Business and Investment sidenote

If your business is regularly represented at trade shows, you need a quality trade show display that will give the right representation of your business. Trade show displays come in a variety of sizes with many different features, so choosing one is not as easy as you might think. Before you buy or order one, be sure to consider these things.

Size of the Display

Make sure the display is going to be the right size, both when packed and when in use. Trade show exhibits need to fit in the size of booth that you regularly use. If you regularly reserve double wide areas, for instance, make sure that the exhibit will cover the space well. On the other hand, if you regularly reserve the smallest area, make sure the display will not overwhelm it.

Also, you need to make sure that it is the right size when folded. Is it portable enough to easily move? If you regularly travel by yourself, will you be able to carry it? Will it be something you can check on the airplane, or will you have to pay extra fees for oversized baggage? Will it fit in the trunk of a small rental car? These considerations will help you narrow down your search.

Versatility

Another consideration to make is whether or not the display is versatile. Can you easily change the photos and text if you need to, or are they mounted permanently? Sometimes the display case has another function, such as serving as a podium or stand. If you are going to spend the money necessary to buy a display, you might as well get as much functionality out of the system as possible.

Set Up

Learn all you can about the setup of the display. Some trade show exhibits are quite difficult to set up, and even require special tools that you may not have on hand. If you are going to need some tools, make sure you bring them with you. Also, find out how many people are needed to set up the display. If you need several hands, but regularly travel by yourself, you probably need to consider a different display that is easier to put in place. Finally, find out how much time it will take to set up the display, and make sure that you will be able to give yourself that much time on a regular basis as you are traveling to exhibits.

Portability

Keep in mind that you will be regularly moving with your display case. Find one that is easy to transport. Wheels on the travel case are a great feature. Also, check for handles that will make transport easier. Finally, make sure the weight is not more than you can handle.

Purchasing Options

A final consideration is whether or not you really need to buy a trade show display. Believe it or not, trade show display rental is a very valid option. By partnering with a display booth rental company, you can get a quality display for a fraction of the price.

How does rental work? The rental company provides the display structure and some custom graphics and logos. Everything you need is included, including lights, chairs, when applicable, and display boards. Some set ups even come with television screens or computer monitors that can be used for videos or presentations.

One benefit of renting over purchasing, besides the ability to save money, is the fact that you do not have to replace components that stop working. If a light breaks, not because of your actions, the rental company will replace it. You will eliminate much of the stress that comes with owning your own display and being responsible for maintaining it. Unless you need to own your own display, renting is an economical and practical option.

Think of the last time you were on the midway at a state fair. Every booth was brightly colored, full of interesting things to see, do, and win. Hawkers yelled: “Step right up!”, “Three tries for a dollar!”, “Win a stuffed bunny for the lovely lady!” Lights flashed, kids ran around, and everyone seemed to be talking at once.

A trade show is like the midway at the state fair.

There may not be quite so many stuffed bunnies at a business trade show, but the level of noise and distraction is just about the same. There are lots of other businesses competing for your customers’ attention, all with product demonstrations, service information, and free giveaways. On top of that, there may be speakers, new technologies to play with, raffles, food booths, and networking opportunities.

How do you make sure that your company doesn’t get lost or overlooked in all the noise and commotion?

And how can you make sure that your (not-small) investment of time and money will pay off for your company? That you won’t end up sitting alone in your booth for hours, wishing that someone would stop in and talk to you?

The answer is in the pre-show preparation.

If you’re setting up a display at a trade show, you have to do more than just pay for a booth space, put on a nice outfit that morning, and walk in the door for your company to get real results. You have to think about how you’ll cut through all the “noise” to get in touch with your target audience.

What do you have to do to prepare?

1. Create a strategy. Saying “I want to go to this trade show and get customers” is fine, but that’s every vendor’s goal. You need to create a real, measurable goal for the show before you even sign up.

Ask yourself things like: Why am I here? Am I promoting a particular product or new service? Am I trying to grow into a particular target market? How many people do I want to connect with? What types of people do I want to talk to?

