Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Shopping savvy, or, enriching your local community
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Shopping locally was the absolute norm to our predecessors and has become somewhat a fashionable and rebellious statement against chains and supermarkets. It’s a statement which local businesses support for their own growth and staying power but does it hold water?
Buying local produce in local shops is good for farmers and cottage industries, good for agricultural land, better for the ecological impact, the green issues of recycling, climate change and so on but, in these leaner times, is it better for our local economy?
A supermarket will generally pass the vast majority of its finances out of the region, finding produce at the lowest cost, transporting it at lowest cost and selling it at the highest rate it can convince the shoppers to pay for it. The profit returning to the coffers of business and the least money to the originator, out of the area.
There are exceptions, it is well advertised by some supermarkets and by the likes of media community and standards champions that they only sell milk produced within a 50 mile radius of the store, or that all their chickens will be at the basic level caged but not battery hens.
A local store will generally buy locally, mutually supporting those farmers and cottage industries, pay rent or tax locally and spend their profits locally.
It is suggested that this could return money into the local economy of up to 30% of expenditure or higher, thereby enriching the community and providing more opportunity for local business growth and expansion, though only with selective tenancy. Two local grocers supplying the same produce will serve only to cost the local economy in undercutting one another, seeking least cost suppliers in order to reduce prices and attract custom.
Businesses banking could further affect the matter. If a bank loan is to be repaid to a national bank or they have banking charges, money slips back out.
In depth studies in two states in the US in 2002 and 2003 found that up to 55% of each $100 spent in local business may return back to the local community. The studies demonstrated that in each case, the local returns from the national companies were just $13 and $15 in each $100 spent, compared to the figures of $45 and $55 per $100 spent in local stores. This figure shows that each community could potentially increase the local wealth by 66%.
In one instance, those figures translate to a local return of 0.8 million USD from a national company with an increase in purchases but a decrease in local investment. In contrast, the local company made a return of 4.5 million USD into the community. It seems clear and compelling evidence that local investment is the way forward.
Cost is a great concern right now, finding ways to reduce expenditure and tighten the belt during recession is the new interest of many. Money saving is more fashionable than ever and people are finding more and more creative ways or doing just that. People are reducing leisure expenditure (and shopping for the fun of it) and finding new ways to fulfill the retail therapy buzz.
Smaller local businesses often have slightly elevated prices in comparison to supermarkets, because they cannot buy, transport nor store in bulk, increasing the individual price per item. This cost is then passed to the consumer who may balk and compare the cost to Astewamoburys (Asda, Tesco,Waitrose, Morrisons or Sainsburys).
In theory, the greater the reinvestment in local business, the greater the local business and in turn more local businesses are created to meet the need but reduce the cost, a miniature model of national economy but to the benefit of people close to you and eventually to each person.
What’s more, local produce may benefit you physically. The delay from harvest to kitchen might be a week when purchased at a supermarket and in contrast might only be 24 to 48 hours in a small local business. You glean the advantage of the retained nutrients, rather than the loss where sugar turns to starch, plant cells collapse and dehydrate, vitality wasted.
Posted in Business, Findings, General | 1 Comment »
Inspiring confidence, Stratton Roofing cover it all
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Looking through some of BView’s top rated businesses you’ll see Stratton Roofing Ltd with a complimentary 90% rating.
Andy Sands-Moore, the Operations Manager gave us the scoop on the company background; ‘Stratton Roofing Ltd was first launched on 15th April 2008, and was formed to offer home owners and business the very latest flat roof systems, first class customer service, with a friendly professional approach and at a price that offers real value for money.’‘I found BView whilst web searching one day, I was so impressed with the opportunity to profile our business and what we are all about on a friendly usable site, that we just had to get involved.’
Andy seems very impressed by the chance to create vouchers on their listing; ‘Its a great touch and can be customized to suit any offer we may be running in any of our adverts across our region, it draws extra attention to your page and can only help to increase potential sales.’
Stratton Roofing Ltd also have a link to their company website which apparently helps attract new customers. They also link back to BView which helps to create a connection between the two sites. This also helps to build confidence for their site guests who can check out the company’s reputation at a public source.
They run local newspaper advertorials and hope to begin a radio campaign and post it as a video feature on BView.
Great oaks from little acorns grow.
Andy told us they’ve been using the invite customers to review your business function to make their existing customers and suppliers aware of their BView presence, enjoying the chance to build a community and write about their views, helping to create confidence in the company.
