Small firms given help to compete for public contract

Thanks to Cooper Paul, the Loiughton based accountants, I bring you some up to date news relevant to those of you in small firms. Pass this on if it can help others.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has outlined a series of reforms aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses compete for public sector contracts.

Under the new system, entrepreneurs will be able to pitch directly to Whitehall buyers as part of the Government's efforts to make public procurement more accessible to smaller firms.The requirement for businesses to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) before bidding for contracts worth less than £100,000 will also be abolished - a move welcomed by many business groups.

In addition, Mr Cameron announced the launch of a new website which enables firms to search for public sector contracts worth more than £10,000. A similar type of website already exists in Scotland and is reported to be a success, with around 50,000 members registered to the site.
'Too many contracts are signed off behind closed doors with little or no public scrutiny. That can be good for the contractors who can charge over the odds without being properly challenged but it is not good for the taxpayer who is being short changed and denied value for money,' commented the Prime Minister.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which has been campaigning for the Government to remove the red tape surrounding public procurement, hailed the decision a 'victory' for small enterprises.'The FSB is pleased that the Government has recognised that these barriers exist and has committed to making the process simpler,' it said in a press release. 'The initiatives, such as the reform of the PQQ process and more transparency through a new contracts website, as well as providing a dedicated voice for small firms' views to be heard, will mean more small businesses having the potential to access work'.

However Susan Anderson, CBI director for public services, said the plan 'could be much more radical by opening up all government contracts and public services to a range of innovative and expert providers.'

The Institute of Directors (IoD) added that the changes were 'long overdue', but it questioned whether the move would deliver real change. 'It remains to be seen whether today's changes will benefit small businesses or whether risk-averse bureaucrats will soldier on with safe choices of big brands,' said the IoD's Alexander Ehmann.

Facebook pick me up.

We all have days that are not so great and I seem to be in a mass of days of challenge at present. I can't seem to get into my groove and find myself irritated by my feeling of disorganisation. For someone who usually is very organised perhaps you can sense why the frustration.

I had hoped that this half term week would be one that I could use to catch up and it's working - a little..... For as well as work catch up I'm trying to get my daughter settled back into her new room after building work and redecoration which has impacted the whole house. We have lots of people coming to stay at the weekend so there's a time limit both good and bad.

This morning as I pondered what I could achieve today I received the message below on Facebook.

 

Sarah's Profile · Heather's Profile · Sarah's Wall

Sarah BatesHeather Waring

I love all your blogs! As well as being a wonderful friend for many years you never cease to inspire me! Kisses xxx

Now how lovely is that and how it lifts my spirits. 

It's great to feel appreciated and useful and I thank Sarah so much for her kind words. We don't always know when people are down so let's all get into the habit of telling people how we feel about them. A tweet, a message on Facebook, an email, a note in the post, a card, a text, a phone call. There are so many ways and it only takes a minute

Who can you contact today? Let me know, by posting a comment, how you get on.

Are you making the most of your weekend?

This is just what you need to focus you on a Friday so read on.....

In getting my monthly update in Zest magazine I came across the following information and although I do not have all the elements of the feature the Friday evening stop rang true. It doesn't matter where you are placed just take note that if it takes you until lunch time Saturday to get into your weekend and you start planning your week on a Sunday about 4 then start a new practice.

"Get your most dreaded tasks done early in the week and set an alarm for 5.30 p.m. on a Friday to make your Monday to do list....then get outta there"

Roll on the warmer weather as my get outta there will then be onto the verandah outside the office to open that chilled white wine! Of course a nice fruity red beside the fire could do until then.

Wow, what a lot of opportunity.

No matter how much you have to do, and I hope you're all busy, put aside some time to revisit your past contacts and to have a look at what opportunities you might have been overlooking.

I've been through a very interesting exercise in the past week which has been transferring files from my old PC to my new MacBook and I've been trying to trim down the files as I go. This has meant setting aside time to focus on these files and as I've been doing this, I've been amazed at how much potential business is out there.

Now getting current or past clients to spend more is much more cost efficient than having to engage brand new clients so choose a few hours and have a look through some files. I bet you'll find people to follow up with too and then, as Nike say 'Just do it'

If you haven't done this for a while, you may want to set a system in place to make the whole process more regular and efficient.

Persistence has many benefits

I'm a great believer in one to one meetings and invest time in these regularly also encouraging my fellow Athena members and visitors to do likewise. But why?

