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Spare a thought for Winweb who are experiencing a problem with mistaken identity and a malware program that carries a similar name to their business. I’ve known Stefan Töpfer for a couple of years now. We first spoke December 2005 and I met him February 2006 when I was visiting in London. We’ve maintained a business connection ever since and you may have noticed a recent post about a business competition – it was through Stefan that my connection took place. Rather than rewrite what he says, I’ll share with you his dilemma.

Dear All,

In the past week a malware program has surfaced, which calls itself WinWeb Security (winwebsecurity.com – don’t click on any links on this website). It has, of course, nothing to do with us. If you Google ‘WinWeb Security’ you will get a picture of what is going on, that is only the public side of it. Please see my post:

http://www.sme-blog.com/comments/winwebsecuritycom-more-facts

and WinWeb’s Statement recently:

http://www.winweb.com/latest-news/winweb-winwebcom-vs-winweb-security-winwebsecuritycom

Despite the fact that we have been providing free support to anyone (1000′s) who contacted us, we have sometimes been falsely accused of being winweb security, which we are not; this is still causing real damage to our reputation, due to the name association.

I wonder if you would be willing to help us to set the record straight with your readers and maybe forward this to some of your other blogger contacts to do the same. I have provided WHOIS lookups in my posts, that should be one of the most helpful ways to show people what is what, and hopefully stop them associating us with this menace.

I’m sorry about the bulk email, but I have to react fast. If you can help – I thank you very much for your support, I of cause do understand if you do not what to get involved.

Kind regards

Stefan.

Poor Stefan and his staff. So if you have heard of Winweb please know they are not connected to winweb security.

Have you had a problem with a domain or business name that is similar to yours and has this caused problems for you? I would love to hear about them here. I think it’s important to put people straight on incorrect assumptions wherever possible. What do you think?

mistaken identity, malware, similar domain, winweb

Tags: Business Operations, Warnings by Kathie Thomas
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I’m thrilled to share with you information on Business ’09 where some lucky business owner will win £10,000 and you don’t have to be in the UK to be eligible. Judges from various countries have been selected to assist with the process and I am representing Australia.

Stefan Töpfer, who heads up Winweb, first contacted me in December 2005 when he was looking for a team of Virtual Assistants to assist clients on the eastern sideboard of Australia. Co-incidentally, only a few weeks later I was going to be in London so I met him in person where we discussed possible ways of collaborating. We’ve kept in touch ever since and I’ve met up with him when he’s visited Melbourne from time to time. I was delighted when he contacted me about this special event.

Below is the official press release that came out last month.  I will post periodic updates as they come to hand.

London/New York/Brisbane, November 17th., 2008. Today Winweb launches it’s long anticipated ‘Business’09 – Win £10,000‘ campaign for small business and pre-entrepreneurs. The launch coincides with Global Entrepreneurship Week and Enterprise Week 2008. The finalists and winners will be announced during the same events next year.

WinWeb makes it’s own 15th anniversary celebration into a ’start and run your own small business celebration’, honoring individuals and small business owners, who have the courage to turn their dreams into reality.

WinWeb and It’s Supporters & Sponsors have set themselves a Unleash It! Challenge until Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009, to be instrumental and inspire at least 1000 new business startups.

‘We are recognizing the fact that small business makes up to 95 % of all businesses worldwide, generates over 50 % of GDP, a staggering 60 % of all innovations and have a long lasting positive impact on local communities world wide’, says Stefan Töpfer, CEO of WinWeb.

The questions asked in the competition will provide an inside to entrepreneurs thinking prior to and after launching a small business. These findings will be published in a separate report later next year. Especially in these times of economic downturn it is essential to understand the motivation of ‘would be small business owners’, to foster an environment in which small business can flourish.

Encouraging small business owners and budding entrepreneurs with the inside that starting a small business often does not need money, but primarily time, is another way by which the campaign hopes to help in the creation of new small businesses.

WinWeb enlists the help of a high caliber panel chaired by Professor Ian Angell of the London School of Economics(LSE) along with media and small business professionals from Europe, the United States and Australia.

