UpStart issue 1

the latest news and events

business masterclass:

social media

apps for the

developing world

Eat, work and play

in Bristol LAUNCH ISSUE

UPSTART Inspiring and supporting Britain’s startup community

TAKING OFF?

StartUp Britain CAN IT REALLY HELP YOUR BUSINESS? Founder speaks to UpStart

HOW TO

“I started my business on £50” MUMPRENEUR’S TOP TIPS

steps to 5 build your brand

+most recognised logos revealed

fund your business

iPad rivals

+The best alternative tablets +How can they help your startup business?

UpStart meets the people behind

THE LATEST STARTUPS jomec.co.uk/upstart @upstartmaguk

MAR 2012 £ 2.80

LAUNCH ISSUE LAUNCH ISSUE LAUNCH ISSUE LAUNCH ISSUE LAUNCH ISSUE LAUNCH

March 2012

David Thomas: Page 11

www.jomec.co.uk/upstart

Office chairs: Page 32

Startup Britain: 18 Startup Britain: 18

switch on features

UK news

6-8 Funding your business

Why Phillip Green is supporting fashion manufacturing startups in the UK. Exclusive offer for UpStart readers on tickets to the GEC.

Jargon buster

Apple logo, Indian jobseeker startup, US small businesses, PayPal in Ireland.

UpStart diary

toolbox

Company profile: Reloop ON THE COVER

18-20

StartUp Britain is the latest scheme to boost UK business. But is it any good? We speak to Rajeeb Dey and Hayley Chalmers from each side of the fence.

ON THE COVER

Starting a business on £50

Top tips: Social media

10

Twitterview with Cardiff University’s Dr Kelly Page on using social media.

David Thomas Q&A

Founder of ethical homeware retailer Danaqa on how he secures customers.

11

How To: Build your brand

12-13

Best of: Email newsletters

14

UpStart’s Top 5 tips on securing a brand.

Three easy services to keep in contact.

28-29

Which tablets could help your business?

Startup or Shutdown?

9

Useful events for UK small businesses.

26-27

Twitter, OS X Mountain Lion release, mobile phone numbers, SMEs on the continent, Blackberry sales.

Tablets

Get to grips with annoying business talk.

8-9

tech

15-17 Tech news

With traditional bank loans drying up, UpStart explores alternative finance.

7

Global news

Neil Cocker: Page 34

24-25

Dorset ‘mumpreneur’ Joanne Dewberry chats to us about running her party bag business, Charlie Moo’s, around her kids.

30

We talk to Joe Lambert, founder of mobile technology company Reloop.

switch off

Spinning around

32-33

Spruce up your workspace with UpStart’s pick of office chairs.

Brain food

33

Time wasting app

33

An atypical day in the life

34

24 hours in Bristol

35

Treats that boost your brain power.

Paper Toss: recreate that satisfying feeling of landing your paper in the bin.

Dizzyjam managing director Neil Cocker outlines a day in music merchandising.

Where to eat, work, sleep and relax in South West England’s cultural hub.

|3

contributors We asked Issue one’s create team:

What did you want to be when you were younger?

EMILY BATER “A librarian.

After reading Roald Dahl’s Matilda, I wanted to live in a library.”

welcome

Welcome to the launch issue of UpStart magazine.

You have joined us as we begin our very own startup, creating a magazine and website aimed at inspiring and supporting Britain’s business startup community. We pride ourselves on being accessible, practical and innovative with the goal of helping you improve your business with comprehensive, relevant advice.

At UpStart we believe in the value of entrepreneurial spirit and will never underestimate the risks you take when starting up your own business. Our aim is to create a community for like-minded startup individuals, a place to share news, ideas and inspiration.

CARYS CROSS

Over the past couple of months we have been busy developing our philosophy and strategy to ensure our startup is successful in serving you and your business.

“A vet, until Rolf Harris taught me about the woes of the circle of life.”

In this issue, the UpStart create team grilled industry experts on your behalf. Digital media marketing expert, Kelly Page, tells you how to get the most out of social media (page 10) whilst founder of Startup Britain, Rajeeb Dey, argues why he thinks the scheme is a good idea (page 21).

LUCY DOUGLAS “When I was 6 I wanted to be a ‘world traveller’. I’m not sure how I was planning to monetise that, but I still have a passion for globetrotting.”

We have profiled only real business men and women that have revealed their exclusive stories to help and inspire you.

Delve into UpStart and find out how you can enhance your business whilst tracking our progress to startup success.

Enjoy!

The U pStart team

Issue One

MICHAEL BROWN “A Power Ranger, although I now take issue with their ‘violence solves everything’ approach.

What's wrong with a bit of diplomacy?”

EDITORIAL TEAM Jo Price

Email us @ upstartmaguk@gmail.com

Chris Smith

FRONT COVER

Emma Vince Darren Wee DESIGN TEAM James Gill Amy Hall

ANEIRA DAVIES “An acrobat. It was after I dressed up as one for a fancy dress party when I was a child.”

Follow us @upstartmaguk

Charlotte Kelloway Photo: Bristol Balloon Fiesta (James Gill)

Carys King Emma Powell

UpStart is also online! Packed with news, great articles, videos and links. UpStart online is the perfect companion to the magazine.

www.jomec.co.uk/upstart 4|UpStart

FROM THE TEAM

Join the discussion

Find our channel @upstarttvuk

switch on

3/10

of people who use LinkedIn use it more now than they did a year ago.

Source:YouGov

GEC 2012 hits Liverpool

The Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool will host the GEC this month

The GEC will host talks from Britain’s top business talent

T

he 2012 Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) will take place in Liverpool from 9-16 March, hosted by economic development company Liverpool Vision.

The event will host talks from some of the biggest names in business, including Sir Richard Branson, former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy and founder of the Haymarket Group Lord Michael Heseltine.

The GEC was founded by the Kauffman Foundation in 2009 and originally took place in Kansas City, successive cities have included Dubai and Shanghai.

Mike Taylor, deputy CEO of Liverpool Vision, said, “The GEC is an exemplar of the kind of inspiring, enterprising work that is necessary to make this happen. Liverpool has entrepreneurship in its DNA and we’re proud to be hosting Europe’s first Congress in 2012.”

UpStart readers are entitled to an exclusive offer on tickets for the GEC. Simply enter the promotion al code GD20 when purchasing your tickets to get a 20% discount.

Topshop boss backs local manufacturing talent Sir Phillip Green pledges his support to fashion manufacturing startups

S

ir Phillip Green has said he would like more fashion manufacturing take place on home soil. The tycoon, whose portfolio includes high street giants Topshop and BHS, said that fashion retailers should work together to back Britain’s young talent and help build businesses from scratch.

This could mean exciting opportunities for UK startups in design and garment manufacturing. Currently, the majority of high street retailers outsource their garment production to countries around the world.

However, Green said that factors such as

6 | UpStart

changing cost dynamics are making UK production more viable.

