also because of greater network structures, greater flows of information and hence greater productivity.

Lastly, globalisation has created fertile ground for outsourcing of jobs. The new buzz word was largely associated with the manufacturing sector where most businesses chose to outsource their manufacturing function to Asian based countries such as China and Taiwan. The retail sector is also involved in this buzz word because a number of their suppliers come from the Asian continent. They have chosen to outsource this aspect to other parts of the world so as to promote their level of competitiveness.

2)Critical evaluation of the effectiveness of the organisations response
Globalisation has promoted greater adoption of information technology and thus a more informed consumer. This kind of consumer is less loyal to particular brand unless that brand offers good quality or value for money. Woolworths has also been slow in responding to this aspect of globalisation. Since the consumer is more informed, the company should have worked on their prices and it should also have taken the time to check the quality of their commodities so that they can increase their client base. Woolworths still has a long way to go in handling these challenges.

It can be argued that Woolworths has not responded as strongly as it should to forces of globalisation. As it has been asserted earlier, many consumers are now engaging in more work and have less time to shop. Consequently, Woolworths store formats should have been changed to meet this need. Compared to other retail outlets in the United Kingdom, Woolworth is yet to catch up with the rest in terms of in-store organisation. More often than not, consumers may not be able to find what they are looking for in a Woolworths store unless assisted by one of the employees. Consequently, this takes a lot of time and may prompt some of them to choose other stores. (Scheer, 1999)

In terms of sourcing for suppliers from other parts of the world, it is imperative for Woolworths to awaken to the possibility that other retail chain stores in the UK are doing much better than they are. This is largely as a result of the lower prices that some of their commodities are grouping for and also because of a result of greater investment in dependant supplier who offer high quality.

Woolworths may have been overwhelmed by the increased competition facing the retail chain industry from multinationals. Globalisation has created sound operating structures for facilitating better productivity and this has given greater precedence to these large multinationals. Woolworths is supposed to be competing with the multinationals by offering products or services that whether they meet or exceed the offerings in these multinationals. However, Woolworths has not responded as quickly and assertively as it should. The company therefore needs to look for other ways in which they can promote this development through sound service delivery. (Sterman, 2000)

Woolworths has responded to the need to outsource by getting some of their goods from the Asian continent. However, compared to their competitors, this company still has along way to go in terms of being at per with its competitors. Most of the time, the company relies on European based manufacturers for their commodities or their in store brands.

Conclusion – Areas for improvement in the response of the organisation
Globalisation is eminent in almost all spheres of the UK economy. Consequently, companies that fail to react swiftly to this phenomenon are bound to be left behind. Woolworths has debts of three hundred and eighty five million pounds as of mid 2008. This poor performance is further illustrated by the figure below depicts its performance over the past few months. Its shares have been on the decline.

Source; (Eriksson and Penker, 2000)

In order to boost its performance in the global arena, then Woolworths needs to change a number of things. First of all, the company needs to respond to the need to save time this can be done by more orderly arrangements of their commodities in their stores. Secondly, the company needs to take greater care in terms of sourcing better quality items. Consequently, the company will do much better in the retail industry by placing greater precedence on this matter. (Eriksson and Penker, 2000)

On top of the latter, there should be greater emphasis on the adoption of information technology especially with regard to the use online sales. Also, they need to embrace the fact that their brand is barely recognised among future market segments. The company has to work on adding value to their name and making their services easily recognised.

References
Hammer, M. and Champy, P. (1993): Reengineering the Corporation – A Manifesto for Business Revolution; Harper Business Book
Porter, M. (1985): Competitive Advantage – Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance; Free Press
Price Waterhouse (1995): Change Integration Team – Best Practices for Transforming Your Organization; Irwin
Scheer, A. (1999): ARIS – Business Process Frameworks; Springer
Sterman, J. (2000): Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modelling for a Complex World; McGraw-Hill
Kubeck, L. (1995): Techniques for Business Process Redesign – Tying It All Together; Wiley-QED Publication
Chopra, S. and Meindl, P. (2000): Supply Chain Management – Strategy, Planning and Operations; Prentice Hall College Division
Eriksson, H. and Penker. H. (2000): Business Modelling with UML – Business Patterns that Work; Wiley

The Demand For Construction Management Jobs

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It doesn’t take the intellect of the greatest economist alive to see that the demand for construction managers is huge in the UK at the moment. What might be worth explaining a little more is just why this is so for it isn’t simply to do with rising house prices or a booming market.

The first and most obvious one is that the Olympics are coming and while everyone’s desperately hoping that they won’t be the usual financial nightmare they are also hiring construction managers as fast as they can to try and make sure that it won’t be. Given that this is government work though that hope might still be in vain.

The second on is a little more subtle. We all know from the Daily Mail (and of course industry experience) that the country is awash with Polish plumbers and Czech chippies but this very expansion of a low cost workforce increases the demand for managers in two ways. The first is the obvious one that more workers means more managers. The second and less obvious is that a lowering of the costs of labour means that there’s more money to go somewhere: obviously this isn’t going to the buyers in the form of lower prices and similarly, some of it is spilling over into the hiring of those specialist managers that everyone’s always had a hankering for but could never really afford before.

The third thing driving the increased demand for construction managers is the way in which the industry is becoming ever more complex. Where health n’ safety used to mean hard hats and decent scaffolding there are now dedicated managers on every site tasked with nothing other than making sure the detailed rules are followed. Similarly, the increasing complexity of environmental regulation is meaning greater demand for such specialists. Whether such detailed rules are really needed is another matter but there can be no doubt that they’re driving up the demand for skilled managers in the construction industry.

