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To have a successful business you must have a well laid-out business plan. When starting a business an individual has to have resources in order for the business to thrive. Financial business resources are one major asset a business needs and for starters an individual needs to have a strategy of how the business will be run.

The strategies you need to have as an entrepreneur are issues on the product you are planning to invest in, how you plan to distribute and how much production capital you need. Another thing you need is to be a good planner and manager of your business. A resource such as one human resource is what you, the business person or entrepreneur will need the skill to run the business. You need to look at the strategies you have in planning and assessment factors. As a human resource to your business you need to have a working staff that is qualified and competent, they also need to have been trained in the field your business.

There are several other resources that an entrepreneur or business person needs to have. These are intangible resources such as goodwill, whereby the owner of the business needs to balance the value of the business and the intangible assets of the business. There is also a need of reputation, ask yourself the business person am I keeping a record of my businesses strategies objectives? Reputation is very vital when it comes a business and especially success in a business. It will be good because it will assist you in gaining the support you need from your clients, Suppliers and also your employees.

Online business resources will assist you in getting the best brands. When it comes to success in a business the core factor will be the brand you are selling. It is important to have a business oriented mind when it comes to making you business excel. Online survey’s will assist you get the information you need. An individual will always get the information they need. There are a lot of success stories that have been told of people who got online business resources.

Every one can see the Internet as an opportunity to make money and a living.

In fact the costs to have a business are really low. You do not need to make big investments. You do not need employees, consultants, expensive equipment, office forniture, etc.

Anyone can launch a business online, but there is a BUT. Any activity in the world needs 3 things to be created: time, money and resources.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Money? We have said that costs are really low, but there are some. For example you need a computer and an Internet connection.

You may require some software and pay for some trainings or courses. This amount of money can be expensive for anyone but it is really limited if we think to the big investments even small offline businesses needs to make.

Time? Yes you need to focus on your time. You need to see when you need your investment back and you also need to launch a product before your competitors…

You need to work in order to optimize the time to release your product. You also need to optimize your time to see what to do and what to avoid… so that you can dedicate to other more profitable activities and delegate someone else for some others… You may also want some free time for yourself and your family.

Believe me if you are serious online you need to spend a lot of time to start a business and even to sustain it.

If you are not investing time you have a really pour business.

Resources? When you start it is easy to think that you are the only resource. You can have assistants or partners if you can delegate some of your tasks because you are not able to or doing so you can dedicate to activites you are great to perform and can increase your income if you directly control them.

Yet many people when they start a business they think they need a marketing strategy and start to purchase expensive courses on how to become millionaire.

I really get scared when I see advertising pieces with pictures of tons of money papers and happy smiling entrepreneurs… I would prefer to see messages promosing a support to BUILD a business and create the basis of its sustainability. Very few online entrepreneurs are doing this job.

I have recently seen Rich Schefren launching a program whose aim is to support entrepreneurs to create a real business and rationalize their activities and organizations.

Mike Filsaime is another one. In his recent report Mike stated the importance of creating a business rather than jump here and there to find an opportunity. You need to have the end in your mind and then build a project (or more projects) to achieve your end. If you stick on your end you will not be distracted by the various opportunities and can keep both your focus and momentum to create a good product. If you become a professional and create a brand around your name then it will be very easy to have customers for life.

