Business Bytes

It might sound obvious, but negotiating a price for a new business isn't happening enough with first time entrepreneurs.

Lowering the price of the business is one of the key points in making a profitable investment as it is unwise to bo hoodwinked into paying over the odds for a company. Its easy for first time buyers to get carried away an skip the process of challenging the seller's price. it is imperative that entrepreneurs do their own research instead of soley relying on provided projections, as well as erring well on the side of caution when calculating what is affordable.

Just like buying a used car, potential buyers should actively look for problems and use them in order to lower the asking price, enabling the entrepreneur to buy low ans sell high when the time comes.

There has also been speculation that buying an established business could be more profitable than starting up a company from scratch.

The somewhat surprising conclusion of a poll by YouGov found that Scottish want a comfy leather sofa and a good selection of wine in their pubs. Leather sofas weren't specifically mentioned, but thats the image I bring to mind when I think about sofas in a pub.

The survey also found that Scots are more likely than anyone else to require a children's menu, but log fires, beer gardens and locally produced beer was less important to them than in other parts of the UK.

It found the most important qualities in a pub was good food and drink with two thirds of customers' votes. 1% or less thought that wifi, cakes and danish pastries were important, whilst 7% wanted coffe and a range of tea available in pubs.

Other high ranking factors included a friendly landlord and the pub being the centre of the community.

Rooney Anand, head of the Greene King pub chain, which runs about 2,400 outlets in the UK and commissioned the survey, said: "The British pub meets timeless human needs that are simply not fulfilled by other meeting places or groups, like social media networks."