The UK’s leading innovation magazine for start-ups, innovators and small businesses Issue 4 September 2014
Be Agile Elephants, Vegetable Ivory and Innovation
Success Through Strategic Planning Why Happiness Should Be Your Business Model
#Learn #Connect #Grow with other #Dreamers #Thinkers #Doers 1
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magazine for students, businesses and those who just want to be THANKS TO more innovative entrepreneurs’ (@ali_golds). ‘Congratulations on a great 1 edition. A lot of interesting stories’ (Ian G.). ALL OUR READERS! st
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‘Innovation – something different that has impact – is both more important and more accessible than ever before’. Scott D. Anthony, 2012
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WHAT’S INSIDE? 6 EDITOR’S LETTER
PEOPLE
8 Creating A Collaborative Co-working Space 17 Jewellery Design, Vegetable Ivory And Skydiving 22 Making Music 28 Looking Forward To Our Second Year In Business
INNOVATION 30 34 36 38
Music And Memories Innovation In Action At Silverstone I Spy... New Ideas: What Can I Do To Get Things Moving?
LEARNING
42 Six Steps To A Creative Frame Of Mind 46 Why Happiness Should Be Your Business Model 50 Success Through Strategic Planning 54 The Importance Of Being More Entrepreneurial 58 If Only I’d Known
DIGITAL
60 Be Agile 62 An Office In The Cloud 64 What’s Your App Really For?
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PLAY
66 All Work And No Play? 67 Once Upon A Time... 68 Take A Break... 69 What If...
GALLERY
70 Introducing Alessandra Chambers
RESOURCES
78 No Problem! 80 Useful Links
Acknowledgments: A big thank you to all our guest contributors, and a special thanks to Pam Murphy, once again, for all her proofreading, valuable support, and advice. Front cover photo: Sculpture, Sacha Sosno. The Elysée Palace Hotel, Nice, France. © Laurence Moracchini 2014. - Whilst the greatest care is taken to ensure that the information in the magazine is correct, neither the publisher nor its editorial contributors can accept liability to any party for loss or damage caused by errors, inaccuracies or omissions. - The opinions expressed in The Crowd ’Zine and affiliated domains are not necessarily the views of The Crowd ’Zine, but those of individual contributors. - No part for this magazine, including the advertisements within it, may be reproduced, in part or in whole, without the express permission of the Editor. - Unless otherwise stated, all content (not including adverts and advertorials) is copyright of The Ideas People 2014.
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HELLO READERS! I can’t quite believe that we are already publishing Issue 4. Our first year with The Crowd ’Zine is flying by – in November, we will be celebrating our first birthday! Our mission is to educate people about innovation, and with articles crowdsourced from start-ups, small businesses and innovation specialists, we are well on our way to fulfilling that mission. Issue 4 is not only packed with inspiring stories about people, their ideas, and what they’re doing with them, but is also brimming with practical tips and advice to help you innovate and grow. We aspire to be an accessible magazine about innovation and small business, and are proud that our content always features a diverse range of entrepreneurs and ventures. In this issue, you can read about the thought and research that has gone into developing a unique user experience at Eastbourne’s co-working space, Cohub, and can find out about a new innovative product range aimed at people with dementia. You will undoubtedly feel motivated after reading about Holly Budge’s vegetable ivory jewellery and anti-poaching campaign, and I am confident that our Learning section will get you thinking more creatively, and reflecting on your strategies for growth. Don’t forget to check out our revised Useful Links section for information about regional business support and funding opportunities available to you. We are grateful for all the support we have received from our fantastic contributors and advertisers, and would like to thank everyone who has helped bring Issue 4 into fruition. Enjoy reading it, and please share with other dreamers, thinkers and doers. Let’s learn, connect and grow! Clare Griffiths Editor P.S. The Issuu software we use is linked to all major social media channels, so feel free to share the magazine with your contacts!
Published by: The Ideas People, theideaspeople.co.uk Editor: Clare Griffiths Creative Director: Laurence Moracchini Ad sales: editor@thecrowdzine.co.uk and 07952 914937 Office: The Ideas People, 179 Seaside, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22 7NP, UK. 6
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people © Avant Commercial 2014
CREATING A COLLABORATIVE CO-WORKING SPACE With Stuart and Laura Lambert, Cohub If you’re in the area, it is definitely worth visiting Eastbourne’s co-working space, Cohub. And if you’re a sole trader or a small company, you could even make it your home! 40 Cohub members have already done just that. And I’m not surprised. There’s something really enticing about their football table, the giant green beanbags, and the spacious balcony housing garden furniture, and most importantly, a barbecue! And let’s not forget the approachable owners – Stuart and Laura Lambert. Clare Griffiths met up with Stuart and Laura recently, to find out a bit more about Cohub, the well-researched layout and design of their co-working space, and their achievements to date. Congratulations on your second birthday! What prompted you to set up Cohub back in 2012? 8
Stuart: Our original idea was to set up a serviced office building in Eastbourne – something which Eastbourne didn’t have at the time – so that small businesses could have their own little office in a professional-looking building. It was whilst we were developing that idea that we stumbled across the idea of co-working, having found out about a place called CoLoft in Santa Monica, USA. It looked like a much better model than everybody going to work in their own little office or ‘cage’. Laura: What also prompted us was that we ran out of space at home. Stuart originally had an office there, but after a while we decided we wanted the room back, for potential children and guests. So, Stuart decided to move into his own rented office. When we started looking for office space, we found that there was hardly anything available – or rather nothing of any real quality,
on Google Campus. We worked there for a couple of hours. We got the feel of how people were moving about. We also went to The Trampery, which is very creative, and more aimed at people in the creative industries. That was very lavishly decorated, and very different to our space. On the wall they had wood from the deck of a galleon that had sunk! It didn’t offer hot-desking facilities either. It was rather a collection of small companies which each occupied an area. It was really quiet, and I think, from that experience, we decided that we didn’t just want to have fixed desks for small companies, but also hot-desks for sole traders. We wanted it to be a little more vibrant, and a bit noisier too!
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and that is when we got onto the idea of developing a co-working space. How did the Santa Monica example inform the layout and design of Cohub? Stuart: We learnt that co-working is definitely about the people, rather than about the space. When planning the layout, it was about designing a space that encouraged people to interact with each other. It was about not making everything easy. So, for example, the easiest thing to make a cup of tea with is one of those instant hot water taps. But then you would go and get your water in a cup, and walk away. With a kettle, you have to wait for the kettle to boil, and there is a chance that there is somebody else waiting for the kettle too, so people start talking. Another example is where we have placed the coat stand. If the coat stand was by the entrance, you would come in and hang up your coat, and go straight to your desk, whereas if it is on the other side of the room, you have to walk past everybody else in the space before you can hang up your coat. It was important to consider little things like this in the design, to increase the chances of people bumping into each other.
Can you describe for me the startup scene in Eastbourne? How does it compare to other towns or cities within Sussex? Stuart: We’re still trying to pop the lid on it, to evaluate what’s going on. It feels that there has been an undercurrent of exciting stuff happening in Eastbourne over the last few years. And we are just trying to bring that to the surface. I imagine it is on a smaller scale than the likes of Brighton; it is a bit more covert. In Eastbourne, there is a higher concentration of people focussing their businesses nationally or globally – more so than in Brighton, where you have a bigger market to sell to. Around here, you have to look beyond the 100,000 people living in the town.
Are there any other places that inspired you with the design and user experience of Cohub? Laura: We visited some places in London. We went to see Central Working, who, at the time, had a café co-working space
Laura: We have talked to lots of people who have made a move from London, 9
them. Just seeing other people working is motivating in itself. There is also less distraction for them – as they are away from the laundry, the washing-up, and TV etc. Co-workers also have the ability to bounce ideas off each other and to collaborate.
In what ways do you engage with the start-up community?
Stuart: There is a whole new company that started up as a result of two people meeting at one of the co-working events we hosted, before we had our own space. Richard and Neil set up The Network Factory. They are a technology company with a national focus, specialising in the growth and support of digital business for SMEs and large businesses.
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wanting to be somewhere a bit cheaper, or a bit more family-friendly, whilst starting up their venture. Lots of people have chosen Eastbourne over Brighton because Eastbourne is much more affordable. And there are a lot of people who have moved from Brighton to Eastbourne. The demographic of Eastbourne is definitely changing. The challenge is finding those people who are working in their spare room at home.
If collaboration is one of the benefits of co-working, what kind of projects have come to fruition thanks to Cohub?
Stuart: Social media plays a big part. We also host regular events, such as the Start-Up Barbecue. The Start-up Barbecue was an excuse to get together anyone who is involved in a start-up. It enabled us to start measuring how much startup activity there is here. If two people had turned up, that would have told us something. As it turned out, 50 people attended, and we spent the evening networking, sharing ideas and problems, and listening to local entrepreneur Dan King. He set up Eastbourne-based Urban Industry, and has grown it from a local shop into a global online retailer. We also host WiredEB events. It was started by some supporters of Cohub who saw that Wired Sussex weren’t hosting many events outside Brighton, and wanted an event for creative practitioners and digital media companies to network. We also run Pick ‘n’ Mix, which is an innovative networking event aimed at small businesses. How does a co-working space benefit sole traders and small businesses? Stuart: Our biggest competitor is the home office. Most of our existing members previously worked from home. The biggest benefit they report is having other people around, even if they don’t interact with 10
Laura: Another example is SpaceBourne. This was an idea of one of our members, who started talking to other people, and then got a group of people together who could make the idea happen (the idea being to put a balloon and a High Definition camera on the edge of nearspace). There are about three or four people working on the technical side of it at the moment. We also have day-to-day things happening. Just the other day, one of our members was having issues with his website, and another member sitting next to him was able to help him fix it. Looking at your original business plan, how has your business model changed over time? Stuart: We have tweaked the pricing and introduced new membership plans. We have had lots of people who would like to use Cohub but either commute somewhere else a few days a week, or are settled in their home office, but would benefit
© Avant Commercial 2014
from somewhere different to work every now and then. We responded to this by introducing an occasional plan and a one-day-a-week plan. All our plans have access at anytime of the day or night; one of the big benefits of Cohub is the flexibility!
was definitely a much more fun place to be, so I ditched the other office! In your two years of being, what is your greatest achievement yet? Stuart: There are two things. The first is seeing a new company created by two people who wouldn’t have necessarily met otherwise. The second achievement is a member securing over £100,000 in funding through another Cohub member they had met here.
Do you have any systems in place to encourage members to give you feedback? Laura: We try to keep it very informal. We are here every week, so people come to talk to us. For a while we had an ideas board, which we are going to re-implement. We try not to be ‘the people who are in charge’, and encourage anyone to change anything they want to change. Our business model needs people to own the space, as we don’t have an Office Manager.
Laura: Something really positive which has come out of what we have done is our members getting to know each other. They don‘t necessarily all work together, but I feel that we have created a social group that now meet up as friends. We have a Cohub birthday party and a Christmas party each year, so everyone can get together. I think it has been really positive for us as well in terms of meeting more people in Eastbourne. I think it has changed us and our social network. For more information about Cohub and how to become a member, please visit: www.cohub.co.uk
Stuart: And that is actually part of the benefit of being here. Everyone knows who we are, and can approach us when they want. At first, I hadn’t envisaged that I would work here full-time. But then I quickly realised that it was easier to work here than in my own office. And it 11
CAKE WITH A CAUSE BRINGS WORTHING TOGETHER By the Let’s Do Business Group team An entrepreneurial social scientist and self-taught baker has recently opened a cake café with a difference, in Worthing.
out of Lauren’s desire to create a positive social impact in Worthing, utilising her skills, knowledge, experience, and passion for baking at the same time.
