Small business advisor Julia Chanterey gives advice to small companies in Brighton, Hove and Sussex

Julia Chanteray has spent her life setting up and running different businesses and now helps small businesses who want to grow at The Joy of Business. She is the President of the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce, and was the resident expert on Channel 4’s Risking it All

Business Jargon - The Next Instalment

I wrote recently about the business jargon I use regularly, and explained a few of my favourite terms. You guys seemed to like it, and I’ve been noticing a few more terms I use regularly, so here are some more.

Business Jargon Definitions - Part 1

One of the charming commentators on my blog here in the Argus said that I was jargon ridden. I looked over some of my blog posts and couldn’t see any, so I thought I’d put some in here to keep him happy. So here are some of the juicy words I’ve noticed myself using recently, with what they mean in plain English for real people who happen to run businesses.

Are You A Sponge?

Many of the business owners I advise are sponges - and I encourage you all to mop up less. What I find myself and other owners of small businesses doing is mopping up after everyone else.

Why Passion Is Not Enough

Many of the small businesses I mentor started off as a passion for something. Passion is important, but it’s not enough. To get everyone to buy your goods or services, you need marketing skills. And if you want to sell wonderful products, you need to be able to sell enough to pay other people to help you, and to pay yourself too.

In Depth, Targeted Networking For Business

I often recommend that my business support clients build their networks to build a strong set of relationships with potential customers and referrers. Sometimes this can be done simply by joining a networking group and getting involved so people know who you are.

Scaling up your business

One of my lovely clients is ready to scale up his business. Until now, he’s been the only full-time person in his company.

The 10 Minute Team Meeting

I like to share some of my bag of tips and tricks which I use to advise my clients, so here’s one which I suggest regularly.

Doing a Pomodoro

I’ve noticed something about the way that I work. If I can concentrate on what I’m doing, I can get a whole day’s worth of work done in about an hour. But if I’m not focussed, my productivity drops dramatically, and my day disappears. So I’ve been trying a new time management technique - the pomodoro technique.

Why The Apprentice gives business a bad name

I recently had to run away from the television because my good lady wife was watching The Apprentice. "Might as well write a blog and eat chocolate instead", I thought. Why do I hate The Apprentice so much?

Key success factors

This article is based on a talk I gave to some budding entrepreneurs at Sussex University’s recent Enterprise Thursday meeting. I called it Key Success Factors in Business but really it’s called Some Things I’ve Noticed Which Really Work. The students liked it, so I figured you might as well.

The Myths About Maternity Pay

I was recently asked to comment on the changes to maternity pay for the Politics Show on BBC1. The changes come from the EU Parliament, and require employers to pay staff who go on maternity leave full pay for 20 weeks, instead of 90% of full pay for 6 weeks.

How to respond to feedback in business

The conventional wisdom in business about feedback is that it’s very important and you must always listen to it and act upon it. Which is all very well and good, but like all conventional wisdom can be a little simplistic. This isn’t my experience of how the real business world works.

How To Spot A Gap In The Market

A business based on a gap in the market should automatically be remarkable. They’ve been able to see something they can provide which no one else does.

How To Handle Someone Being Horrible To You Online

Some of you will know already that a few weeks ago I got severely panned on an online group in response to an article I wrote about networking. I thought I’d talk about what it felt like and how I handled it.