Hello! Looking To Create Partnerships

[Mgartley]

Morning all,

I joined the forum yesterday and added a few folk on Linkedin as per the other thread. I'm just wondering how active the forum is?

I'm the national partnership manager for Scotland for Utility Alliance. We are an energy management firm. I'm looking to get in touch with companies who feel they could benefit from their customer base or their clients in terms of being able to refer them across to us. In return we are able to introduce your business offerings to our other partners as well as pay you a percentage of the new business we achieve.

Our partners range from premiership football clubs down to healthcare recruitment firms.

I'm keen to hear your thoughts on what networking events are worth attending?

Many Thanks
Martin

 

[MarkB]

Hi,

We have just relaunched the forum and activity is already picking up - can you give us a recap on what kind of partnerships you are looking for?

 

[selfemployed]

I think there will always be opportunities for partnerships as the forum grows, activity increases and members become more trusting of each other. I would be interested to see what kind of fundnig is available for the Scottish and UK governments to help all sized businesses. They talk the talk but I have yet to see any real assistance.

 

[Businessman]

They talk the talk but I have yet to see any real assistance.

So true... I started out in 1986 from a spare bedroom in my flat in the Red Road. Despite being a (then) young person, from one of what was (officially at least) one of the most deprived areas of Europe, I got not one blind penny in either cash or kind by way of assistance. and in all the years since, I've been 100% on my own.

I think the 'handouts' are reserved for the special bairns who's folks know the right folk and can push the right buttons. They'll fund some awful vacuous rubbish if it's on trend and gets them attention or aggrandisement. But if you're a grass-roots business working legitimately in a trade - well the only folk who will help you are others in the same boat.

 

[MarkB]

When you consider that even a one person business will bring in tax revenue for the authorities - never mind one which grows to employ a number of people - you would have thought a little financial help in the early days would be a good investment by the authorities? I will be putting together a list of government bodies offering funding and help to businesses of all sizes across Scotland. I sometimes find it hard to match up the budget headlines of £xm put aside for direct help for businesses but nothing has ever passed my desk lol

Indeed an article this week:-

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/908344/snp-scotland-business-rates-revamp-firms-nicola-sturgeon-super-tax

suggests Scottish business are paying over £60m more in rates compared to their UK counterparts.

 

[Businessman]

Well... It's the Express, so you can't expect unbiased reporting.

What they're referring to is the Large Business Supplement... If your rateable value is over £51K they add 2.6p to the poundage. To put that into perspective the rateable value on a 4750sqFt Unit in Livingston is £14,900. In reality (as unfair as it possibly is) this mainly hits big business - and describing it as a 'supertax' isn't unreasonable. And it's payable by a minority.

One person businesses account for 76% of all UK businesses! They generate 18% of employment off the back of just 7% of overall turnover. As such they're very efficient (far more efficient than big companies) job creators...

 

[MarkB]

Surely if those large companies "at the top" are being hit with higher expenses this will have some kind of impact on their suppliers and other companies they work with? The big boys wont just take this hit and let those in the supply chain maintain their profit margins with no pain?

 

[Businessman]

I think you'd need to look into just how significant a 'hit' it is in reality and who it's really 'hitting'.

We hear much about those 'large companies at the top'; and to listen to media spin you'd think they were the be-all and end-all of the business landscape; they're really not! They're a tiny - if influential minority. But not by any stretch of the imagination representative of 'Scottish businesses'. They're a tiny elite.

I appreciate the point your making, and yes, these bully boys will no doubt take out their ire on their suppliers; and there's no easy answer to that. But it's a fact of life that all costs wind up being distributed through the supply chain, and ultimately wind up on the final cost of services.

Personally, my answer to any big multi-national is that they're quite welcome to go away and pay three-times what I charge, quite possible getting an inferior service in the process; actually, I'd rather they did that! - Not everyone has that luxury of course, but still.

It's interesting that The Express didn't explore how the majority of businesses are impacted by rates-relief schemes - ultimately based in that unit in Livingston, which is the business equivalent of the average family home, you wouldn't actually pay rates! And even with something massive with a rateable value of around £35000, you'd still be attracting a 25% discount.

 

[MarkB]

Going back to the original question - it all comes down to trust when looking for an investment/business partner. Without trust there is nothing but true trust does take time to build.

 

[Businessman]

It is, and it does... The vast majority of people are level headed and honest, the challenge is sorting out the wheat from the chaff. - Developing an allergy to snake-oil is a good start.

 

[selfemployed]

I old saying "if its too good to be true then it probably is" springs to mind - no such things as a free lunch in business

 

[FlpGears]

I agree with the other fellow comments trust matters a lot. But the important thing is that business is the name of risk taking the one who take more risk will be more successful in future.The aspect is that take preventive measures like ask for some previous work record etc.

 

[versal567]

Hi there! I do believe that Blockchain is in the news a lot at the moment. The technology that brought us Bitcoin and Ethereum is being discussed everywhere, from the papers and economic forums through to street corners and casual blogs. People understand that blockchain is novel and disruptive, that it holds great potential. They might even understand a little of how it works. Read this article about private blockchain and how it works. Invest in your future!

 

[poliq]

Hi there! I do believe that Blockchain is in the news a lot at the moment. The technology that brought us Bitcoin and Ethereum is being discussed everywhere, from the papers and economic forums through to street corners and casual blogs. People understand that blockchain is novel and disruptive, that it holds great potential. They might even understand a little of how it works. Read this article about private blockchain and how it works. Invest in your future!

It is a very interesting topic actually.
A number of test blockchain environments exist based on just this model.

Since blockchain and blockchain mining was first implements on PCs, finding the early code should allow you to run this test. I have considered running such a test myself. You do, however, need to make sure that your test environment does not interact with the BitCoin infrastructure.

Good luck!

 

[Alex777]

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