Keeping Your Enterprise Clients in Business - VHQ Article

Enterprise Agencies have their work cut out at the moment. Stimulating new business starts and stimulating growth in a recession aren't easy tasks.

Our latest article looks at the way Enterprise Agencies can keep their clients in business by helping them to focus on generating leads, looking after contacts and then managing opportunities effectively.

The VHQ WebOffice has a range of built-in features that allows small businesses to embed these ideas directly into the way they work AND gives agencies the ability to participate directly in making things happen if needed.

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.
www.vhqsolutions.co.uk
vhqsolutions.blogspot.com

Social Media and Collaboration

Fascinating to hear some of the presenters talking about collaboration in relation to Social Media at the National B2B Centre "Success with Social Media" presentation yesterday.

Collaboration seems to get subsumed as a topic into other technological advances on a regular basis. This time our perspective is that Social Media may be a good vehicle to bring collaboration into the spotlight for small and medium sized business.

It is true that Social Networking sites such as LinkedIn provide an introduction service to allow interested parties to identify each other and go through the preliminary introduction. Tools such as Ning can provide more sophisticated platforms to share ideas and communicate.

What they lack are the hands-on tools to do real work (especially in an SME and B2B context) so we are delighted that VHQ now has an opportunity to promote our VHQ WebOffice services to fill that gap with features that allow the social side of collaboration if required but major on the business, the money making side as a definite.

VHQ

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.
www.vhqsolutions.co.uk
VHQ Views

Digital Dictation Article

I've written this short article for one of our business partners as an introduction to digital dictation and transcription services. I thought people might find it useful.

To find our more about Office Lifeline's virtual PA and admin services visit their website www.office-lifeline.co.uk.

Denis

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.
www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

Interested in innovation

Anybody who is interested in innovation, intellectual property rights and research and development needs to know about the launch of the Innovista business network in Birmingham on June 11th.

http://innovista.eventbrite.com/

Gareth

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.
www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

Enterprise HQ, Coalport - Excellent facilities for start-up businesses

We met up with Fay Easton and her team at the Enterprise HQ business centre in Coalport, just outside of Telford, earlier this week.

Apart from them being a very nice group of people we wanted to highlight what a fantastic job they have done in setting up the business centre. It really looks and feels like a place that you would want to work. The decor is bright and engaging, the facilities are excellent and they serve good coffee!

It is set up to encourage creativity, entrepreneurship and fun. Even the names of the rooms are cool - The Millionaires in Training Suite, The Enterprise Lounge and the E POD Zone.

If you have set up a business in the Shropshire area and you need a better place to work than your back room or need to entertain business visitors this is a good place to do it.

Gareth

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.
www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

Well Deserved Recognition for Office Lifeline

Office Lifeline, our virtual office services partner - also a VHQ WebOffice client - recently received recognition of their success from The National B2B Centre at Warwick University and Microsoft Small Busienss Centre.

The National B2B Centre have made Office Lifeline a B2B Showcase company and written a supurb article about the company and how they use e-business technology to deliver their services. They consider this business model to be innovative and market leading.

Microsoft saw the B2B Showcase and realised that Office Lifeline are actually a big user of their new collabortaion suite called Groove 2007. They have written this up as a Microsoft Small Business Case Study which you can see on the Microsoft Small Business Centre website.

I'm also reliably told that the Office Lifeline Case Study will be the lead feature in their April Newsletter which is themed around "Flexible Working" ... watch out for that.

Well done to Anna and her team at Office Lifeline.

Regards
Denis
Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.
www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

Enterprise Agencies: Keeping your clients in business. New articles from VHQ.

How do Enterprise Agencies and Business Support organisations best help their clients get through the recession?

VHQ's experience of working with small businesses is that what they need most is new business. So the more you can do help them generate leads and manage those leads through the sales pipeline the better.

Our latest article provides some help on how to provide this help.

Gareth Edwards


Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

VHQ Solutions Articles. Managing Sales: Avoiding the famine

The latest article from VHQ Solutions looks at the age old problem that consultancy businesses face. When the team is engaged on delivering complex client projects how do they maintain the flow of leads and manage those leads through to a completed sale?

VHQ's approach is to make sure that firm's adopt both contact and opportunity management. This means thinking about where to generate new contacts, properly administering the data when it has been captured and then following a process of tasks and actions to acheive sales success.

Check out Managing Sales: Avoiding the famine. and let us know what you think.

Gareth Edwards, Director

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

VHQ Solutions - Virtual Office Services...a lifeline for small businesses

VHQ partner and client Office Lifeline uses VHQ WebOffice technology to provide Virtual Office and Virtual PA services to a variety of companies. But what exactly are these services and how can they help small businesses to grow. Our latest article Virtual Office Services...a lifeline for small businesses explains the situation.

Gareth


Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

VHQ Solutions - NFEA Article published

Thanks to Hayley Williams, Head of Communications at the NFEA (National Federation of Enterprise Agencies), for publishing a VHQ article in the February NFEA newsletter.

Entitled "Climbing the Accommodation Ladder" the article highlghts how Enterprise Agencies can use technology to bridge the gap between the provision of basic virtual services and physical enterprise tenancy.

The VHQ WebOffice is well positioned to provide the combination of business management and collaborative working capability required to allow enterprise agencies (and other business support organisations) to provide practical support from afar.

