Intelligent design: Oliver Bonas founder talks Hong Kong, princes and the art of letting go August 17, 2014 After a tough period during the recession, the fashion industry has bounced back with a vengeance. In the last five years, it’s grown by 22 per cent, and is now worth £26bn to our economy, according to figures out earlier this year from the British Fashion Council. Oliver Tress, founder of high street favourite Oliver [...]
How the government can help you set up a business from home August 17, 2014 My parents built a software business from scratch at our home near Chester when I was growing up. My youth was spent surrounded by the early computers and cables of their small firm. Today, all my siblings run their own startups, so I know from close experience what it takes to run a business from [...]
Latis Homes founders Robert Luck and Krishan Pattni talk dream designs and planning nightmares August 10, 2014 Without the regulatory constraints imposed on our housing market, between 1974 and 2008, average house prices would have risen from £79,000 to £147,000, rather than to £226,000. That’s according to a new report by Christian Hilber of the LSE and Wouter Vermeulen of UV University that looks at the impact of supply constraints on house [...]
Gimme 5: Blogs for entrepreneurs August 4, 2014 The Entreprenurial Mind This is the blogging home of Jeff Cornwall, chair of Entrepreneurship at Belmont University. He gives his advice on setting up a business, how to grow, entrepreneurial financing and business ethics. www.theentrepreneurmind.com Copy Hackers The brainchild of seasoned copywriter Joanna Wiebe and skilled website optimiser Lance Jones, Copyhackers provides practical ideas and insight [...]
Fatal attachment: Dotmailer’s Tink Taylor talks automation, dinner parties and kitesurfing August 3, 2014 How long could you survive without email? Estimates of how many are sent globally every year range from 100bn to 200bn. And every year, dotmailer’s founder Tink Taylor gets asked the same thing: is the death of email just around the corner? It’s a question he finds laughable. Recent research by Gigaom found that 86 [...]
Global Innovation Index: Britain’s won a silver medal – even without a Google July 27, 2014 Apart from the risk of shocks from geopolitical crises, the outlook for the economy looks a whole lot brighter than it has for a long time. Friday’s UK GDP figures are the latest in a steady stream of good news, but this doesn’t need to be the only thing to brighten your Monday morning: the [...]
Heaven in a box: Rococo Chocolates’ Chantal Coady talks hurricanes and strong wine July 20, 2014 Luxury chocolatiers weren’t a common sight in 1983 England. Stalwarts like Thorntons and Prestat were around but, save imports from the continent, it was a market waiting to be tapped. And 24- year old Chantal Coady realised this. The founder of Rococo Chocolates was then participating in the Youth Training Scheme, an on-the-job training course [...]
Gimme 5 July 20, 2014 …UPCOMING EVENTS FOR ENTREPRENEURS The Fashion Exchange A day-long event for people starting up in the skincare, beauty and men’s grooming business, with several talks from industry experts. 17 September, 9am – 4pm. £40 BIS, 1 Victoria Street www.enterprisenation.com Marketing Business Surgery A four-hour workshop for businesses in their first 12 months of trading, looking [...]
Sheer satisfaction: Zendesk founder Mikkel Svane on providing better customer service July 13, 2014 Harriet Green talks IPOs, big data and radical taxis with Zendesk’s founder Mikkel Svane. An O2 survey last year found that 70 per cent of people wouldn’t forgive a company for bad customer service. Two thirds also said they’d share their experience with an average of eight friends and family members. Mikkel [...]
The sharing economy and VCs: A marriage made through money July 13, 2014 Hitchhiking once meant a compassionate driver picking up a rain-sodden stranger for nothing more than heartfelt gratitude. Today, its modern equivalent is “ridesharing”. Drivers now list journeys on their smartphones and sell seats in advance to offset the cost of petrol. Passengers book a seat online just like booking a train ticket, except that [...]