Q I am a 25-year-old entrepreneur who is planning to create an online store selling products aimed at students. I am not sure if I should concentrate on one area, opening a store near a university, or take the plunge and use the Internet to sell as widely as possible. Should I start selling via a normal retail store or start directly online? This is my first time dealing with e-commerce.

A I am not an expert at selling on-line, but after speaking to people who have retail stores and also sell on-line, I believe that if you open a store with stock, then to sell on-line as well costs you very little extra. You could dip your toe into the market by selling on-line first, as you do not have the initial set-up cost of rent or buying premises.

Q I am thinking of moving my office premises to expand my business, but I am concerned about the disruption it will cause. I noticed that you recently relocated your head office - did you have an action plan to minimise any inconvenience to the firm and customers? Should I just bite the bullet and put the business on hold while the move takes place?

A It is important to have a plan of action. We got ourselves a good removal firm and worked closely with them. We chose a weekend to move that suited everyone and closed the office for one day only, that being the Friday. My staff were excellent and got everything packed in one day. All boxes were labelled and the removal people collected them on the Saturday and delivered them to our new offices in one day. Our team also came in on their day off to unpack and, although we were still unpacking on the Monday, our offices were open and taking calls. My advice would be, don't do the move yourself, get in the professionals. Our removal people were excellent, as were my staff, and, because of this, disruption was kept to an absolute minimum.

Q I am quite keen on staff development and training and have dedicated resources to this area for the first time. I am quite concerned though, that the skills I am paying for my employees to gain are portable. How can I prevent paying for training that other employers will get more benefit from?

A It is impossible to prevent people moving on. If you are paying large amounts for staff training and this training is something that will benefit the employee, you could put a clause in their contract of employment. The clause could state that if they move on within a certain time frame that a percentage of the money you have spent on their training is re-payable. You could even ask them to contribute towards training.

Q Do you think it is ethical or wise to do market research via the Internet by advertising a product you are not actually producing? This has been suggested as I pursue information relevant to a product I am trying to patent and for which I am seeking a manufacturer.

A I am not a lawyer, so what I offer is strictly a layman's opinion. Any representation that is false is not ethical and therefore inadvisable. If you wish to do a market study, do so honestly with a survey. Surveys can be a valuable tool.

Q I would like to own my own hair salon. No one takes me seriously because I have bad credit and no money. Many people think it is a joke, but I have thought very hard about owning a salon and it is something that I would like to do. Can you please advise me of ways of raising the money or of gaining a foothold in the industry that can lead to starting my own business?

A Hairdressing is one of those areas where if you are good you can actually open a business anywhere within reason and your clientele will follow you. As for having no money and bad credit, this may well be a difficult hurdle to overcome. Have you thought of perhaps starting up as a mobile hairdresser first and building your client base? This is a cheaper alternative than taking a shop unit. You could then try hard to save some money to show people that you are serious. A lender will always take a more favourable view if you have some money of your own to put into your business.

Q I run a small business with about 20 staff and I have realised that a lot of my employees have been saving up or not taking their holiday allocation. It seems now that they are all booking days off before the end of the year leaving me short-handed. I would love to be able to stop them, but they are entitled to the holiday time. How can I avoid this in the future?

A As you quite rightly say, staff are entitled to take their holidays, but in most contracts of employment it states that holidays may be taken at a mutually convenient time. Most of your staff will know when asking for holidays that it may be leaving you short-handed. You should have a staff meeting and discuss a fair way of allocating holidays, especially over the Christmas period. You will find that most employees want to be fair to their boss and their colleagues

Published: 18/11/2003