Bright Cable Newsletter - Edition 2

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Hello and welcome to the latest BrightCable newsletter. My name is Holly Noseda and I co-run Yet More Solutions Ltd, I will be your pilot for this journey and aim to deliver you a helpful and interesting newsletter every two months.

We're here to bring you news, views and informative features aimed at entrepreneurs throughout the UK. If you have any suggestions for features or you would like to contribute an article please email newsletter@brightcable.co.uk.

News

Small Business' and Residents Riled at Royal Mail

The scrapping of the second post and the missing of key targets has left Royal Mail in many people's bad books, according to mail watchdog Postwatch.

In a recent survey, the independent watchdog found that 59% of Londoners are unhappy with the singular "late, variable delivery" and the quality of the postal staff. The abolishing of the second post was a cost cutting move which was supported by Postwatch on the basis of the new service being a regular and reliable one.

Regular and reliable, however, is still a theoretical, rather than actual, concept. Consumers, Postwatch suggest, are generally open to a later delivery, providing that it is at a consistent time.

Anybody who is experiencing problems can contact Royal Mail on 0845 602 4536.

Changes to collection plates confuse users…
Royal Mail have now changed the collection plates on all 116,000 pillar boxes in the UK. Although collections are still being made throughout the day, the only time displayed is the final collection point.

Due to modern sorting technology post collected throughout the day are almost as likely to reach their destination alongside post collected at the end of the day. However, the problem lies in the lack of metal tabs which used to show the next collection time i.e. let customers know if they had missed the last post.

Postwatch has announced that Royal Mail plan to reintroduce the tabs from September 2004. The new collection plates meet the rules of the Disability Discrimination Act.

Salaries Remain Stagnant

Prospects - the Graduate Careers Website - has found that the average salary in the year ending 30th April 2004 was £18,362. This figure is pretty similar to last year's £18,434 average.

Summer Recruitment Frenzy

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have conducted research which suggests nearly 60% of employers plan to take on extra staff this summer. The data, part of the CIPD's second quarterly HR Trends and Indicators survey, shows that 80% of employers are planning a recruitment drive this summer, which includes a majority who are taking on additional staff rather than replacing departing employees. The ratio of employers taking on staff (as opposed to planning to employ fewer heads) has improved since the Spring quarter.

Dr John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and author of the report, said: "The economic recovery is gathering pace and the labour market is getting ever tighter as more organisations look to recruit and fewer plan to make redundancies... with private sector recruitment increasing at a time of low unemployment, employers will have to remain on their guard to ensure that wage costs are kept under control. Failure to do so could result in higher interest rates."

Editor's Choice - Useful Websites

• www.j4b.co.uk - a searchable database of grants and loans for business
• www.startinbusiness.co.uk - information and resources for start-ups
• www.ecademy.com - an online networking services with thousands of members
• http://commercial.moneysupermarket.com - a useful business finance centre
• www.dti.gov.uk - official information and forms from the Department of Trade and Industry

Features

Your First Business IT System

by Nemesis Computer Systems

IT equipment is now a must for all start-up business organisations, from sole trader upwards. When starting your business you are going to need to have the facility to keep customer records, produce invoices and receipts, provide support and call logging. Also any serious business should explore every avenue of sales which will include email and web sales.

At Nemesis we lose count of the number of people who have visited one of the larger chain IT outlets to be advised that the best model for their needs costs approx £1600. Now if you take into account that you are going to have a £2-4K budget - if you are lucky - this is a huge chunk of your budget that could be spent elsewhere. This article aims to show you exactly why you do not need to spend this amount of money on a start-up IT budget.

Let us start with the basics... When you start a business one of the first issues you will come across is the need to create and send quotes and invoices. This can be done on a simple word processor or spreadsheet program. This does not need the latest and greatest hardware. Later on you may wish to set up email so that you can keep in contact with your customers day and night. Again this does not need the latest and greatest hardware. Indeed a 5-6 year old system will be able to do these tasks. Now it should be apparent where I am going with this…

As this article is aimed at start-ups there is a specific listing below to help you on your way to purchasing your first business IT system. While there are many guides like this on the net they are very generalised. This makes it difficult to get to grips with and only leaves you a vague idea of what you need. I can account for this first hand when searching for sources of funding. I was given generalised help which in actual fact only served to frustrate me. I hope that the information below leaves you with a clear idea of how you can obtain a system that will meet all of your needs but cost up to 80% less that the high street retail chains. Feel free to take this guide with you when you shop for a system and ask the salesperson why they are suggesting the specification in comparison to this one. The system explained below is ideal as a start to getting onto the net, using word processing and spreadsheets, emailing and creating invoices. You should be able to obtain this complete system with a ceiling price of an absolute max £400.

Recommended System Specs for Start Up Businesses

CPU: AMD Athlon 2000+

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the part of the system that completes tasks for you. It works much like a human brain. The faster this is the quicker it will run programs. However you only require this for light use in computer terms and this CPU could be your maximum unless you can obtain a better one for less than £5.

Memory: 256MB DDR

RAM (Random Access Memory) known generally as 'memory' is what holds the information that you are currently working on. For Windows XP you must have a minimum of 64MB however the system will run very slowly. A good medium point is 256MB. The DDR part stands for 'double data rate'. This means that RAM is almost twice as fast at what it does. This is the latest spec and will allow for upgrading at a later date. Check this with your salesperson.

Hard drive: 30GB

Most hard drives come at a minimum of 30GB nowadays. This is enough to store almost an infinite amount of emails and word documents. If you can get it smaller then this then this may be okay for your needs, but only worth it if it is cheaper. 10Gb should be the absolute minimum however as Windows XP likes to have around 5-7GB.

Monitor: 15" CRT

Look for a CRT monitor if possible as these are much cheaper than TFT models, although for some businesses the visual impact of a stylish flat screen may have added value. Generally though CRTs may be bulky but will save you between £100 and £200 depending on this size of monitor and both will do the job fine. For standard use 15" is a great size as you can pick up second user ones for as little as £40 (postage sale).

Optical drive: CD-RW

Optical drives are drives like CD-ROMS, DVD_ROMS allow you to install files from CD and in the case of CD-RW allow you to save information on them. CD-RW (CD writer) drives are very cheap nowadays and you should insist on one in your system as it will allow you to back up your data. Always ensure that your system comes with CD burning software. You should ideally ask for "Nero" or "Easy CD Creator" either is fine, however my personal preference is Nero for ease of use.

Other components: 56K modem, speakers, LAN

These components are less vital to the system but you should look at buying them. The 56K modem will allow you to connect to the internet through your phone line. No other equipment is needed but there are faster ways to connect if you wish. You will require an ISP. An ISP (Internet Service Provider) allows you access the Internet. There are a wide range of ISPs available from large well-known brands such as BT Openworld, Wanadoo and NTL and more business-orientated ISPs such as Pipex. Speakers will usually come bundled with a system. However ask the sales person if the price will be reduced if you do not take these. You will not usually need these for business use.

LAN (Local Area Network) or network ports allow you to connect your system to other pcs. Should your business grow and need to take on employees you can use this port to connect to other systems to share work files. Not important for now but they are usually built into systems free of charge so you should ask for one.

Conclusion:

The above suggestions form a complete system built for business use and it should cost less than £400 using the guide above which will include postage. This system will be able to create documents, email, use the web and backup you data. But wait! This doesn't include any word processing or any antivirus software!. Look out for next month's edition for a review of free software that is widely available on the net. The applications we will discuss are full versions that are 100% free to use and work as well if not better than most other counterparts.