Speaking at the launch of London Fashion Week, Green said, “It’s important at this time that everybody gets behind the youth of this country. I want to see if we can help them get into business, manufacture goods and get into retailers.

“It may be [that] a group of retailers would be supportive of buying from young designers. I hope the principal department stores would support it if it was put together properly” he added.

Topshop at London Fashion Week

38%

of UK companies believe that they do not use social media enough.

Jargon buster Business nirvana “A state of extreme satisfaction and inner peace in business.”

36%

of Britons say they are likely to consider moving abroad for better pay.

Source: Ipsos MORI

SMEs turn their backs on banks Almost two-thirds of small businesses believe they will look for alternative funding in 2012

Business nirvana is that rarely achieved period of time where nothing goes wrong: everything is delivered and manufactured on time, work seems to be completed without you even realising and every client is as content as they could possibly be with your service.

There are a number of books, which purport to help business owners reach this state but sadly it is debateable whether it even exists. It may not be possible to simply sit back and let calm wash over you.

Synergy “The interaction between two agents to produce an effect greater than the sum of its parts.”

The word tends to get thrown around with very little thought put into what it actually means. For example, “There is great synergy between business people and coffee: they are better together than they are apart.”

Synergy is only truly useful as a warning. If a potential collaborator’s main selling point is “the great synergy” between their business and yours, run. This is usually a cunning way of hiding the fact that there are no benefits.

S

The vaults are closed: banks fail to meet lending targets

ixty-five per cent of SMEs do not trust the banks to lend, according to a study by business website Huddlebuy. The results follow the news that banks have failed to meet their £76 billion Project Merlin lending targets, with just £74.9 billion lent since 9 February 2011.

The trend is even more pronounced among young business owners, with almost threequarters of 18-34-year-old entrepreneurs seeking alternative fund-generating options.

Saurav Chopra, CEO of Huddlebuy said, “Small businesses are the lifeblood of this

economy, being disruptive, innovative, quick to market and bringing new ideas and better ways of doing things.

“It’s exactly this kind of entrepreneurialism which is creating jobs and wealth so to restrict small business growth because of a lack of credit is actually holding back the recovery.”

Turn to page 15 for our feature on crowd funding

36%

of SMEs say they plan to grow their marketing budget in 2012.

Source: Mindmetre Research

59%

of Britons cannot name any Olympic corporate sponsors.

Source: Ipsos MORI

|7

57%

of UK workers say they had higher unpaid workloads in the past year

£22.1billion the amount Britons plan to spend on holidays in 2012

Sources:YouGov, ICM

Scottish shoppers spend less Money and job worries blamed for lack of sales on the high street

S

hoppers in Scotland are spending less than in other parts of the country, say the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Figures for November to January show that Scotland was one of the hardest hit areas for people when spending their cash.

Though more money was spent on the high street compared to 2010, the BRC said this was because of the Christmas shopping period and snow in 2010, which forced the previous year’s figures down.

The BRC blamed money and job worries for the lack of spending and Stephen Robertson, Director General of the BRC, said that high streets were suffering as a result. “The rate of town centre vacancies has stayed constant across the UK as a whole but the condition of too many high streets is still bleak.”

Out-of-town shopping centres, however, are flourishing as people become increasingly discerning about what they’re buying, continued Stephen Robertson.

Worldview

Apple wins iconic logo poll Top ten memorable logos include Google and London Underground

T

he famous apple has been voted the world’s most memorable logo in a recent survey undertaken by the Small Business Logos website.

The partially eaten fruit beat other well-known logos from global brands, such as the BBC, Nike and Amazon.com, which finished in second, third and fourth places respectively.

Small Business Logos said Apple won based on its easily recognisable shape, the bite taken out of the side ensuring there is no doubt it is an apple.

Other logos that placed in the top 10 included Google, the London Underground and UPS. Lucy Smith, marketing and e-commerce director for Small

Business Logos said, “Logos are a crucial part of a business’ identity, and, as our winners prove, over time, they become important entities in their own right, instantly conjuring up the values and key messages of a particular brand.”

To see the full list of winners and for tips for making your own Turn to logo more memorable, visit page 12 for tips smallbusinesslogos.co.uk on how to build your brand

Indian company aims to help job seekers on low incomes Startup hopes to optimise job hunt in Asia Graham van der Wielen

Scottish high street shopping is at a low

13%

of people in the UK said superfast broadband in rural areas would be the best potential infrastructure investment for Britain Source:YouGov

8 | UpStart

A

startup from India is hoping to change job hunting in developing countries to benefit lowincome workers.

Jobs Bolega, meaning ‘Jobs will now talk’, is a company aimed at aspiring employees who may not have access to the internet but have a mobile phone.

“Using mobile voice technology, essentially we are getting employers in a network like LinkedIn to get them a job,” said founding member Krishanu Dutta. “We are creating a voice resume for them.”

Krishanu and his team have gone to Singapore to take part in an accelerator programme for Asian startups to build on their ideas.

Startup teams from around the continent have 100 days to receive mentoring from skilled entrepreneurs and specialists before pitching their businesses to potential investors.

Singapore-based company Joyful Frog Digital Incubator is running the programme in partnership with one of the region’s largest telecommunications companies, SingTel. The programme is part of a growing movement to support entrepreneurship in Singapore, after a government economic review in 2003 recommended the country make itself an “entrepreneurial nation willing to take risks to create fresh businesses.”

Less than 10 years later, Singapore ranks number one in the world for ease of doing business and fourth place for starting a business, according to the World Bank.

27%

2/5

of UK adults would like to be part of an innovative company

Confidence up among US small businesses

people support plans for the new UK high speed rail link Source:YouGov

Diary/March

Research carried out by NFIB finds businesses hiring but let Britain’s most useful events for small business owners down by lack of skills

C

onfidence rose among American small business owners in January for the fifth consecutive month, adding to signs that things are improving for the US economy.

Unemployment fell to a three-year low and small business owners even reported difficulty filling vacant positions. The research, carried out by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), found 41% of small businesses had hired or tried to hire new staff in the previous three months, of which, 31% reported insufficient applicants with the necessary skills. The NFIB also found that redundancies were at the lowest they had been since October 2007, showing a promising future for America’s workforce and small businesses alike.

There were also small improvements in both sales volumes and selling prices.

E-commerce giant creates Irish jobs

P

ayPal has announced it will create 1,000 jobs in Ireland this summer.

The website, which employs 1,500 people in its West Dublin headquarters, will create a new operations centre in Dundalk.

The jobs are expected to be filled within four years and the company will join the ranks of other multinationals based in Ireland. Jobs will be created in customer and sales support roles.

Last year, the company announced it would start moving its business offline so that customers can use PayPal in shops.

PayPal was founded in 1998 and was taken over by eBay in 2002. The company currently has 232 million customers in 190 markets worldwide.