Want to know how to find people who will serve as walking, talking advertisements for your business? Then get into the international business networking world!
Indeed, an effective business networking is one where trust and relationship building is the key to linking together individuals to further extend the reach of your business and in the process tap a bigger portion of the existing market.
Below are some tips to help you do just that:
Keep an Eye Out for Potential Business Resource
Well, this shouldnt be too hard to do as practically every single person you meet whether in the office, at a luncheon, or in one of your kids school activities is a potential resource for your international business networking.
Of course, this translates to always bringing your business card with you wherever you go. Who knows? You might meet someone at a friends gathering that might turn out to be a valuable contact, although if you have to be precise about it, in international business netoworking, all contacts are valuable contacts.
Set a Goal Prior to the Event
The most important point of contact for those engaged in international business networking is an event where potential business resources will gather. As they say in international business networking,its not what you know; its who you know. Thus, finding contacts is the key to success in your networking business.
However, before you set out for the event that could change the face of your business, you need to figure out who will be in attendance. That way, you will know beforehand who you want to target and what you would like to take away from the event. This will help ensure that you remain focused on a specific goal and succeed in finding the right people who will be receptive to your international business networking idea.
Be Positive and Enthusiastic
Nobody likes to be rejected. That much is true. However, if you are too afraid to even try that you end up wasting the entire night away, then an international business networking deal is not for you. For this to work, you need guts and a great deal of positive energy one that people can feel every time they are around you. If you exhibit a lot of positivism and enthusiasm about your ideas, then it would be harder to resist what you have to sell.
Spend Time with People You Dont Know
In international business networking, its all about making contacts. How can you make contacts if you spend all your time with people you are already acquainted with? While it is okay to spend some time with people you know, you also need to meet new people whom you can introduce to your product.

Everyone in their life will have an aim of owning their own business and they are taking a bold step to balance both their family and work. The best suggestion for these people would be: Home Based Online Business.
This article contains the first five steps to start your Home Based Online Business.
Step # 1. Create Your Business Objective:
The first step you need to take when you start your business is to define the objective of your business and visualize how your business has to grow. Write down this vision which will inspire you to build your goals and boost your business. The vision must be far-reaching, almost dreamy, to give you something to aim high for.
Once you are ready with your vision, create both short-term and long-term goals for your business, so that you can take your home based online business in the path of success.
Step # 2: Understand your client base.
The next step will be determining who your clients are. You need to target certain age group in the society who can become your customers.
While determining your client you need to consider the market or industry itself. If you have a very tough market competition then you will have a very limited client’s data base. Be ready to face all the challenges in your business. The client base can always expand, but you need to have patience and put more effort on developing it.
Step # 3. Know your competitors.
Always you need to know your competitors. As there are already millions of people ahead in the home based online business and are achieving successes in it, you need to know how they have attained their success and how you can apply their methodology to your business. Make sure that you have a unique theme or product that your closest competitor will not be able to provide to your client base. So, always focus on your theme and products.

Step # 4. Plan for marketing and advertising:
Advertising is the most important part of the business and you cannot neglect it, just because you are running a home based business. Like any other business you need to allot a portion of your capital for marketing it. Direct mailing is the most effective marketing technique, because it has the highest response rate and you can use this if you have a client base within the neighborhood.
Step # 5. Plan for on-going support:
As soon as your client pays you, the relationship will not stop; rather the relationship builds and you would prefer them come back with more referrals. Make sure that you have built a good rapport with your client to guarantee continuation of your business.
Follow these five easy steps and set-up your own home based online business.
Want to know some more tips to succeed in your Home Based Online Business?
Go, explore this Online Business Resource and see how your future changes.

Have you ever thought of setting up your own home business, yet you were discouraged because you have next to nothing to use for capital? Do not worry; there are millions of people like you out there. However, you could be one of the few who makes a decision to do something about it today, now. Further, you could be among those few who make it to the top with a successful story of earning a five figure income in less than one year. It is okay if you have little or no money and, no, you do not need to take out a loan to kick start your business. You can become a smart e-entrepreneur with no investment worth mentioning.

The best way to start a small business when you have no money is by finding yourself a great affiliate program and signing up for it. This is an excellent opportunity to start a small business online, without any of the formalities that are usually tied up with the launching of a “brick and mortar” small business, such as looking for bank loans, store front/premises, stocking of product, etc. The internet is an excellent platform for any individual who wants to make it big, but has no capital to pour into setting up a profitable portfolio anywhere else. When you become the partner of a large affiliate program, you literally get spoon-fed the tools for success.

