Want to evaluate your business? Take the test and get advice tailored to your situation!
The life of a business is not a long quiet river. Between health and energy crises, lockdowns, price increases for raw materials and energy costs, traders along with hotel and restaurant owners face numerous challenges on a daily basis.
In this respect, how can we maintain our direction on strategic objectives while meeting daily constraints? How can we ask the right questions, inform ourselves, and act to improve the situation? And all while taking into account the constraints on time and financial resources?
A quick and useful solution
Auditing one's business activity may be the first step to getting our heads above water and moving forward.
To help traders in this process, hub.brussels has developed a web platform, accessible by computer as well as on smartphone and tablet, which allows you to carry out an activity diagnosis based on 6 different themes. The tool's functionalities are simple and easily accessible.
The tool offers numerous advantages, including:
- it enables you to ask relevant, useful questions;
- it encourages you to take an objective view of everyday life;
- it's accessible online, 24/7;
- it doesn't require much time to obtain quick/rapid advice.
Evaluate the necessity of a permit
Here's a concrete example.
Jean would like to repaint the outside of his restaurant located in Ixelles and install sun blinds. A neighbouring trader tells him that administrative steps, and perhaps even obtaining a permit, are required before starting the work. He inquires with the municipality, which advises him to consult the retail.brussels platform.
Jean connects to the site through his smartphone. He goes to the Home page, and clicks directly on "My Permits". He then answers various questions that appear successively before him. Each question is supported with a brief explanation of the topic. By simply going through the questionnaire, Jean already has information that makes him think more deeply about his project.
After having answered about ten questions on the form, Jean completes his data (which is then anonymised) in order to access useful advice regarding the steps to be taken in terms of urban planning and the environment. He then receives recommendations that give him a clear idea of what he needs to do.
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A clear objective
The objective of the platform is simple: to guide traders so they can optimally perform their activity and sustain it. In order to be as specific as possible, the self-diagnosis is offered on a thematic basis. The questions are therefore adapted to the reality of the field and to the trader's daily life, as well as to the advice which is intended to be as specific as possible.
hub.brussels also aims to make access to information easier. Each tip published on the platform is therefore summarised and linked to relevant external resources in order to allow traders to get more detailed information on the subject. As such, the self-diagnosis becomes a tool which traders can use when they have a question!