Organising your own event?

Let us know by emailing upstartmaguk@ gmail.com

6

Drinks and Links London Networking event, FREE drinksandlinks.com

1

St David’s Day

8

Email & Social Media Marketing Newcastle Crash Course for SMEs, FREE ettend.com/id=2187

9

16-17

17

18

Second Friday Romsey Networking event, FREE firstfriday-network. co.uk

St Patrick’s Day

20

Raise Your Profile Without A Budget Renfrew Masterclass, £85 renfrewshire chamber.com

2

Think Digital Cardiff Inspiring talks about working online, £10 thinkdigital-cardiff. co.uk

9-16

Global Entrepreneurship Congress Liverpool gec.unleashingideas.org UpStart readers are entitled to an exclusive 20% off tickets. Enter the code GD20 when purchasing.Turn to page 6 for more on the GEC.

Growing Your Own Business London Conference, FREE Speakers: Will Chase, founder of Chase Distillery, and Sarah Lu, founder of YoudooDolls Ltd and StartBrandAgency. sme-events.com

Mothering Sunday

22

Social Media Surgery Ambleside, Cumbria FREE socialmediasurgery. com

5

Social Media Surgery Wolverhampton FREE socialmediasurgery. com

19

London Web Summit London £995 websummit.net

29

Save money, make money, be socially responsible London, £5 larconsultancy.co.uk

17

StartUp Saturday London Course in starting up a busieness, £30 enterprisenation. com/events

19

Public Holiday in Rupublic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

31

TEDxCardiff Forward thinking speakers and performers TEDxCardiff.co.uk

|9

toolbox

“

the biggest mistake is seeing social technologies just as marketing & promotion channels”

Dr Kelly Page, Lecturer of Digital Media Marketing at Cardiff Business School, tweets her #toptips for getting the most out of social media @upstartmaguk: What is the most useful social media device for small businesses, in your opinion? @drkellypage: That depends but, in terms of device, I’d say a smart mobile device so they can engage anywhere and are accessible :-).

setting up #fan or #like pages. These should be treated as community pages and not marketing channels.

@drkellypage: E.g., a smart phone, laptop or iPad... being social is about being accessible and engaged :-). Mobile devices assist this. @drkellypage: Business is about social interaction. Whether a big, medium or small business, it involves people. People interacting, conversing and sharing.

is the best way to develop your digital social footprint as a #business. @drkellypage: It is important to educate & encourage staff in how they use their @linkedIn profiles. @LinkedIn groups have some value. @drkellypage: Your employees, colleagues, peers are your best way to really engage socially with/through digital social technologies :-)

@upstartmaguk: Is there a best way to use Twitter for businesses? @drkellypage: Yes. Don’t market, sell or promote yourself! Twitter is a social space to listen/learn from and share/converse with. @drkellypage: When you start talking just about you & #pushing content you stop being social. Listen, chat, share & learn the etiquette. @upstartmaguk: What about Facebook? @drkellypage: Facebook is a little more complex as it is more a personal social space for many people, so #business needs to respect this. @drkellypage: Many #businesses are

@upstartmaguk: Do you think there is a best way to use LinkedIn for businesses? @drkellypage: Employee profiles on @LinkedIn

@upstartmaguk: How has social media helped businesses in a positive way? @drkellypage: Wow, big question! It is forcing #businesses to be more social, to focus on people and what people and communities think and do. @drkellypage: It is also making business more accountable to the wider communities and social fabric they coexist within. @drkellypage: It has resulted in employees, customers, clients having more of a voice - if they want it, when they want it. @upstartmaguk: Do you think it’s had a negative impact? @drkellypage: It can have a negative impact, yes. If not resourced properly, it can raise expectations of being available 24/7. @drkellypage: Also, if #business is not participating or learning from conversations about itself, it can lose touch with the market. @upstartmaguk: What are the biggest mistakes you’ve seen in how people use social media for businesses? @drkellypage: The biggest mistake is seeing social technologies just as marketing & promotion channels; managed just by marketing teams.

10 | UpStart

@upstartmaguk: What, for you, has been the most important social media tool? @drkellypage: The ‘tool’ varies. For teaching, meetings and project management: Wiki, Google Docs. For collaboration: Dropbox. @drkellypage: For conversing and sharing ideas: @Twitter, my @wordpress blog and facebook profile. @drkellypage: For research: RSS feeds & google reader, @evernote and @netvibes. @upstartmaguk: How do you suggest creating a successful social media strategy for a business? @drkellypage: First stage: talking to the people in your #business. Find out what is already going on with and around your brand. @drkellypage: If you are an SME with few employees, look at what #businesses in your sector are doing.

Most important thing is to listen. @drkellypage: Most strategy documents are written top-down. Try and inspire its development bottom-up. @drkellypage: Established #businesses are already participating in digital social web; they are just not aware of it :-). @drkellypage: Also, focus on 2 things in strategy: 1) support current practices/participation; 2) inspire learning through examples & ideas. @upstartmaguk: What do you think the next future developments are in social media? @drkellypage: Ahhh! The holy grail of social technology questions: the future. Hang on. I’ll just grab my crystal ball :-). @drkellypage: Whereas the early days of development centred around the West and the English language, I think we are on the edge of change. @drkellypage: As technology develops in the East, we’ll see a shift, especially in language access. @drkellypage: In terms of #business, social technology use will be less about #marketing and #communications and more about digital social ways of working.

Q & A: David Thomas

The founder of ethical homeware retailer Danaqa tells Lucy Douglas why morals aren’t enough to secure your customers

Q A

How do you ensure that your products are totally ethically produced?

In each of our supply countries we have what is called a trusted broker.

These are women in every country who are able to communicate for us to the different suppliers in those countries. Our suppliers won’t necessarily have good access to email and Skype and those kinds of things, but the trusted brokers would, so they are our point of communication.

But also, they have two other key things: they understand the ethical and the fair trade commitments that we’re making, so they can check up on those, and also they have an understanding of the level of quality that is necessary for the products to actually work in London, the UK and Europe.

A lot of these people have returned to their countries having, perhaps, been educated or spent some time working in the UK or US. They can make sure that all the suppliers that we’re getting on and all the products that we are selling follow strict ethical guidelines. It’s written into their contracts to make sure all of that happens.

Q

Do you have much of a chance to get out to these countries yourself, or do you rely on the trusted brokers?

A

We rely mainly on the trusted brokers.

We have in the business plan twice

yearly visits, but there’s no chance that’s going to happen. It’s mainly done through communication with the trusted brokers but I am hoping to do a bit of a tour, probably an African tour, some time soon.

“The world doesn’t need tat, just because it’s made lovingly; it needs quality”

Q

What are the main challenges facing companies like yours, that are promising to offer totally ethical products?

A

The main challenge is persuading people in Europe that businesses like ours are worth buying from. I’d say 75% of people who come into the boutique have no interest whatsoever in the stories and in the background we provide to our products.

