WinWeb

Financing Your Small Business

August 2, 2010

Raising enough capital to start a business venture is probably one of the hardest things you will ever have to do. Depending on the type and scale of the business you are hoping to run, there are numerous methods of generating capital that may or may not be appropriate.

A common source of finance for many businesses in the past has been to approach a bank and ask for a loan. Unfortunately, ever since the financial crisis, securing a loan for a business venture in the UK has been like trying to extract blood from a stone. If you are determined to try anyway, you will require an extremely attractive business plan to even stand a chance.

Fortunately, there are many other ways to secure business finance without saddling your new venture with large amounts of fast accumulating debt. The best way of getting the money you require is to go into business as a partnership. This will often require giving up partial control of the overall business, unless you can find a ’silent’ partner that only wishes to invest money.

Don’t overlook friends and family as a potential source of capital. Although many people are obviously concerned about damaging close relationships if the business fails, as long as the investor is fully aware of the terms and risks before parting with their money they are likely to be understanding even if things go wrong for you. However, make absolutely sure that that they are not risking money they cannot afford to lose. Once your business is a success you can pay them back and reward them handsomely for believing in you in the first place.

Venture capitalists and so-called ‘Business Angels’ may also be interested in providing capital if they see potential to make money on their investment. Try to pitch your business to as many of these as possible. If your business is an exciting prospect, you may get a number of deals on the table to choose from.

Ultimately, whatever source of finance you manage to acquire, bootstrapping your business to keep costs to absolute minimum will be the key to whether you succeed or fail. You should be looking to cut costs whenever possible and making use of the hundreds of great bootstrapping techniques that you can find online.

John Needs Your Help!

July 30, 2010

Business blogger John Crickett writing a new book: The Big Book of Business Ideas, and needs small business input.

John needs business owners to use as case studies and to give direct advice on starting a business.

What do you have to do?

Just take a few minutes to complete his questionnaire. It will only take a few moments and will help people looking to start their own small business to learn from the successes (and failures!) of others.

What’s in it for you?

Everyone who responds (and wants to be mentioned) will be acknowledged on the book’s website, all the case studies will be published on the Business Opportunities and Ideas blog and the best ones will be written in the book – Giving you free publicity!

Customer Services Tips for Small Businesses

April 29, 2010

As a small business, providing great customer service is now more essential than ever. The whole world is now interconnected via the Internet and any bad thing that is said about your business online can easily be seen by people looking for information on your company. It is necessary for small businesses to embrace new ways of communicating with their customer base, such as email marketing and social media, in order to be successful.

The Internet has changed the way that many small businesses operate. It is now common for them to sell products in an online shop without any interaction with their customers. A lot of businesses have simply forgotten that a large part of being successful is providing excellent customer service. There is nothing wrong with selling your products in an online shop, but remember that there are many small things that you can do to ensure that they have a positive shopping experience.

Make sure that the customer does not feel like they are just an anonymous transaction to you. Try to follow-up whenever someone purchases from you, even if it is just an e-mail asking for feedback or a ‘thank-you’ note. Let your customers know that you appreciate their purchase.

To further build a rapport with your customer base, consider starting an online newsletter. This is an unobtrusive method of email marketing because it can only be provided on an opt-in basis and therefore the people that are receiving your newsletter are genuinely interested in your business. A well produced newsletter will successfully keep your company at the front of the mind of your customer base.

A large part of today’s customer service involves building a network or community around your brand. Using social networks allows you to interact on a personal level with your clients. Make sure that you treat this community well and give them discounts and incentives to reward participation. Social networks are a brilliant way of receiving honest feedback about the products and services that you provide, so don’t waste the opportunity.

Remember to be flexible when dealing with your customers. They will appreciate it if you always go the extra mile to provide exemplary customer service and you can expect to have them as customers of your business for a long time afterwards.

How we can help…

WinWeb.com helps small businesses provide excellent customer service. This is why we provide the following services:

Online Shop – Sell your products online and take your business to the next level. With an online shop you can be open any time, online.

Email Newsletter – Keep customers informed about the latest happenings in your business.

Online Presenter – Provide unique customer support with an online presenter instead of a help manual.

Try our software free for 30 days by visiting our website or contact us for more information about the ways our Business Support Services team can help your small business.

