We recently received an urgent phone call from a very distressed wife who's husband owns a rather large distribution business in Lapland.  He was having problems with his (suspiciously small) staff and orders were backing up.  So we hot footed over there!  What greeted us when we arrived was nothing short of chaos - orders were not being filed as they arrived and were mounting up in piles everywhere. Some workers were duplicating work, whilst others had nothing to do, sleighs sat empty as there was no one around to load them! 

It turns out that in the rush to get everything done the client had lost sight of his objectives and failed to put any processes in place! All it took was a fresh pair of eyes, and a little Pickle magic. So over another mince pie of course, we worked out a process based not only on the end result but also on the strengths of the individuals in his team, who all looked rather small come to think of it!

We are pleased to say the plan worked perfectly and thanks to In a Pickle, not only is the client delighted but he is also now confident that all his deliveries will be made by 25th December enabling him to enjoy a very prosperous and peaceful New Year!

When a potential client is ready to buy what you’re selling, how are you going to make sure YOUR name pops into their head first? Marketing techniques are tricky because the moment you’re ready to promote your services is not necessarily the moment your customer is ready to buy.

Email Marketing is a fantastic way of keeping in touch with your contacts on a regular basis…and it’s cost effective too! Here are some of In a Pickle’s top tips (and things to avoid!) to ensure your email marketing becomes an important part of your marketing strategy for 2012!

As the seasons change and the nights draw in we’ll soon be winding the clocks back in preparations for those long winter nights. On a positive note, the clocks going back will mean we all gain an extra hour, how will you be spending yours?
This got us thinking what could you achieve if you had an extra hour a day or even just an extra hour per week...?

Unfortunately we’ve yet to perfect the art of time travel (if we had, we’d be enjoying a summer holiday right now!) so while we can’t physically add an hour to your day we do have lots of useful hints to help you get the most out of every working hour...

We have a great relationship with our clients and like to think that this is why so many of them refer business on to us. Business is business as the saying goes but businesses are run and staffed by people and it’s really important never to lose sight of this!

I am sure most of us thank our clients and suppliers on a daily basis as part of our normal day but with Christmas approaching now is a great time to think about spreading a little festive cheer and thanking those who have supported through another year in a challenging financial climate.

Business owners are control freaks – FACT! It’s understandable really, as like raising children most small business owners have started from scratch, nursed their business through the initial growth stages and have been there for all the bumps in the road along the way. The thing is that by micro-managing or trying to do everything themselves many business owners could actually be actively preventing further growth!

We understand how precious your business is to you and work closely with our clients to identify areas that could be delegated our outsourced. We are there every step of the way ensuring an easy hand over process, keeping you informed and reassured at all times.

So don’t struggle alone feeling like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, why not give us a call to arrange a free consultation – it could be the best thing you’ve ever done for both you and for your business!

Were you lucky enough to enjoy a summer holiday this year? If not, when was the last time that you really took a break and had some time to yourself?  A study by the Alliance and Leicester indicated that 33% of small business owners are working more than 50 hours a week and 15% over 65 hours a week.  Surely that’s confirmation, if you need it, that running your own business is very hard work.  But if you’re working 65 hours a week on an ongoing basis, you have to ask yourself – why?

In these tough times, people love a bargain more than ever and the rise in popularity of voucher websites such as Groupon prove this.

Whilst vouchers, discounts and special offers are a great quick fix to get customers through the door and buying you product or service, we think that if supported in the right way they present an amazing opportunity to offer long term business growth by encouraging repeat business.

When someone redeems a voucher or takes up a special offer they are doing so because you offer a product or service that they want. Rather than making it a one-off purchase, why not offer an incentive on repeat business or offer a referral scheme to get people talking?

Like most business owners I love a bargain so recently treated myself to a discounted haircut at a local salon via Groupon. I booked my appointment and went along at the agreed time but I got that sinking feeling before I’d even stepped inside! The walls were painted in the brightest shade possible but the whole place was tired looking and a bit run down and as I sat getting my hair washed, I couldn’t help but notice all the cobwebs and grime on the lights and fans I was looking up at. I was just hoping that they were going to take better care of my hair than they do their salon! This got me thinking...what first impressions are you giving your clients and customers?