That’s good and our suppliers would be really happy that people will buy stuff just because it’s beautiful. We don’t want the first selling point to be the story, but at the same time we do want the story and the awareness to be part of the experience. We have the stories all over the place; the swing tags on the products have stories of who’s made it and we have our ethical principles up on the wall, but most people aren’t concerned by that.

David Thomas, 28, is the founder of Portobello Road retailer Danaqa, selling handmade accessories and homeware produced by independent designers in some of the poorest countries in the world, including Ethiopia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

After careers in international development that took them around the world, David and his wife Nadia, 32, launched Danaqa in 2010, in order to give something back to the businesses they worked with.

Q

What advice would you give to someone in the position you were in when you started?

A

I would make sure that whatever they’re producing is of the right quality.

That’s the number one piece of advice. Don’t presume you can trade on ethics alone, that was our big lesson and that is our big lesson going forward. You have to make sure that your USP is your quality as well as your ethics. And that’s the only way that attitudes will properly be changed and that’s really important to us. The world doesn’t need tat, just because it’s made lovingly; it needs quality and that’s how attitudes get changed.

Q A

What’s been your proudest moment so far in your venture?

First sale we made, to somebody who wasn’t related to me. The first time somebody walked in off the street – and I had no idea who they were – who had a very slow look around, picked up something walked over to the till and put it down. That’s definitely the proudest moment.

Read more from David Thomas and his products at UpStart online: www.jomec.co.uk/upstart

| 11

HOW TO: BUILD YOUR BRAND

G

etting to the bottom of branding is one of the biggest jargon-busting jobs of all. In a nutshell, branding creates the personality of your business, helping you focus on your company’s core values and what you hope it will deliver to your customers.

Applying these five principles will make your business stand out from the crowd, and help you create a vital connection with your customers. enabling you to move into new market sectors without altering your core brand identity.

1

Look around

Sucessful products or services that strike a chord with customers always feel like they were designed ‘for the moment’. People get excited about new innovations because they promise solutions to current problems. Staying alert to trends in society, and ensuring you immerse yourself in the context in which you are playing, means you will recognise those problems and, hopefully, provide the solutions your consumer craves.

Learn from: Inspiring Interns www.inspiringinterns.com After noticing the fresh challenges facing graduates hindered by difficult economic conditions, founder Ben Rosen set up the company in 2009 to give young people a foot in the door through internships, jobs and work placements. Since then, the company has gone on to provide over a thousand opportunities for graduates across the country.

2

Speak loud and clear

In a marketplace that thrives off competition and choice, first impressions mean everything.

A recognisable brand should have a definitive voice which communicates what the business stands for as well as what it offers.

To ensure your brand stands out from the crowd, you must be able to distinguish it from your competitors in a way that’s meaningful and memorable to your customers. Customers will then begin to associate your business with a consistent set of values they know and trust. All this results from determining your niche as clearly as possible, and using it to direct your brand message and image.

From an initial investment of just £1,000, Fruit For The Office now has revenues of £1m and employs 15 people.

Learn from: Fruit For The Office www.fruitfortheoffice.co.uk Fruit For The Office are the first company in the UK to offer a specialised fruit and veg delivery service to their customers offices.

Founder Daniel Ox transformed his family’s business from a traditional fruit and veg stall in Piccadilly Circus into a booming online business, after he noticed the changing consumer habits of shoppers. From an initial investment of just £1,000, the business now has revenues of £1 million and employs 15 people.

The evolution of a logo 1898 Ok, so you might not have over 100 years of brand history to draw on, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from how Pepsi’s logo has evolved over the years. From the scrawny hand drawn 19th century sign to its web friendly modern day design, our logo timeline shows just how flexible a strong brand can be.

12 | UpStart

Pepsi Cola’s first logo was a hand drawn sign that pharmacist Caleb Bradham designed to entice customers to try his new soft drink. Bradham eventually patented the drink in 1903.

1940

The Second World War formed the backdrop to Pepsi’s first major redesign.

The red, white and blue added later reflected a new surge in American patriotism – but doesn’t it look a bit too much like rivals Coca Cola?

Branding is so much more than just a slick logo.

UpStart takes you through the 5 steps to producing a branding blockbuster.

3

Consider yourself

While celebrity may not have been part of your business strategy, creating a personal brand as part of your company is seriously worth considering. Customers look to the personalities behind the ideas as a symbol of trust, and it is much easier to market your business when customers can put a face to a brand. Harness your background, expertise and the backstory of your business.

Social media puts pressure on company leaders to be increasingly visible; people want to hear how entrepreneurs get their ideas (and how they ensure those ideas make money!). It may not be the most philanthropic of causes, but giving back to the community while gaining yourself exposure is always a good deal for your company.

Learn from: Steve Jobs, Apple Inc Has anyone else been so instrumental to a company’s branding?

4

Click to it

Social media is the magic wand of the modern business age making the internet is your oyster.

Blogging, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all portals you should become familiar with, but don’t spread yourself too thin.

1973

The word ‘Cola’ was dropped from the logo in 1962, and by 1973 the iconic ‘Pepsi globe’ had become the core of the company’s branding.

Instead, let your customer help you to choose one particular network to be your core online hub. Once settled, bear in mind your social media participation shouldn’t just be about self-promotion. Great opportunities are at hand to build relationships with potential partners and others in your field, and over-selling your business could be a costly turn-off.

By 2012, Starbucks had received nearly 125,000 customer ideas and had put 185 of them into practice.

Learn from: ASOS www.twitter.com/ASOS_HeretoHelp Last year, the web-based clothes giant became one of the fastest growing UK retailers thanks to its 24-7 social media campaign directed at its online customers. With a dedicated Twitter account to customer service, almost 45% of the company’s tweets are replies to other individuals on Twitter, addressing complaints and issues.

The twitter account continues to deal with customer feedback during weekday evenings and at weekends.

2005

New millennium, new graphics for PepsiCo, although to modern eyes the effect looks a little too much like a slapdash Photoshop job. Logos go out of fashion almost faster than they can be designed in the digital age – make sure your company never falls off the pace.

5

Involve your customer

While social media can be used to get your name out there, it also provides a rewarding gateway to your customers. Use it to receive regular feedback from satisfied customers to check your business is consistently achieving your brand promises.

While you’re at it, grab the opportunity to ask dissatisfied or former customers for feedback too - you can gain valuable and honest information about how they judge your brand. It’s also vital to remember that your customers can change too, and social media can help to keep on top of what they hope and expect from your brand.

Reward your customers in turn by holding events such as content-creation competitions, which will engage both new and existing customers.

