Launch press release
United Kingdom
topenterprise.co.uk - The UK’s First, Completely Independent, Premium Resource Online for Smaller Businesses - Launches in March 2004
Release date: 6 March 2004
Ready for launch in March 2004, topenterprise will be the first online business service to provide a truly independent source of premium-quality business knowledge for the owners and managers of the UK’s 3.8 million small businesses.
topenterprise was created as a direct result of extensive research into the UK’s small business sector and the reasons that have caused one and a quarter million smaller enterprises to close down in the past three years. The service will offer a unique, online ‘early warning system’ which identifies the critical shortcomings that cause firms to go out of business and provides solutions tailored to address the key factors for survival and recovery.
The research found that most commercial enterprises do not close for one reason alone and identified a number of ‘killer combinations’ of factors that put a business in the ‘high risk’ category. topenterprise has consequently developed a unique, online Business Survival questionnaire which quantifies the risks for an individual enterprise and offers solutions that enable the business to become more profitable and secure.
The web site will also provide the very latest news stories for and about smaller enterprises, a helpline for impartial business advice and a comprehensive business knowledge centre with up-to-date information on tax, employment, health & safety and a host of UK and EU business regulations. The knowledge centre will also give business owners and managers practical help to price their products and services, win customers and sales, manage finances and get the most out of their IT.
Further research also highlighted that owners and managers are frequently dissatisfied with the range of schemes and services offered to small businesses currently, so topenterprise was designed to address the crucial gaps and to make it easier to find business knowledge specific to their needs. topenterprise will raise the bar in terms of quality and accessibility of business information and advice for enterprise owners and managers in the UK,” states topenterprise’s Managing Director, Francis McInerny
topenterprise has assembled a fully qualified and talented team with special insights into the real world of business, plus extensive knowledge of running small businesses of their own. The team members bring wide experience plus the benefits of their training in sales and marketing, business management, law, finance and IT to ensure that the most comprehensive business service is provided.
“topenterprise presents unbiased information and advice because it is completely independent of government agencies and large institutions that lay down policies for smaller enterprises. The web site is designed as a service that is tailored to the particular needs of individual enterprises, to help owners and managers overcome the immense challenges of running a small business and at a genuinely affordable price”, McInerny adds.
For an annual subscription at the special introductory rate of just £95 (plus VAT) – less than the price of a daily, broadsheet newspaper - members will be able to assess the survival risks of their own enterprises immediately and access exclusive information to help make their businesses more secure, more successful and more rewarding.
For further information, photography or interviews with Francis McInerny, please contact Laurena McKenna on 020 8319 1576 or 07775 620 232 or email info@topenterprise.co.uk
Editors notes
Background
The web site is run by topenterprise uk ltd, a subsidiary of MC Management & Communications Ltd, which was founded by Francis McInerny in 1992. MC Management has delivered solutions in business strategy, marketing, sales and customer service, process and quality improvement, financial management, IT and organisational change.
Clients of MC Management have included smaller businesses in bio-technology, retail and distribution, data management, financial services, transportation and import/export services, plus well-known names such as J Sainsbury, Network Rail, Compaq Computer, Cable & Wireless and Vodafone.
Research
topenterprise uk ltd was formed in 2003 to pursue the results of research by MC Management into the small business sector and to deliver quality solutions across a major part of the UK’s enterprise community.
A survey by MC Management showed that there is long-standing and continuing dissatisfaction among owners and managers of smaller enterprises with the range of schemes and services presented to them. Established smaller enterprises have many disadvantages already and this research identified their aspirations and key concerns.
Business Survival questionnaire
topenterprise’s unique Business Survival questionnaire was de signed as a result of extensive research into the reasons for forced closure of businesses. Rather than looking back at the last three years’ trading accounts and financial ratios, it is forward looking and based on the real causes rather than symptoms.
Enterprises generally go out of business, not from a single cause, but for a combination of reasons. The survival questionnaire has proved to be exceptionally predictive in identifying the ‘killer combinations’ and assessing which businesses are most at risk. The topenterprise online questionnaire has been developed to give immediate feedback, highlighting critical combinations to the owners and managers of smaller enterprises and pointing them to survival solutions relevant to their individual businesses.
Membership
Visitors have free access to the news items including updates about the UK economy and alerts to Internet viruses, plus a selection of business jokes. A visitor can also sample more of the content by registering as a guest and gaining access to IT tips and selected topenterprise features and articles about business survival.
Full members pay an annual subscription - £120 (plus VAT) or the introductory rate of £95 (plus VAT) - and enjoy full access to all the premium content and services on topenterprise: ‘quick wins’ for business and tax tips, business humour, gaffes and quotations, the survival questionnaire, the knowledge centre and the business helpline.