Then, check the show you’re thinking of against these goals. You’ll want to make sure that enough people will be there, that they’re in your target audience, and that you have a reasonable expectation of getting a good return on your investment.

2. Determine the one (or two) things you really need to tell people about. The people you meet at the trade show will be distracted. They’ll be tired (or soon-to-be tired). They may be far from home. Their feet will probably hurt, and their arms will be full of promotional trinkets, brochures, and paper they’re planning to recycle just as soon as they can find a bin.

These are definitely not ideal conditions under which to meet new prospects. Don’t freak them out further by trying to tell them everything you can do for them and every detail of your offer.

Decide before the show what might be most appealing to the show’s attendees?you should be able to get demographic information about them from the show’s organizers when you sign up. Then plan your strategy and marketing materials for the show around promoting that one aspect of your offerings.

3. Set the stage for follow-up. You probably won’t make a big-ticket sale at a trade show. You’ll be lucky to make a small-ticket sale unless you’re selling products, but even then, it can be hard to get prospects’ attention long enough for them to pull out their credit cards.

Instead of aiming for an immediate sale, set up a system to get your visitors’ contact information and follow up with them later. This may be as easy as a fishbowl drawing for a prize with a disclaimer that all entrants will be subscribed to your email newsletter. Or you could offer short free consultations to those who sign up. You could also give away an article or report to be emailed to visitors after the show.

Any of these systems is inexpensive, gives you a way to get visitors’ emails and/or phone numbers, and provides you with an excuse to follow up later to talk about your product or service?when your prospect is less distracted and overwhelmed.

4. Consider a promotional item. You may need to give out a promotional item to get trade-show zombie-people into your booth. If you do, then make sure it stands out?that it’s not just another pen or mini candy bar.

Standing out doesn’t mean that an item needs to be expensive. Some of the best and most sought-after items I’ve seen at trade shows have included hand-held paper fans (it can get hot in convention halls), massage lotion to soothe tired feet later that evening, and good-quality bags to hold all the “stuff” people tend to accumulate at these events.

Just make sure that whatever you give away has some value to your booth visitor and makes sense for your business. That way, it will be less likely to be thrown out after the show and more likely to make you memorable.

5. Wrap it all up with your booth design. There will be visual chaos at the show. The lighting will probably be less-than-ideal. So you’ll want to design graphics and signs for your booth that are easy to see, easy to read, not too busy, and that reinforce your brand.

Your first step is to ask the organizers if you need to bring a table and booth structure or if one is provided. If you need to bring one, be sure to source supplies and make delivery arrangements well in advance. If one is supplied, ask about attaching signs, banners, and graphics to the structure. Ask if materials to hang them will be provided and if there are restrictions on attaching stuff to the booth. You don’t want to show up with a roll of duct tape and discover that you’ll be charged a big damage fee if you use it.

Then, plan to print large-format graphics for the booth. You’ll want to include your logo and simple text about your offering. Keep this very simple?most people won’t slow down while walking by, so you won’t have long to catch their attention! You can also consider using photos, but you’ll need very high resolution pictures to get good printing results on large graphics, and that can be expensive. Be sure that your booth graphics match your Visual Vocabulary as well.

Also, consider using freestanding or tabletop easels and printing posters. Get the posters mounted on foam core board and display them around your booth. These are especially effective near the front of the booth for visitors who can’t read text that’s far away.

Decide the marketing materials you’ll bring with you. Again, base this on your goals and the one or two things you need your visitors to know about at this show. Don’t take every piece of collateral you’ve ever created and spread it out on the table, because that will only make visitors uncomfortable.

Don’t forget about decorating the top of your table. Ask the organizers if tablecloths will be provided, and if so, what color they’ll be. If they’re not provided or the color doesn’t compliment your brand, you’ll want to get a tablecloth for your booth. Consider putting a nice vase of fresh flowers on the table top, or a bouquet of balloons to add inexpensive color.

Think about how you’ll display your marketing materials and promotional items. Should you lay them flat? Stand them up in acrylic holders? Fan them out or stack them up? You may want to try several arrangements until you find the one that’s most visually pleasing.