Andy said ‘As we are in the flat roofing trade, a trade that is often riddled with rogue traders it is vital to us that potential customers can review genuine reviews of how we operate and the service we offer to our customers.’
You can read more about Stratton Roofing Ltd on BView or at their website.
Posted in Business, Features, General | 1 Comment »
Bouncing into 1st place
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Following the slot as number 1 business on BView we had to know more about Atlantic Trampolines and Mark Plews was very helpful.
Atlantic Trampolines was set up in response to a gap in the market in 2005, there were others supplying trampolines but AT’s research came up trumps showing that others were also supplying garden furniture and spas and would change suppliers often.
So, a specialist company was just the ticket and the AT team travelled to China to find a supplier, eventually settling on Kogee, the second largest supplier in the world and in business since 1984.
Mark said:
“We found BView through a search engine and liked the layout of the site and also the benefits that it could bring to future customers to be able to see real customers views of the service and products we supply. We use most of the networking sites and these sites have given us extra exposure on Google.
The voucher idea is a great plus point on BView and having these email to all members of BView every two weeks makes this a very appealing feature and we hoped this would also gain a few extra sales during these times of hardship.”
Diane Leonard reviewed the company and said “Ordered 14ft trampoline, changed mind before it was despatched to 12ft . They were very helpful over phone and re-imbursed me the difference. Trampoline is very sturdy and has withstood the harsh winter and still looks as good as new. Would have no problem recommending this company.”
If the BView listing and the comments on their own website (www.atlantictrampolines.co.uk) isn’t enough, you can check out Atlantic Trampolines on eBay with their 100% feedback and over 10,000 happy customers.
You might also find them near you at one of the county fairs during the summer season and what’s more sales are picking up in Europe, so Atlantic Trampolines might become more of a household name in the future.
So with a solid background like that, it’s no wonder Atlantic Trampolines have the No.1 slot for business on BView.
Posted in Business, News, offers | Comments Off
Global Sourcing Technologies- what's happening?
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
Over the last week we have noticed members commenting on orders which have not arrived from Global Sourcing Technologies based in Wembley (HA9 7NG). So far they have been given a BView score of 0% across 7 reviews and have been voted ‘not recommended’ 18 times by the BView community.
You can find out more and gain some advice by reading the reviews and comments on the following page:
Global Sourcing Technologies, Wembley
Your reviews encourage companies to respond and we have witnessed issues being resolved because of your feedback on BView. If you have received poor service this Christmas, have your voice heard by searching for a company and leaving a review.
Look out for this!
Too short on time to review? You can quickly vote for the company instead- look out for the buttons on the right hand side of the business profile.
Tags: BView, community, customer service, global sourcing technologies, london, wembley
Posted in Business, News | 1 Comment »
Use social networking to strengthen your business
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
This morning I read an article in The Metro’s business section titled ‘cast a wide net’. In the article, Laura Shannon provides real examples of how start-ups and small businesses are widening and strengthening their networks by using websites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. In an era of financial crisis, using existing platforms is a cost effective and simple way of connecting with existing and new customers.
“Websites are a cheap and effective way for start-ups to promote themselves” – Laura Shannon
As a business owner you are able to use BView in a similar way but you also benefit from your listing appearing higher up in search engines. BView is a large community of customers and businesses, the platform provides the chance for business owners to carve their own community within BView. The community works in many ways and relationships are not just one way between business and customer.
Relationships in the BView Community
The BView community is made up of different types of relationships
Businesses <-> Customers
Businesses and customers connect. Businesses can share their news, address customer concerns and foster relationships. Customers can have their voice heard and can use BView to support local or national businesses.
Customers <-> Customers
Customers can connect with other customers. They become better informed about businesses, highlight rogue traders as a group and are able to seek advice within the BView community. Customers are more likely to enquire about your business if they read the good experiences of others.
Businesses <-> Businesses
Businesses are able to recommend other businesses. This makes it easier to share suppliers and also benefit from referrals. As mentioned in BT’s Upload magazine, on BView it is possible to check the credit score of another business before deciding to trade.
Simon and I have put together a few tips to help you efficiently manage and optimise your online listings. We have also provided examples of how businesses are customising their listings.
Tags: BView, customer service, laura shannon, marketing, online marketing, small businesses, Social Networking, the metro
Posted in Business, Social Networking | 1 Comment »