Learn from: Starbucks www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/community Even global giants now can’t ignore one-to-one conversations with their customers. My Starbucks Idea is the coffee chain’s first social media website, set up in 2008 to allow customers to submit, vote and discuss ideas, and track their progress. By 2012, the company had received nearly 125,000 ideas from a range of their customers and had put 185 of them into practice.

today

Pepsi’s new type is designed to reflect the white curve within the Pepsi globe logo. Look especially at the the wavy ‘e’ shape. The new design is also far more digital-firendly than its predecessors.

Predicting future design trends and tastes is difficult, as this evolution shows. It is far better to be firm in your company’s values, and flexible in your logo design.

| 13

best of

email newsletters

Keep your clients in the know about your business this month with the best email newsletter services available on the market.

MailChimp

For a free newsletter service, you can’t go far wrong with MailChimp. It offers useful features perfect for tailoring your business newsletters exactly the way you want them.

With predesigned templates for those who don’t want to deal with HTML, MailChimp can be customised easily with your business’s personal colours or logos.

The inbox inspector shows more than 60 screenshots of how the campaign will look to prospective clients, and the email beamer allows you to send messages from any message app or smartphone. MailChimp also has its own app for iPhones and Android phones, where statistics can be checked, subscribers added and lists managed. Other features include campaigns that can be linked to social networks, inbuilt Google analytics, subscriber VIP lists and even a translation tool. With MailChimp, almost everything can be customised. Content can be changed based on your subscribers’ interests and location while comments can also be enabled on newsletters.

dotMailer

With over ten years experience in email newsletters, dotMailer offers an easy to use and trackable newsletter service.

With a choice of over 100 free templates and others which are easy to edit, there’s always a design to suit your business. dotMailer provides a free 30 day trial, allowing you try the service before you commit. For smaller businesses, the company suggests the freemium package, a free of charge service perfect for those with fewer than 500 email contacts. Otherwise, prices range from the standard service (starting at £295) to the corporate service at £5000. dotMailer is flexible and able to meet different needs, making it useful for both small businesses and advanced email marketers alike.

Features include the drag and drop template editor, website sign up form creators and Facebook and Wordpress sign up apps. The service also offers the ability to tell the client which recipients opened each email and what links they clicked within the message.

GraphicMail

GraphicMail expertly caters to both the experienced business markerter and to the less informed startup with its easy to use template editor. Free templates are available, giving you the option to upload the newsletter from a word document. GraphicMail templates do all the hard work for you, but if you have the abilities it also allows you to use an advanced HTML template editor.

The service is easily adaptable to everyone’s needs and is good value for money. Prices start from £9.95 for 2000 emails, or there is a Pay As You Go option for those not wanting to be tied to a particular purchase framework.

GraphicMail’s opt-in email system provides a safer service for subscribers, with its bespoke verification system.

Social media interactivity is a real bonus for GraphicMail, as the service allows you to embed social widgets into newsletters and publish to social networks. Finally, there’s the ability to track stats through Google analytics and easily manage your mailing list through the address book.

UpStart verdict: This

UpStart verdict: With

UpStart verdict: Pay As You

newsletter service is the best free

advanced analytics and a large

Go services and easy access to

one out there, with a host of email

contacts capacity, dotMailer is a

social media make Graphic Mail

customisations that can deal with

good investment for companies

good value for money, but some

the majority of your day-to-day

requiring a more detailed analysis

of the service’s templates lack the

business requirements.

of their e-marketing performance.

style of its competitors.

14 | UpStart

Funding your business:

what’s right for you?

The sources of traditional funding are drying up. With banks still largely unwilling to finance new enterprises, are there any alternatives for shrewd but cash-strapped entrepreneurs? UpStart examines three of the options

I

t’s no secret that funding is harder than ever to come by when you’re starting a business. Investors are increasingly reluctant to take a gamble on new ventures, especially ones with modest projected profit margins. Banks won’t touch your loan application without several years of audited accounts or impressive assets as collateral. Boldly devoting all your life savings is still unlikely to cover all the costs that crop up when launching an enterprise and money available from personal overdrafts or credit cards will be limited – often subject to such high interest rates you’ll be in trouble before you’ve even started.

Bibby Financial Services found that business insolvencies rose 7.2% in the last three months of 2011

from the same period the year before, a change it puts down to the lack of funding available to business. The latest research from the Federation of Small Businesses reveals that only 11% of its members had secured a bank loan in 2011 while 70% of businesses one to two years old had used savings or inheritance to fund their enterprise.

Dipping into your savings isn’t always an option but with banks tightly holding the purse strings and government grants harder to come by than ever, it can often feel like you’re in a financial cul-de-sac.

Luckily there are still avenues open to you when your business is in need of a little financial support. UpStart takes a look at some of the services available and asks whether they are right for your company.

Crowdfunding A trend that has spiked in recent years, crowdfunding gives groups, individuals and organisations the opportunity to generate funding by pitching their ideas online and receiving donations from generous members of the public. You specify how much money you want to raise and how much time you are planning to raise it in but by and large, all crowdfunding companies work on an all or nothing model so if you fail to reach your target by your deadline, you won’t receive anything. It is favoured by creative enterprises trying to fund projects, such as a short film or an exhibition. However, it is an increasingly popular way to raise money for small businesses.

What’s out there?

The major players in the UK market include Crowdfunder and Crowdcube, American

Peer-to-peer lending Like a bank loan except with more favourable rates, peer-topeer lending companies bring together people looking for loans and people with some spare cash hoping to generate interest.

The companies carry out a credit risk assessment on you like a bank would, then categorise you based on their findings – if they feel you are too risky, they will turn you away. Your loan request is then posted on their website and you wait for lenders to come up with the cash you need. Money lent is generally spread across various applications in order to minimise risk for the lenders and the company will manage the repayments.

Often the rates available are better than those on offer from your high street bank but it’s still risky. Most companies are not regulated by a recognised

16 | UpStart

giant Kickstarter, Scottish startup Bloom Venture Catalyst, WeFund and Sponsume.

It’s important, however, to remember that not all of them are suitable for funding small businesses. Kickstarter, WeFund and Sponsume all serve creative projects rather than enterprise and Kickstarter even states in its guidelines that “it is not a place for soliciting donations for general business expenses”.

Crowdfunder and Bloom VC are more business friendly.

While the majority of the projects featured on both sites are creativity or charity-based, there is space for startups and entrepreneurs to promote their work and gain some valuable funding. Both companies charge a 5% fee but only if your bid is successful.

Crowdfunder’s sister company, Crowdcube, is specifically designed for business, the main difference being that money is pledged as an investment rather than a donation and is exchanged

The average bid on Crowdfunder is for £3,000 £5,000 but only around 30% of projects posted reach their target amount for equity in your business.

You determine the amount of equity you are willing to give in exchange for investment and, like Crowdfunder, a 5% fee is charged on successful bids. It may seem unappealing to give away a stake in your business if you don’t absolutely have to but if you need a hefty five-figure sum to bankroll expenses, you are much more likely to succeed with the Crowdcube model. According to the company’s spokeswoman Rose Elliott, startups have the most success with their bids.