Also, think about how you’re gathering follow-up information?do you need to highlight a fish bowl for business cards or display a stack of response cards? Choosing the right place and way to display these items can really affect your response rate.

Finally, consider how the booth will look throughout the course of the event. As people take marketing materials, pillage your candy bowl, and pick up promotional items, your booth may start looking messy. Straighten it up from time to time to keep it looking professional.

These 5 preparatory steps will help you cut through the craziness and clutter at your next trade show. And, then instead of wishing for visitors, you’ll find that your booth is packed like the “win a bunny” booth on the midway at the fair!

Foreign exchange trading or Forex which is commonly known is where traders from all around the world trades financial instruments such as currency and stocks online.

How does it works?

Say let us take the case of Japan Yen with The US Dollars.You use your Japan Yen to trade for US Dollars and you can earn money thru the arbitraging of the currency.

Who are the parties involved in the Foreign Exchange Markets?

The parties that are involved in the forex markets include huge local banks from different countries,government related investment bodies,large multi-national businesses and financial institutions such as pension funds,private banks and insurance companies.

It works when there are two parties,one party consisting of the the investor and the other is the country where the money is being invested in by the investor.Normally,the trade is done thru a financial intermediaries such as the bank who acts as the broker to enable smooth transaction between the two party. This is just the miniscule of forex.

A forex market trade can be commenced as long as there are at least two or more parties involving in the deal and it takes place worldwide with millions of traders from different countries doing trades.

How Big is the Forex Market?

The foreign exchange market is made up of multiple parties trading in the Forex market large volumes of assets and large amounts of money which may amounts to millions at one time. The parties that participate in the forex market are generally those involving in business involving cash or doing trades of very liquidable assets that you can sell and buy fast.The market therefore acts like a meeting place for them to deal.

The forex market as you have understand is much larger than the stock market in any one country as it involves all the forex traders in the world gathering in one centralised market to do deal.

Even when you are reading this article now,there are traders in the Forex market that are trading and you can say that trading takes place 24 hours daily but do take note that the forex market is done usually during weekdays although there are times that traders may close their deals udring the weekend.

Just imagine the sheer number of traders that amounts to millions dealing with forex and you have an impression on the cash pot in forex

How much is the Forex industry worth?

As of a research and statistic recorded in the late 2004,there are close to two trillion dollars (that is two million million!) was traded on a daily basis.This is an astronomical number for compared to stock markets and think of the number of daily transactions that  takes place.With so much cash flowing in the forex market daily,it is not surprised that people have gave up their daily job to trade daily on forex market as there are so much cash to be earned thru it.

The forex market has been around for more than 20 years and has been done in a brick and mortar manner but with the accessiblity of the computer and the internet,the forex trading continues to grow increasing and has taken to another level as more individual traders and smallers businesses trade online because of the ease and security that allows them to trade

Can I trade Forex online?

You might be surprised that trading Forex online is as easy as just a few clicks away on your mouse and anyone is able to trade as long as you have the basic knowledge of Forex.

The best thing is that opening an online forex account is totally Free.Just recently,there is the article that a Japanese housewife won over 5 million dollars thruout her Forex investing adventure for about 10 years with minimal capital.How did she do that?By trading forex online.

If a housewife can do it,with just a little knowledge,I am sure you cant see why you can’t do it.Now you must be thinking, where to trade forex?

Get A Free Forex Account Now at eForexMarkerplace

It is believed that exhibitions or trade fairs began almost 600 years before the birth of Christ. While no precise record is available, The book of Ezekiel (in the Bible) written in 588 BC, contains many references to merchants trading in a “multitude of the kinds of riches with silver, iron, tin and lead”. Ezekiel also talks about the city of Tyre which was an important center of trade and commerce.

There is also a close connection between fairs and religious celebrations and holy days. The word “feria” comes from the Latin meaning “holy day” and the term is still commonly used to describe what we might otherwise refer to as an exhibition or trade fair.