Understanding SEO for Small Businesses

April 20, 2010

There is a lot of confusion about SEO. If you asked small business owners to define what SEO is and how it affects their website, most of them would struggle to tell you. A lot of people believe that the top sites that appear on Google, Yahoo or Bing have paid large amounts of money to be there. This is simply not true – these websites have just used SEO far more effectively than their competitors did.

SEO is the abbreviation for Search Engine Optimisation. This is a fairly self-explanatory description of what SEO entails. It is basically concerned with altering your website so that search engines can better understand the products and services that you are providing. They can then send the right people using their search engine through to your website.

Of course, there are a number of factors that have an impact on how successful your SEO is going to be. Search engines will always favour websites that have been around for a long time over one that has recently appeared. They also make ranking decisions based on how much overall traffic your website receives.

In order to show up in searches, you must provide content that is similar to what the person is searching for. Try to provide as much relevant content as possible on your website, as this will increase your chances of getting ‘hits’. Remember to include a lot of links to other relevant websites and try to get them to reciprocate. This will help the search engine understand that you are offering similar content.

The main aspect of SEO is keywords. These are certain words that are commonly searched for and will be different for every industry. Your first step in conducting SEO has to be determining what the keywords are when people search for the products or services that your provide. It is then necessary for you to provide a lot of content related to those keywords.

If you are planning to attempt SEO, make sure that you have clear goals and objectives before you start. Search engine optimisation is an ongoing process that requires sustained effort in order to achieve results.

How we can help…

WinWeb.com want our customers to be successful at SEO and use the web to your best advantage, this is why WinWeb offer the following services:

SEO Service - Our Business Support Services team will work with you to establish your objectives and help improve your search engine ranking.

Twitter Marketing – Twitter is a great way to get people online talking about your small business, and a great way to increase your online presence. Give it a try today!

To find out more about how your website, and small business, could benefit from SEO, or find out how we could help you, just contact us today.

Improved Invoicing Software To Help Your Cashflow

April 9, 2010

In the current economic climate, even large companies are always looking for ways to delay payment as long as possible. For small businesses, any payment delay can cause serious trouble. Improved invoicing software is the best way of achieving more stable cashflow for your small business.

Try to invoice customers immediately whenever possible. Many small business owners wait until the end of the week or month to do all their invoicing at once. This creates an even greater delay before you will receive payment. Get in the habit of always producing an invoice as soon as you finish a project or ship a product.

If you are working on large assignments for a client, try to divide the project into sections because this allows you to invoice as soon as each part is finished. This will help avoid cashflow problems you might face by not receiving any income until you complete a project, especially if you need to purchase materials or supplies. You will also be able to stop working if it becomes apparent that the client is unlikely to pay you.

Rather than sending a physical invoice, email invoicing is often a better option for small businesses. It is faster and much harder for your clients to ignore, plus you could also send a physical invoice as a follow-up measure.

How we can help…

WinWeb.com wants to help small businesses manage their cashflow better. This is why we provide the following services:

Invoicing Software – Invoices sent automatically to your customers as and when they are due, meaning that you are never late sending an invoice. Invoicing software keeps money coming in and can make a real difference to your business. Try it today.

Cashflow Planning Software – Allows you to predict the future of your business cashflow. Knowing what might be ahead can help you plan for the best, and the worst, scenarios. Can you afford not to discover what your small business forecast?

To find out how better invoicing software can make a difference to your small business visit our website, or contact us today.

A SWOT Can Show The Strengths Of A Small Business

April 6, 2010

A SWOT analysis is a very useful tool for small business planning purposes. If you have ever conducted a SWOT analysis to try and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business, you may have overlooked some of the strengths which are common characteristics of every small business.

A small business has a distinct competitive advantage over a large corporation in a number of ways. Although at the first glance of a SWOT analysis it may seem that large businesses fare better in many areas due to their greater economies of scale and big marketing budgets, a small business can use its size to great benefit in a number of ways.

Small businesses are generally far more flexible than larger firms. They can react quickly to any type of change, whereas in a large business change is often a very slow process that requires approval from various levels of management before it can be implemented. A small business can respond within hours or days to changes in fashion, demographics, or the actions of their competitors. This should definitely be listed as a strength on the SWOT analysis.