Is it for me?

Yes, if… you have the time to

promote it. Jon Covey, CEO of the now defunct site Sponduly, says, “For crowdfunding to work, you need a strong social network. Simply having a few hundred followers on Facebook or Twitter isn’t enough, you need to reach into the thousands.”

Also, it can be a great way to test the market for your idea. If no one wants to donate money to get your product off the ground, the chances are no one will buy it when it’s available.

But… don’t ask for more than you need. The more you ask for, the more likely you are to end up with nothing.

Zopa offers fixed 7.6% APR on a loan of £7,000 over three years, compared to 11.1% from Lloyds TSB and a massive 17.9% from NatWest financial body and since the collapse of social lending company Quakle in December, there are growing concerns about the safety of the peer-to-peer lending model.

What’s out there?

Zopa is the flagship service for peer-to-peer lending in Britain.

It handles personal loans of between £1,000 and £15,000 and according to its spokesperson, does not encourage people to use its services for business borrowing.

However, like a bank, neither Zopa nor any other lending company can regulate how you spend your loans so perhaps it’s still worth taking advantage of

their low interest rates.

Funding Circle is a peer-to-peer lending company designed for small businesses.

The amount you can borrow here is significantly higher than at Zopa: up to £250,000, with the average loan around £39,332. However, you must be an established business for your loan application to be looked at. Funding Circle requires businesses seeking loans to have a minimum of two years of accounts filed with Companies House so it’s no good for startups.

Others in the market include Yes-secure, which offers both personal and business loans and approves applications from higher-risk borrowers than its

competitors, and personal peer-to-peer loan firm RateSetter.

Is it for me?

Yes, if… you’re a more established business. These companies do check you just like a bank would so if your business has been running for a few years and your income is steady, you may be able to access their excellent rates. It’s also ideal if you need cash for a one off purchase, such as some new equipment or a car.

But… if you’ve struggled to get finance in the past or your credit history is poor, peer-to-peer lending is probably not for you.

The choice of companies offering alternatives to traditional business loans is growing each year but deciding which service will work best for your business is not easy

Microloans and Community Development Finance Institutions Nothing to do with those hideous payday loans you see advertised on TV, microloan companies lend small amounts at reasonable interest rates in order to stimulate enterprise.

They are often used by charities to help people in developing countries grow their businesses but there are a few serving a similar purpose in the UK. Some microlenders are independent companies, usually not for profit, but many are Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), which run on funds from the government and other community money as well as the cash they make on loan repayments.

CDFIs support small businesses or organisations that

haven’t been able to find credit elsewhere. Their interests are social rather than corporate so they don’t hike their rates and best of all, they often favour microenterprises (defined as businesses employing fewer than 10 people) so they’re a great source of funding for startups.

What’s out there?

Fair Finance is a London microlender that offers loans of up to £10,000 to businesses or individuals that have been refused credit elsewhere. Its rates aren’t as favourable as the

peer-to-peer lenders and they do encourage you to shop around before coming to them. Right now, it is not processing any applications for business loans but do check its website to keep up to date.

As for CDFIs, the challenge is assessing which is the right one for you. Most are areaspecific but they can be quite inconsistent in the amount they lend. For example, Faith in Business (west London-based) offers loans of up to £5,000 to startups or £10,000 to existing businesses while Business

Fair Finance offer a representative APR of 21%, with no need to provide collateral

Enterprise Fund (north Yorkshire-based) offers up to £100,000.

Bear in mind that CDFIs often have a set annual budget they can lend so once that’s been dished out, you’ll have to wait for the next financial year to apply.

Is it for me?

Yes, if… you can’t get funding anywhere else. Some of these lenders will ask for proof that you’ve been turned down by a bank. Also, many CDFIs try to support the community aspects of business and often look to loan money that will create or save jobs so if you’re looking to hire extra staff, this could be the way to go.

But… it’s so dependent on location that the loans available to you can come down to luck.

| 17

STARTUP OR SHUTDOWN

StartUp Britain is approaching its first birthday – but how much can it actually help your new business?

18 | UpStart

D

avid Cameron is backing Britain’s startups. “2012 has got to be the year when we go for it.” Those were his words as he relaunched the scheme designed to save Britain’s entrepreneurs and in the process, the country’s economy. But what does StartUp Britain actually mean for UK businesses? Are Dave’s promises of a glimmering future like the beads of sweat on his shiny forehead, temporary and certain to fall? And how much help can the organisation realistically offer?

For all its photo-ops and public backing the government (and by extension, the taxpayer) doesn’t actually contribute anything towards StartUp Britain, it merely gives it its stamp of approval. Originally founded in March 2011, StartUp Britain is a scheme completely funded by private-sector sponsors, big American businesses which may or may not have an additional advertising axe to grind when it comes to their involvement with the project: AXA, Dell, Intel, Intuit and PayPal. Commerce are all fronting the cash and, although offering discounts for their services, presumably hoping that new enterprise owners will be turning to them for their future business needs.

How can these experts hope to advise up and coming startups when they can’t even finish their own site?

However, StartUp Britain does offer some real benefits to anyone looking to get started with a small business. Weeks of free business events like Marketing Britain and Tech4StartUp Britain have been unprecedented successes. In excess of 3000 people have attended or watched live events.

In addition, the StartUp Britain Summer Bus Tour travelled the country over two weeks in July and August last year, providing business advice to anyone who boarded.

Since the vehicle was static for the duration of the stop, it is hoped these were people who wanted to go somewhere metaphorically.

Emma Jones, StartUp Britain’s interim chief executive and founder of Enterprise Nation, is certainly proud of the initiative’s progress.

“For me, possibly the greatest success was news from Experian Hitwise showing a 25% national increase in the number of people searching for the term startup,” she says. “This was closely followed by figures showing the highest recorded number of new companies formed in 2011. I’d like to think StartUp Britain has played a role in this.”

January saw the scheme’s latest boast arrive via the introduction of the Enterprise Calendar: a list of entrepreneurial events

happening each month and throughout the rest of the year. While a good idea in theory, the calendar relies on submissions from the events hosts and, as such, doesn’t offer the kind of substantial coverage new business owners might require. Top that off with an inability to view the location of events before making that click and the calendar soon proves to be a frustrating experience. Sure, you can trawl through a weighty PDF of upbeat soundbites and events listings but this all seems like a wasted opportunity.

Website woes Of course, this isn’t the first time the StartUp Britain website has come under criticism.

Indeed, the site has hardly changed since its initial introduction. Back in April 2011, Gareth Coxon of graphic design service Dot Design told The Guardian that StartUp Britain was more style over substance. “The site looks useful if you need something and don’t know where to get it, but at the moment it’s just a lot of links to large companies that don’t need the help,” he said. “It feels like a reasonably designed spam site full of affiliate links for large corporates.”

