Kent and Sussex Courier - Retail survey article

The following story and picture appeared within the business pages of the Kent and Sussex Courier on Friday, October 10, 2008.

A firm that works with small businesses to find ways of simplifying and streamlining processes to improve efficiency is turning its attention to the retail sector.

Weald Business Solutions aims to remove hassle and frustration for managers and staff and help them deliver a better service for their customers.

Having proved itself in engineering and manufacturing organisations it is now starting to look at the retail sector.

Phil Edwards, founder of Weald Business Solutions (pictured right), said retailers were hitting tough times as householders struggled with the effects of soaring fuel costs and a review of working practices could make a difference in challenging times.

Better service

‘We firmly believe we can help retailers cut costs, improve management of inventory, improve staff retention and allow them to deliver better customer service.

We are talking to as many retailers as we can in the South East and undertaking a survey to better understand the issues they struggle with.

Everybody wants to see our high streets stay vibrant with a good range of local shops and we would like to show how we can bring benefits which will lead to improved service for customers and reduced costs for retailers.’

Phil worked in a variety of roles in design, development, engineering, production and manufacturing across a range of industries before setting up as an independent consultant in October 2005.

Clients have included shipping organisations, national charities, international couriers and manufacturers and he has helped them save up to £120,000 a year after reviewing their use of office consumables, utilities, production spares, transport and logistics, print and design, office cleaning, waste disposal and international travel.

Weald Business Solutions, which is based in Uckfield, aims to bring Phil’s experience of process improvement to small local businesses to help them reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
Working with Weald Business Solutions
(01825) 761890

CV need updating?

Looking for a jew job? Need a new CV?

If you've been working for the same company for a number of years, chances are that your CV (if you have one!) is out-of-date. If you see a job vacancy, you'll want to act on it now before someone beats you to it, but there's a lot of competition out there! This is when your CV needs to be ready and waiting but it's probably filed away somewhere safe!

Don't panic. We are more than happy to help you update your current CV, produce one from scratch or if you simply want some advice give us a call on 01825 761890 or send an email to vasussex@btinternet.com

Good luck with your job search.

Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
(01825) 761890

Let's do Business Exhibition, Hastings

I provide daily secretarial/office support for my husband Phil at Weald Business Solutions and as part of our ongoing marketing mix we have booked a stand (JR14) at “Let’s do Business, Hastings” on 13th November – details at http://hastings.letsdobusiness.org/. I will be there too of course, not only to promote Weald Business Solutions but also Virtual Assistant Sussex so do come and see us, we'll be happy to meet you.

Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
Office admin made easy
(01825) 761890

How quickly do your invoices and quotes get sent out?

Do you get your quotes out promptly? Have you considered how many customers you might be losing because you've not had time to deal with your paperwork?

I'm sure many small business owners prefer to do all their work themselves, because of course it's cheaper and "I don't need a secretary, I'll do it in my own time". But actually this couldn't be further from the truth.

Think about how much you charge per hour, and how long it takes you to type up all your quotes, then think how long it would take a qualified secretary to do the same thing and at what rate, you'll find it's actually much more economical to hire someone else to do it for you - giving you time to concentrate on what you do best and more opportunity to actually finish work on time.

This is just one of the jobs that could be done by a virtual assistant (or VA). You don't have to provide any office space. The details can be dictated over the phone if required, dropped off/picked up while you're on your way to a customer or sent in the post at regular intervals, whatever suits you. Your VA will even post them for you if you're out of time. Just think how impressed your prospective customers will be to receive their quote so promptly. This could mean the difference between winning and not winning more business.

The same applies to invoices of course. Whether you send them out weekly or monthly, if you miss the next 'run' of invoicing, you'll have to wait till the next one, which of course might mean you won't get paid so quickly, causing cash flow problems.

Your VA can relieve you of all this hassle and stress - just one less thing to worry about!

Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
Office admin made easy
www.virtualassistantsussex.co.uk














Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
(01825) 761890

Antiques for sale

I have some lovely antique items I have recently inherited from my parents who are (trying to!) move house to a flat and need to get rid of a lot of stuff:

Album full of old postcards (around 130) some 1st world war, some 'sewn' birthday cards
Bag full of antique lace items
Parasol
Peter Pan Nursery book ( with colour pics inside)

I don't want to sell the postcards but would be intersted to know roughly how much they might be worth, if anyone can give me some idea.

The other items are for sale but haven't settled a price as yet.

If anyone is interested please send me an email.

Many thanks
Sue Edwards
Virtual Assistant Sussex
vasussex@btinternet.com
(01825) 761890