Lauren Roffey returned to her hometown in 2012 after completing her doctoral research in Norwich, and was faced with deciding what her next move would be.
The café opened its doors on Monday 18th August 2014. Located at 31 Rowlands Road, they sell locally sourced and homebaked goods, but do business a little differently.
Baked – cake with a cause CIC – was born advertorial
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social problems in the town, such as social isolation
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As a Social Enterprise, Baked puts society at the core of their activities and aims to help the local community of Worthing, in particularly the West End of the town, in three ways:
3. Championing local charities, businesses and community projects through the provision of free meals and catering at fundraising events
1. Providing opportunities for young people through full and part-time positions, apprenticeships, workplacements and their very own in-house ‘Raise’ development programme
Lauren turned to the Let’s Do Business Group in October 2013 for help with getting her venture off the ground. Lauren’s application for a Start Up Loan of £9,500 was agreed, enabling her to set the start-up process in motion.
2. Offering a unique programme of events and a welcoming space to help overcome
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Baked currently employ one member of staff and are in the throes of recruiting another three. After whittling down 60 applications to 11, Lauren enlisted her mother Karen Roffey, and they embarked on the second element of their recruitment process, ‘Rise to the Challenge’, which enabled Lauren and her mother to see the applicant’s team work, communication and creativity skills. Not only are Baked providing young people with a job, they will provide them with an opportunity to grow, develop, and have a vital impact on the business. Much more than that, they will have a direct impact on the community around them.
‘The SUL scheme provided the first part of financial support for Baked – giving the business model real credibility and legitimacy in order to attract other sources of finance. The support from the whole of the Let’s Do Business team has been fantastic. Keir Dellar especially has been a really valuable point of contact providing support and advice,’ commented Lauren.
What’s more powerful than cake? A very determined young woman resolute about creating social change for the better through business. Find out more about Baked at www.bakedworthing.co.uk like them on Facebook and follow @bakedworthing You can get in touch with Lauren on 01903 216 343 or lauren@bakedworthing.co.uk
The Government initiative, backed by serial entrepreneur James Caan, gives fledgling businesses access to low cost start-up capital and mentor support to help kickstart new ventures. The Let’s Do Business Group delivers the scheme throughout the South East of England.
If you, like Lauren, have the drive and determination to make your business idea a success, find out how the LDBG group can help you. Visit www.letsstartup.co.uk call 0844 943 2988, or email loans@ldbgroup.co.uk Follow @ldbstartup
After grant funding from West Sussex County Council fell through, Lauren was forced to look at alternative sources of finance. Rather sceptically she launched a crowdfunding campaign and was overwhelmed with the response. ‘We smashed our target of £2,500, raising an amazing £2,695 from 142 backers. That’s 142 people who believe in Baked and who think that what we’re doing here is worth pledging their money for. A huge thank you to every single one of you!’ explained Lauren. advertorial
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Do you have a business idea, but need funding and support to kick-start your business? Access low-cost funding and mentoring with a Start Up Loan from Let’s Do Business. Amy Barker, Monks & Co Clothing
Lucas Meader, YapnCut
The Let’s Do Business Group and their team of mentors have helped to start over 500 businesses since 2012. If you’re based in the south east of England, aged 18 or over and have a business idea that you want to turn into a real success, we want to hear from you!
Call 0844 9432988 loans@ldbgroup.co.uk www.LetsStartup.co.uk Start Up Loans is a government initiative to help young businesses with funding and mentoring.
“The support and mentoring was second-tonone and without a doubt my business wouldn’t be the success it is now without their help. The support and guidance from my mentor was probably more valuable than the loan itself!” Start Up Loans client
DELIVERY PARTNER Start Up Loans
Start Up
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Sonny Symes, DJ and Producer
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JEWELLERY DESIGN, VEGETABLE IVORY AND SKYDIVING With Holly Budge
Your jewellery is not only fantastically bright, bold and innovative, but also made from sustainable sources. How did you come across the vegetable ivory you use in your jewellery range?
intrigued and fascinated by it. A small nut with a big story started to emerge. One of my main motivations to do my Master’s degree in Sustainable Design was to allow myself time to deconstruct and analyse all aspects of my jewellery business, and spend time researching and experimenting with this raw material in much greater depth than a pressured commercial environment would permit. Through my research and experimentation, I am proposing vegetable ivory as a sustainable alternative to elephant ivory, due to its similarity in colour and texture. I am striving to educate conscious buyers about the fight against elephant poaching in Africa, alongside rainforest deforestation in South America, through my sustainable jewellery line. My current
The first time I encountered vegetable ivory was in a small bead shop in Bristol, seven years ago. The vibrant colours and the unique textural appeal caught my eye. I was surprised to discover it was a natural plant material from the Amazon rainforest. I started researching the material, becoming increasingly 17
collection is available online at www. hollybudge.com.
of the reality of the elephant ivory trade, and the third is to promote the once thriving vegetable ivory trade in South America. The exhibition showcases my ‘96 Elephants A Day‘ infographic necklace, displaying 96 elephant representations made from vegetable ivory. The number 96 represents the current daily poaching rate in Africa. The backdrop is a monochromic installation entitled ‘35,040 Elephants A Year’, the annual poaching rate in Africa, and includes four red lightboxes to highlight the hourly death toll.
I recently saw your eye-catching exhibition ‘96 Elephants A Day’. Can you tell us a bit more about this antipoaching campaign, and what motivated you to develop this piece of art? And what do you plan to do next with the exhibition? My ‘96 Elephants A Day’ infographic exhibition presents a physical commentary on the devastating impact of the elephant ivory trade. On average, four elephants an hour, 96 elephants a day, 35,040 elephants a year are being poached for their ivory in Africa. At this rate, the elephant will be extinct by 2025. The exhibition offers a trio of themes. The first demonstrates an alternative material to elephant ivory. The second is to raise public awareness
My primary target audience is China, the world’s largest ivory-consuming country. Through my exhibition, I seek to educate and inform communities in major international cities of the harsh reality of the ivory trade. My goal is to showcase the exhibition this year in London, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I plan to travel 18
Is there any way in which our readers can support your ‘96 Elephants A Day’ campaign? Definitely! There are several ways you can get involved and show your support: Sign my online petition ‘Say NO to Ivory’, targeting the Chinese government, available on my website, www.96elephantsaday.com Like and share my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/96elephantsaday Follow my campaign on Twitter at www. twitter.com/96elephantsaday Host this exhibition! This exhibition reaches out to a vast global audience, gaining attention and inspiring muchneeded conversation. It is a versatile model that can be installed in many
spaces independent of culture and language. For example, it can be customised for schools to offer an interactive workshop experience for all ages, or for organisations, as an exhibition, conference backdrop, or a seminar.
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to China to present it in person, and will document the reactions, comments and feedback on film. I am about to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding to help me achieve my goal.
You have accomplished some amazing challenges, such as being the first woman to skydive Everest, and riding semi-wild horses across Mongolia! What motivates you to take part in such challenges? And is there anyone in particular who inspires you to go on these adventures? I love the outdoors and the adventures that go with it. Being an adventurer has allowed me to travel to some of the world’s remotest and most inhospitable places. I have met some hugely inspiring individuals on the way, and I really love the unknown element of adventure and travel, pushing myself as hard as I can! I support various charities by raising
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project! Can you share with us what you are currently working on?
funds through my adventures, including £70,000 for Mercy Corps. The Skydive Everest expedition raised $300,000 for Global Angels, to help the children of the Himalayas. It is very rewarding to visit the places, the people and the projects that I have helped raise money for. I also get a real buzz from sharing my experiences, of both adventure and business, through public speaking – emphasizing how important it is to set goals in life, seize opportunities and overcome challenges.
I am dedicating most of my time to my ‘96 Elephants A Day’ campaign right now. I feel extremely passionate and driven to take this as far as I can! I have another year working on my Master’s, during which time I plan to travel to Africa to work on an anti-poaching project, gaining first-hand experience of working with elephants and learning more about the ivory trade. I also plan to travel to South America, to continue experimenting with vegetable ivory, and to learn more about the vegetable ivory trade and traditional craft techniques. What personal and business goals would you like to accomplish over the next 12 to 24 months? My lifelong dream is to stand on the top of the world and climb Mount Everest, which I hope to do next year. I climbed Cho-Oyu (8201m) last year, from Tibet, and got a taste for climbing 8000m peaks in the Himalayas! It was a gruelling test of endurance, but an amazing experience! I plan to climb other big mountains and attempt to fly my parachute back down from the
Recently, you have been studying, exhibiting your artwork, and growing your jewellery business. Whilst you must be very busy, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were developing a new 20
summit, continuing to raise money for charity! As an adventurer, I am always on the lookout for new challenges. My business goal is to continue working on and refining my sustainable and ethical jewellery business model, to raise awareness of critical conservation issues, to educate and inform, to seed change and to start much needed conversations. I am currently working on a new jewellery collection, which is based around my ‘96 Elephants A Day’ campaign.
adventures, please visit the following webpages: www.hollybudge.com www.96elephantsaday.com www.hollybudgeadventures.com
Finally, what top tips can you give our readers who aspire to realise their vision, and turn their ideas into reality? Work hard to be knowledgeable on your subject, and acquire the right skills. Be professional. Believe in yourself and your idea 100%. Network with anyone and everyone, you never know who you may be talking to and when golden opportunities may arise! I always carry business cards on me. Be ambitious, and don’t listen to the naysayers! To see Holly’s jewellery range, to find out more about her ‘96 Elephants A Day’ campaign, and to read about her 21
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MAKING MUSIC
With Brian Canning, The Sea Kings
Making music is very much a story of innovation – from the moment the idea for a melody emerges, to the point when the band plays the final rendition of that once dreamtup tune. And that’s only half of it. There’s also the commercial side of the process to manage. The journey into the music industry is undoubtedly a challenging one to navigate – particularly with the rise of digital technology, the growing role of social media, and the necessity to protect intellectual property and police illegal downloads. In many ways, a band faces similar obstacles to those encountered by business start-ups. With The Sea King’s first album ‘Woke In The Devil’s Arms’ now out in the marketplace, Clare Griffiths caught up with the band’s singer/songwriter, Brian Canning, to find out more about his band’s musical venture so far.
downloading, people don’t want to pay for it – they think they can just rip it off the internet. And that has an impact on indie artists and small artists who really are in need of some money to support them. If you had to describe The Sea Kings in three words, what would they be? That is hard. I guess it depends how I am feeling. Pertinacious, is one of the ways I am feeling just now, invested, and sanguine. That is really how we are feeling at the moment. Our intention is to stick with this, and continue plugging what we do. We have put a lot of money into it. We have invested a lot – not just money, but time. We are optimistic about what can happen, and are very positive about what we have achieved. We have received really good feedback about our album. There are four of you in The Sea Kings, so how do you approach the songwriting process? I come up with the lyrics and melody. It is normally something very basic – usually an acoustic guitar and some vocals. We then go into the studio and the other members take it from there, adding their own touches. They are very much musicians in that respect, and I am not. So they all come up with ideas for how the song should be – the structure and the arrangement. We have learnt that it has to be a democratic process. We always take a vote on whether to continue with a song or not. If the vote is three to one against, then we have to move on. Not all songs work. I write loads – probably hundreds of songs – but the guys won’t
Do you see any parallels between making music and being in business? Definitely. The thing is, music is a business. You don’t want to think of it that way, because it’s art, but ultimately you do need to make it work as a business. And that is the bottom line. You have to make the numbers stack up. Increasingly people don’t see music as having any value, and so in lots of cases, with Spotify, YouTube and illegal 22
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Do you write the song down, note for note, word for word?
always take to them, so I just have to accept that quality-control element and be thick-skinned about it. Ultimately I trust them.
