Press Release
First endorsed online advice for small business
20 April 2001, London: The Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) announced today it is endorsing Business Europe’s online advice guides as part of a move to distinguish valuable advice from the mass available on the internet. The how to guides covering issues ranging from ‘how to understand sex discrimination legislation’ to ‘how to make your business plan stand out’ are the first examples of business advice on the internet to be approved by SFEDI for their quality and clarity.
Damian Gilbert, CEO of Business Europe, an online resource for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), said:
"Most of the advice on the net for small businesses is just slightly amended general advice aimed at big company managers. It’s great for our SME members that SFEDI are endorsing the focused practical advice we already provide and are working with us to ensure our advice is always relevant."
Tony Robinson, CEO of Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative, said:
"We are delighted to be able to enhance and endorse the hundreds of Business Europe how to guides. This is only the first step in our collaborative venture as we are also working to identify how to guides that contribute towards SFEDI training standards.
""Business Europe members may not realise that they constitute a huge employer learning network where they can develop themselves and their business as they solve the problems of the day. This is really how we, as owner managers, really increase our capability to run a successful, competitive, profit making business. We are far more likely to learn like this than by going on training courses. We get better at running our business by investing a few minutes of our time to get quick answers to pressing problems. We learn something new in order to sort out an issue or solve a problem. Business Europe through its daily service of news, how to guides, communities, expert forums and online tools meets the practical day to day needs of small businesses."
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Notes to editor:
You can browse the Business Europe how to guides at www.businesseurope.com. Endorsed guides are stamped with this brand:
Business Europe was founded in November 1999 by Damian Gilbert, previously a Managing Partner with Advanta Partners, $25-million Internet start-up fund, in New York, and Andrew Neil, Chairman of Press Holdings Ltd. and formerly Editor of The Sunday Times and Executive Chairman of Sky Television. The company provides a comprehensive service of original news analysis, expert advice, online forums and marketplace. Business Europe is funded by Ellerman Investments.
The Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative exists to share best practice to help small firms survive and thrive. It does this by raising the standards of training, advice and development programmes for owner-mangers of small firms and by increasing the professionalism of business support staff and advisers in the UK.
The SFEDI team includes owner-managers of real businesses who apply their knowledge to improve the quality and quantity of start-up support, help established businesses grow and promote self-employment as a positive career choice. SFEDI has developed a number of products for use by the small business sector. Look out for the ‘SFEDI Endorsed Good Practice’ seal.
Find out more about how the SFEDI endorses products and services for small businesses at www.sfediuk.com
Contact Christine Tolson on 0114 209 6269.