Google – the saviour or antichrist of the internet, depending on who you ask. Its search engine is the most used in the world, and probably the most accurate. It has found such success that it has gone beyond a product, and become a verb. But Google is far more than search. It’s maps that actually get you to where you need to be. It’s tablets and smartphones that are affordable, stylish and sleek. It’s soci ...

So you’ve made the decision to start your own business and broken the news to your family. What now? Or maybe you have started your home business, won your first few orders, but have no idea how to grow your business and maximise your revenue. A business course can be a fantastic way to learn the essential skills of running your own business. But do you really need to spend your time and money on this kind ...

In the majority of cases, home businesses start small. It is rare to read of entrepreneurs who had the confidence to quit their job and start a brand new business from scratch. Where people have taken that approach and succeeded, they have mostly been very lucky fools! The truth is that starting a business will always be a tentative, gradual process, and that’s why so many of us start on a part-time basis. ...

Ann Brown from Summitup is a Chartered Marketer with 20 years' experience in marketing, working with small and large businesses. Ann kindly agreed to be interviewed and shares her views on the six common traits of struggling businesses. This is not a written article but it is drawn from our conversation. 1: Not Doing What You Love It goes back to doing what you love. Some of the businesses that come to me a ...

This post was originally published on the American Express OPEN Forum but we think it will be  of interest to  anyone planning to set  up a business from home in 2013. As you start preparing for next year, you may wish you had a crystal ball to see what’s in store for your business. Lucky for you, for the past three years right here at Open Forum, I’ve been suggesting imminent trends that will most impact s ...

Entrepreneur is a strange term. It is a sense of being business-savvy, having the enthusiasm and putting in the hard work that it takes to launch and run your own successful business, whether you plan to start your business from home or not.  Every entrepreneur is different, doing things in their own inimitable way. But even though every entrepreneur is unique, you can often find a few personality traits th ...

When Elizabeth first approached me to ask if I could write for Home for Business, I thought “what have I got to say that others might find useful?” This might sound strange coming from psychotherapist and life coach who spends all day talking with people about what they want to achieve and what they need to change to have a better life. A face-to-face session with a ‘real’ person seems so much easier than h ...