WinWeb encourages media and new media, especially bloggers, to support the campaign and to help make it a success and reach WinWeb’s goal of starting a minimum of a 1000 small business during the next twelve months. The independent panel will report in on the final number of small business startups during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009.

‘If our joint efforts would bring about the creation of only 1000 new small businesses worldwide, and I believe we can start many more, then this campaign will have been a great success for all involved, so we ask for as much support as possible. I would love to see this campaign to go viral, to maximize the benefits to society as a whole. This is our Unleash It! Challenge during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008?, says Stefan Töpfer. Details, on how to get involved, can be found on the campaign website under ‘Support Us.’

Regular updates of the Business’09 Campaign will be available at the two official campaign blogs, the WinWeb Blog and The Small Business Blog and other supporting media and blogs.

Business ’09, Win £10000, business and pre-entrepreneurs, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Enterprise Week 2008

Tags: Business Operations by Kathie Thomas
3 Comments »

I was busy entering business cards into a database for a client this week but a few of the business cards were so difficult to read. Red writing on a green background, fonts that were smaller than 6pt, and difficult scripts.  Do people actually check what their cards are going to look like before they get printed? Or do they realise the mistake after they’ve taken receipt of them from the printer?

If you want people to be able to read your business card without a magnifying glass or someone to interpret for them, then you really should take care in the design and presentation of them.  And if you’re a graphic designer, then all the more care should be taken.  I’ve seen a few that would turn me off a graphic designer’s ability to do what I’d like them to do – simply through viewing their business card.  Your card is your ambassador in your absence – make it work for you!

Tags: Business Operations, Networking by Kathie Thomas
5 Comments »

In light of our recent family troubles I want to highlight some things that I do and which you may need to think about as a business owner/operator for times when emergencies arise and you are unable to be present in your own business.

Some years ago, when my husband and I started going on overseas trips, I developed some systems to ensure I could hand over the running of daily activities in my business.

• I set up a new ‘business’ phone line so that business calls came only on that number and not my home number.  And yet for 10 years previous I’d only used my home number.  With the new number it meant I could simply divert my business calls to one of my Virtual Assistant team members and she wouldn’t be receiving personal calls as well – those could be diverted to my mobile number if necessary or we simply left a voicemail message saying we weren’t available for a period of time.
• After hearing a professional speaker talk about the use of his mobile (cell) phone I stopped giving out my mobile number to anyone who isn’t family or a close friend and diverted my business line to my mobile phone only when necessary.  This meant that my business didn’t have to follow me wherever I went.  And because 98% of my work is carried out in my own office (I rarely do on site work these days) it’s not necessary for people to call me on my mobile phone but I recognise this might not be a suitable step for all business owner/operators.
• I have an email address that is used specifically for job requests for clients and this is automatically forwarded to one or more team members to handle when I’m away from my office for periods of time.
• I have an emergency phone list of clients and contacts stuck on the wall by my computer so that if my husband or another family member have to call anyone on my behalf, they don’t have to go hunting for that information. The sheet is updated periodically.
• I also have a simple email list set up so I can email all my clients at once notifying them of unavailable time coming up so I can organise backup support for them in my absence.  Planned trips usually mean 1-2 month’s notice to my clients but of course, in emergencies, it’s usually at short notice – but at least they’re not left in the dark and they’re given a contact name of a team member to look after them.
• I’ve also developed more than one income stream through my business so I’m not wholly dependent on client work to financially support my needs. Which means I could realistically have a bit of time off without worrying too much.  Mind you, it is important to plan and put away funds when you know you are going to take leave but if something unplanned came up, finances won’t necessarily be at the top of the list in your mind.

If you are planning leave timing it across two months, i.e. a week or two at the end of one month and a week or two at the beginning of another will allow you opportunity to still bring something in for each month.  I’ve done this in the past, but of course, when unexpected things come up, you cannot plan the timing.

These are just some simple things I’ve done to ease the ‘load’ of what needs to be actioned whenever I have to be absent from my business for a period of time.  What about you? What ‘emergency’ systems have you put in place?

systems, planning, emergencies, taking leave, planned leave

Tags: Business Operations, Self-employed, Work From Home by Kathie Thomas
2 Comments »