Today, Trade Shows & exhibitions provide a forum for companies to display and demonstrate their products to potential buyers who have a special interest in buying these products. The compacted time frame and concentrated location of trade shows are cost-effective for exhibiting companies and convenient for buyers.

Since the 1960s, Trade shows and exhibitions are extensively used as prominent part of marketing strategy. Their relative importance is reflected in their promotional expenditures. Larger amounts are spent each year on trade exhibitions than on magazine, radio, and out-door advertising.

The primary role of trade shows in the marketing strategy is that of a selling medium. Depending on the type of product being exhibited, selling activities can involve booking orders or developing leads for future sales. If show regulations permit, they can even involve selling products directly at the exhibit.

Exhibitions provide a natural and nearly perfect platform for the delivery of solutions to the buyers. More and more exhibition organizers are providing learning content, demonstration theaters, and consultative opportunities as important features of their events. More and more exhibiting companies are taking full advantage of these opportunities.

Trade shows also serve as vehicles for advertising and publicity. Exhibits can be very effective three-dimensional ads as well as collection points for names for direct-mail lists. They can also command the attention of the news media, which regularly cover shows in search of stories on new products and new approaches.

Participating companies can also accomplish non promotional marketing objectives at trade shows. Market research data can be collected from show visitors. Competitors’ offerings can be evaluated. And contacts can be made with potential suppliers and sales representatives.

Business-to-business trade shows – exhibitions in the areas of health care, computer products, electronics, advertising specialties, heavy equipment, agriculture, fashions, furniture, and toys -focus on goods and services within an industry or a specialized part of an industry. They are targeted to wholesalers and retailers with the intent of pushing products through the channel of distribution. Most attendees at these shows are actively looking for products and have the authority to buy. Consumer trade shows, like business-to-business expositions, also have an industry focus. They are different that they target the general public and, accordingly, are designed to stimulate end-user demand. The kinds of products exhibited at these open shows include autos, housewares, boats, antiques, and crafts.

Several trade show organizations provide information and assistance to exhibitors and those considering exhibiting. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research is an umbrella organization that represents the entire exhibition and convention field. It sponsors research on the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of trade shows and has a resource center and serves as a referral point for more specialized groups. The International Association of Exhibit Managers is the association of individuals within companies who are responsible for exhibit arrangements. Others, like the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association, concentrate on the organization and promotion of shows for specific industries.

Select your top priority vendors prior to your arrival. All trade shows have websites listing the exhibitors. Research the product offerings of all, and have list of must visit booth numbers. Arrive with your trade show plan in hand. As an attendee on a mission, you will come away with a better understanding of the market.

Trade shows are a great way to meet manufacturers, touch and feel their products first hand, and place orders on the spot. Traveling to trade shows is a significant investment, but you can deduct the cost of your trip from the business. Trade shows are excellent for networking and learning from others in your industry.

Most business owners only visit trade shows within the U.S. If you are interested in placing large orders, look into trade shows overseas. China has become the factory of the world in the past few decades. Trade shows in various parts of China are becoming larger and more popular every year. The Canton Fair is one of the largest trade shows in mainland China with hundreds of thousands of attendees and tens of thousands of exhibitors. It is such a huge show that it has two phases, each one week long.

Manufacturers at Chinese trade shows expect larger orders than exhibitors at U.S. based trade shows. A huge international trade show is an exhilarating experience. It may be your best option to find an inexpensive manufacturer for your products. Be careful about protecting your product. Patent it before you take it to China for manufacturing. Make sure the factory understands that you have a protected product, and they are not permitted to make the same product for any other company. Taking the manufacturing of your product to an inexpensive overseas factory is risky business, so consider it carefully.

Every significant industry has some trade publications targeted manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. They are packed with sales advice, industry trends, business profiles, and advertisements. Many offer business directories that list suppliers and other key players. You’ll find information about industry events such as trade shows and conferences. You can even call the publication and ask for advice over the phone.