These affiliates have already worked for a few decades and have developed a huge amount of business resources, plans and marketing solutions. They gladly train each new partner and offer them all the tools and resources they need to launch their home business for free. You could add Google Adsense to it and earn a growing residual income from the ads placed on your blog. The best news is that through your blog you could get excellent opt-in lists, which are priceless for any business. You could start you own home business today in this manner and you would not need to take out a bank loan. Make use of the tools the mother affiliate program offers you and you can become a successful entrepreneur almost overnight.

Set up a blog to use for marketing to compensate for the lack of initial cash. For any advice or help to do such a thing you should be able to completely rely upon your affiliate program. Your your success equates to their success. . This is an excellent opportunity to start a small business online, without any of the formalities that are usually tied up with the launching of a “brick and mortar” small business, such as looking for bank loans, store front/premises, stocking of product, etc. The internet is an excellent platform for any individual who wants to make it big, but has no capital to pour into setting up a profitable portfolio anywhere else. When you become the partner of a large affiliate program, you literally get spoon-fed the tools for success.

Why Worry About January During the Holiday Season?

Over the first couple of weeks of December, I have been in meetings and had telephone discussions with clients who have no interest in targeting their promotional efforts for the holiday season. They have, instead, chosen to focus their efforts on promoting websites during the month of January.

At first, I found the logic very confusing based on a common misconception. Why market during the month of January? Most people tend to have a “post-holiday hangover”. They’ve spent hundreds, and in many cases thousands, of dollars on presents. They’ve spent time with their loved ones. The parties have come and gone.

Upon thinking about the logic from a different angle, a unique opportunity for the savvy North American marketer revealed itself.

The month of January presents a unique opportunity for intelligent entrepreneurs. Because of the increase in business that the holiday season provides, most businesses tend to neglect or reduce their marketing efforts throughout the winter months, electing to focus their energy on the spring and summer months instead.

Many companies will launch new campaigns during the Super Bowl in order to take advantage of the international mass exposure created by the annual NFL football climax. However, this is a highly expensive proposition and as a result of the budgetary constraints and risk such advertising presents, these companies will often elect to minimize or halt all other advertising efforts until the Super Bowl itself.

Since the Super Bowl occurs on either the final Sunday in January or the first Sunday in February, a huge 4-week marketing gap occurs for a company that chooses to take advantage of it.

Companies with business-to-business products and services can take advantage of the month of January to release these products and services as well. Many companies and organizations, such as school boards and some manufacturing plants, give their employees a paid 2-week Christmas vacation. As a result, these employees return to work rested, alert, and more receptive to new ideas and ways to better improve efficiency. In fact, many companies use the winter months for the purposes of making their operations more efficient and profitable.

This article will focus on two companies as case studies. The first company, Hibiscus Florals, is an online silk wedding florist targeting North American brides-to-be. The second, Innovolve, is a Canadian conference, event, and association management company specializing in sustainable business growth.

Hibiscus Florals

Hibiscus Florals co-owner Mark Morkowski has been an extremely busy man during the last few weeks. “Many of our brides begin preparations for their weddings just after the holiday season,” says Mark. “This means that the first three months of a new year are a peak season for our silk wedding flowers, and it is crucial that we are prepared to both attract and accept the potential business that can be generated in this period.”

“The month of December is being used exclusively to prepare for the New Year.”

Some of the things Hibiscus Florals are doing to prepare include:

Online marketing and promotion. “We’re doing everything in our power to make sure our website is visible in as many ways as possible,” says Mark. “Our market has such a large geographic base that we cannot possibly reach all of them via conventional offline means.”

“We have customers from all over Canada and the United States, from Hawaii to Newfoundland, and our website and email marketing efforts are crucial to our overall business plan.”

New products. “We’re in the final stages of preparing some unique new collections for our brides. We’ve decided to create more silk flower wedding packages, based on the feedback we have received and some commonalities among customer requests.” Visiting suppliers. “Many of our suppliers have beautiful new products that are now available to us, and we need to stock up as much as possible to ensure that we have enough supply to service our customer needs over the next few months.” Updating prices. “Fluctuations in the base cost of our products, such as the rising costs of natural resources and transportation, have led to the need to adjust our prices for the 2006 year.” A Christmas vacation. “We want to be well-rested and alert for the New Year, so we’re going to take some time off ourselves to recuperate our minds and bodies and be better able to serve our customers.”