The needs of a customer can be better met by a small business. Entrepreneurs often know their customer base extremely well and can modify their product or service or create new ones as a response to customer demand. They can receive valuable feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their product line without the need for formal market research.

How we can help...

WinWeb.com wants small businesses to recognise that they are able to compete on a level playing field with bigger competitors. This is why we provide the following services:

SWOT Analysis- Work out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats by completing our easy to use SWOT Analysis Tool. See what a difference it could make to your small business!

Set Your Business Goals- Set your target and build a plan to achieve your goal. You wouldn’t start a car journey without first knowing where you are going; why should your business journey be any different?

You can try our Business Planning software free for 30 days and see what difference good foundations can make for your small business. If you need to speak to us about any of the services we provide, just contact us!

Build A Brand For Your Small Business

March 27, 2010

Building a brand for your small business is vital. Whether it is online through website building, online marketing and a blog, or offline through networking and advertisements having a consistent brand is vital.

Having a brand doesn’t necessarily just mean having a logo or a website; building a brand is about much more than that. Yes, it is great to have a recognizable logo, catchy business name and a slogan, but establishing a brand means much more than just that.

When considering building your brand brainstorm all areas of your small business: your motivation, drive, products, marketing avenues, assets and strengths. Develop a coherent strategy across all avenues to develop your brand.

When your small business begins marketing having a coherent brand becomes more important than ever. It is vital for consistency and reliability that your small business is putting the same message across to potential customers, regardless of whether the message is sent in a blog post, a tweet or an a forum.

The obvious elements to building a brand are colours, fonts and slogans. Beyond that your small business needs a voice, a tone and intonation that is recognisable within your sector. Decide if you should be friendly, authoritative or assertive, and makes sure everyone within your company is aware of this element of the branding.

Most of all, have fun. Building a brand is your chance to decide what you want your small business to stand for, make the most of it!

How we can help…

WinWeb.com know the importance of building a good, strong brand. We have a range of products that can help you do this.

Website Builder – WinWeb’s website builder means you can put your small business on the web, and create a website specifically branded for your small business.

Brand Design – WinWeb Business Services offers brand design, meaning all you have to do is come up with the ideas and allow us to do the rest.

Business Planning – WinWeb’s Business Planning tools mean that you can easily and quickly set goals and analyse your small businesses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

To find out more about building your business brand contact us, or sign up for a free trial, today.

Expanding Into International Markets

March 15, 2010

Traditionally, small businesses have never had much global reach. The catchment area for most businesses usually only extended to a radius of a few miles travelling distance. The only exception to this was mail order firms, but even they rarely targeted customers abroad.

The advent of the Internet has changed things completely. Whereas before only large corporations with giant marketing budgets could reach international markets, now small businesses with a web presence are able to reach a global audience without having to spend much money at all.

However, many small businesses still do not even attempt to try and reach a global market. There are a couple of commonly cited reasons for this. The first is the widely held belief that a product simply will not catch on in another country. This is probably an incorrect assumption. If you have an innovative product enjoying big success in your home territory it is quite likely that you will also find a market for it overseas.

The other big barrier for any small businesses thinking about entering foreign markets is the belief that they will need some sort of fixed infrastructure in place to provide administrative support to each country they supply. This problem can be solved easily enough by using Virtual Assistants.

A Virtual Assistant is far cheaper than setting up an office overseas. They can operate as a kind of freelance secretary dealing with all the administrative issues in their home country. Common tasks that international Virtual Assistants are given include call answering and first level support in their native tongue.

For more information about WinWeb’s Virtual Assistants, take a look at our BusinessServices page and get in contact with us.

Which Business is Right for You?

March 5, 2010

If you are currently working in a 9 to 5 job and are considering starting your own business, it can be extremely daunting to decide what type is the best for you. Unless you already have a specific passion for something in particular it is difficult to identify your perfect business from the thousands of options available.

Even those people who absolutely love a certain subject area must find a way to monetise their passion. For example, someone with an interest in art has dozens (or perhaps hundreds) of potential small business opportunities to choose from, ranging from becoming an artist to actually teaching art.

Because of the amount of indecision and confusion that can often surround choosing a business, this makes you an ideal target for a scammer. Beware of ‘get rich quick’ schemes promising overnight success for people who sign up. If it seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. A successful business is built on hard work and endeavour.