A trade show exhibit is a practical tool for expanding product recognition, brand awareness, and reaching new customers. In order for a business to capitalize on the investment and stand out from the masses of other trade show exhibits, it necessary to provide exactly what trade show attendees desire.

There are several things common in trade shows that will assist a business in deciding the main factors that drive people to and from a trade show exhibit. While coming up with a marketing plan for a trade show exhibit, businesses should jump into the shoes of the attendees instead of executing an exhibit that works only for the business. Trade shows are loud, huge, and even exhausting. It is not always easy for a trade show exhibit to get attention.

Keep Your Information Short and Snappy

The enormous scale of trade show exhibits often leads to data overload for trade show attendees. When only given a millisecond to make a point, producing visually attractive information that is short, snappy, and gets to the point can mean getting read versus getting tossed.

If an attendee reads your information, you are more likely to have a positive follow up reaction and may even turn that prospect into a customer.

Give Gifts and Prizes

Who doesn’t love getting a prize? Giveaways are a wonderful way to drive attendees to your trade show exhibit. An enticing giveaway, which will lead attendees to want to learn more about your company, is usually something simple and considerate. For example, a sturdy canvas bag (with your business logo) is a helpful and considerate way for you to assist attendees in carrying around all of the information they collect during the trade show. A small, battery operated fan is a thoughtful gift for tired and hot attendees. A cute toy is a helpful gift for parents lugging around cranky children.

Make sure you brand your giveaway items with your business logo and contact information, especially your website. By branding your giveaways, you strengthen your brand, and you receive free advertising every time attendees use your giveaways.

Prizes always draw a good crowd. Prizes will generate a buzz of excitement and suspense around your trade show exhibit. The opportunity to win a great prize will drive attendees to you and will bring them back at the time of the prize drawing.

Prizes ultimately provide multiple contact opportunities with attendees, including before, during, and after the trade show. During these opportunities, businesses should include product or service selling points. For instance, an e-mail about the trade show exhibit prize before the show can also include information about the products or services showcase during the trade show.

Offer Complimentary Food and Drinks

Trudging around a huge trade show, exhibit to exhibit, can make a person famished. Consider providing attendees with a small complimentary food or drink. Good examples include mini bottles of water or small bags of pretzels (including your logo, of course). Your welcome gift will produce good feelings and possibly even lead attendees to take a moment to stay at your trade show exhibit for a presentation.

Offer Seating

An often overlooked technique for attracting visitors to your trade show exhibit is to offer a place to sit down. It sounds too simple, but providing seating for tired attendees to rest a moment will attract people. Consider offering simple seating like small benches or office chairs, or go bigger and offer larger comfortable chairs or even extravagant sofas.

A seating area gives your booth sales staff a place to sit down and talk business. Having a spot to get away from the crowd for a business discussion with a prospect brings about a relaxed sale.

When you turn on the news or open a newspaper you’re bound to be flooded with stories about financial disaster. From the recent mortgage crisis and stock market dives to small business failures and regular honest people who overextended their credit. Money is tight and everyone is starting to feel it more than ever. Of course, this isn’t news. But this might be. There is at least a partial solution for your business… Trade.

Trade or barter was around long before money. And it worked great in a simple society… If you were a farmer and had grain to spare you could trade it for something you needed, like cloth to make clothing. But as our needs increased, trade became more complicated. That same farmer might want to upgrade from a back breaking hoe to a nice plow but the local smithy has all the grain he needs. What can the farmer do?

This was a problem and money was the solution, easy as 1, 2, 3. Farmer sells grain. Farmer gets cash. Farmer buys plow.

Money might make the world go around but it’s not always as plentiful as we’d like. This is especially true for those who provide goods and services that can in any way be considered a luxury while consumers limit spending on anything but the bare essentials.

This is where trade comes in. And with it, a trade exchange. A trade exchange is a central resource that provides membership to businesses who want to exchange goods or services for other goods or services. The manager of the trade exchange keeps track of trade dollars in the accounts, publicizes what’s available and even helps broker the trading process when needed.