“A rest at Christmas time isn’t always for businesses to recover from their holiday rush. It’s for businesses to prepare for a rush as well.”

It looks like Hibiscus Florals will be very well-prepared for January.

Innovolve

Dr. Anthony Watanabe is the president of Innovolve, a progressive young conference management agency. The month of December is being used as a reorganization and preparation month for Innovolve, in order for the company to be prepared for their upcoming conferences and other projects.

What types of things are Anthony and Innovolve doing to prepare for January?

Rebranding. “We’re redoing all of our marketing materials, such as our logo and website, to ensure that our image and core beliefs as a company are accurately reflected. We look forward to the launch of our new-look corporate image in 2006, and we believe our target market will be very receptive to our message.” Finishing of existing projects. “We’re in the final stages of completion on our Sustainable Business Resource Centre website, and we’ll be launching it in late 2005 to early 2006.” New and existing client preparation. “We’re going to be working on some exciting new projects involving graphic and web design for forward-thinking companies, as well as organizing unique and informative conferences in such fields as sustainability, green building, and business networking.” Marketing preparation. “When we’re done with our rebranding efforts, we look forward to promoting them both online and offline. We’re in the process of developing a campaign to that end, as well as for those clients whose sites will be completed in the New Year.”

Hibiscus Florals and Innovolve are two companies that are prepared to take advantage of the unique opportunities that preparing for January provides. Shouldn’t you be taking advantage of these opportunities as well?

In a bit of a diversion from our normal faire here at Small Business Resources Cafe …….

“A recession is when the middle class has no money. A depression is when the rich have no money.” – Scott Wolpow

OK … that’s enough humor. This economic situation is not a laughing matter. Especially for small business owners and start-ups (if any are brave enough to attempt a start-up right now).

Anyone listen to President Obama’s address to Congress recently? Or any of his frequent “campaigning while in office” speeches (you won already … now stop talking and start LEADING). Sorry …. but the guy just doesn’t get it.

In a depression prices cannot be sustained by the market. So there is a tendency for prices to fall rather than rise. [Ahhh .... maybe the oil companies should reread that last part. Seen gas prices lately?]

* Because incomes are insecure people restrain their buying.

* Because sales are difficult firms restrain employment.

* Because the outlook is uncertain investment is restrained.

This is a circle of events that feeds on itself. It will only reverse when people have confidence in the future.

That’s where good political leadership and strong business leadership becomes essential.

Throwing any amount of money at the problem CANNOT fix it. It’s not about the money. At heart, the problem we have is a moral one. How should humans live on a finite planet.

We thought we had a wonderful idea about that. We should invest in industry and improve production and when we were very productive we would ALL be RICH.

We now know that long before we all get RICH, we destroy the environment, we become engaged in resource wars, and we destroy the social conditions that make a good life possible. We also know that in a global economy, we can’t solve this problem at a national level.

We cannot rebuild a new world economy based on the old model. The result of that would be a short term victory and a long term disaster. Pouring too much money into the economy now can only buy that wrong solution.

We need wise heads. We need to understand that the secret of success is to get the core of what we are doing right.

One could argue that a recession might even be necessary every once in a while to let the economy re-group and adjust to different circumstances. With the introduction of the automobile, the horse-and-carriage industries suffered a recession. When the damage from such adjustment gets so big that the entire economy can’t recover from it, (e.g. when too many people were involved in the horse-and carriage industry lose their jobs, can’t become automobile workers, and can’t buy cars because they have no income anymore) we have a depression: then the automobile industry etc. suffers as well.

Back to the attempt at humor in the begining of this piece ….. explained with a different simile:

“Recession is when the rich guy fires his gardener and makes him drop the rake on the lawn. Depression sets in when the rich guy can’t see the rake because the grass grew too high, steps on it and gets hit in the face. Now both are hurting.”

