Despite the billions big name brands spend on marketing to new customers every year, the real profit is to be found not in bagging new business but in retaining old business. This makes the statistics that the majority of companies lose half their existing customers every five years all the more frightening. So, rather than chasing after every potential customer who is yet to know about your brand, why not take the time this year to zero in on the ones already on board.

Here are three key steps to retaining business.

Get honest opinions from your customers

While the internet might lead you to believe that people only open their mouths to complain, in fact the opposite is true. The majority of time, if you ask a customer their opinion of your service or product, they will say nice things, regardless of how they really feel. If asked their opinion by an independent third party, however, they are likely to open up in a far more honest manner. Do your market research anonymously, mixing questions on your brand in with questions on other brands. You will be likely to get a much broader, clearer and more honest picture.

Get to know your customers

It is amazing the number of business people who hold only a vague notion of the kind of person at whom their product is aimed. This kind of fuzzy thinking translates to lost revenue and lost custom. Consider not just the spending patterns of your core base but also their lifestyles, the places they live and the outlook they have on life in general. Then, consider strategies based on this information.

Offer discounts to the right people at the right times

The difference between a customer staying and going can often be nothing more than a good offer that appears just before they were about to switch. Does this mean it's all about luck? Not at all. In reality, it is about timing. If you take a proactive interest in the behaviour of your core base, you will be able to time product-releases, discount offers and incentives that will keep them on board for the longest possible term.

These days, the entrepreneur that wishes to launch a new venture can think beyond their native soil when it comes to launching a new venture. With long distance travel becoming easier and quicker by the day and improved communications shrinking the business world, it is a good idea to consider what country would best suit your new business idea.

The World Bank recently released a report listing the best countries in which to start a new business, rating 185 economies across the world in terms of their lack of red tape, taxation and the general straightforwardness of getting a new company up and running. Here are the top three.

1. New Zealand

For the second year running, New Zealand took the top spot, rated as the best country in the world for a new business. As soon as you register your business' name online, you can start applying for tax related account and incorporating the company. Essentially, starting a business is a one day, one step process that costs just NZ$163.55 and comes with no minimum capital requirement.

2. Australia

It seems the English speaking nations of the Southern Hemisphere really do have their ducks in a row when it comes to encouraging new business. The Aussies lowered the registration fee for businesses a few years back (to AUS$426) and it has encouraged a flurry of new business activity down under.

3. Canada

A notable lack of red tape characterises Canadian business practices at all levels, and starting a company is no different. A simple, one step online registration process is all that is needed. In five days time you will have your company number and can begin trading.

4. Singapore

Singapore is a real business hub, with a culture that is very focused on business. One of the most significant parts of the three step process of starting a new company on the island, is making a company seal, which will be used as an ink stamp signature on official documents.

5. Macedonia

This one might surprise you, but in recent years Macedonia has become a really attractive prospect for new business investment. One of the main reasons for this is a general lowering of the obstacles to those looking to launch a company with a low capital requirement and a short online application procedure.

The Wolf of Wall Street hit cinemas back in 2013 and it has divided critics across the globe. Some have called it a disgraceful celebration of corruption and greed, others an unfair attack on the financial sector and other as a modern classic that tackles the subject of greed head on. It also raises the question of how big business is generally depicted on the silver screen. Here are a few of the most famous examples of films that deal with business.

Wall Street

The obvious place to begin and, in many ways, a companion piece of The Wolf of Wall Street, Oliver Stone's 1987 hit takes on stock market corruption and insider trading. Charlie Sheen's financial up and comer's corruption at the hands of Michael Douglas' ruthless investor Gordon Gekko has informed how finance has been portrayed on screen ever since, with the immortal quote "Greed is good" falling into common parlance as the rallying cry for ultra-ambitious business people the world over.

It's a Wonderful Life

A far more positive view of how business people can affect the world around them is offered by Frank Capra in this Christmas time favourite from 1946. Sam Bailey is a small Savings and Loan officer from a small town whose common decency and humanity touches all those around him.

Working Girl

Mike Nichols' 1988 comedy about Melanie Griffith's working class secretary's tough time as she works her way through the ranks at Wall Street should be closely watched by anybody planning a career in finance. By no means an attack on corporatism, it still underlines the importance of watching your back in the corporate environment, particularly when you have a boss like Sigourney Weaver's Kathleen Parker around to steal your ideas and claim them as her own.

Too Big to Fail

Directed by Curtis Hanson, this television film depicts the 2008 financial crisis, in particular looking at the way the American Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson attempts to address the issue as the severity of the breakdown became apparent. It's a sobering look at how arrogance and greed in the place of confidence and ambition can lead severe problems across the business world.

One way to improve your business brain is to feed it. There are tomes and tomes of writing about business that have been penned down the centuries. Regardless of how long you have been in business, being au-fait with the best of these titles will add more weapons to your arsenal.

The Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith (1776)

It's quite incredible to think that the information contained in Smith's famous and highly significant volume is still considered gospel by economists across the globe. It was written back in the days when a British entrepreneur looking to invest in America had a lengthy sea voyage to look forward to. Yet, even today, in the age of Skype, email and the iPhone, Smith's clear vision of good economic practices is cited time and time again by experts and lecturers across the globe.

Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand (1957)

The bible of the neo-conservative movement, Atlast Shrugged is the novel that best encapsulated Rand's provocative, compelling and romantic view of capitalism and capitalists. Business leaders, she argued, are the engine of a healthy society, whose vision, bravery and ambition support and protect the well-being of the masses. Rand was a true rebel of the literary scene of the late 50s. As more and more poets, novelists and journalists called for left-wing revolution, she stood firm in her resistance of collectivism and her belief in the fundamental role of those who create wealth.

Guerrilla Marketing – Jay Conrad Levinson (1984)

Guerrilla Marketing changed the way corporations and companies of every size and shape addressed advertising. Levinson's simple though key argument, that a target market is more likely to respond to an unconventional marketing tactic than one they have seen before, was revolutionary. Suddenly, businesses realised those huge, expensive TV spots that they were pouring half their budget into each year might not be as effective as a creative piece of flyering.

The Greatest Salesman in the World – Og Mandino (1968)

Eleven years after Ayn Rand changed the way people thought about business leaders, Mandino reshaped the concept of the salesman with this seminal work. Salesmen were not, he argued, down-at-heel Willie Lomans or devious snake oil dealers, but decent people that helped people to connect with things that made them happy. It's still a revolutionary thought today.