No. What I will do is come up with the idea, and sing that out to my iPhone, with my guitar. I will then email the idea to the guys, so that they have a wee inkling of what is coming to the studio. That way, we don’t get to the studio and waste time. Once we are at the studio, we will try to map out the song.
How do you come up with ideas for your songs? Normally, I just read a lot. I read a lot of fiction, facts, and keep abreast of current affairs. We use snippets of news – news stories that are really fascinating. If I come across something interesting, I will quickly note it down on my iPad, along with some song ideas, and when I get a bit of time, I will go back to my notes and think, ‘OK, why did I think that was a good idea for a song?’. I will then try and come at it from a different angle, trying not to make it too obvious what it is about.
Whilst I was writing these interview questions, I was listening to your new single ‘Bible John’. It’s fantastic! Can you tell me a bit more about that song? The song is quite controversial. It was a big decision that we had to take as a band, because Bible John was a serial killer in Glasgow. No one knows who he is. The point I was trying to make was that the media made up this name – 24
because as a band you don’t want to get sidetracked too much, dealing with ticket sales and finding venues etc. Someone needs to take on that role – someone who actually believes in you, and who will sell you. You also need a record label. One of our band members, Ralph, has actually set up his own record label, which has been really helpful, as promoters and radio DJs notice that. Marketing also plays a key role, as you need to start creating your audience – not just in your local area, but across the country. If you can do that, then you can start thinking about making a reasonable living out of your music.
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Bible John – which got people scared. It probably impacted on the actual search for the guy, because everybody was suspicious of everyone around them, and not focusing on what they should have been looking for. As the killer has never been found, and has gone unpunished, we had to make a decision as to whether or not we wanted to release the song. But we talked about it, and thought about crime writers who often use a real-life story, and then take that as a kind of starting point, creating fiction around it. In a sense, we have actually done the same thing. We hope that is not going to impact on airplay, although it has already been banned from being played prewatershed on XFM. Maybe that is a good thing?
Digital distribution is probably the biggest thing. People tend to buy music online now. And it is relatively easy to get a digital distribution deal because there are so many ways to buy online. There are loads of digital distributors who will snap off your hand to take your music on and sell it. Physical distribution, on the other hand, is a different matter. These days, physical distributors need to know that you are going to sell your records before they will stock them. If you are a new band, you don’t necessarily have a following across the country, so you need to build up your fan base before a physical distributor will work with you.
Apart from the songwriting, what else is involved in producing and distributing a single? There’s quite a lot to do unfortunately! The first thing is you need to find a good studio, with a great sound engineer. Hopefully the sound engineer will also be a bit of a producer as well. The quality of the recording equipment has to be very, very good as well. Then, there’s the question of management. You need someone to manage the whole process,
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What role does social media play in your marketing and distribution strategies?
Start-ups and businesses can learn a lot from the creative process of producing and selling new music. Drawing from your experience with The Sea Kings, do you have any advice for people starting new projects?
It’s massive. If anyone is wishing to set up any kind of business these days, they really need to get a handle on Twitter. Whilst it’s difficult and time-consuming, it’s really important. Recently we got a retweet from Ian Rankin, the crime novelist. I had to switch my phone off because of the amount of retweets and followers we gained from just this one of his retweets! The reason he retweeted us was we knew that he had written about Bible John in one of his books, so we tweeted him a link to our video, saying he might find it interesting. He did, and he retweeted it to his 70,000 followers! So, with Twitter, you have to find those like-minded people who have made it who you think will like your stuff. You never know who will start championing your work.
I guess it’s about finding your own voice, and finding your niche in the marketplace. Music, as an example, is absolutely saturated with very, very similar acts, all aiming at the high-end of the market – the high sales, X-Factor style music. But if you put yourself in that marketplace you are just a small fish in a massive ocean. Standing out from the crowd is going to be very, very difficult. So, you need to find your niche, and work out what makes you different, and then promote that. I believe there is room out there for everyone, provided you work on what makes you different. Finally, is there any way in which our readers can support The Sea Kings? Buy the album! And come and see us, if we are in your area. We’re on Twitter and Facebook, so feel free to tweet us and follow us. We need people to hear us, and that is one way of getting to our audience – through social media. If you can’t buy the album or come and see us, then follow us on social media. For news and updates about The Sea Kings, please visit their website: www.theseakings.com and follow them at @seakingsmusic
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Calling all illustrators and photographers! If you fancy seeing your work online, get in touch! editor@thecrowdzine.co.uk
LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR SECOND YEAR IN BUSINESS By Matej Navara, Greedy Gull Studios Now that we have completed our first year of trading as Greedy Gull Studios, and successfully finished our placement year as a pioneering start-up, we have certainly grown, and feel very different to when we first started our venture one year ago. Soon we will enter the final year of our Computer Science studies, and will be in the interesting position of studying whilst running the studio! However, this will actually play to our advantage, as we will be able to develop a whole range of transferable skills – between our app development and academic progression – which will inspire new ideas and techniques, not to mention the chance to work closer with the University of Brighton for future projects. We recently were very fortunate to apply for and receive funding for an Enterprise Growth Grant from the university, which we intend to invest into more ambitious projects, as well as finally pursuing a more public image to promote our studio. Again, this is something the university environment is well-suited for, with so many talented students of various disciplines to work with, and it’s a great
place to spread the word about who we are. In particular, we will look for artistic individuals to bring some unique artwork and style to our titles, something which is not quite the forté of four technicallyminded Computer Science students. After a rather quiet summer holiday period, we will be moving into our new abode in September, with more space for the Gulls to spread their wings, as we crack on with our developments. We will be updating The Super Awesome Line Game, based on the feedback received from the players, and the release of the updated version of our debut title should coincide with a big social media promotion to raise the public profile of our studio. With the new revamped social media platforms, we hope to involve users in our development more, and encourage them to share their thoughts. We love to hear what the players want, and any feedback is always very much appreciated. In this coming year, we want to shift focus back to our in-house passion projects, and create something that we will all be proud of. Balancing
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newly revamped social media outlets! Website: www.greedygull.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.co.uk/greedygullstudios Twitter: @greedygull
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our workload between the studio and university will be key. However, I believe it will drive us to work harder while bringing in new innovative ideas. This does not mean we won’t accept contractual projects, but with such a small team, we don’t want to stretch ourselves too thin with what is already looking like a very big year ahead! As mentioned in the last issue of The Crowd ’Zine, our work with external clients has been very beneficial and interesting, helping us become more economically viable while giving us the opportunity to experience different working styles. There is a lot we have learnt over the past year which we will now bring into our second year of trading, hopefully enabling us to achieve some exciting progress for the Greedy Gulls! For more updates from the Greedy Gulls, follow the latest news and developments on our official website, as well as the
innovation MUSIC AND MEMORIES With Chloe Meineck
Chloe Meineck is an independent designer, maker and inventor, based in Bristol at Pervasive Media Studio. Her work sits in between the worlds of technology, craft, design, and art. From January 2013 to January 2014, Chloe was on two residencies to develop her work: firstly at the Craft Council’s Craft and Technology Residency, based in Falmouth, with the Academy for Innovation and Research, and more recently, as a designer in residence at the Design Museum, where she developed prototypes under the theme ‘Identity’, working specifically with families and carers of people with dementia. The Crowd ’Zine team caught up with Chloe recently, to find out more about her award-winning innovation aimed at people with dementia. 30
What is the product you are currently working on? My first product to bring to market is a music memory box aimed at people with dementia. It supports their sense of identity, and helps them reminisce effectively, whilst involving their families and carers. I intend to sell the boxes to care homes, as well as families. The product is multisensory, and uses low-cost existing technology (such as Radio Frequency Identification Tags and Raspberry Pi Computers). I have already received significant interest and support from the technology, design and care fields, and won the Santander University of Brighton Enterprise Awards in 2013. More recently, before I moved to Bristol, I was one of five finalists in Brighton’s Young Start-Up Talent 2014.
At university I took part in the Design for the Future competition, run by Philippa Aldrich of the Future Perfect Company. The competition aims to encourage student designers to think about the challenges and issues affecting our ageing population, and to create innovative and attractive designs which allow older people to continue to live enjoyable, active and independent lives. For the competition, I chose to research into dementia and music, as I have had personal experience of a loved one with dementia, and know this is an increasingly pressing issue. I took inspiration and passion from an early experience in my life, when I was visiting my great gran in her care home. At the time, I didn’t understand how she couldn’t remember her family, but could
remember around 50 different songs on the piano, as well as all the lyrics. She was clearly comforted by the stories and events that were sparked off by each song.
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How did you come up with the idea? How has the idea developed over time?
Using this experience, I started collecting PhD research and journal articles that explained why familiar music, in particular, would help people with dementia. Then I started to make the first physical object that linked objects and music together. The first prototype looked more like a toy than a product. The first version of the Music Memory Box was a bespoke box I designed and made with a family member. It was made from London plane wood, and housed small trinkets I made from ceramic, silver, metals and paper. The product has now gone through four iterations. Each time, I have tested the product with people with dementia, as well as with their families and carers,
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to develop the idea further. Now, the product itself is a kit, so people can add their own music and objects to the system.
which aims to research how technology can be used to improve well-being in a care setting. And I continue to freelance as a designer, teach, talk and run workshops at universities, conferences and events to sustain myself.
What funding have you accessed for researching and developing your product?
Commercialising a product can be extremely time-consuming, costly and somewhat unpredictable! What have been the biggest challenges you have faced and overcome so far?
The first funding I accessed was from the Craft and Technology residency, followed by the Designer in Residence scheme, as they give a bursary at the end of the project. I then won some prize money, from the Santander University of Brighton Enterprise Awards (for the Most Innovative Product category), and off the back of this, I applied for an Enterprise Growth Grant to fund a stand-alone website to showcase the product. I am now in the process of talking to various funding bodies and potential investors. I have just been successful in obtaining funding from Unltd to help bring the Music Memory Box to market. I am also a design consultant on a two-year University of Bristol research project,
It certainly isn’t easy to get a product to market. I think the motivation to carry on – even when you have no money, and are struggling to pay the rent – is the main challenge which I have overcome. I sometimes think it would be so easy to pack it in and get a stable design job. However, I know that is not true – it is a struggle getting any job in the design area, applying for a junior designer job is ridiculously competitive. Also, I love being my own boss! Every day, I am getting more and more passionate about my product, more determined, and more
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What has surprised you most whilst developing the Music Memory Box?
confident, as I know it can help people. The first session I ran in a day centre was pretty scary. Having never run a session before, I was suddenly faced with thirty people, most of them with some sort of dementia. They all had very strong opinions, some people were shouting, some people were looking upset and some people were looking completely lost. Somehow, I was expected to do something – to unite and bring joy to all these people. Fortunately, music does this so easily. I tested the Music Memory Box with them and they loved it! I learnt so much about dementia from those sessions – about both the dark side and the light side of dementia.