The difference between recession and depression is that a recession is short lived, and depression goes on, and on. and on, and sadly that’s where we are at.

The real reasons go back to Bretton-Woods, but particularly the decision of the USA to move off the gold standard in 1971. That worked well for the USA. The US Dollar became the default reserve currency of the world. That led directly to the political view in the USA that “deficits don’t matter”. So successive governments, especially the Republicans have stoked the fire of inflation with deficit spending, that should have led to a decline in the value of US dollars, but because of the reserve currency status that didn’t happen. Instead, wonder of wonders, people in foreign currencies ended up paying the USA a premium to use the US dollar in foreign exchange transactions. Effectively the USA let it’s financial affairs get out of hand and the rest of the world paid the price. (From the USA’s point of view, nice work if you can get it.)

But in economics, the real costs of what people choose to do eventually come home. You now definitely have a depression. So the question is how long will it last?

It will last until the structural problems that caused the depression are fixed. In the USA, the real problem is being avoided by both the Democrats and the Republicans. Business interests fund both parties, and they are entirely focused on how to “save” the business interests of the people who fund them.

Really …. where’s the “common sense people” in all this back and forth. On the outside …. not being listened to (at least by those who need to be listening). As usual. Can you say Nancy Pelosi “pet mouse” project”??? Or better yet …. Chris Dodd’s and Barney Frank’s “give them a house” (chanted in the same cadence as “let them eat cake”). Or Obama’s theme song …. “spend more and more now” (sung to the tune of “who let the dogs out”).

Who’s going to lead us out of all this …. whenever that eventually happens …. is small businesses. All they have to do is give us a chance. If they don’t kill us off before hand.

What we really need is a Mike Huckabee “common sense” hammer to hit “them” all upside the head. Or another Joe The Plumber Kodak moment. “Them” being both the political leadership in Washington and the big business stuffed shirts (the guys getting our money …. so where’s YOUR bailout).

Many women are so confused by the words – “Business Plan“. What is it? Who do I show it to? Do I really need it? What is it really going to do for me?
A business plan is a written blueprint for your business. It describes a summary of what your business is about and it’s goals. It also outlines how your business will function. The term “business plan” was first developed by bankers who wanted a detailed report of how a business would result in profits before they would make a decision on lending money. Today, no business banker will even entertain a business loan application without a business plan.
In a nutshell, the answer is yes, you really do need a business plan if you really want to build a solid foundation under your home-based business.
I guess the reason so many women procrastinate in doing a business plan is because they think they have to come up with some imaginary figures and statistics about their business which is of course very scary for anyone. This type of plan is known as an Executive Business Plan. This plan is shown to banks, SBA and other lenders who you may apply to for a substantial loan. Usually, this type of business plan must show a 3-5 year projection of how much money your business would make if they should lend you a specific sum of money. Although you will need this type of business plan should you wish to expand your business, the most important thing for you to know now is where you will be in the next 3,6,9 and 12 months.

One of the best form of business plans to start out with is the “Working Business Plan”. This plan answers the 5 “W’s” – Who, What, Where, When and Why.
There is no pre-required length that a Working Business Plan should be. Just remember that you aren’t writing to impress, you are writing to address the important issues of starting your business. This plan is just for your planning purposes and can be expanded later on into a full executive plan.

The following outline will help you in processing your thoughts and writing your Working Business Plan.
1. Mission Statement – What is the goal of your business. What purpose does it serve.
2. Objective – What will the outcome be for your business as a result of your mission. (ex: K.G. enterprises will gross over $50,000 it’s first year with a 5% error margin on its documents).
3. Management – Who will run the business and what qualifications does the person have. What additional skills or resources are needed? What are the names of others that might be able to serve as mentors or help you in grooming your business for success?
4. Service/Product – What products or services are being offered? How will they be produced. If you are selling a product, how much of the product will you need in stock? Do you have the start-up capital needed to purchase the produce? If no, how will you raise the capital needed?
5. Customers – Who are your customers? What area are they in? Is this a service or product they will want to buy? Do a typical profile of a repeat customer.