In short, a trade exchange makes it possible for one business to provide goods or services to another and banks the trade dollars for use on whatever available goods or services the business owner wants, now or later. You use your trade dollars for whatever you want. It’s that simple.

Trade is a great medium, especially when money is tight. I’ve only been involved with it for about a year but here are just a few advantages I’ve witnessed first hand:

1) Improved Cash Flow. Imagine never paying accounting or legal fees out of pocket again? Or how about office cleaning or catered lunches? The less you spend out of pocket, the more you have in reserve for when you do need it.

2) Free Business Exposure. The minute I signed up in my local trade group, my small marketing company was put in front of hundreds of other area businesses I never would have reached.

3) Inventory Reduction. This one is best described with a story. One of my friends on the trade network had about $4,500 worth of high end cosmetics on hand. The company decided to rebrand and repackage to update their image. This could have been a disaster, leaving her with an obsolete product as far as boutique owners are concerned, so she traded it all in less than a week. And at full value!

4) Expanded Customer Base. Trade opens a whole new world where someone who might not have the cash to buy what you’re offering certainly has the trade value.

5) Word of Mouth Advertising. Once you get your foot in any door with a bartered item you might be surprised to see just how quickly that client tells a friend about your goods or service. You might even have to take cash (oh no!)

6) Improved Customer Loyalty. Being part of a barter or trade network greatly improves your chances of getting repeat business with someone you might have never had a chance to work with before. Once they know you, there is no reason for them to even consider paying your competitor to do what you do.

Of course trade is not the “end all, be all solution.” You still need to make money. A good barter exchange or trade exchange can expand your market share, offset your expenses and improve your bottom line.

If you would like to benefit from any of these things, it’s worth looking through your local Yellow Pages or a stop at Google. Good luck!

Trading As A Business

Trading in the financial markets, whether it be the Stock Market; the Commodities Market; the Futures Market; the Forex Market; or even the Options Market; is taking big risks on your hard-earned money.

You have to treat trading as a serious business whether you are trading full-time or part-time if you are ever going to succeed and hold on to your profits in the long run.

Yes, you heard me right.  You have to plan and manage it like a brick and mortar business.

There is no other way to succeed in trading or speculations if you are not going to give the due respect that Mr. Market deserves.  If you don’t respect the Market, the market will not give you the reciprocal respect, in terms of taking money out of the markets and hold on to them.

Once you have this proper mindset, we can move on to other important components that make up your trading business.

Trading Plan

The first thing you need to do before you start a business is to have a Business Plan.  In this case, it is called a Trading Plan.

Now, this is the place to set your Goals that you want to achieve.  Be as specific as possible while being not to easily or impossible to achieve.  Set yourself a goal that is challenging to you without it being too big a goal.

Now, with your goal set, you have to break down this goal into smaller components of actions that will lead to achieving your goal eventually.

This is your action plan.  Be detail and realistic.  If you are working full-time and you can’t always look at the market every minute, don’t put an action that requires you to monitor your trading positions every moment.  You get the idea.

Ok, you have set your plans, what next?

Trading System

In order to survive and prosper in the long run trading in the markets, you need to be consistent in your actions in the buying or selling of your market products, stocks as an example.

You will also need a measure of what actions are right and which are mistakes.  Believe me, without such a standardized and formalized measure, you will always think all your actions are right, even when you are losing money!  That’s the default optimistic human nature in control.

What you need can actually be found in a System.  It is normally called a Trading System.  A Trading System consists of Setup, Entry, Exit and Money Management strategies.

A Setup is a definitive set of patterns, ratios or conditions that you are looking out for when trading.

An Entry is the actual point where you are to “enter” into the markets, be it a “Buy” or a “Short Sell”.

An Exit is as the label implies, the actually point or conditions when you should square-off/close your open trading positions.  It could either be a profit-taking exit or a loss cutting exit.