The public’s reaction to the box has surprised me most. People just seem to understand it really quickly. It is so much easier to explain the idea when the box is in front of you. I have also been surprised with how enthusiastic people are. Even though some people I meet can’t help me directly with the project, they have provided me with lists of people to speak to, and friends who might be interested in it and become the number one fans of the product. What do you hope to achieve over the next 12 months?
When starting out, I thought it would take me possibly a year to get the product up and ready. It is only when I started writing the business plan that I realised how much work there is to do – especially if you are a ‘one-woman-band’ like me. Also, setting up your first product is harder if it’s electronic, as you need larger funds to get the electronics tested, working and certified.
Within the next 12 months, I hope to be selling my first product, and have others in the pipeline. If you would like to find out more about Chloe’s products, please visit her website at www.chloemeineck.co.uk and follow her on @ChloeMeineck 33
© Malcom Tam 2014
INNOVATION IN ACTION AT SILVERSTONE By Claire Potter and James Hakner Experiential learning is a great way to develop the skills and mindset needed for innovating, and that is certainly the case with a group of engineering students from the University of Sussex. In July 2014, they tested their self-designed and selfbuilt racing car against dozens of others from around the world at Silverstone, whilst taking part in the final of the global Formula Student competition. This annual international competition, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, challenges teams of university students to design, build and race their own car at the famous racetrack.
and business and media students, all from the University of Sussex. The competition was tough, with the team being judged on a wide range of criteria, from design to performance. Mobil 1 Team Sussex 2014 scored particularly highly for the car’s acceleration and for the quality of their business presentation in front of a panel of industry expert judges. The team were accompanied at Silverstone by Lynda Whitby-Eastwood, a University of Sussex staff member who, earlier this year, abseiled down Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower to raise funds for the students. The Head of the School of Engineering and Informatics, Professor Diane Mynors, and the ViceChancellor, Professor Michael Farthing, also made the journey to the iconic Northamptonshire circuit to cheer on the team.
Sussex’s team, named Mobil 1 Team Sussex after its main sponsor, finished in the top third of nearly 200 entries from universities worldwide, including a number of specialist engineering and technology institutions. Their 29-strong student team was made up of engineers, as well as a number of product designers 34
For more information about the Mobil 1 Team Sussex, visit their Facebook page or
follow the team on Twitter @Mobil1Sussex
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The team spent the 2013–2014 academic year building and fine-tuning their vehicle, before launching it at a special event on campus in June. Plans are already afoot for the next wave of University of Sussex designers and engineers to take up the baton for next year’s competition.
The team is welcoming sponsorship for their 2015 entry, so if you are interested in sponsoring next year’s Mobil 1 Team Sussex and being part of the innovative Silverstone action, please get in touch with them directly via their Facebook page.
© Malcom Tam 2014
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innovation
I SPY...
By The Crowd ’Zine team In each issue, The Crowd ’Zine team showcases an innovative social enterprise – based in the UK or abroad – which creates far-reaching social impact. For Issue 4, The Crowd ’Zine team looks down the coast to Southampton to shout out about the lingerie brand ‘Who Made Your Pants?’. Founded in 2008 by human rights activist Becky John, Who Made Your Pants? – in their words – are all about ‘amazing pants and amazing women’. Using end-ofseason offcuts from high street brands, thereby saving tons of material going to landfill, the Who Made Your Pants? women-only team produces women’s and men’s pants of varying sizes and styles.
The fashion industry is notorious for exploiting its garment workers. Worldwide, factory workers are often denied their basic human rights, and with the repression of trade unions the workers struggle to challenge the appalling working conditions they face every day. However, one factory in Southampton is not guilty of this, and that is the Who Made Your Pants? factory.
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The social enterprise, formed as a worker co-operative, predominantly employs refugees from Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia. Whilst the workers have diverse backgrounds and different levels of work experience, they have all faced social exclusion during their time in the UK. In response to this, Who Made Your Pants? aims to promote social inclusion, by offering the female refugees employment in a safe and fun working environment. Each worker – whatever their position within the social enterprise – starts off as a Production and Technically Skilled (PANTS) Worker, and from there,
are empowered to voice their opinion on how the co-operative should be and benefit from a fantastic working environment, it is no surprise that there is a waiting list of women who want to work at the Southampton factory.
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depending on where their skills and interests lie, are offered further support and training either to continue working in production, or to take up positions in marketing and finance. All profits generated by Who Made Your Pants? are reinvested in the social enterprise, contributing to rent, salaries, materials, production costs, training and support services. The co-operative currently has ten paid workers and one volunteer, who are overseen by a Management Committee. All workers are members of the co-operative, which means that they have a voice in how the organisation should run, and what it should do. In the future, when sufficient profits are being generated, all members of Who Made Your Pants? will be able to share a portion of those profits, as in other co-operatives. As all workers
Every pair of pants helps create jobs for women, so to find out more about Who Made Your Pants?, and to get your hands on your own pair, please visit: whomadeyourpants.co.uk and follow @whomadeyour Hopefully you too believe that pants can change the world!
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NEW IDEAS: WHAT CAN I DO TO GET THINGS MOVING? By clare Griffiths, The Ideas People
development is commonly associated with innovation; however, it is not the only area where a business can innovate. It is worth exploring alternative areas for innovation. For example, your company could introduce new services and user experiences, processes, business models and communication strategies. Your enterprise could also experiment with the ways in which it engages with stakeholders or uses technology. Don’t innovate for the sake of it There is no point in introducing new and different ways of doing things, if there is no demand for it. Therefore, it is essential that you generate ideas which solve real problems – experienced by your customers, employees, or your organisation as a whole. Ask yourself and other relevant stakeholders, ‘What problems need solving?’. Listen to them, and where appropriate, try and address their needs or annoyances. Whatever your innovation, it is important you create value for whomever is on the receiving end of that innovation.
Put simply, innovation is all about doing something different with impact. It is a cycle made up of two processes – the process of ideas exploration, and the process of ideas implementation. Every innovation, therefore, must start with at least one idea. Although it is widely recognised that ‘new ideas and new ways of doing things are the main ingredients in sustained business success’ (Adair, 2009, p. 1), it can often be difficult to generate fresh ideas. Therefore, the aim of this article is to offer support to readers who are at the beginning of their innovation journey, and who are in pursuit of new ideas – either within a new venture, or an established enterprise.
You don’t need to be radical! Radical innovations often receive most attention from the press, as these types of innovations transfer the way we, as consumers, think and do things. However, this does not mean that it is the only type of innovation companies can develop. An innovation can be incremental, whereby you introduce small, step-like improvements, or it can be disruptive, whereby your business creates a new product, process, or technology which surprises, overtakes, and threatens that of an existing business. If your company
Before you start… Although you may be keen to innovate straightaway, or you may – in fact – be under pressure to innovate, pause for a moment, and reflect on why you want to innovate. What are you trying to achieve? What are your strategic objectives? The answers to these questions may help you to set boundaries for your ideas exploration, and will guide you on where you should be innovating. New product 38
existing products, services and processes. Alternatively, if you work in a team, you may wish to brainstorm new ideas. In order for brainstorming to be most effective though, you must ensure that your team members build on each other’s ideas and withhold judgement.
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wishes to maintain its competitive advantage, and enhance its profitability, then – at the very least – you should make incremental innovation part of your overall business strategy. Try different ideas generation methods There are various methods for generating ideas. Some will be more appropriate than others, depending on what you are innovating. Recently, researchers Robert G. Cooper and Scott Edgett asked 160 companies to evaluate 18 different ideas generation methods (Miller and WedellWedellsborg, 2013, p. 64). The top three were:
Whichever ideas generation methods you use, the more ideas you generate, the better. During the ideation stage, emphasis should be on quantity, rather than quality. There is plenty of opportunity, later on in the innovation process, to analyse and evaluate your ideas.
1. Ethnographic research (observing customers/end users 2. Customer-visit teams 3. Customer focus groups (for problem detection)
Embrace open innovation Not all relevant expertise will lie within the four walls of your company, so don’t hesitate in sourcing inspiration and advice from outside. If you are not sure who to approach within your field, it is likely your local university will know. They may have the necessary expertise in-house, and if they don’t, then they will be able to signpost you onto appropriate contacts within your industry. Your customers may also be another source of ideas, and so if feasible, it is worth pursuing opportunities to crowdsource ideas from them as well.
There is not one particular method which suits all businesses and innovations, so it is worth investing some time to experiment with different ones. If you work on your own, ask yourself ‘What if we were to do x, y, z?’. This can help you remove the barriers which limit your creative thinking. Alternatively, you could produce a wish list of how you would like your company to be, and write down all the different things it could do. Another handy tool for generating ideas is the SCAMPER mnemonic, which stands for: • • • • • • •
In his book The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson (2006) writes about how radical ideas come from ‘intersections’ – spaces where different people, disciplines, and viewpoints can meet. You may find these intersections occurring naturally at public events, or your company may be able to create its own intersections – within or outside the organisation – by developing opportunities for various people to interact, share and collaborate.
Substitute Combine Adapt Modify, Put to another use Eliminate Reverse
You can use this tool as a prompt, by asking yourself questions about your 39
Sharpen your innovation skills For anyone wanting to become more innovative, the good news is that these skills can be learnt. In their book The Innovator’s DNA, following a six-year study, Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton Christensen (2011) identify five discovery skills – associating, questioning, observing, experimenting and networking – which disruptive innovators have, and which we can all develop. By diversifying our experiences and knowledge – by asking why, keeping our eyes open, testing out ideas, and talking to others, for example – the authors argue that we can cultivate our ability to ‘join the dots’ and generate new ideas.
continue developing and refining your idea, or whether you should move on to another one.
Test your ideas early on Whatever ideas generation methods you use, when you have generated some ideas, don’t waste time deliberating. If possible, build prototypes and test them. You may wish to apply the lean start-up philosophy – by creating a hypothesis, setting some metrics to test that hypothesis, building the prototype, and measuring the results. This approach will inform you on whether you should
1. Make a simple plan (detailing, for example, some ideas you wish to pursue). 2. Find an innovation partner (such as a colleague, mentor or friendly line manager, to work on the project with you – or at the very least – check up on your progress). 3. Set up a meeting with your partner (as soon as you’ve finished reading this article!) to start the ball rolling.
Avoid the Monday morning problem In their book ‘Innovation as Usual’, Miller and Wedell-Wedellsborg (2013) talk about the ‘Monday morning problem’. You will probably be very familiar with this feeling. After you’ve been on a course or attended a conference, you’re all fired up. But when you get back to the office, often on a Monday, despite feeling inspired and bursting with ideas, you never really turn them into reality. To overcome this problem, the authors recommend three simple steps (p. 175):
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This is really good advice. If you think back to the beginning of the article, I talked about the two different processes which make up innovation – the ideas exploration process and the ideas implementation process. There’s no point in even coming up with ideas, if you don’t have any kind of an action plan to move them forward. Remember, ideas + action + impact = innovation.