We at Talisman also have another source of information of course. As experts in the sourcing and provision of managers to the construction industry we can see what demand is simply by monitoring what is crossing our desks. As we as recruitment specialists are, well, as you might think is obvious, recruiting people for the industry, we can see that demand is going up when our clients are tasking us with finding more such managers. The answer here is, yes, there is indeed strong demand for those looking for construction management jobs.

Exhibition Project Management – an Introduction

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Congratulations you have pitched for a job a won it. But now what? What is the best way to get the job done, and make sure that the whole team are working together?

Once a brief has been established, it is then the task of the project manager to assertain how the team will be able to achieve it.

The first stage is the planning process. Here the project manager will need to delegate roles to the members of the team, define their objectives and determine the key tasks that they will undertake.

It is imperative that all tasks assigned are documented and that all involved are clear about what outcomes are expected and their ability to achieve them in any given timescale.Project Managers should be well acquainted with the particular skills of each member of the team and be able to assign tasks appropriately.

Projects in the exhibition and architectural visualisation industry can be very complex, so the ability to break them down into managable bite-sized chunks is vital. Using a “Work breakdown structure” or “WBS” is a good visual way of representing these tasks. It is much like a family tree with the objective at the top and all the tasks necessary to achieve it underneath grouped into the areas of responsibility of the members of the team. The larger the project the larger the structure of the WBS.

Each different level of the WBS is often given a name such as Phase, Activity, or Task. These names will vary between organisations, but it is important to be consistent when referring to them.

With some of our more complex exhibition and installation jobs, it has been necessary to split some of the tasks into completely seperate sub-projects. Treating them as almost seperate design jobs which will only be merged back into the overall scheme further down the line. these tasks can often include jobs not necessarily familiar with your teams normal output and may very well be the types which may need to be outsourced. However it will still be someones job to make sure that these task are not only delegated but also completed to the required timeframe and budget.

Don’t take on too much yourself! If you try to do too much yourself you may become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. You will be over-worked, over-stressed, and shown to be the weakest link in the chain, highlighting your inabilities to plan accordingly. Likewise by passing too much of the workload to other collegues you then run the risk of over-working them to the point of tension and resentment.

This method of working, although potentially time-consuming to set-up will pay dividends through increased productivity and the system can then be applied to future assignments. Projects tend to be more unsuccesfull when not properly planned out.

It is very common for there to be changes to the brief, but when properly mapped out, the WBS can be altered and tweaked to incoroprate these unforseen and often last minute alterations.

Remember if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Good Luck!

——

Matthew Theobald has been involved in the architectural design and visualization industries since studying industrial design in the UK and Italy. He is now a superfly pimp working at Exhibition Display Solutions in Maidenhead

Using air conditioning effectively in shops and retail outlets

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With temperatures already soaring in the UK, many shops and retailers will be wondering whether we are in store for another summer of 06. This renowned year saw recorded temperatures as high as 97.7oF in Wisley, Surrey and the two month period during June and July has gone down on record as the hottest summer since records began over 200 years ago.

If New York is anything of an example to the rest of the world, then retailers can benefit from periods of excessive heat, as consumers seek creative ways to escape the temperatures and resort to some retail therapy on their local high street and out of town retail parks.

And therein lies the issue. Consumers now expect to enjoy their shopping experiences in cool environments and in particular, the air curtain was designed to keep cool air in the stores and dowse the shopper in a refreshing wave as they enter a store.

However, it is estimated that the UKs high street stores waste 300million a year in energy costs to keep shoppers cool in summer and warm in winter, so how can retail bosses align this excessive waste with the demands of their consumers? Perhaps we can learn from our counterparts over the pond, given that they deal with a heat wave on an annual basis?

1. Have your existing, in-built air conditioning serviced well ahead of summer to make sure it is running efficiently. And if you are concerned about any mini-heat waves during downtime, then consider hiring portable air conditioning to cover the intervening period.

2. Have an emergency back-up plan in place if your air conditioning breaks down. Portable air conditioning companies can supply units that replicate the existing system and they will be able to act most efficiently if you put a contingency plan in place before an emergency strikes.

3. Plan ahead for busy periods within the retail outlet: if you are planning a sale, a new range or something similar you may choose to hire in portable air conditioning as extra capacity for key areas of the store, such as the changing rooms and till areas etc.

4. It is also common sense to have a contingency plan in place if temperatures spiral so high that your shop or retail outlet requires additional air conditioning.

5. When your air conditioning is in use – make sure you use it effectively by keeping doors and windows closed. It is a retail myth that propping the doors open may entice more consumers in to a shop. In fact New York has passed legislation actually banning many stores from leaving their doors open during the summer months. This not only helps reduce your carbon footprint and greenhouse emissions but will also reduce your energy bill. It has been estimated that stores that leave doors open waste around 20-25% of the air conditioning they produce.

6. Set the thermostat to a reasonable temperature. The Carbon Trust recommends that buildings do not need to dip below a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius but in the summer of 2010, some outlets were found to set their indoor temperature as much as 8 degrees less than outside, which is unnecessary.

7. Talk to employees about the most suitable temperature in your shop or retail outlet. If they are forced in to wearing their winter woollies to work during the summer months, then the air conditioning settings need a rethink.

When a heat wave hits, it can be tempting to hire the largest available air conditioning unit. However, it is always worth seeking guidance on the type and size of system for individual circumstances to both maximise the effective removal of hot air and avoid unnecessary operating costs. In particular, within a retail setting, it is necessary to consider the health and safety aspects of hiring portable air conditioning to ensure there is a suitable location away from the main areas of highest footfall.

Whilst some shoppers may momentarily appear to enjoy being engulfed in cool air, increasing numbers of consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and appreciate the need for shops to exercise restraint when temperatures start to rise.