January 2004

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 » Don't get caught out by new email legislation  » From entrepreneur to manager
 

Don't get caught out by new email legislation

Businesses operating websites and/or sending electronic communications to customers should now have complied with a new EU directive, or face falling foul of the law.

From October 2003, opting-in became compulsory for marketing emails, and the use of website cookies is now more stringently regulated.

An EU-wide 'opt-in' approach has been adopted for spam, meaning that businesses will only be permitted to send marketing emails and SMS messages to individuals who have previously consented to the use of their details in this way. Existing customers may be targeted, provided certain conditions are met, although there is still some uncertainty about the precise scope of mailing existing database contacts.

The new directive represents a change of emphasis rather than a change in the substance of data protection obligations, but could have serious consequences for any business not getting up to speed on the new laws.

Businesses need to ensure that they have addressed the changes, both to ensure that their channels to market are compliant, and to ensure that previously valuable customer databases are still useable for future marketing campaigns.



As well as new email marketing laws affecting all who send emails for marketing purposes, website operators also need to tighten up on how they collect and use customer data. Web operators must provide users with 'clear and comprehensive information' about devices such as cookies used to collect their data, including the purpose of any processing.

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From entrepreneur to manager

Entrepreneurs do not always make the best business managers. Anyone who has built up their own business can find it hard to accept that the qualities that helped them build a successful enterprise may not be the skills required to sustain it.

Indeed, the attributes essential for a successful entrepreneur are often very different from those needed to keep a business on a steady path in the long-term.

Entrepreneurs can turn into successful managers but they need to address weaknesses in a systematic manner. For instance, when a business starts up, the founder/owner is likely to make most of the decisions, but as the enterprise grows, other people need to take more and more of the day-to-day decisions and the entrepreneur must learn to let go of much of the detail.

A business of a certain size needs systems and procedures. This can sound bureaucratic, but in the long run they ensure that the business can continue to grow. Accounts, human resources and IT are the most obvious target areas for the implementation of formal systems and owner/founders need to accept this.

Owner/founders will usually need to hire professional managers and adopt a business development role that is more suited to their talents. An alternative is to consider selling out and starting all over again. It's far better to settle for the role of serial entrepreneur than failed business manager.

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 In Brief

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