6. Competition – Who are your competitors? Where are they located? What are their prices? What services or products do they sell? How could you do better?
7. Marketing – How will you market your business? How much money will you need to market your business? How is your competition marketing their business? Do you need business cards, brochure, stationery, fliers etc.?
8. Office Set-up – What are your daily office procedures, what will you do each day that will result in the sale of your service or product? What bookkeeping system will you use and how often will you input your information in the system? Do you need a bookkeeper? What supplies do you need? What type of furniture do you need? What office equipment will you need? Where will your office be?
9. Finances – HOW MUCH MONEY WILL YOU NEED FOR THE FOLLOWING?
$ Your Income

$ Advertising/Promotion

$ Bank Fees

$ Business Insurance

$ Business Lease/Rent

$ Internet (include website, hosting etc.)

$ Supplies

$ Postage

$ Printing

$ Telephone

$ Training

$ Utilities

$ Marketing/Advertising

$ Equipment

$ Furniture
10. Networking – Who needs to know about your new venture and why? What contacts do you need to have? Why do you need to know them? What can they help you with?
Contact Management
Establish a good contact management system for yourself. Today, keeping a list of contacts on paper is not efficient. A good contact management software will be needed. If you currently use MS Office, you should have MS Outlook already installed and it will serve the purpose nicely. Other popular contact management software are ACT and Goldmine. Regardless of what contact system you have you must be willing to update your system at least twice per week.
Evaluate how you will manage you contact system. Make sure to schedule this in your planner or palm.
Establish a good contact management system for yourself. Today, keeping a list of contacts on paper is not efficient. A good contact management software will be needed. If you currently use MS Office, you should have MS Outlook already installed and it will serve the purpose nicely. Other popular contact management software are ACT and Goldmine. Regardless of what contact system you have you must be willing to update your system at least twice per week. Evaluate how you will manage you contact system. Make sure to schedule this in your planner or palm.
11. Sales The number of clients you service or products you sale will give you a true picture as to whether or not you are having success with your business. But first, you must have a measurable sales goal in achieving this success. Start by evaluating where you want to be in sales for the first 3 months, 6, months, 9 months or one year. By doing this you will be able to re-evaluate your business plan every three months and determine if you need to improve in marketing etc.
12. Starting Date – Set a starting date for when you want to begin your business or put into place this working business plan. Make sure you have printed material available for all services or products offered. Also evaluate and follow-up with yourself daily for the first month to ensure that you are following your own plan. After 30 days, follow-up on a weekly basis and then monthly from that point on.
13. Remember, no plan will work unless you are willing to put it into action!
About the Author:
Trina Newby is a Business Consultant, CEO & Founder of Women About Biz, a membership organization that provides small business resources, tools and networking opportunities for women.

A business logo has much more to do than simply sitting pretty. A logo has an important functional purpose in the running of a business. Some of the most important functions of a business logo are as follows:

* It establishes your brand

* It promotes your business in the market

* It gives your business an unmistakably unique identity

* It makes your business credible

A good business logo design is an effective tool in creating and sustaining the good impression of your business. That is why many big business houses spend a considerable amount of time, effort and money – invaluable resources – on their logo. They then follow it up by using their logo effectively on all their print and web media. Each and every marketing strategy portrays their logo in proud prominence, so that people successfully associate the logo with the company and its philosophy.

To be effective, your business logo design must have certain vital characteristics. These are:

Aesthetic appeal: Your logo should be eye catching, in the right sort of way. Ornate elaborate designs may look beautiful and may fulfill your deepest desires, but they may not ‘click’ with your customers. Use simple color palettes, easy-to-read fonts and short readable texts. Professional logos never look unnecessarily flamboyant.

Philosophical tenor: Your business logo must reflect your business philosophy as closely as possible. For example, if you are in the business of entertainment, your logo could look funky, tantalizing even. But, if you are into mortgage or home loans, you need a highly corporate look.

