James Caan's Top Tips for success

1. Make the most of technology

Small businesses must embrace technology. Using techniques such as e-mail newsletters and social media are forms of communication that can provide fast responses to your clients needs. However, don't forget that face to face meetings build trust between you and your client, your customers and your colleagues.

2. Market your business to the right people

Know who your target customers are and how to reach them. Avoid spending money trying to reach as broad a market as possible, when a smaller budget on targeting people who are actually likely to buy would reap far more rewards.

3. Manage Expectations

Retaining clients or customers is hugely important to the success of any business. In order to build loyalty you need to manage their expectations. Remember, it's always better to under-promise and over-deliver than over-promise and fall short of your commitments.

4. Plan Ahead

Remember to keep good cash reserves that will see you through at least 2-3 months of overheads, so you are prepared for the bad times as well as good. As a small business, you should use the internet to do a competitor analysis across your industry. Planning ahead and analysing the shape of the economy and the market will give you the opportunity to stay ahead of the competition.

5. Manage your finances

To keep control of your cash flow, have your bank balance e-mailed to you every work day, comparing each figure with the balance on the same day from the previous year. Keep track of the money going out of the company for resources and services and always make sure you always get the best rates on whatever your purchase or something back for your spend.