I write about building and running a small business effectively, linking computer systems together, automating e-commerce and selling online.

Or, How to Fail at IT Service Delivery

I recently read a book aimed at improving relationships and began to wonder how the same theory could be applied to business.  I’ll briefly summarise the book, and then examine how the theory (I will call it a theory even though it’s reasonably well proven and makes a lot of sense) could benefit a typical relationship between an IT services company and one of its customers.

After getting over some skepticism, I read “The Five Love Languages“.  It’s aimed at improving long term relationships and I can’t recommend it highly enough.  In essence, the author boils down his years of marriage counseling into the theory that there are five primary “languages” that humans use to demonstrate love for another human:

• Words of Affirmation
• Quality Time
• Acts of Service
• Giving Gifts
• Physical Contact

The premise of the book is that most people prefer to “speak” one, perhaps two of these languages, and that in a relationship, if you are speaking a language the other party doesn’t understand, you’re wasting your time.  It’s wonderfully practical, easy to implement, and gives rapid, measurable results, which is exactly the kind of technique that appeals to a busy person looking for an easy way to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Business relationships are often jokingly likened to marriage, but behind the jokes are more than a grain of truth – “people buy from people”.  Any business relationship involves a human customer making a decision to purchase something from a person or company they can identify with in some way.  Several studies have shown that adding a “human touch” or otherwise personalising a product or service can boost sales.  For an ongoing relationship, after the initial “spark” has passed, there needs to be a mutual need and appreciation in order for the relationship to continue; in business, the initial spark is the first purchase a customer makes, and then later in the relationship, we see customer services issues, complaints, new products, upgrades, contract renewals and all the other day-to-day running of a business relationship. Continue reading “Speak Your Customer’s Love Language” »

There are thousands of “how to set up a business” guides out there, but most of them focus on the intangible things – planning, marketing, sales and growth.  Having been through the process a few times I wrote myself a small procedure or checklist for the more practical aspects of setting up a new company – what actually needs to happen.  It’s not difficult, but first time around I missed a few of these steps and suffered extra admin work and in some cases costs as a result.

So here’s what I’m going to assume you, being sensible, have done before you even think about forming a company:

• realised you have a product or service that can be sold for money
• checked that there are enough people who would actually buy it
• worked out how you would deliver it, and how much it will really cost to do that
• worked out an agreement with any business partners
• checked that any suppliers are in place and what their prices would be
• you understand the basics of accounting – invoicing, profit+loss sheet, balance sheet

So here is my checklist, with notes:

Continue reading “Practical Guide to Setting Up a Business in the UK” »