6 minute read
LAST WORD
LAST WORD GUY BROWNING
F YOU HAVE THE
Isort of business you lock up at the end of the day, lockdown was hard – so it’s a good time to remind ourselves why running your own business is still and will always be a good thing:
Control ‘Line manager’ is one of the dullest phrases in the English language, right down there with ‘sofa cover’ and ‘hoover bag’. You don’t have one, which means you’ll never be appraised by someone who spends their time not doing their job and making yours more diffi cult. You’ll never have to ask your manager to raise your salary in line with your eff ort. You’ll never have to worry about someone else taking your credit or giving you the blame. We can manage by ourselves.
Pride If you’re an investment banker, you can earn a lot of money – but to your children (who you never see) you will only ever be ‘something in the City’. Try inspiring your kids with stirring tales of short derivative swaps (is that a thing?). But off er the tastiest sausages in Derbyshire or the fi nest tattoos in Strathclyde and your kids will know, understand and respect what you’re doing.
Bottom line Silent spreadsheet pleasure: that satisfying feeling you get when you’ve put all your business data in your spreadsheet, itemised every cost down to the last hairpin,
from a small business
Reasons to be thankful Th ere’s no denying that running a business is tough at the moment, unless you happen to be selling PPE. So we should remember just why we do it
and then the fi nal fi gure in the bottom right hand corner is positive. You’re in profi t. You’ve made money. Who was responsible for that? You. Yours truly. Yourself. Give yourself a bonus.
Decisions Running a small business is no diff erent to running a big business: things change and decisions must be made. Who makes decisions in big companies? It probably isn’t you or anybody you know, and it might well be someone who lives in a diff erent time zone and doesn’t speak your language. In small businesses we make our own decisions, big, small, day in, day out. In fact, I might make a little decision right now, just because I know I can. Creation At primary school you learned to read and write, but the things you took home were the things you made – the egg carton stegosaurus. In business, you learn how to buy and sell and make money, but what you’re most proud of is what you’ve built. You’ve created a business, a useful service, a beautiful product and a livelihood. It’s right up there with the stegosaurus.
Reputation In the large offi ce, gossip is one of the main recreational activities. In a small business, word of mouth is your lifeblood. To win a new customer because one of their friends has personally recommended you is sweet. Th e knowledge that you’re trusted, respected and soughtafter is like getting a small lifetime achievement award every day of the week.
Challenge All SME people have one thing in common: they’ve had a go. Th ey’ve given themselves the challenge of running their own business. Th ey’ve also had the challenge of a global pandemic. We know what a challenge looks like and how to deal with it. It’s what we do. Th at’s why we’re special, why the whole economy depends on us and why you can be absolutely sure that, given time, we’ll get it up and running again.
GUY BROWNING runs the design agency Smokehouse.
smokehouse.co.uk
The road to recovery – how smarter payments can play a part
COVID-19 has had a huge shopping in person when it reopens. these promotions, particularly when impact on businesses across Many others, however, will be reluctant reviewing their personal finances. the UK. As we plot a route to to re-enter shops – and you’ll need Also look at how you can increase your recovery, many businesses measures to help keep them safe online presence as a whole. Promote are planning to re-open and rebuild. and reassured. yourself on social media or consider
There will be challenges. Furloughed Be mindful of hygiene-related issues ways for customers to browse virtually. It staff could leave business owners around PIN entry devices (PEDs). And could pay off now and make your online short-handed when trying to manage while you will wish to adopt – and offering more effective in the future. core systems and online or remote sales. communicate – a rigorous cleaning Crucially, when purchases happen Some consumers will behave differently, regime immediately, now could be a good remotely you need to have appropriate with preferred payment options including time to consider longer-term solutions that payment options in place. Worldpay’s Pay cards and mobile wallets over cash. could give you an advantage. by Link makes it easy to send a payment
For some firms, the road to building Contactless could see wider use in the link via email so that customers can back sales may be slow, with the Bank of post-lockdown market, with the limit on securely complete transactions. England recently predicting that the UK contactless payments having risen to £45 Alternatively, a Virtual Terminal offers a economy could shrink by 14% in 2020 1 . in response to the unfolding situation. method for accepting secure payments Hard-hit sectors such as hospitality may from customers who prefer to purchase experience a particularly lengthy path to Encouraging online sales over the phone. These systems are easy significant sales increases. to use and set up, with only an internet
But recovery is possible. Whether you 27% of shoppers connection and browser needed. run your business via a physical store, online or both, it could be worth looking Making payments count to payments as part of your recovery plan. Smarter payment solutions could give you additional support during this difficult time, Reopening your store providing opportunity where it might not be obvious. Simple, secure options are
Percentage of UK shoppers who say that, once they re-open, they will start will wait for products to be on promotion/ discount/sale etc., because of the available to help businesses rebuild using alternative payment methods. visiting shops within the following time-period coronavirus outbreak Go to www.fisglobal.com/en-gb/
response-center/merchants/ uk-small-and-midsize-merchants
If you don’t operate from physical to find out more about this topic and premises, or if you’re in a position to offer access resources to support your online sales before your physical business with coronavirus impacts. premises reopen, you could encourage If you operate from a physical store, purchases through online offers. SOURCES: some customers will be keen to start Consumers may have an appetite for 1 Monetary Policy Report, Bank of England, May 2020