Well at networking meetings and other events, there is often not the time to really get to grips with people's business in detail. In a one to one meeting over a coffee, lunch or drink, you get a chance to get to know the person's business; what kind of clients they are looking for; how you can help them and they of course,  can find out the same about you. We women also have the edge here of getting to know the person behind the business too so we get a real holistic picture and through this we, I believe, excel at building that relationship.

From this point, we may use services, hopefully will tell others and in some cases may have discovered a potential partner in some aspects of our business. Don't however always expect that it will all fall into place immediately.

In November attending a Cappucino Connections for the Athena City group I met Sasha Kader from Sakr Design Ltd and we hit it off really well. We both wanted to meet again but Christmas was getting in the way and we committed to a January date. Then in mid December I met Sasha again at another Athena event and we talked further. At this stage she was no longer a stranger and I felt I was truly starting to build this relationship so when we met for our one to one in January, I was there to really get clear about her business and had in mind being able to tell others about her and find her clients.  In this meeting we had no people distractions, no sound distractions and as she spoke I realised the breadth of her offering and her expertise and it became clear that not only was I now able to tell others about her but she was also a very serious contender as someone that could deliver the integrated service that I was looking for for MediaCoach

Today, Alan Stevens and I met with Sasha and are delighted to be working with her to develop the next stage of business.


The moral, well,  always invest the time and it will pay off. Will keep you posted as to how things develop. I know it's going to be a great experience.

Take this forward to next week and the year ahead.

Ali Brown who I have followed for years always come out with great words of wisdom and inspiration. I found the following noted down in one of my note books and wanted to share it with you.

'Success is both keeping an eye on where you're going and knowing exactly what you need to do right now to move your business forward.'

Are you on target with both of these? If not, give some thought to them and I believe these are the sorts of things we should come back to time and time again.

Blogs, blogs and more blogs!

Having been through a time of clarification recently, I've spent many hours recently sorting out my blogs.

I believe it's true to say that when I starting blogging I decided to have one blog which allowed me to talk about everything I do. However, that doesn't really suit anymore so I now have three blogs.

This one, Heather Waring's Business Pazazz! is the blog for my business which includes my networking and work through Athena, my one to one clients, my work as Business Manager to MediaCoach and all other business related issues.


Heather Waring and the East End Girls is where I get to talk about all the great walks and adventures I do with my fabulous walking group, the East End Girls. This year, we have yet to decide on a challenge as such but some of us will be going to France in early September to celebrate our 5th birthday in Burgundy at Les Cerisiers, run by Mark and Janice of http://www.thereallybigdreamcompany.com 

Finally Heather and Teresa walk the Camino is just what the title says and you can find out what we've experienced so far as well as following us as we walk further and get closer to the French/ Spanish Border. Next trip is in May.

A word of warning though, as all of these blogs are about different aspects of my life the content is likely to overlap as one often informs the other. Which ever blog you choose to read or follow, do enjoy and please comment. You can of course follow all three and if you gain insight, information, entertainment and joy, please encourage others to follow too.

Thanks.

An investment in you and your business

When I feel good, I am a much stronger asset to everyone.

When I feel good, I am more confident, more productive and more assertive. I get things done, I am in my flow and I have loads of Pazazz and I'm sure many of you can relate to that.  So what brings me that 'feel good' factor? Well, eating well and healthily, exercising, having me time, seeing people who inspire me etc. Some of this will be the same for you I'm sure but there may be other things too and I believe that it's really important that we spend some time reminding ourselves what makes us feel good and then ensuring that we integrate that into our diaries and into our lifestyle.

Sometimes, when I'm really busy I forget the importance of the above and it can result in making me sluggish, less efficient and sometimes downright irritable (not with clients or colleagues of course). I'm always striving to have less of these experiences in my life so when my beauty therapist, the wonderful Tracey Virginia-Williams made the following offer at the start of the year I snapped it up -

'Get a free Express Facial while I Scrub, Wrap & Speed up the removal of those pesky toxins – no doubt built up over the indulgent holiday period!'

I went along at 4.00 yesterday and emerged 2.5 hours later ( I had some basics done too) floating and with skin that looked and felt fantastic. I slept so well last night and I swear that I lost a little weight into the bargain as things feel looser today.


When I got home last night I had no intention of working but I did choose to do dabble on my blogs and I got so into them and figured things out that I'd been stuck on for ages, it was just a dream. Today I feel lighter and freer and have been so productive.

So, yes it is an investment in you but in turn that is an investment in your business. Rather like fitting on your oxygen mask first so you can then help others, look after yourself and then you are much more use to all.