There are a few techniques that you can use to identify your perfect business. Start by writing down personal goals that you want to achieve in your working life. Are you just looking for a fun career or do you have a certain income level that you want to reach? Do you plan on expanding or selling the business at some point in the future?

Try to brainstorm or write a SWOT Analysis to identify what the most important aspects of running a business are to you. Once you have a general idea of the business area that you want to work in, apply your analysis to that industry and see if it will satisfy you.

For some excellent free videos that may further inspire you, check out the Business Ideas section of the WinWeb TV website.

Keep The Money Coming In

February 18, 2010

Despite the encouraging news last month that the UK economy has now emerged from recession, the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) released some statistics this week that paint a slightly less positive picture for Britain’s workforce.

The CIPD quarterly survey has revealed that 2010 is likely to be even worse than the previous year in terms of unemployment. Big public sector cutbacks will have the knock-on effect of major job losses, with almost a third of employers in the public sector expecting to shed jobs in the coming year. This will only add to the current unemployment figures, which currently stands at 2.46 million.

Unfortunately, if you have recently been made redundant or think you might be in the near future, with the current state of the job market it could be some months before you are able to find another. In the meantime, you should consider some of the following ideas in order to make some money while you are between full-time jobs.

Look for freelance work on the Internet or in your local area. You should be able to find data entry or perhaps translation piecework that would earn you some cash. If you were in a respected position within your industry before you were made redundant, try to do some freelance consultancy work or perhaps lecturing at your local University. Both of those could lead to full-time jobs eventually.

Having a big clear-out of your unwanted stuff could generate a surprising amount of money. Garage sales or online auction websites may help you realise that what you believe to be mere junk is actually valuable to someone.

If you need to pay the bills and don’t mind doing overnights, there is probably part-time work available right now in your local supermarket. Alternatively you could try temping, but at the moment you may not be able to get regular work this way.

Of course, the best course of action for anyone unemployed in this recession is to start up their own business. For hundreds of business idea videos that may inspire you, take a look at WinWeb TV.

Troubleshoot Your Business Problems

February 12, 2010

All businesses go through problematic times at some stage, but it can often be difficult to pinpoint what is actually causing them. Problems are not always bad in the long run because they provide a valuable opportunity for you to learn from what went wrong. However, to avoid repeating the same mistakes over and over you first of all need to be able to identify a cause.

Some of the most common causes of business problems are defective materials, faulty machinery, badly maintained workplaces or poor workforce management.

In order to determine the underlying origin of a problem, it can be useful to employ a little bit of business theory. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a useful method of examining what happened, why it happened and what measures should be taken to stop it from ever happening again. This ensures that you are eliminating a problem altogether and not just treating one of its symptoms.

You should begin by brainstorming all the factors related to a problem. Start by listing what occurred and what conditions led up to it. Examine whether any unusual factors were involved and if they came from inside or outside of your business. Try to think of ways in which you can prevent or manage these factors and stop them developing into a problem again in the future.

Once you think that you have identified the cause of a problem, implement the changes that you believe are necessary. If done correctly, this will prevent the problem from ever happening again.

WinWeb’s software has some integrated business theory tools – SWOT, Mission Statement and Business Goals – that you will also find useful. Try it free for 30 days at www.winweb.com

Every Small Business Needs A Website!

February 2, 2010

Having a distinctive image is often what sets your company apart from the competition. Unique branding coupled with excellent service establishes a level of trust between your business and your customer base that can last for a long time. A good company image is also attractive to potential investors and opens up numerous possibilities for business growth and expansion.

Many small business owners now understand the powerful benefits of having a good corporate image. However, they often overlook this completely when it comes to their online presence. A poor website can reflect extremely badly on the professionalism of your company, yet many small businesses have websites that are visually unappealing and often do not even function correctly. This is probably worse for the business than having no website at all.

A website should not be something that you are embarrassed to direct your customers towards. It should be a showcase of the best aspects of your business and the address should be proudly displayed on all your business cards and stationery. A great website allows you to compete with much larger businesses.

Take a look at your competitors’ websites and see what they are doing. Until recently, it has always been very expensive for small business owners to get a professional quality website that they can be proud of. OnlineOffice customers are now able to choose from hundreds of great looking templates and build a fully functional website in just a few minutes, all included as part of their subscription.