Even now the StartUp Britain site seems to function as little more than a series of advertisements and outside links, something which is noted by Jeremy Jaffe, co-founder and director of award winning organic food company What On Earth. “Parts of the site are almost a form of disguised advertising as there are a lot of links to businesses,” he said.

“Perhaps there should be a secondary page for the adverts so they aren’t on the home page.”

Unfortunately, such developments seem unlikely. 10 months on from its initial launch, the website’s header still reads “StartUp Britain BETA”. This is more than a little disappointing: how can these experts hope to advise up and coming startups in the ways of business when they can’t even manage to finish their own website?

While local events and the StartUp Britain

Any initiative that aims to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of our workforce should be applauded.

bus tour have undeniably been successful, there is little in the way of guidance for small business owners outside of these localised initiatives. In terms of online help, we don’t really need a Groupon for startups. What we want is to actually make use of the expertise of the founders of StartUp Britain, entrepreneurs who have also built their companies from the ground up. Richard O’Connor, founder

of internet marketing business Ambergreen and online analytics firm Lynchpin, could no doubt provide a wealth of information for interested self-starters. Instead, when asked for his best piece of advice to someone thinking of starting up, he offers the slightly unhelpful tip, “Find a good mentor!” Yes Richard, that’s all well and good, but where on your site can we find such a mentoring figure? In StartUp Britain’s hive mind, it seems we are all content to wander blindly into the darkness, armed only with a discounted Dell laptop and a can-do attitude.

Sign up for StartUp Britain and you get little more than a fancy website and a few discount codes. However, another option is available; the government’s own long-standing (yet often ignored) Business Link website.

Sign up for this initiative and you’ll get access to an incredibly thorough walkthrough of everything it takes to start your own business, from being your own boss to tax advice, payroll queries and beyond. Yes, it makes for slightly dry reading and looks circa-1999 design-wise, but this is precisely the kind of material StartUp Britain should be providing online. Just because you don’t have access to the events or bus tours doesn’t mean you should be excluded from help and advice.

Internal affairs Then there’s the relaunch. As of January, the question being posed to the British public is, what’s the business in you? TV shows like Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice have proved some business ideas to be more successful than others (anyone remember Emergency Biscuits?) but perhaps StartUp Britain’s greatest strength lies in its ability to get people thinking.

This is the aspect which proves most exciting to Yousaf Sekander, director of digital marketing firm Elevate Local.

“Any initiative that aims to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of our workforce should be applauded,” he said. “Entrepreneurs often generate jobs and wealth through creative business thought – an ingredient our economy needs if we are to return to sustained growth. We are quite risk averse as a nation and StartUp Britain might just be the inspiration and support network that many people require to make the jump.”

Emma Jones clearly agrees with this sentiment. She explains the initiative’s aims to address the often fantastical image of entrepreneurial exploits. “One of the key gures that drives me every day is that, while around 50% of people in the UK dream of starting a business, only 5% are doing something about it,” she says. “The good news is we are seeing record numbers of startups,

|19

with 480,000 new companies created in 2011. I have a sneaky feeling this figure will break the half a million point in 2012 and that would be something worth celebrating!”

In order to reach this figure, the government has, rather confusingly, launched another new site which is hyperlinked from the homepage of StartUp Britain: BusinessinYou.bis.gov. uk. Fortunately, this new endeavour offers at least some practical advice courtesy of nine entrepreneurial case studies. Supporters of Business in You include Wendy Tan-White, founder of DIY website and shop builder Moonfruit; Richard Moross of print company moo.com; and, satisfying the government’s ‘cool’ quota, Jamal Edwards, founder of youth lifestyle video channel SBTV. Unfortunately, these entrepreneurs have a tendency to only discuss how wonderful their lives are now, rather than how they got to be that way.

This is something which worries Jeremy Jaffe. “All the stories are positive and I feel that this could give some people false hope,” he said. “People using the site need to see all sides of the story so they realise that being an entrepreneur isn’t always an easy option.” Contradicting its can-do attitude, StartUp Britain is a good idea which doesn’t seem to have been taken much further than the initial planning stage. But maybe that’s all that’s needed.

In a job climate where, well, there are no jobs, startups need to be identified as a viable alternative and even a necessity for people of all ages. Most importantly of all, budding entrepreneurs require the courage to start their own businesses, something StartUp Britain goes some way to providing, even if it doesn’t entirely deliver on the advice or guidance it claims to offer. If you’ve got the idea and know the risks, why not follow Dave’s advice and “go for it”? StartUp Britain might just provide that first push.

Photograph: bisgovuk MINI’s parked up at StartUp Britain 2012 launch at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills

StartUp Britain: The story so far 25% national increase in the number of people searching for the term ‘startup’

480,000 companies founded in 2011 190 volunteers for StartUp Local

3000 StartUp Britain Summer Bus Tour has travelled

attended Marketing and Tech4StartUp Britain

1236 miles

160,000 people have engaged with StartUp Britain since its launch in 2010 2500 people boarded the bus to receive business advice 20|UpStart

Is the Government helping small businesses?

Two experts give their opinion on the government’s involvement with startup businesses

YES

NO

Rajeeb Dey founder of Enternships and StartUp Britain

I

think the Prime Minister definitely made a good start in supporting small businesses. Backing campaigns such as StartUp Britain and more recently the Business in You campaign definitely show the government is keen to help and support small businesses, and they’re ready to listen, which is quite important.

They’ve run things like the Red Tape challenge, trying to cut down bureaucracy in Backing campaigns such as business. Also, things like StartUp Britain definitely show funding or student enterprise the government is keen to help societies are definitely very and support small businesses, positive to nurturing a more entrepreneurial ecosystem. For example, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills gave half a million pounds to the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs.

So, while more always can be done I think there’s movement in the right direction. We’re not funded by the government, but we have had support from Number 10 and BIS to promote StartUp Britain. Earlier this year they launched the Business in You campaign, which is a government funded campaign StartUp Britain is supporting at the moment.

One of the main challenges facing small businesses today is around access to funding. There are less grants and public sector money available and one way the government is trying to mitigate that is by launching their ‘finance finder’ as part of Business in You, a tool that helps businesses navigate what money is maybe available in either public or private sector pots.

But what’s more encouraging is the government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme that will kick start in April, which is to give Angel investors stronger tax breaks if they invest in startups and small businesses. Business in You launched the governmentannounced plans to offer spare office space in government buildings to startups at reduced rates.

Hayley Chalmers founder of Short Couture

I

t’s almost a year since StartUp Britain was launched and I blogged my view of it and what I wanted to see on it. I asked that it be opened up to any company that was willing to create an offer. This has certainly been done – but where is the ‘telephone directory’ of great offers from companies big and small?

It’s mainly small local companies offering 10 or 15% off their services. A few larger companies are offering 5-10% off; we can beat that by shopping around. They’re not really trying, are they?

