Feedback on Mary Portas Master Classes please

mizzbiz

Agree about 4networking. I joined the forums for a small while to get an idea as to whether I would join properly or not and I really didn't like it. It seems very 'cultish', almost ferverish like the MLM programmes that do the rounds. It's someone's business at the end of the day, and they are doing very well indeed out of it. As for the members? Well, some do okay, others not so. I've seen quite a few threads where people 'step out of line' by voicing their opinions and it gets pretty nasty. It's like a political party - unless you toe the party line, consider yourself an outsider. To me, that's not what small business networking should be about.

s_b

Its a pity polly doesnt say what business she intends to start, or maybe other ways of helping could be offered
Obviously the most important one would be to have a grounding in the day to day running, so if for example it was to be a hairdressers then the best way would be to work in someone elses salon to pick up good tips and hopefully not too many bad ones.
Might sound obvious but i see so many shops open up but the owners just havent got a clue,talking to a woman last week she ran a high class bric a brac type store in the high street of our village but after 10+ years they shut it after never making a profit, (her husband subsidised it for her), anyway she wanted me to sell her car on assignment and i refused, but it turns out her idea of advertising it the previous 4 weeks was a postcard in her post office,no wonder her business failed if she never advertised.

my motto is advertise or die

Horace

Paid adverts are not always the way to go. I utilise LinkedIn and Twitter a lot - both of which are free (I know that LinkedIn have paid accounts but the basic free one works equally well).

Networking gets you meeting people - people who may buy your services/product so stick to some low membership fee/no membership fee ones where you pay as you go for breakfast etc. Ladies Who Latte is quite good although you have to pay around £10 but no membership fee, Business biscotti - no membership fee but you just pay for your coffee at the meeting (or make a donation to charity if they are using a venue that provides free coffee). The more you go to, the more invitations you get.

If you need a good book to read (you can probably borrow it from the library) - I would recommend Deborah Meaden's book Common Sense Rules - all you need to know about business. I found this book to be helpful and honest - some books are not and people will give you the impression that customers will be queuing up to spend money from the outset when the opposite is true.