Organisational change is one of the biggest challenges facing managers today. In today’s turbulent business environment organisations must change just to maintain their past levels of success. Unfortunately anyone that has ever been charged with implementing change in an organisation, be it a large multinational, a government organisation, a charity or a small family business [...]

Whenever we speak to prospective customers our priority should always be to seek information. We should ask open-ended questions, and then listen effectively to the responses. Then and only then can we glean that vital information. Armed with a true understanding of our prospect and his/ her/ their situation we can go on to qualify [...]

Years ago I learned to program on a mixture of computers including BBC Micro/BBC Master, Acorn Archimedes and Amiga. My inspiration was computer games such as Missile Command and Elite and later hits such as Super Cars 2. However by the time I graduated with a degree in Computer Science Quake 2 had shipped and [...]

A niche market is a focused targetable segment of a market. A business that is focused on a niche market is usually offering a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. In other words a niche market is a narrowly defined segment of potential customers. Niche markets are typically ignored by [...]

A reader asks: Do you know where I can find a list of business ideas? The answer is of course yes! As this blog is about business ideas (the name Business Opportunities and Ideas should give that away ) I’ve got several list of business ideas, here’s some links to various lists: General business ideas [...]

A reader asks: I’d like to start a business but I’ve no spare cash after paying my debts. How can I start a business with no money/for free? If you have no money and are in debt then perhaps starting a business is not the right thing for you. It might be quicker (and easier) [...]

A reader asks: I want to buy an Internet business but I’ve no experience of Internet businesses so I’m not sure which ones are worthwhile and which aren’t. So can tell me where I can find a good Internet business for sale? Well there are a number of places that list Internet businesses for sale: [...]

The expression "creative destruction" derives from the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter’s book, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, published in 1942. He coined the phrase to describe the process of change that accompanies innovation. In the book Schumpeter commented that capitalism: …incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new [...]

Theo Paphitis the celebrity entrepreneur from Dragons’ Den is backing a new degree which will require the students to start and run a business. The new degree, which starts next September, is a BA Honours degree in Enterprise Development from Huddersfield University. It is the brainchild of one of the UK’s leading Professors of Entrepreneurship, [...]

Unless you’ve had your head in the sand for several years you’ll no doubt be aware that bloggers are a prime target of those looking for online publicity. Which, most of the time is great, it means people send me interesting stories and lots of excellent business books to review. However the flip side is [...]