Scalable: Once you choose a logo, you will need it to grace each and every surface that belongs to your business. You will require it on stationery, web media and even on your products. So, you need the logo design to be scalable, so it can be stretched or shrunk to fit whatever surface or dimension you choose. For this to happen, the design process has to make use of certain design characteristics. Otherwise, stretching a logo will make it look grainy or unnatural. This is also the reason why DIY logo design software or readymade clipart is not a good idea.

Cost: Many small and individual businesses already have to deal with huge overhead costs. Thus they may try to scrimp and save on matters that do not look very important. However, most of them live to tell of how they sorry they are about their decision to bypass a good design for a cheap, DIY design. On the other hand, when you are fighting desperately to start your business, spending thousands of dollars on a piece of design is rather extravagant. Thus, a good business logo design must be cost effective while being highly professional.

Time effective: Many design agencies that charge you an arm and a leg for their unique, customized designs take their own sweet time creating the logo. This means you will be wasting valuable business resources while you wait for the logo to be ready. Professional businesses that need to start in a time bound manner should be able to procure a professional design in the shortest span of time.

Customization: Finally, any logo you select will require some amount of tweaking. A line here, a letter there – it always happens. The business logo design company you choose should allow you to customize your design to whatever degree you desire.

Information Technology lies at the very heart of today’s organisations and many companies are now so dependent on their networks that they take them for granted. In today’s 24/7 digital economy, just imagine the business implications of critical data being lost, internet and email access being unavailable or your internal network going down.

The impact of the unexpected on your business, whether in the form of malicious damage such as hacking or some kind of natural disaster, can be devastating in the networked world. Take for example the 2007 flash floods across the UK. Following the wettest May to July on record, approximately 7,100 businesses were flooded and the resulting damage cost an estimated £3 billion1. However, this figure fails to take into account the cost of lost business during that period, when some companies were unable to operate a normal (if any) service, or the damage to reputation that the inability to communicate caused. No-one can predict the future, but by carefully planning in advance you can ensure that your business is in the best possible position, if and when disruption occurs.

To meet resiliency requirements for coping with both unexpected events and increasing volumes of data, today’s businesses require more than Next Generation Network capability alone. They need a combination of robust network capability and a next generation service mindset from their telecoms provider. When it comes to business resiliency, it’s not simply a case of ‘one size fits all’. ntl:Telewest Business closely collaborates with its customers and tailors its services to meet their needs. The next generation of business resiliency is here.

What level of resilience is needed?

Different industries have unique requirements for resilience. In the banking industry, for example, access to accurate, real-time buying and selling data is critical and business continuity and resiliency are considered so important that they are subject to specific regulations such as Basel II. However, for the majority of businesses, the rules and regulations are not so strict, and yet the implications of a network collapse without sufficient backup systems can be equally severe. This is particularly true when you consider that, according to the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 80 per cent of small to medium sized businesses go out of business within 18 months of experiencing a major network problem and 90 per cent of businesses that lose data in a disaster are forced to shut within two years.

The indisputable fact is that all business premises, no matter what the organisation’s size or industry, face the risk of disasters and they need to bring certainty to how they store and use their information. Firms need to be able to move their data around freely and ensure that it is 100 per cent backed up from every site, minimising the exposure to risk at any one site and making sure that the most important data is prioritised.

What types of network meet the requirement?

Network capability and flexibility provide the technology platform for next generation telecoms providers to roll out a resilient service. As well as being able to withstand unexpected events, today’s networks need to be able to cope with the everincreasing amounts of information being transported by today’s businesses. Their needs have extended from just email and web browsing to encompass multimedia applications, image-driven, user-generated content and video. In order to cope with these burgeoning volumes of data and the swift pace of operational change, networks need to be both extremely resilient and scalable. Rapidly growing workforces require constant, uninterrupted access to business resources and only a Next Generation Network can provide the flexibility and resilience required.

ntl:Telewest Business’ £13 billion Next Generation Network was built specifically with the demands of the digital age in mind and, based on fibre-optic technology, it is highly resilient. The Next Generation Network is capable of delivering the next generation IP and Ethernet services required by today’s fast-moving business and, as bandwidth can be increased quickly and painlessly in line with demand, scalability issues are overcome. In order to significantly reduce the volume of faults on their networks, today’s telcos also need to engage far earlier in proactive network management. By constantly monitoring its network, ntl:Telewest Business ensures that potential issues can be identified before they develop into problems. As a result, both the network’s performance and the user’s experience are significantly improved.