Money Management or more specifically called the Position Sizing strategies defines and answers the question of “how much” to buy or sell in entries or exits.  Contrary to common beliefs, this is actually the most important component of a Trading System.  It can determine whether you can make it your trading career. (more…)

Starting your own business can be a scary prospect. In fact, in this day and age, you might even think of it as crazy, especially if you have a full-time job that you can count on day after day. But there is nothing quite so fulfilling as setting your own hours, building your own brand, and being in charge of your own destiny. If you are excited about such ideas, then maybe you should consider a business for export-import. It could be your ticket to financial freedom! But if you’re going to make a go of it, you should keep these five essentials in mind:

Research what’s selling and what it’s selling for: Check with your country’s embassy in the country where you are hoping to export or import. They should have a good idea about what products are in demand. From here, you can use the available information to help you in the next step, which is:

Locate a reputable supplier: This is perhaps the most important obstacle you will face in setting up shop for a successful export-import business. Having good business partnerships means that you will be in a better position to pass cost savings along to potential customers. Taking this portion of building your own import-export business for granted may spell doom for your company.

Obtain a letter of credit: You will need a form of payment that you can trust. While many business transactions are conducted with reputable payment systems such as Paypal, it is always safer to seek a letter of credit from a financial institution for the transfer of goods and services. A letter of credit is proof that products have been shipped and received in good faith, and that the funds are adequately transferred to the necessary parties.

Look for and show transparency in your business relationship: Transparency, like in a marriage, is a great way to build trust. And while trust is somewhat of an intangible when it comes to any kind of relationship, it is vital to your success. You should both strive to be “see-through” about the way you do business. Back up what you say. Be honest and upfront about every aspect of your business transactions as well as what sells best, and what products to shy away from and you will have a long-term bond of profitability rather than a quick buck that doesn’t last.

Stand by your products: In every export-import business, there comes a time when fulfillment is less than perfect. Whether the product is something tangible, or provided services, make sure you stand behind it. Be willing to put your money where your mouth is and deliver if expectations ever fall short.

An export-import business is one of the best ways to make money in a troubled global economy. Put these essentials to work for you and avoid the doom and gloom!

Your business name can develop to become one of your most valuable assets, through marketing and the development of a relationship between the public and your brand.  This is why it is important to protect your name from misappropriation.  When you start a business you might naturally be aware of the need to clear the company name with companies house, and if you intend to develop an online presence you may also check the availability of domain names for your brand, but too often businesses are not aware of the importance of trade mark registration.

Differences between Company names, Domain names, and Trade Marks

Registration of your company name, and your domain name do not offer the level of protection necessary to prevent other businesses from using your brand names and logos in connection with competing products or services.  Also if someone else has trade mark rights over the name, then your company or domain registrations can be cancelled.  To properly protect your brand it is necessary to search the trade mark registers, and if the name is available to you to register, then apply to secure a trade mark.

Unregistered Trade Marks and Passing Off

Since 1994 unregistered trade marks are not afforded protection under the Trade Marks Act.  So, if you want to stop someone using your unregistered brands, you can only do so through a different type of legal action called ‘passing off’.  This action arises out of the common law, and its success involves proof of damage to your reputation, and confusion by members of the public, among other things.  This type of legal action can be extremely expensive, and is difficult to establish.

It is important therefore to register a trade mark, and to do so before you begin to use a name for your business.  As part of the process you will discover whether someone else has rights over a similar name, allowing you to make a change if necessary, rather than trading with a name that you cannot own, and that you may later be prevented from using.  If the name is available, then it is advisable to register and thereby secure the necessary ownership rights straight away.  If you instead delay registration, waiting to see if your venture succeeds, you may find yourself unable to secure.  This could happen if someone else, in the meantime, registers a trade mark which prevents your registration succeeding.

Protecting the Goodwill in your Brand

So, trade marks are an investment in the future success of your business.  The more established and well known your brand becomes, the more likely others are to piggy back on your brand success.  Goodwill in your business name is built up through substantial investment and marketing, and to avoid wasting this investment it is crucial that you check the availability of the trade mark beforehand.

A proactive strategy for protecting your brand will save business funds in the long run, providing a powerful tool to dissuade imitators and counterfeiters, and to take action to enforce your rights when necessary.