Dyer, J., Gregersen, H., and Christensen, C. M. (2011), The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
About Clare Clare Griffiths is Director of The Ideas People, a smart social enterprise which develops the innovation skills and capacity of today’s and tomorrow’s workforce through practical training, tools and fun learning experiences.
Miller, P. and Wedell-Wedellsborg, T. (2013), Innovation as Usual: How to help your people bring great ideas to life, Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Johansson, F. (2006), The Medici Effect: What elephants and epidemics can teach us about innovation, Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Please visit www.theideaspeople.co.uk for more information about their training courses and approach. Useful reading Adair, J. (2009), Leadership for Innovation: How to organise team creativity and harvest ideas, London: Kogan Page. 41
learning SIX STEPS TO A CREATIVE FRAME OF MIND By David Cox How to become more creative – and stay that way – in six easy steps. Every entrepreneur values creativity as an essential part of the mental framework necessary to create, build and sustain a successful enterprise. In my work I talk with many business-builders of all shapes and sizes, from individual start-ups to established companies. A question common to each of them is, ‘How can I be more creative in my business?’ Here are six essential tips to becoming – and staying – more creative: 1. Right place Where you choose to work is a vital component in your creative thinking. At the start of your creative career you may not be able to have total
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control of your work environment, but you should control as much as you can. The colours you choose (blue is very conducive to creative thinking), the pictures (inspirations), bric-a-brac (objects to remind you of people and places – and to touch), and the tools of your trade are all elements you can make your own, even in the most limited space. If you have your own space, make it a reflection of your unique personality – it doesn’t have to look like someone else’s idea of an office or studio! 2. Right time Much as you’d like to, you can’t be creative all the time. Creativity is not nine-to-five. Spend some time observing your own creativity pattern. Are you a morning or an evening person? Do you like people or privacy? Do you prefer clutter (music, lots happening, plenty of distractions) or austerity (clean, quiet, orderly)? Are you a sprinter (high energy, short bursts of activity) or a marathon runner (in for the duration, ready for a long session)? There’s no right or wrong answer, just the one that works for
positive, happy, and even playful. This is understood by some innovative global businesses such as Google and Pixar, which have created workplaces that feel good, where staff are encouraged to mix in a positive way, and where there is space to work, play or just think. These enlightened businesses ensure that their people have a mix of experiences available to them: social areas where folk can mingle, meet or just hang out; quiet spaces in which to meditate, think or enjoy a power nap; work spaces dedicated to focused activity. Of course this is an ideal, but it’s something worth aspiring to.
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you. It pays dividends to gain insight into your own performance patterns, and it’s a powerful way to avoid the frustrations of becoming stuck, stale or stressed. These are the infamous ‘snakes in the studio’ that poison the creative process. Once you know your own patterns you can gear up for the periods when you know you’re at your most creative, and use the downtime for mundane tasks like admin or trawling the internet. 3. Right people Who you work with has a big influence on your creative level. The world is full of a wonderfully diverse mix of people. However, where creativity is concerned some individuals are more conducive to the creative process than others. If you can, avoid doom-merchants, nay-sayers and those manifesting limiting beliefs. You don’t need the contribution of those for whom the metaphorical glass is half empty. Find people who make you laugh, who stimulate and challenge you (in a positive way). It helps immensely to have a mentor, who may be an exceptional teacher or someone who directly influences your career. It’s also worth considering the people who enter your life in other ways. The media and the world of celebrities are worth avoiding where possible – they can be a huge drain on your creative resources. A crisis on the other side of the world or the love life of a minor soap star need not concern you. Save that stuff for your leisure time.
5. Right thinking The key to right thinking is curiosity. Einstein spent much of his creative time asking ‘What if…’. He was curious about what would happen if he did the impossible – ride on a beam of light, for example. Leonardo da Vinci wanted to know everything about how ‘stuff’ worked. In a lifetime of curiosity he filled notebooks with his detailed observations of anatomy, physiognomy, water, weapons of war, flight and many other topics. He looked again and again until he really understood how things worked. And then he looked some more. That’s curiosity. 6. Right dreams Closely associated with curiosity is the powerful tool known as creative visualisation. This is a form of meditation in which the aim is to make a desired goal come to life through intensive imagining. There are several techniques freely available through the internet, all of which describe similar techniques of relaxation; but at its simplest, it’s the process of thinking of what you want and intensifying that image until it becomes real for you. This process is used extensively in sport with great
4. Right mindset In today’s world, it’s surprising how many people are expected to work in an environment which is negatively stressful or oppressive. If you want yourself and your people to be creative, there are very specific ways to foster this. There is now a solid body of research confirming that the most productive environment is 43
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success, and is based on the premise, first observed by the surgeon Maxwell Maltz in the 1950s, that the brain is incapable of distinguishing images and reality. Extensive research supports this intriguing observation, and it’s as useful in creativity as it is in achieving sporting prowess. These six tips are a starting point for anyone wanting to become – and remain – more creative. Try them for yourself and watch your own creativity flourish!
programming. David began his education in fine art, where he cultivated his interest in creativity. He also trained as a clinical psychologist before turning to marketing, when he founded the UK’s first youth marketing consultancy. He has published Creative Thinking for Dummies (Wiley).
About David David Cox is a creative business consultant who, since the 1970s, has created, acquired and sold numerous successful businesses. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the RSA, as well as a Chartered Practitioner of neuro-linguistic
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The Happy Startup School
WHY HAPPINESS SHOULD BE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL By Laurence McCahill, The Happy Startup School They’re making happiness their business model Yes, you heard that right. Entrepreneurs are putting happiness before profit. And in doing just that, they are in fact becoming highly profitable. By placing the happiness of their employees and customers first, they’ve created incredibly strong cultures, and an even happier balance sheet.
There’s a new breed of entrepreneur looking to realise their dreams – those that put people and happiness first. But what’s remarkable is how, having made this choice, businesses set up on this principle are becoming highly profitable. Last year saw a huge surge in start-up businesses across the UK. The Startup Britain campaign estimated 523,410 businesses were founded in 2013. With only 25% of all start-ups continuing in business a year after they’ve launched, the question on every budding entrepreneur’s lips is, ‘What’s the secret to building a successful company?’.
So if you’re one of those people setting out into the world of entrepreneurship, then it’s worth spending some time defining what will make you happy, as this will give your start-up a more solid foundation to build upon. Happy founders are the first essential component of happy start-ups.
Well, we believe we have the answer… Zappos have done it. Southwest Airlines have done it, and more and more start-up businesses are following suit.
Happiness in business starts with 46
Happiness and effectiveness Take a second and think about how you work when you’re not happy, when you’re feeling negative, anxious or stressed. Are you creative? Inspired? Motivated? Engaged? Is your productivity at its peak? Our ability to work at our most effective reduces when we’re feeling stressed or under pressure. We can’t make decisions thoughtfully, nor work to our full potential.
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passion We spend most of our waking lives at work. It’s a big part of who we are, so it’s important that however we’re earning a living, we’re enjoying what we do. By finding and following your passion, you’ll help to give your life real meaning and your business its mojo. The path to a profitable business starts with recognising where your passion lies. And don’t just think ‘What do I enjoy?’, but rather ‘Which problems do I see that need addressing that get me excited?’.
Now turn it around. When you feel happy, how do you work? Are you charged up, feeling creative and positive about outcomes? Our brains become more alert, and open to ideas and innovation, when we’re happy, letting us to work to our full potential.
It’s vital to your start-up’s progression that you’re passionate about the problem you’re trying to solve. After all, you’ll probably be devoting several years of your life and some long hours to it, so it’s vital that you’re into what you’re doing. If you’re not, it will show – in your ability to motivate yourself and others, in the quality of your service or product and in the relationships you build with your customers.
Happy employees = happy customers Study after study proves that happy teams are more creative, productive and effective. Happy employees are nicer to be around, they like making their
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The Happy Startup School
customers happy and therefore work harder to achieve that. Happy customers spend more money, are more loyal to a brand, and tell their friends and family. It’s a marketing plan in itself. If you are the founder of a business working with people you like, and you and your employees are working in a business you believe in, everyone can work together towards a common, meaningful goal.
• Solving problems they see that need fixing • Having the ability to choose the environment they work in, with people they like.
So who’s on board the happy bus? As well as a variety of diverse businesses (Moo.com, Zappos, Innocent Drinks, etc.), we’re seeing a movement of individuals that want to start businesses, firstly as a lifestyle choice, and secondly to make money. These start-up founders are choosing to do things differently for various reasons that may include:
1. Define what success looks like to you Before you start on your entrepreneurial journey, it’s vital that you consider what you’re in this for. Whatever success looks like, it’s probably not where you are now. Really spend time thinking about what your end goal is. Try to focus on the life you want and the change you want to make – not the numbers you need (that will come). Happiness should be your starting point for success. Also consider impact, legacy, relationships and the undervalued entity that is time.
How can you take action? Start with the following three-step process to making happiness your business model:
• Spending more time doing what they love • Spending more time with whom they love (family, friends) • Having the flexibility to make better life choices (so they can make a difference in the world)
2. Define your start-up DNA We believe you can lay the foundations for success by really defining who you 48
The Happy Startup Summer Camp 2013
are, and what you stand for – your values, passion and purpose. At The Happy Startup School, we believe passion trumps any kind of entrepreneurial experience. Defining your passion is what will drive you to succeed – after all, if you’re not passionate about your business why should anyone else be? This passion will help you define your business purpose and help people rally around your cause. Having a clear purpose will help people know why you exist, give your brand more resilience and your company a reason for being. It will also help you make quicker decisions. We’ve developed the happy startup canvas to help you lay some foundations for your company.
and niches around some key constraints (your passion, purpose and values), we firmly believe you’ll make your own luck (for more information read up on effectuation). If you’ve read this and you’re one of those 523,410 start-ups founded in the UK last year (or are looking to break out on your own in 2015), remember you’re in the driving seat. Take control of your life and help give business a better name. Happy start-ups means a happier world – something we all believe in. For more information about The Happy Startup School, please visit thehappystartupschool.com
3. Test ideas and experiment with different business models Boldly go where no one else has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve, and you have the exciting opportunity to create a business around your purpose. It’s just a matter of testing different ideas and creating some planned serendipity. By exploring different business models 49
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SUCCESS THROUGH STRATEGIC PLANNING By Kelly Scales, Kelly Scales and Co.
Investing in strategic planning is critical if you want to take your business to the next level. Running a business can be chaotic; it’s easy to get dragged into the day-to-day operations of what is happening on the ground, in the office, or with a particular customer or client. Taking a step back and looking objectively at the business is the place to start when planning for its future growth and success.
The vision for your business does, however, need to be broader than the business itself. It needs to be an expression of its future potential and therefore a reflection of both the internal and the external environments in which it operates. Who are you? Start off by focusing internally and be honest. What are the business’s core values and differentiators? What capabilities and resources does it have? An excellent tool, when approached thoroughly, is a SWOT analysis: it will identify the strengths and weaknesses of the business as well as the opportunities and threats facing it. Consider, for example, staff skills and expertise, marketing, finance, customers, products and services.