How can every eventuality be covered?

Maintaining business continuity is not as simple as deploying two separate links to your business sites, there are a number of considerations that have to be taken into account. How far a customer wants to go in assuring resilience depends on the importance of their information assets and their budget, but there are four key business continuity measures that can be taken into consideration.

As there are two UK-wide access networks, ntl:Telewest Business’ and BT’s, it stands to reason that if information is your organisation’s lifeblood you should not trust all of your services to just one network. Having an alternative access network in place ensures that critical applications continue to run even if one provider has a major outage. An alternative transmission path can also handle unexpected peaks in traffic and provide protection against denial of service attacks, which are designed to swamp networks with traffic and cause them to buckle.

The second business continuity measure is eliminating a single point of failure for the availability of voice and data services. Rather than relying on a single network provider to deliver connectivity between a site and the rest of the private network or the internet, businesses can run multiple links to their sites, guaranteeing up-time should one of the lines be inadvertently damaged and rendered unusable. In the event of network connectivity being destroyed over one connection, services can seamlessly divert to the backup connection, maintaining continuous data transfer and call availability.

One of the most basic disaster recovery tools that businesses should consider is spreading their risks across the network. By creating a mirrored system in which all information and applications are regularly and automatically backed up at different points on the network, businesses can ensure that information is protected in the event that one part of the network experiences an outage.

Multiple Ethernet connections into a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with any-to-any connectivity enable organisations to decentralise their IT across multiple sites and replicate their business-critical data. If a problem does occur, whether it is a natural disaster or simply a power failure, employees should be able to work from home and log onto their VPN remotely, safe in the knowledge that the network is secure and work can continue as usual, albeit off-site. This any-to-any connectivity overcomes the needs for backup circuits.

Finally, in the event of one of an organisation’s main circuits going down, forcing all data to run over the other and increasing the risk of a network bottleneck, the prioritisation of critical data is essential. The application of up to eight classes of service over the ntl:Telewest Business network, with predefined Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, will also ensure that business critical data is delivered in advance of lower priority traffic such as internet data. This way organisations can ensure their business critical applications continue to perform at optimum levels, even in adverse conditions.

With such an array of business continuity options available, organisations require a telco provider that’s prepared to sit down and discuss the most appropriate solution for their unique needs, risks and budget. ntl:Telewest Business collaborates closely with all sizes of business, not just its largest customers with big communication budgets. Consultative and technologically-savvy local service teams, both at the presales and project management stages, work hand-in-glove with the customer to ensure they receive the most appropriate solutions for their business.

How can businesses design and provision truly resilient networks?

True business resilience can only be attained when network capability is fused with a high level of consultative input at the stage of designing new network infrastructures. Until now, the legacy telco practice has been to keep customers at arm’s length from the services they use and act as merely a circuit provider, rather than responding to customers’ requirements. The next generation of telecoms providers need to invest in their service delivery, and not solely their network, ensuring that their customers feel connected to their telco teams as well as their network.

As a next generation telecoms provider, ntl:Telewest Business is committed to sitting down with organisations, listening to and understanding their individual requirements. This way it can help the customer implement measures appropriate to the risk associated with the type of traffic on its network, with a design that reflects the confines of the budget.

A customer-centric mindset and ‘can do’ attitude ensures that ntl:Telewest Business collaborates with its customers from the start, helping to plan, design, and implement their networks. But it doesn’t stop there, many of the same teams remain all the way through integration and while the network is running. No one can predict the future, but by working with a telecoms provider that has such a Next Generation Network and a customer-centric mindset, you’ll be better prepared for any eventuality.