Gareth


Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

VHQ Articles

Thank Heavens for Web Conferencing

Over the last two weeks we've had snow and ice disrupting travel and trapping people in their homes. Many us genuinely couldn't make it into work and for others it was a great excuse to take a day off and go sledging with the family - and who would blame them - but after one or two days the novelty wore off, work beckoned and it all became very frustrating.

Thank heavans for web conferencing. I've used my WebOffice's built-in WebEx WebMeeting service more in the last two weeks than I had in the previous 3 months! I've had online video calls, meetings where I shared my PC applications and been co-editing documents just as if we were in the office together. For some, it was the first time and letting them take control of my PC blew them away.

I think I'll be seeing more VHQ Solutions clients using online meetings from now on. Funny, they weren't that interested before, but it only takes one small event to set off a chain reaction ... if you can call the recent weather "a small event" that is.

Denis

MG Welding case study published

We have just had sign-off from MG Welding Plant Ltd for the latest VHQ Solutions case study.

Working with MG Welding has been very interesting because it required some customisation of the WebOffice databases to come up with a stock control tool that really suited the needs of the business.

As always there has been an unforeseen benefit for the company. Because the VHQ WebOffice is web-based the management team have been able to deal much more effectively with out of hours calls from overseas clients than they could when everything ran off spreadsheets. Any of them can get an up-to-the-minute availability of welding or rotation equipment whether they are in their front-room or actually with customers in the Middle East or South-East Asia.

It's an example of virtual working in the real world.

Gareth

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based collaborative software tools and virtual business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

There's snow business like a virtual business...

Couldn't resist a cliched comment on the UK weather situation.

Why have to take to the road to drag yourself to an office or meeting place when the technology exists to operate easily without venturing out into the snow.

The VHQ WebOffice puts pretty much everything you need to work in simple web-based tool. There are business management applications, document/information sharing tools and web-conferencing if you need it.

Long live virtual working!

Gareth

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

I'm sorry, she's on holiday...

Why do 21st Century businesses need collaborative working tools?

Because when people have set up a virtual business with colleagues and associates working remotely the response "I'm sorry, he/she is on holiday" probably also means that all of the information needed to answer the client call properly is stuck on their laptop (accompanying them on their trip to the Algarve!)

This is one of our prospects telling us why the VHQ WebOffice looks like it could help run their business.

Gareth

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk
024 7699 8070

New VHQ Article - "Practice Development...Are you in control?"

The latest VHQ Solutions articles provides an insight into how consultancy practices can overcome issues like reliance on one or two big clients and managing associates teams using virtual office technologies such as collaborative working tools and web-based business management services.

Practice Development...Are you really in control?"

Gareth Edwards

Virtual HQ Solutions Ltd.

Web-based software tools and business support services.

http://www.vhqsolutions.co.uk

Helping enterprises through the recession

And so, as one interesting day follows another, I find myself in a busy little Enterprise Hub in Grimsby meeting with more committed, energetic people determined to drive enterprsiing activity in their area.

After a long discussion about internet services in enterprise support we part with lots of ideas to ponder, an then someone asks "how should the focus of enterprise support change in a recession?" Great question, I just wish they had asked it earlier, but we all agreed that one thing changes for certain, the emphasis moves from growth to survival. This means helping people to 1) Reduce Costs, fast and 2) Market themslves like hell ... here are you thoughts.

First, look at your client's sunk cost in office facilities ... a virtual office can slash the cost of rent & rates instantly, and replacing fixed staff or even Temps with pay-as-you-go virtual office services can be more cost effective.

Second, you'll need to help you client be a canny marketeer and they'll have to work extra hard to get leads in a tight market ... better sales opportunity management is then essential to convert every possible lead to an order. No-one can afford to waste hard-earned leads in this climate and this is the subject of one of a business management articles that Gareth's writing next month.

How does this sit with you? ... this can't be it, there must be more. If you have any thoughts and ideas to share, we'd love to hear about them.

Denis

LEGI Spots a Gap in the Accommodation Ladder

I had an interesting conversation today with the Programme Director of an LEGI in the North West (LEGI is Local Enterprise Growth Initiative in case you've not heard of them). This reinforced my view that most LEGIs are missing an obvious trick by not exploiting the internet.

Of the 18 or so LEGIs across the UK, only 1 has embraced the internet to provide practical support for start-ups, to my knowledge. I've met few who are interested, but they don't really understand it ... and that makes it feel risky. But today I met a man who confidently identified an obvious gap in the provision of incubation and office facilities.

LEGIs often refer to an "Accommodation Ladder" where companies can grow into increasingly expensive office space - great if you have cash and we have an abundance of space - but alas, neither is generally the case. So what better idea than to include a Virtual Office in the ladder? Today I was given real examples of companies that had lamented that they feel betwixt home office and real office, neither providing the image or environment they need. This sounds ideal for them.

Perhaps we should be surprised that UK business people are not aware of what's on offer and more importantly what's possible with a raft of low cost and often free technology. Or, perhaps after a decade of government interventions such as UK Online for Business and Business Links, we should be.

If you're interested in finding out more, Gareth has penned a useful article about Virtual Offices that includes a relevant case study.

Denis