Business growth and success requires thought and planning. A key component of business planning – whether it’s evolving a start-up idea or investing resources into growing an established business – involves the development and implementation of specific strategies. Those strategies form a critical part of the business plan and are intrinsically linked to understanding the business’s history, present performance and future potential.
Who are they? Considering the external environment should include a competitor analysis that identifies and evaluates your key competitors. What can you learn about them and their activities that can assist you to position yourself effectively against them? Consider their brand and marketing, their size, targets, market, product offering and geographic areas of operation, for example.
So, where does a business start in determining its strategies for success? Let’s start with the end in mind. Where are you going? If you haven’t ever sat down and asked yourself the purpose of your business, do it now. Think about your dream destination for the business; where would you like it to be and what would you like it to look like in five, 10 or 20 years’ time? 50
A PEST analysis, looking at the political, economic, social and technological impacts on your business environment, is a helpful tool. You may want to include legal and environmental issues if they are particularly prevalent in your sector. Understanding the factors that may affect your business, both now and into the future, will enable you to plan your response in a timely fashion.
Ansoff Matrix Use the matrix to identify the segments that play to the business’s strengths and vision. It may be that the business decides to adopt more than one strategy, for example, market penetration as a primary strategy, closely followed by market development or product development. IKEA continues to penetrate the market by selling high volume at low prices, and Apple continues to differentiate their products through ease of use, software and lightness of products (such as the iPad Air).
Determining your vision may result in a single sentence statement. We always urge clients to consider within their vision statement a number of key stakeholders including the business owners, the staff, and the customers. Be clear on the future aspirations for each group. Be inspired by the resulting vision statement. Only when the vision for your business has been determined and articulated can you identify how that will be achieved. How will you get there? Now you are ready to identify the strategies that will enable the vision to become a reality. The strategy defines the approach the business will take to achieve its goals. A particularly good tool for small businesses to use is the Ansoff Matrix, an established tool that shows a series of growth strategies which could be used to set the direction for the business. Strategies are identified through four potential routes: existing products, new products, existing markets or new markets.
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Operational capacity to deliver the strategy needs to be considered next. What resources are required – time, money, skills, technology, space etc., to deliver the strategy? What needs to happen day-to-day in the business to ensure the strategy is actually implemented? Look at the business’s functional areas, for example, human resources, marketing and finance. Identify what needs to happen within
each function to deliver on strategy, and allocate responsibilities and tasks accordingly.
target them. The Operations Plan would detail how marketing would be implemented dayto-day within the business to drive the overall strategy. It would therefore include, for example, a marketing plan with the activities to be undertaken, the timeframe, objective, evaluation process and budget for each.
Let’s take marketing as an example. Only when the foundations for growth have been laid should marketing and sales activity be undertaken, as by now the business understands itself, the environment in which it operates, where it is going, and how it plans to get there. Small businesses typically cannot afford to spend lavishly on marketing, so when they do, it needs to be targeted, effective, and aligned to the strategy of the entire business.
To put all of this into context, consider Amazon. Their vision statement is: ‘… to be Earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online …’. The business model began as an online bookstore before diversifying into DVDs, electronics, clothes, toys and furniture. They are now the world’s largest online retailer. The founder, Jeff Bezos, paid close attention to name and brand. He realistically projected almost no profit for the first five years; it actually
Having determined what makes your business different from your competition, articulated your proposition, and defined your differentiators, you need to know who your current and potential customers are. Then you can identify your most valuable customers, and determine the key messages and activities with which to 52
Need help and guidance? We offer a two-hour free, no commitment business health check. Apply here: kellyscales.com/how-does-it-work/ Email: Kelly@kellyscales.com Phone: 07830 818235
Thinking and planning are critical to the long term success of a business. In a nutshell, that is what strategy is all about: purposeful and meaningful planning to protect and nurture your business.
Calling all illustrators and photographers! If you fancy seeing your work online, get in touch! editor@thecrowdzine.co.uk
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turned its first profit seven years on, having survived the first dot.com crash. Amazon’s extensive customer service centres, investment in fulfilment and warehousing, product selection and service provision, and their multilevel e-commerce approach, are all critical pieces of the jigsaw of strategic success; each painstakingly mapped out, considered, researched and analysed before being implemented.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MORE ENTREPRENEURIAL By Deborah Ferrero and Carla Fioro Can you imagine if entrepreneurs were to go on strike? Everything would stop and nothing would work. This is because
businesses, but for everyone, so that they can become ‘entrepreneurs of themselves’. Similarly, we think that aspiring entrepreneurs, start-ups, and researchers would find it very useful to have a clear idea of how an entrepreneur thinks, how they behave, and what their most important skills are. Recent years studies of entrepreneurs have shifted from an exclusively economic perspective to a psychological one, studying emotions, skills, visions, and motivations. This is significant because it shows that:
entrepreneurship is all around us: from the baker who bakes bread every morning, to the retailer who sells this bread, to the bar-owner who uses the bread to make our sandwiches. They are all entrepreneurs. And this is just one example of how pervasive entrepreneurship is in our lives. Through our book ‘Human Spirits and Entrepreneurship Culture’, we aim to highlight the importance of this fact, one which is often ignored. We agree with the EU Commission, which defines entrepreneurship as ‘an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action’. Entrepreneurship includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve defined objectives. We think that the entrepreneurial mindset, known as the ‘perception lens’, can be used by anyone and everyone in all aspects of life, not just with the aim of becoming selfemployed. Entrepreneurship education and training should be adopted as part of the mainstream curriculum by every school – at every educational stage. Entrepreneurship education is not just for those planning to start their own
1. The importance has been recognized (at last!) of the entrepreneur as a person, and not just as one of the several variables of the economy; 2. Entrepreneurship is not something that you are born with, but is something that can be learned.
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We believe that, in the right environment, with proper recognition of the importance of entrepreneurs in society at large, and with appropriate training, everyone could be more entrepreneurial, not only for their own benefit, but also for any company in which they may be employed. But this is not all. The most important thing in entrepreneurship is learning to be proactive, creative, and motivated; in other words, learning how to see opportunities where other people just see problems. A few months ago, a major multinational insurance corporation, setting up a new branch office in Italy, published a job advert on LinkedIn. The person specification included a
for entrepreneurs. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, recently said that when, in 2008, he returned to the company he established in the 1980s after an eight-year hiatus, he did so because ‘the general manager wasn’t doing well, and I was too passionate about Starbucks to just let it fail and disappear’.
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requirement for ‘an entrepreneurial mindset’. That’s the future. But how can we be more entrepreneurial in our everyday life? Here are some tips: • Ask yourself: Who’s driving my life? Do you believe that things in life happen through destiny, by chance, or because of your horoscope? Or do you have your hands on the steering wheel? Entrepreneurs lean towards an internal locus of control. This means that you have to recognise and accept that you are responsible for yourself – success or failure depends mainly on you.
• Write down how you see your life developing over the next 20 years. What will your life be like? Where will you be living? What job will you be doing? What hobbies will you have? Try to project yourself into the future and, if you like what you see, try to map your way to achieve it.
• Sound yourself out to discover what you’re really passionate about. Passion is the most important driver
• Improve your resilience. Failure is the downside of every project and every
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action. Resilience is the ability to solve any kind of problem and to get around obstacles, in order to recover and overcome failure. It’s easy to carry on when everything is going well, but when things go wrong, it’s often hard to continue. That’s why it’s important to be resilient. Nurture resilience from your passion, your self-confidence, your skills, your vision, and your network of friends and relatives. Prepare some ‘What if...’ scenarios, and be prepared to react if something in one of your projects, or in your life, doesn’t go according to plan.
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and possibilities, trying to understand how their intervention as an individual citizen can enter the economic and social system, in terms of construction and progress. And then you put into practice your objectives, translating ideas into action. In other words, you leave your ‘footprint’. Mind The Bridge, a non-profit organisation founded by a manager of Google to promote a ‘sustainable Italian entrepreneurial ecosystem’, clearly launched this message during his 2011 venture camp, saying, ‘We need to teach people to think like entrepreneurs’’.
• Work hard to reach your aims. This might sound daunting, but it will not be difficult, if you’re passionate about what you’re doing.
You can read the first three chapters of the book for free on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/228945336/ Human-Spirits-And-EntrepreneurshipCulture-A-New-Perspective-In-TheGlobalization-Era-by-Debora-Ferrero-andCarla-Fiorio
Below is an excerpt from Debora and Carla’s book ‘Human spirits and entrepreneurship culture – A new perspective in the globalization era’, Austin Macauley Publishers, 2014, available only as an e-book. ‘The idea is that entrepreneurship is a value in itself, a transversal competence to promote in any case, whatever the professional interests and actual employment opportunities may be, since it not only develops the ability to design and develop an activity, but also a proactive approach, creative, original and brave to one’s life project. This aspect seems fundamental to us: it is right to teach everyone, especially the young, to become entrepreneurs themselves, regardless of the work already taking place or the job they will carry on in future. It is about learning to think like entrepreneurs, because being an entrepreneur is a state of mind. It is about analysing the world and what is happening in terms of opportunities 56
...It’s all about organic and the taste
Hot Chilli and Lime Jelly ...perfect with baked Camembert
At Jolly Scrummy we make awardwinning organic savoury preserves. Our savoury herb jellies are made from organic ingredients sourced locally to Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. There are two main rules for our products – they must be organic and they have to taste jolly scrummy…
Buy online at www.jollyscrummy.co.uk
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IF ONLY I’D KNOWN! By Laura Evans
Imagine you had a time machine and could go back and give yourself an epic piece of advice that would change everything. You could choose a different path, save time and stop that awful haircut that you really thought was working for you from ever happening.
up a Community Engagement Strategy which centred on access to justice so we could still make a difference. Being flexible and adaptable is key to running a business.’
So you can benefit from a few words from the wise, I asked experienced local business people what they would tell their start-up selves.
There’s certainly something to be said for entrepreneurial instinct and retaining autonomy over your own decisions. Scott Lawson started developing his reporting and data collection software in 2009. He says, ‘Take as much advice as you can from people who have done it before, and from as many people as you can. Pay for it if you have to. But don’t take it as gospel. What worked a few years ago won’t necessarily work now, or may not work for your particular business. Listen to as many people as you can and you will soon work out what are the ‘key’ things.’
David Crosby, who set up his own law firm Crosby & Woods in 2005, has something to tell us when it comes to making tricky decisions. ‘After deliberating something, always go on your gut instinct when deciding what the right thing to do is. It may not always be the correct decision but at least it was made for the right reasons so can be lived with easier.’
Fiona Martin, Employment Lawyer and Director of Martin Searle Solicitors, recently celebrated 10 years in business. She said, ‘Know when to give up and change direction.’ It’s gritty advice, based on her own real life experience. ‘The biggest mistake we made, in the first few years of starting our law firm, was to continue for much longer than we should have done with our legal aid housing contract – even though the introduction of fixed fees had made it financially unviable. We believe in access to justice and we couldn’t bear to compromise our values.
