Right to ".uk" Domain Expires 25 June 2019

When ".uk" domain extension was introduced, if you already had the ".co.uk" domain you were automatically given the right to get the ".uk". If you want to have the ".uk" after the 25/06/2019 you no longer have the right to it, anyone can take it.

My personal view is that unless you have a reason to want to protect the name in a particular market, e.g. you have a presence in multiple large cities or countries then you don’t buy what you don’t need.

What to do with your business card?

So now you have your business card what are you going to do with them. Well you need to get shot of them. They are absolutely no use if you hang on to them, you must find people to give them to, but where?

If you haven't already been networking yet, then I strongly suggest you get started. When you start to look, you will find you can pretty much fill your entire week going to meetings.

Have at the ready an "elevator speech" and practice it, you might need it, as quite a few ask everyone to do a 1 minute talk all about their business.

Networking groups were not created equal, find one that works for you and stick at it, if nothing else it constantly reminds me, that everything is forever changing and this it a great way to keep in touch.

I was at an IT meeting I am part of that meets once a month and yes I gave everyone there my new card, there are only five of us. I wanted to know what John who is currently getting lots of new business was doing to be making that happen. When he started he was going to networking meetings almost everyday! He didn't have any clients so he could do this. I wonder why he has lots of business? Der join the dots people. I must also add he has a great follow up "Thank you" he uses.

It is so easy when you have been running your business for a while to forget what it was you did when you started.

Networking is just one of the strings to your marketing bow but if nothing else it can help to keep you grounded.

In my next article I will explore the other marketing things that we do at Matcom.

So you have setup your new business, how are you going to get customers?

Marketing

The routes to market are many and varied, it all comes down to budget!

Number 1, find out the lifetime value of a customer, before you do anything else, if you don't know what that is then your first job is to...

So now you know the lifetime value of a client, you can workout how much you can spend to get one.

Sorry if I go off at tangents, it's how my mind works. I have a number of signs on my office walls with 'good advice' on things I know I MUST do. Which on a regular basis I fail to follow.

I got this one from the magazine Bit's & Pieces magazine. I subscribed to it for some years, full of great motivational stuff. This is one of my all time favourites and trust me I have tons of them. My Mum lived by them and taught me and my sisters so many. I remember some but probably, not the ones I should have.

If you take only one thing from this article, make it this...

Business Card

The first place most people start is, a trip to the printer or more likley to the computer, to get your business card. I just got a new one, first time in ages, so cheap! Today you can get a card printed on both sides in full colour for very low cost.

So you have your business card, no point keeping them to yourself. Obviously you will waste some of them giving to friends and family, hey it's your new "Business Card". Not really a waste because they now know you mean "Business". If you don't tell everyone you know you have a business, how will you get any business.

Now you have your business card, really cheap but only if you use them. In my next rambling I will talk about what to do with your business card, in the nicest possible way of course.

This blog is about how to start a business of your own. I started my first business selling the "Evening News" when I was 11. I will describe more of this over the the coming months. I want to show it really isn't hard to get started and I will tell you about my experiences and the things I learned along the way.

Starting a business is so easy

The UK must be one of the easiest places in the world to start a business of your own. You just simply get on with it. Can it really be that easy, is so is. Yes there are areas where there is regulation and you must get the relevant permissions and certificates but for the majority of things there is not when you start out.

For the most part if it is not a "regulated" industry, like food or gas instrallation, you can simply start doing it.

Accounts

Ok so you need to keep track of what you buy and what you sell. The paperwork has to be done and my advice would be to keep on top of it at a frequency that suits you and your business. Yes in the long run there is a bit to get to understand but you really don't have to get stuck worrying about tax and so on when you start, unless of course you are starting Amazon.