Visit WinWeb’s website and sample this, and the other fantastic features of OnlineOffice, free for 30 days.

 

 

Small Business and Climate Change

January 29, 2010

Climate change is probably the most important issue of our time and it affects the entire population of the planet. Despite this, small business owners often have very little time to consider ways in which to reduce their carbon output or to help the environment, even though the majority of them would like to be participating in some way.

At WinWeb, we believe that small business owners can do their part by making an effort to purchase products and services that are environmentally friendly. We constantly invest in and deploy technology that helps to reduce our carbon footprint. Therefore, our subscribers can already consider their business more environmentally friendly than the majority of their competitors.

Another way in which we keep OnlineOffice carbon neutral is our practice of planting trees every time we have to deploy another server to deal with increased demand. Our software also now allows thousands of small business start-ups to run their business directly from the kitchen table – no need for them to travel to an office and cause more pollution. Our software has no packaging or physical manuals and doesn’t require shipping. Because it runs inside a browser, you don’t need to purchase a brand new computer to run it. We try to appeal to small business owners that want to save the environment as well as saving their money and time.

See how easy it is to save your business time whilst doing your bit to help the planet, by trying WinWeb’s OnlineOffice free for 30 days!

Is Small The New Big?

January 24, 2010

Big has always seemed better. Big ideas create big change and big exposure and in the end (hopefully) big revenues. However, I read an article recently about a new trend, which I extol wholeheartedly: the biggest idea might be learning to think small.

It seems logical. The ideas that are most likely to come to life are the ones where you are able to create an actionable list of steps that you can accomplish within a reasonable timeframe.

For example, I read recently of a Junk Removal company based in North America. With only 3% brand awareness they knew they had a huge opportunity to grow (despite the economy!). However even if they were able to pull together a multi-million dollar marketing campaign they knew they could not make an impact across their entire service area of 200 million people.

Instead they adopted the strategy “Own the Neighbourhood”. They focused their sales and marketing efforts on the neighbourhoods where they already did well, thereby leveraging word of mouth, lawn signage and the like among their existing customer base to generate more business. Simple. Manageable. Executable.

For easy to use software to enable you to implement your simple, executable and manageable plans for your small business visit the WinWeb website.

Small Business Opportunity: WinWeb eCommerce Advisor

January 6, 2010

WinWeb are committed to developing a national network of eCommerce Advisors to support small and SOHO Businesses in their local area.

If you are outgoing and ready to take on a new opportunity this could be just what you have been looking for. We are looking for highly self-motivated local advisors with sales, marketing or small business experience, to help us to provide a better service to our clients in your area.

Your role will be to support and advise on how our software and services can benefit small businesses; either by generating new business, reducing overheads, introducing process efficiencies or a combination of all three. We offer the support of a well established international company providing leading edge small business software. If you are:

• looking to start your own business with minimal capital outlay
• looking to start your own business but wanting the support and guidance of a larger organisation
• individuals or couples who want a change of direction and to take control of their own lives
• passionate about innovation, sales and business development
• wanting to manage your own financially rewarding business

We can help you develop a long term business of your own in your local area.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity to make yourself independent and build a secure future for yourself, contact us to find out if this opportunity is still available in your area. Applications to specific local roles can also be made by visiting our friends @ hiremyparents

Career Path: WinWeb Local Partner

November 24, 2009

During this recession many more people start a new business with WinWeb OnlineOffice or OnlineOffice ProEdition. Supporting these businesses with local services is in itself a great way to earn a living and help entrepreneurs in your local area to succeed.

Any business start-up needs essential services and tools provided by WinWeb OnlineOffice, like:

• small business accounting & Bookkeeping software
• a domain name and domain hosting
• unlimited email accounts
• website & online shop hosting
• secure data and file sharing and online backup service
• business planning software and tools
• and much more…

Providing a hands-on service in your local community to support small business start-ups with these essential business tools is personally rewarding and a viable career path for our future partners. With substantial help and revenue sharing you too can build a low overheads business, which you can run from home.