Scott reminds us that getting to the top isn’t about stepping on other people, and it’s not just customer happiness that you should be thinking about. ‘Treat everyone you work with – customers, employees, contractors, partners – with the utmost respect. You will get much more from them that way and everyone wins.’ It turns out Scott is in good company when it comes to ensuring that employees are looked
‘We only took action when the situation became so critical that we would have had to make redundancies. In our team, Cate changed her focus from Housing Law to Community Care Law and we drew 58
been selling more specialised business advice.’
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after. His attitude is that employees are the lifeblood of an organisation and you have a responsibility to protect them. In a recent blog he wrote, ‘Nobody would argue that employees should be sad and downtrodden, yet it seems as though some businesses and their managers set out with the intention of presiding over a group of miserable people, and then succeed in doing just that… Research released this month by the University of Warwick in Britain confirms that on average, happiness makes people 12 per cent more productive. Celebrate your achievements and those of your employees, because each one is a step on the road to your business’ success.’
Most of the time, mistakes can turn out to be a great learning experience; after all, none of our contributors would have this great advice for us if they hadn’t made a few gaffes over their business journey. Not to mention the potential of unexpected outcomes to actually open up new opportunities. As long as you don’t make too many. ‘It is fine to make mistakes’, says David, ‘just don’t repeat them.’
And with that, I’m off to get my hair cut. My stylist is convinced this new look will really suit me…
So what about your clients? Who should you be targeting? Julia Chanteray offers support and advice though her company The Joy Of Business. ‘If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice it would be don’t be a generalist. Find a sector or area of advice to specialise in. Today, I get all sorts of interesting projects to work on and don’t need to specialise as I have built up my client base and often have a waiting list of clients, but at the beginning stages it would have made it easier if I had
Laura Evans currently works as the Business Support Navigator for the wider Brighton area, signposting SMEs and startups to useful resources that will help their business to grow or solve specific problems. It’s free and you can find your local rep in the South East by calling 01403 333 840. To contact Laura directly, please email: laura.evans@c2cbusiness.org.uk
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BE AGILE By Caroline Pickering, DabApps Like most web startups, we spent the early months of DabApps’ inception envisioning an ideal world where we would be brimming with great ideas, developing our own apps ‘straight off the bat’, selling them ‘like hot cakes’ and enjoying our ‘place in the sun’. OK, leaving behind the clichés and idioms, we all know that starting a business, or indeed any new project, is never that straightforward or easy, particularly when you are bootstrapping the whole thing and need some quick wins to sustain you. Our early strategy was to sell our services as web application designers and developers in order to generate a steady revenue. It was something we knew how to do and it has worked for us; we have established ourselves and succeeded in growing a sustainable business. But what about the original dream of designing and developing our own products? What if we hadn’t been able to get started this way? It’s a problem that many would-be entrepreneurs face. We’re all familiar with agile software development which is based on an iterative and incremental process that promotes adaptive planning and encourages rapid and flexible response to change. The approach is now widely 60
accepted as the way to go if you want to build and deliver the best possible web or mobile application you can from a business proposal. A lot has been learnt from the agile approach to software development, and now there is a burgeoning interest in applying agile principles to business development and, indeed, to any personal project or dream you’d like to realise. At its core the agile methodology challenges us to abandon the Decide > Plan > Do approach which often deters us from getting started because it demands that we are certain about what we want before we take any action. Instead, we are encouraged to jump into a cycle which looks more like Act > Reflect > Adapt, Act > Reflect > Adapt... etc., and to give ourselves a short, well-defined time period in which to complete each cycle. The agile approach can be a testing one, as it requires us to get into action straightaway, sometimes with nothing more than a fuzzy goal and no clear road map. It also requires us to set a deadline which is both short enough to prevent us feeling overwhelmed by the amount we have to do, and long enough to get something done that can be reflected upon so that adjustments can be made based on what we’ve learned. Scaling your idea to something that can be shared and appraised within a short timescale is key to the agile process. Long-term, larger web development projects generally work in two-week sprint cycles which aim to produce a fully functional,
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testable user interaction. This is certainly how we work with our clients to bring their ideas to life quickly and with their full engagement. When it comes to product development, scaling your idea to a prototype or Minimum Viable Product (MVP) which can be shared with representatives of your target market will allow you to get your idea out there quickly, find out what does and doesn’t work, make the adjustments, and finally launch with a great product that stands a good chance of succeeding!
clients quickly understand and appreciate the flexibility that agile gives them. With shorter development cycles that have tangible deliverables, they can engage in the Act > Reflect > Adapt cycle and see the benefits for themselves. In terms of our own product development, we have recently launched our first product PageUp.io, a tool which is aimed at the developer community. Here we’ve really achieved a lot by applying the agile methodology in order to launch an MVP (PageUp Beta), allowing us to gauge the reaction of our target market and then adapt accordingly.
If you’re an entrepreneur, or starting your own business, we recommend ‘Rework’ (2010) by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. They apply pretty much the same agile principles to running a small business or starting up on your own.
To find out more about how DabApps can help you design and build high quality web applications, please visit: www.dabapps.com
So how have we benefited from the agile approach at DabApps? Well, we use agile methodologies in all of our client projects. Our experience tells us that 61
© Dabapps 2014
AN OFFICE IN THE CLOUD By Alec Grant, The Digital Work Hub In today’s mobile and digital age, the workplace is becoming less a fixed physical location that we go to every day, and more about having the ability to work from wherever we are. This means that there has been an increasing need to be able to run applications from the cloud, which can be accessed from anywhere, at any time. The following article is the first in a series by Alec Grant about the types of applications and tools that are available to enable small business owners to work as efficiently and effectively as possible.
a domain name is very easy and the costs can be kept to a minimum, if registering a .co.uk one. Once a domain is registered, you can set up an email address of your choice at that domain. Often, a registrar will allow you to set up a number of different email addresses for little or no cost. The following registrars are some of most well-known and used in the UK: • 123 reg • Fasthosts • Go Daddy Building a website In our global economy, having a website is an ever-increasing necessity. It is possible to spend a reasonable amount of money employing an agency to design and build a website. But for a small business, this could be a significant spend – especially in the early days of starting up. The good news is that there are now numerous options available for non-technical people to build professional-looking websites.
Registering a domain and getting an email address First impressions last, and a professional business domain and email address is a must for anyone who wishes to be taken seriously. The process of registering 62
some of their other services like a virtual receptionist.
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These range from the very basic to the more detailed and multi-functional. In each case, however, the website-building software does not require the user to have any knowledge of HTML. Some good examples include:
Documentation and collaboration There are only two major contenders in the world of cloud-based office application suites, which are Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps for Business.
• Wix • Weebly • Strikingly
For anyone looking to keep costs to a minimum, both vendors supply free personal versions of their tools. While the personal versions are not business class, and don’t come with a support contract, they are more than an adequate tactical solution. The small business versions can be paid for on a monthly or annual basis (with a small discount for annual purchases), and cost less than £40 per year, per user. For certain non-profit organisations there is no charge for specific versions of the tools.
If you already have a domain registrar and a webhosting package, then Wordpress and Joomla are two of the most commonly used content management systems. A virtual phone number Not working from an office all the time still requires you to be able to take calls from wherever you are. Almost all of us have mobile phones, and so we could simply add that number to the contact page on our website. But what if you don’t want to always be available via your mobile phone? Or what if you want to create the impression that you are located in a particular region of the country? If this is the case, there are now many telecommunications companies that can provide you with a cloud-based telephone number. This can allow you to:
Not only do these tools support the creation of documents, spreadsheets and slideshows, but they also support easy sharing of documents in the cloud, the ability for multiple people to work on the same document at the same time, and cloud storage. To take full advantage of these tools, make sure to install the tools’ mobile apps on all your mobile devices, so that you can keep working whilst on the move.
• Choose a national, regional or free phone number • Keep call costs to a minimum and avoid high monthly fixed charges • Set up call-routing, to send calls to a Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, mobile phone or voicemail • Have call-routing out of hours • Have voice messages emailed to you automatically.
Alec Grant is the Founder and Managing Director of The Digital Work Hub, a flexible co-working space open to startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses based in Surrey. For more information about The Digital Work Hub and all their services, please visit thedigitalworkhub.co.uk
Companies like Soho 66 and eReceptionist both provide virtual phone number services which can be used alongside 63
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WHAT’S YOUR APP REALLY FOR? By Chris Palk, DabApps Solution providing/Problem-solving These are apps which solve problems, making it easier for customers to interact, buy from you, book with you and generally do business with you. There is almost always a similar website that does the same job as these types of apps but the difference is that these apps connect you to what you want faster, and without going through the internet. They solve a myriad of problems particularly when you’re on the move. For example, British Airways and EasyJet have apps that facilitate quick booking, checking in, providing boarding cards etc. anytime, anywhere.
In the world of apps, having a solidly defined purpose is absolutely key. An entire feature in the Evening Standard appeared recently on Candy Crush describing it as ‘the Crystal Meth of the commute’! This repetitive game has become an addiction for half a billion people. Its London developer has been valued at £4.2 billion on the New York Stock Exchange and the investment brochure says it has ‘a repeatable and scalable game development process that is unparalleled in the industry’. This app has a clear purpose: to entertain.
A personal favourite is TheTrainLine app which helps you look up train times, purchase, store and display your train tickets. More examples under this category include the free apps from the social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. The websites provide the same service but when on the move these apps provide instant access.
Nowadays it seems like there’s an app for everything: from Jamie Oliver’s hugely successful app, to Blower app – yes honestly – there’s an app to blow out your birthday candles! (It uses the speaker opening at the bottom of your iPhone as a makeshift fan). But does everything need an app?
Entertainment Similar to the success of Candy Crush, apps such as Minecraft, Jelly Splash, and Angry Birds simply provide entertainment. Key to their success is their appeal across the age spectrum globally and their scalability. These apps are free to begin with and upgrades can be purchased at a price.
Developing an app with no clear purpose or scalability is probably going to be a waste of money. You should be able to define the app’s purpose in two sentences or less. If you can’t, it’s likely to be confusing and not targeted enough to find its own market. The most successful apps need to fall into at least one of the following three categories of purpose, to be worth developing and possibly make you a return on your investment.
Added Value There are also the apps that give you an added service and are part of your daily life, such as Skype, iPlayer and Spotify. Where would we be without these? 64
The question of whether it will make
you money, directly or indirectly, is the subject of another article in itself. But as a starting point, if your app hasn’t got a clear purpose, it’s not going to be valued, used, nor have a chance to generate a return on your investment.
happy to help. As a company specialising in software development and the design and build of all applications (from simple fun mobile apps to complex decisionmaking platforms), we have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.
If you want an objective assessment on the viability of your app idea, DabApps is
For more information, please visit: dabapps.com
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© Dabapps 2014
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ALL WORK AND NO PLAY? By The Crowd ’Zine team
Let your mind wander. What does this image make you think of? What ideas does this spark?
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ONCE UPON A TIME... By The Crowd ’Zine team
In 20 minutes, write down the story behind your business. What inspired you to start up? What are your mission and core values? How do you meet the needs of your customers? How has your business developed over time?
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TAKE A BREAK
By The Crowd ’Zine team
What alternative uses can you think of for a paper clip? Share your ideas via @TheCrowdZine #paperclip.
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WHAT IF...