If you live in the South Woodford area of London, get in touch with Tracey info@virginia-williams.co.uk or 020 8536 4031 and try her out, her attention to detail is fab. If you're not, then my suggestion is to find a beautician like her and make them part of your vital support list. Put you in the best place to benefit you and your business.

A little smile in the midst of the working day

My dear friend Teresa forwarded this to me and it made me smile so have a smile on us too

 

 

Dear God,

 

All I ask for in 2011 is a big, fat bank account and a slim body… please  don’t mix these up like you did last year.

 

Amen.

Athena Networking is the best

Today I attended the Chingford Athena meeting which brings it to a total of 4 Athena meetings this month. It's not my usual practice but it's been a real privilege to visit all the groups in my area this month to do the Business Support Topic (BST) and on the back of that launch our Athena Walking Initiative.

I've been talking about 'Bonding and Belonging' and the importance of both of those and then taking the opportunity to remind members how we can make it all happen and grow our business on that back of it. It's all been very well accepted which is great and I can honestly say that all our groups, that's those in West Essex and the City, are really good at bonding and belonging. On my visits, it's been great to see some familiar faces and to meet new ones too. I now need to do the follow up, that will be one of my targets for next week.

The BST has been a great springboard for launching Athena Angels which is our Athena walking team and we're going to do the Maggie's Night Hike in Sept this year.  The response has been fantastic so thank you to all those who have registered their interest, I'll be in touch very soon. Having trained a team of 16 wonderful women in 2006 to do the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Walk, I'm so excited about sharing all my tips and techniques, introducing all these lovely ladies to so many great walks and seeing them experience all the great benefits of training in a team. I know we'll have a ball.

Here are my team on day one of the Breakthrough Walk.

So watch this space for updates of our progress. First step is to find out what everyone is capable of so far!

The best networking group out

Just planning for tomorrow when I'll be attending the first meeting of my Chigwell Athena group from 2011. So looking forward to meeting up with all the members again and hearing their news. I'm also giving the business support topic and wondering what their response will be. If I know my group it will be a great one.

Want to climb Kilimanjaro?

I am delighted to recommend this to you. Simon Madrell, the co-founder of Excellent is a past client of mine and in fact the setting up of Excellent came out of the coaching work that we did.

Simon is one of the most trustworthy people I've ever met, full of integrity and I have followed his charity all through it's existence and delighted in the achievements they have made including increasing their fund raining income year on year and winning a number of awards for their work.

Join the Excellent Development Kilimanjaro Challenge. This is your opportunity to climb Africa's highest peak and raise money for Excellent Development. You will then have the opportunity to go to Kenya and spend a week with a community building a sand dam.
The 2010 expedition leaves on 14th September and they will be signing people up over the next few weeks. However, if you can't make it this year, do not despair as next year's trip leaves on 9th September 2011.


To find out more visit - http://www.excellentdevelopment.com/kili2010.php

Use walking to fix it.

Those of you who have followed me for a while know of my love of walking and how I use it in my work. This is a technique I urge you to try - visualise as you walk, it's a great mood fixer. So if you have some concerns and anxieties and can't seem to move on, get out of the office and go for a walk. See your anxieties been ground into the earth under your feet as you move.

Works for me every time.

You can exercise in a busy schedule

Did you know that walking briskly for only 10 minutes several times a day is just as beneficial for you as doing 30 minutes once a day. For many of us these, small bouts of exercise may be easier to fit into our busy schedules.

What do you think?

Fitness incorporated

An Irish study suggests that walking up stairs & escalators for average of 6 mins per day, can make you 10% - 15% fitter.

Try it out.

How's your year developing?

Can't believe that it's the second week in February already!!

The first few days of January always seem to go slow and then they become turbo charged and whizz through. I'm so trying to make the most of every day this year, really trying to keep on top of stuff and not let time just pass. For us and our business, January was a great month and as I didn't plan to go far over the first few weeks the snow didn't really affect me. I'm planning on February being the same.


It used to be the month I disliked. Unlike many others who dislike January, I find January inspiring and that great new start with the blank canvas and the chance to put things right. I am always energised and looking forward with great intentions. February however tended to be for me, cold and dreary. What was there to look forward to? Spring wasn't on it's way and the excitement of the new year had passed. Stupidly I often found myself picking that month to detox in when I should be nourishing myself and taking a lead from nature and hibernating. One year when I detoxed, I got so depressed and was sensible enough to learn a lesson so no more of that until later on.

Last year I decided to take more action and found a range of different ways to keep upbeat and now it's as good as any other month. In fact today feels rather springlike. The sun is shining out of a beautiful blue sky, in fact it's streaming in the window and I will have to do sometihing to keep it off the computer screen. I can see the days being longer and there are buds appearing on trees and the daffodils and crocus are poking up out of the earth. It's all aking me a little poetic....