If you are outgoing and ready to take on a new opportunity this could be just what you have been looking for. We are looking for highly self-motivated local partners with sales, marketing or small business experience, to help us to provide a better service to our clients in your area. We offer the following benefits:

• work from home opportunity
• full training and support
• provision of all necessary online tools
• WinWeb Local Partner micro-website
• WinWeb Local Partner email services
• online marketing in your local area
• recurring revenue share

All you need to work with us is a computer, internet connection, digital camera and a means of transport in your local area.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity to make yourself independent and build a secure future for yourself, contact us to find out if this opportunity is still available in your area.

Start A Home Business For Less Than £12/month with WinWeb.

May 30, 2009

As the economy creates more and more unemployed and job uncertainty, many for the first time consider starting a business of their own. Not only is this a great time to start a business, but it also has never been cheaper and easier to do so.

WinWeb’s OnlineOffice provides you with everything you need to start a business from home or in a small office. Especially since most of us already have the IT technology required to get us going, your PC or Mac, printer and a broadband connection, that’s it.

Everything else, like accounting & invoicing software, quotation and complete e-commerce solution, business and cash-flow planning tools, huge 10 giga-byte online data storage, web-hosting and email, calendar and address book is provided to you by the OnlineOffice.

Included are not only 24/7 live support, but over 100 free and very diverse business start-up ideas, in case you are still looking for what to do.

All this for less than £12.00/$20.00 per month for a business of up to 25 users, so there is room to grow. This represents a saving of over 75% on comparable small business software, a saving that will be welcome by those of you just starting out in business.

Read more about OnlineOffice.

Business Idea Of The Week: Special Events Videos

October 30, 2008

If you enjoy making videos of family gatherings and special occasions then you should consider this business idea. Many people choose to hire someone to film the event so that they can concentrate on participating in it. Once you have the equipment needed you could cover any type of event, ranging from corporate functions to band gigs and weddings.

Find out how to get started with this business idea or over one hundred other business ideas in detail, register for our free trial and go to Academy.

Business Idea Of The Week: Web Design

October 15, 2008

Web design can be a lucrative business choice if you have the creativity and knowledge required. The majority of businesses will not have the skills in-house to create an outstanding website from nothing. Therefore, if you are able to do it for them then they can hire you and pay for your time. The work you receive can vary from a few hours of simple designing to large undertakings which may require you to work full-time for one employer for some time.

Find out how to get started with this business idea or over one hundred other business ideas in detail, register for our free trial and go to Academy.

OnlineOffice 5 Goes Live.

October 6, 2008

Today WinWeb released the long awaited new release of it’s leading Small Business Infrastructure – OnlineOffice 5.



With over 100 new features WinWeb added a new Academy section, an ideas and educational framework for entrepreneurs. Today’s release sees over 100 free new business ideas published in this section, to help budding entrepreneurs to start a business full time or “on the side”. For more and more micro businesses owners the focus is on supplementing their income. OnlineOffice is the ideal tool to run any business ranging from one person (SOHO) to ten person micro business, on a full time or part time basis at the lowest cost possible.

Focusing on the increasing virtual assistant offerings available on the internet, the WinWeb OnlineOffice Assistant program is now an integral part of OnlineOffice. This allows VA’s around the world to offer their services to their clients in a real-time manner. Enabling WinWeb clients to outsource services like bookkeeping, mail and call handling, and many more. This reduces fixed cost for the micro business owner, while it creates new secure jobs in the services industry.

All other modules inside OnlineOffice have been updated and provide an even wider range and depth of service, like secure data-hosting, website, online shop, ICAEW approved accounting software, business planning and many more.

Today’s micro business owners demand a higher level of IT integrity, providing for more data-security and business continuity. WinWeb has been at the forefront of these developments for over 14 years and today launches WinWeb SecureTec to address these needs in more detail.

More and detailed information about this latest release can be found on WinWeb’s website.

About WinWeb.

WinWeb was founded in 1994 by Stefan Töpfer and has become the leading provider of on-demand online software (SaaS) and real business services to the 1 to 10 people SOHO and Micro Business Market. Based on WinWeb’s OnlineOffice, the Small Business Infrastructure has provided hundreds of thousands entrepreneurs with a micro business eco-system. This enables the micro business owner to access professional services on a time-shared basis for ad-hoc, projects, short-term or long-term demand, enhancing the businesses competitiveness and productivity, while keeping cost down and variable. This greatly enhances long-term survival of micro businesses.