By The Crowd ’Zine team
Next time you’re trying to solve a problem at work, open your mind and ask yourself ‘What if we were to...?’
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gallery Alessandra Chambers Alessandra Chambers has a background in both graphic design and illustration. Since leaving university last summer, she has been working freelance as an illustrator, completing various commissions, and actively getting involved in a number of creative projects – both self-initiated and collaborative. This has ranged from exhibiting in galleries as part of a group, to curating and selling work in these spaces, organising and running local art and music events, completing briefs for cover art, posters, t-shirt designs etc. Currently she is working on a project she will launch next spring – providing she is able to source all the required funding. If all goes to plan, Alessandra will open Brighton’s first pop-up open studio/café/all-encompassing creative hub! The space will offer hot-desk facilities, workshops, classes and talks, and will be a great opportunity for students to exhibit and sell their work.
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Alessandra Chambers www.alessandraerica.com alessandrachambers@hotmail.co.uk Tel: 07779960605
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resources
NO PROBLEM!
By Jessica Hylands, Confidence Coach Jessica Hylands takes her regular look at some key issues facing new businesses.
Q: I’m setting up in business with my brother and have been told we need a partnership agreement. We’re very close and don’t feel it’s necessary. Do we have to? Legally you don’t have to, but it is definitely advisable. The agreement not only lays out the detail of who gets what share of the profits, but it will encompass a lot of other things. However well you get on personally, getting on in business is something different again. The actions of one partner will affect the other, not only in their working lives, but potentially in their private lives too. Let’s say one of you is working harder than the other. This could cause resentment and problems, both business-wise and personally. If one 78
of you is off long-term with an illness, what will happen? Will that partner continue to draw the same money from the business indefinitely? Having an agreement in place will help you avoid having the difficult conversations that would be needed in these scenarios, as it will state the course of action for either partner. It will essentially give you a list of instructions as to what will happen in any eventuality. The type of topics covered by an agreement might include: • • • • • • • • • • • •
Any pre-profit-share ‘salaries’ The profit split Holiday allowance Sick leave What happens if one of you wants to leave the partnership The death of a partner The term of the partnership Contributions made by each partner The split of duties The retention of profits for the business The decision-making power of each partner The procedure in resolving disputes
Getting a solicitor to prepare the agreement for you is a wise move, as it’s easy to inadvertently miss something, or not express your true wishes in the correct way, leaving it open to misinterpretation.
No you don’t, although you may want to consider it for other reasons. If your turnover reaches a certain level, then you must register for Value-Added Tax (VAT). (There are some exceptions, but this is the case for most businesses.) One of the main reasons that small businesses incorporate their business is because it’s generally more tax efficient. Another reason is that, as the name of a limited company would suggest, your personal liability is limited. This may be wise for some types of business. If you are a business that offers a service, and you are the only employee, then it may not be so critical. If, however, you are a motor-repair workshop and buy all of your materials on account from the supplier, you may owe thousands of pounds at any one time. In this situation, let’s say you have one main customer and a few other small ones. Your main large customer is changing over their computer systems and as a result, their accounts are all over the place. They haven’t paid you for a few months but it’s OK, because you’ve arranged extra credit with your suppliers. Actually, as it turns out, your large customer wasn’t installing a new computer system at all, but were having money problems, which was the real reason for their delayed payments to you. They go bust and can’t pay the money that they owe you. You’ve continued repairing their vehicles
and incurring the costs of the materials, labour and other workshop costs. You now owe your suppliers, the utilities, and maybe staff, a vast amount of money that you have no way of repaying.
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Q: Do I have to incorporate my business into a Limited Company when I hit a certain turnover?
As a sole trader, your creditors could come directly to you for the money – so you may lose your house to pay the debt. As a limited company, the debt belongs to the company and not you. There are conditions surrounding liability, and indeed your supplier may ask for a personal guarantee on the account if you are a new company, but this example gives a very broad overview as to what liability protection means. An accountant will be able to advise you on the best course of action in your specific circumstances. For a free chat on business coaching, please call Jessica Hylands on 01323 648819. For more information, visit: jessicahylandslifecoaching.co.uk If you would like Jessica to answer your questions in the next issue, please email: editor@thecrowdzine.co.uk with the details!
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USEFUL LINKS
By The Crowd ’Zine team
Business Support, Information and Guidance: Sussex, Kent, and Surrey letsdobusinessgroup.co.uk – The Let’s Do Business Group is the leading provider of business advice, training, access to finance and business events in the South East. The Group deliver the Start-Up Loans scheme throughout the South of England, and lends to growing businesses, 12 months or older, through the Business Growth Fund. c2cbusiness.org.uk – The Coast-to-Capital Business Navigator Growth Hub is a web portal for businesses. It includes an online directory of business support organisations and a calendar of business events in the Coast-to-Capital region. It is likely that you will be able to access additional support and guidance from your local council, university and chamber of commerce, as well as private consultancies and business support providers. Business Support, Information and Guidance: UK-wide innovateuk.org – Innovate UK (formerly known as the Technology Strategy Board) is the UK’s Government-funded innovation agency which offers support and funding to help businesses develop new products and services, and bring them closer to market. gov.uk/browse/business – This website replaces the former Government-funded Business Link website. It provides up-to-date information for start-ups and small businesses. growthaccelerator.com – The Growth Accelerator programme links up small to medium-sized businesses (SME) with industry experts. The industry experts offer mentoring support to the business owners, and support SMEs (with high-growth potential) to become investment-ready. startacus.net – Startacus is an online support network for self-starters, with a handy online toolkit and platform to help individuals develop their ideas and collaborate with each other. enterprisenation.com – Enterprise Nation has developed a range of support services for small businesses, including an online network as well as training events. They also sell practical business books via their website. prowess.org.uk – Prowess 2.0 is an online service aimed at women in business, which has a blogging platform, as well as information about women-friendly business support. mymas.org – The Manufacturing Advisory Service provides manufacturing business 80
startupdonut.co.uk – Start-Up Donut provides free, online resources, advice and tools for those wanting to start a business.
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support for companies based in England, helping them to improve and grow.
smarta.com – Smarta is an online business support network for start-ups, small business owners and entrepreneurs, providing a range of free practical guides, tools and informative videos. startupbritain.org – Start-Up Britain is a national campaign to inspire, accelerate and celebrate entrepreneurship across the UK. shell-livewire.org – Shell LiveWIRE is an online national business support organisation which has a wealth of useful information and guidance. They also run a monthly ideas competition (with four cash prizes of £1000) for individuals aged 30 years and under. ideastap.com – Ideas Tap provides information and work opportunities for people wanting to work in the creative industries. It also runs an ideas competition (with cash prizes) aimed at those who are setting up or running creative ventures. unltd.org.uk – UnLtd offers a range of support, funding and mentors for aspiring social entrepreneurs and established social enterprises. Support for Economically-disadvantaged Entrepreneurs: Sussex, Kent, and Surrey enterpriseexchange.org.uk – The Enterprise Exchange specialises in helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds become self-employed or start a business to transform their lives. Support for Economically-disadvantaged Entrepreneurs: UK-wide princes-trust.org.uk/need_help/enterprise_programme.aspx – The Prince’s Trust provides business support and Start-Up loans for people aged 30 years and under. fredericksfoundation.org – The Fredericks Foundation is a charity which helps economically-disadvantaged individuals to set up or expand their businesses. Legal Issues companieshouse.gov.uk – Companies House is the governmental organisation that registers all new UK companies and can provide information on legal requirements associated with registering, dissolving, and the filing of accounts for limited liability companies and partnerships. hmrc.gov.uk – HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the UK customs and tax department providing information for self-employed individuals and companies about tax, VAT, national insurance contributions and returns processes. 81
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ipo.gov.uk – The Intellectual Property Office is the official Government body responsible for granting intellectual property (IP) rights in the UK, including copyright, trademarks, design rights and patents. Funding Opportunities: Sussex, Kent, and Surrey letsdobusinessgroup.co.uk – The Let’s Do Business Group deliver the Start-Up Loans scheme throughout the South of England, and lends to growing businesses, 12 months or older, through the Business Growth Fund. eastsussex.gov.uk – The Economic Intervention and Capital Fund is a £4m Regional Growth Fund initiative, which aims to create and safeguard private sector jobs in the county of East Sussex until February 2015. bethebusiness.org – As part of West Sussex County Council’s commitment to supporting businesses, there is a fund of £600,000 available to West Sussex businesses. success-creative-fund.biz – The South East Urban Coast Creative Enterprise Support Scheme (SUCCESS) provides grants for new or expanding creative businesses that are creating jobs in the Hastings, Thanet and Tendring local authority areas. Funding Opportunities: UK-wide innovateuk.org – Businesses can apply for R&D funding in specific priority areas, as well as non-themed ‘always open’ competitions such as Smart. Browse, register and apply for current competitions, or find out about those opening soon, via the Innovate UK website. vouchers.innovateuk.org – Innovate UK’s Innovation Vouchers are designed to encourage businesses to look outside their current network for new knowledge that can help them to grow and develop. UK start-ups and small and mediumsized businesses can apply for an Innovation Voucher (a grant of up to £5000 for businesses to work with a supplier for the first time). The grant is to be used to pay for knowledge or technology transfer from that supplier. gov.uk/apply-growth-vouchers – The Government-funded programme helps small businesses get strategic business advice on finance and cash flow, recruiting and developing staff, improving leadership and management skills, marketing, attracting and keeping customers, and making the most of digital technology. Some businesses will be randomly chosen to get a voucher of up to £2,000 to help finance strategic business advice. startuploans.co.uk – Start-Up Loans is a Government-funded scheme to enable individuals to start up and develop their own businesses. 82
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gov.uk/new-enterprise-allowance – The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) offers job seekers a weekly allowance worth up to £1,274 over 26 weeks, and a loan of up to £1,000 to put towards start-up costs. Funding Databases
j4bgrants.co.uk – j4b Grants is a searchable database which provides information on all the latest UK Government grants, European grants, and other sources of funding, to help businesses, social enterprises and charities start up and grow. fundingcentral.org.uk – Funding Central is a free smart website with a searchable database of grants, contracts and loans for the voluntary and community sector, including social enterprises. Crowdsource Funding Platforms crowdcube.com – Crowdcube is an equity-based crowdsource funding platform for high-growth ventures. The average investment is £140,000. indiegogo.com – Indiegogo is a reward-based crowdsource funding platform for individuals, groups and start-up companies who have ideas for new products, services, and community projects. kickstarter.com – Kickstarter is probably the most well-known reward-based crowdsource funding platforms, originating in the USA, for individuals, groups and start-up companies who have ideas for new products, services, and community projects. pleasefund.us – Please Fund Us is a reward-based crowdsource funding website for creative practitioners seeking financial support for their projects. seedrs.com – Seedrs is an equity-based crowdsource funding platform for high-growth ventures. The average investment is £150,000. sponsume.com – Sponsume is a reward-based crowdsource funding website for individuals, groups and start-up companies who have ideas for new products, services, and community projects. Skill-Swapping, Favours and Inspiration for Ideas swapaskill.com – A large community of people who want to trade skills and items from across the globe. horsesmouth.co.uk – A social network for informal mentoring, where everyone can share experiences and advice. fiverr.com – A website where people offer to carry out tasks for five dollars. 83
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