Would love to hear how 2010 is working out for you? Tell me how you are coping and let's share some of those strategies and if it's not working too well, has my writing given you any ideas of what you could do differently? I do hope so.

The Quintastics - are you one?

One of my dear friends, member of my mastermind group, fabulous 50+ woman and owner of Midlife Matters - http://www.midlifematters.co.uk, Karen Knott has just alerted me to this fabulous article - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/7084717/Quintastic-50-is-the-new-30.html

Let me know what you think.......

Are you a Quintastic?

Clear your head in 30 minutes

Sneak more exercise into your day and go for a 30 min walk at lunchtime. It clears the head, recharges your batteries batteries and gives you a break from the computer and the office.

A new year and at last I'm where I should be.

Oh dear, well the blog went a little out the window at the end of last year which I'm not very proud of but I figure it's happened so no point in beating myself up about it. It's a case of getting over it, moving on and planning to do better in 2010 and that's exactly what I intend to do.

It's been an interesting start to the year with all the snow which I initially enjoyed. I hadn't planned to go far so hiding in the warm, cosy office at the bottom of the garden was great. It also gave me a chance to get on with the planning that I needed to do to get 2010 off to a good start. So that is well under way now, hence the reason for starting to blog again.

As this new decade starts, I'm really in a great place. For the past few years I've known that I wasn't quite in the right place. I was still coaching, running the walking business and exploring how I could move with that but the fit wasn't quite there. I knew I was out of alignment but I wasn't clear what to do to get back in there. Quite often I was really frustrated and unfulfilled and at times I thought I might have to stay like that - not a great vision.

However, I stuck with it, I read and tried to put it all into practice and went with my intuition which said it would all be OK and voila!

At the end of 2009, I was a much happier person, I felt calm and at peace and very blessed and I still feel like that. I know that now I'm in the place I want to be, the place that uses my skills totally and honours all those values and it feels great, it feels better than great but I'm not sure I can find the right words, there are so many.

So what am I doing?

I'm combining working with my husband as his Business Manager, he is a professional speaker - http://www.alanstevens.net/ and also runs http://mediacoach.com/ with my walking business which I have now made much more local in terms of the services it offers - http://www.walkerscoach.com/ and it's working well.

My walking is one of my passions but I cannot spread myself thinner and in this way I can really work with the ladies who want to get the best out of walking in the area that I live and I can also provide my 'walk and talk' sessions to the coaching clients who have wonderful small businesses in my area. In terms of trekking, I'm still off doing that so I can train local people but of course the site and the newsletter which will start again soon can be accessed by many more.

Working with Alan is something I would never have envisaged but it works well and I use my coaching, my relationship building, my organisational skills on a daily basis and I love it.

Is there a message? Well a couple - don't give up hope. If you feel that things are not right, don't put up with it, keep exploring, keep believing that you can find the right place to be and you will. The persistence is necessary, even when you feel like giving up and finally read some good books. For me, the one that really helped was a book I have recommended before - 'Simple Abundance' by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It's interesting that last year I managed, at last, to get through the entire book. Perhaps I should have achieved that earlier.

....and I'm still walking.

I can honestly say that I cannot quite believe how happy and content I feel. I feel blessed and very abundant.

If I can help you get to that place, please get in touch for a chat.

Do you find it hard to say "NO"?

We like to feel liked, needed, special, helpful etc and that's one of the reasons, I'm sure that so many of us women (and some men too) tend to always say "yes" and then regret it afterwards.

It's not that we don't want to help, it's just that when we say "yes" to someone else, we say no to ourselves. When we say "yes" to helping someone else get things done thereby making a dent in their "to do" list, it doesn't help us make a dent in hours.

This week, I'm getting things done and I've got a laser focus. I haven't got time to help others as getting my stuff done will finally take them off lists they've been on for years and just think how great that will make me feel.

So I'm going to be practicing these strategies and hopefully they might work for you too.

So how about:

"I can't help this time - who else can you ask?" or a slight deviation on this one"I can't help this time but XXX is really good at this" Be careful though, you may just plonk someone one else in it.
"I'm not sure, Let me see and I'll call you back later!" and a similar one "Now's not a good time, can I call you back later?"
"I'm sorry but I really can't help and I do mean it"
"I'm going to have to say 'no', it's just not convenient for me"

Some buy you time so you can think it all through instead of reacting. Others just come out and say "no". And remember, you don't have to justify, just say what you have to say and 'shut up'