All discounts are good and if you find a deal that suits you – well, then that’s a success.

But after a year, there are only around 80 offers . I can’t claim to have kept a close eye on the site all year, maybe there have been many more offers that rotate. I don’t know. But 80 doesn’t seem many for a national site serving thousands of businesses.

Where are the big names that can afford to give a good deal?

You might expect the sponsors to have some great deals, but no.

And little companies too. If you run a business that can help a startup, think up an offer. It really doesn’t just have to be a discount. Get creative, 80 offers for startups doesn’t seem think up a deal. many for a national site serving As a startup, it’s thousands of businesses. really annoying (and a little wearing) to be talked down to and treated as second class because I’m not a big business with a lot of money. Where do you think big business comes from…eh? Come on big companies, where are you?

It’s refreshing to find a business that’s prepared to help a small startup. I remember those companies and will go back to them. I remember the other kind too and I won’t ever deal with them.

The StartUp Britain organisation is doing a lot of good work in inspiring and informing people who want to start or grow a business. All you have to do is go onto the website and add your excellent offer. Do you want new customers or don’t you?

|21

“I started my bu For Joanne Dewberry, business and motherhood go hand in hand

J

oanne Dewberry might never have gone into business if not for the birth of her first child.

“Charlie went to his first party when he was six months old. The party bag he was given was full of chocolate and it had those plastic bands in it that you snap and glow in the dark,” remembers Joanne. “I thought it was a bit rubbish and I could do something better.”

And so the idea for Charlie Moo’s was born.

Launching in 2008 from her home in Dorset, her now award-winning handmade party bags have been a run away success.

“I literally had 50 pounds, and that was what I bought my first lot of stock with. 56 pound and 65 pence to be exact,” she laughs.

With a helping hand from partner David, Joanne began selling her bags at local carnivals and in friend’s shops, “I think the first carnival I went to I started off doing just half of wholesale and by the time I did my third or fourth carnival, I knew I could get a little bit more,” she explains.

By then Joanne was seven-and-a-half months pregnant with her second child, and when Megan was born the 31-year-old decided to build a website for Charlie Moo’s.

a Dorset branch and several franchises across the country. Joanne sold her share of the company last December, but remains devoted to networking with other business mums. Unsurprisingly, she cites the people she meets through networking as both her biggest inspiration and motivation.

With an eight-month-old on her hip, the need to combine meetings with breastfeeding may seem an obvious one but many people still berate Joanne for her seamless approach when it comes to motherhood and business.

“I’ve had so many people tell me it’s not practical to bring my child, that it’s really unprofessional. It’s funny to me, because of course I build my whole business around the fact that I have children,” she says.

Playing and working

Like most small businesses, much of Joanne’s success relies heavily upon her engagement with social media. Using Facebook from day one, she finds that both Facebook and Twitter work for her business in very different ways.

“Social media is definitely my most valuable business tool. I decided early on The mumpreneur what I wanted to get out of social media Last year Joanne gave birth to her third child, so for me Facebook is more about brand eight-month-old Olive. Juggling an everawareness and showing my products off to growing business with an ever-growing family, people, while I use Twitter much more for effective time management would be almost PR purposes.” impossible for most. But this award-winning Not only does Joanne use social media mum isn’t most people; not only extensively, she also advises other does she run Charlie Moo’s, small businesses on how to “Forget but in 2009 she co-founded promote their brand through about Networking Mummies with social media. everyone else.

Rentabuggy owner Laura “The only thing I’d say Morris. Like Charlie Moo’s, that can be a draw back with Concentrate on the idea for was borne out social media is that you have your own business of Joanne’s own experiences. to be really strict about your then you She discovered that one of time. Otherwise, you can can grow” the other mums ran her find you’ve been on there for own business on taking her hours and you haven’t done youngest to a toddler group. anything, you’re just playing. I’m very “We would talk about what we’re going to do strict and always tell other people to be.” in the week, set each other goals. It was a way Blogging is another tool Joanne relishes of spurring each other on.” using; her blog as been nominated for Best Discovering a need for networking events Business Blog at the Bloggers Choice Awards, for mums running or starting their own and last year she published an ebook on businesses, Joanne and Laura launched blogging for business.

25|UpStart

By Emily Bater

This foray into publishing isn’t Joanne’s last; her book Crafting a Successful Small Business is due for release this March. Basing the book around her own experience of turning a hobby into a viable craft based business, Joanne was blown away by just how many business women she identified with. What advice would the now experienced entrepreneur give to those who are just embarking on their own startup journey?

“If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to do your research and not to worry about what other people are doing.”

“I find that I work with some small businesses that are just starting up and they’re so conscious that other businesses are doing this and other businesses are doing that. You can get really caught up with what other people are doing instead of what you’re doing, the reason you’re doing it and what you want out of you’re business. Once you forget about everyone else and concentrate on your own business, then you can grow.”

Joanne fits work around her kids Charlie Moo’s has evolved as her children have grown; building on the inspiration she took from her son, Joanne has now added a Megan cow and a baby cow to her range. As the brand grows, so does the selection of products she is able to offer. Joanne hopes to add wrapping paper and gift cards to create a ready-made package for parents.

One big player Joanne identifies with is Me To You, whose blue nosed bear isn’t a world away from her own cow.

“Me To You doesn’t have to try - it just puts its name to something and that product is going to sell. I like to think that one day Charlie Moo’s could be something like that.”

But Joanne is in no rush to conquer the world, “At the minute I’m very comfortable in my business. I’d be happy if this takes five years.

I’m happy to plod along, because I want to enjoy my time with my children.”

usiness on ÂŁ50"

The CV

Joanne fits work around her kids

Joanne Dewbury, 31 Business: Charlie Moo’s Awards: Include Future 100 Young Entrepreneurs, TGF Best Rated Award, Dorset Business Mother of the Year, Enterprise Nation Ideas 101, Mumpreneur 100 Achievements: Co-founder of Networking Mummies, Author of Crafting A Successful Small Business, successful blogger and business writer

|26

tech

UpStart updates you with all the latest from the world of technology

Twitter lauches self-service advertising system Small businesses will be able to buy ads faster as the online messaging service Twitter adds another string to its moneymaking bow witter has dubbed the ads ‘promoted products’, and they will begin appearing within users’ timelines from late March. The automated system will enable companies to handle their own campaigns and budgets.

The move reflects Twitter’s desire to follow in the footsteps of social network giant Facebook, which last year earned $3.2 billion (eMarket Inc) in ad revenue.

This year, eMarket expects Twitter to sell $260 million in advertising compared to $140 million last year, a rise that will be helped by the new self -service platform.

t

Advertisers choose how much to spend

Both however are drops in a largely flooded market. Google reported $36.5 billion of ad revenue in 2011.

The new automated system will work in a similar way to the one implemented by Google: advertisers will be able to specify how much money they are willing to spend, pick the regions they wish to target and write their own messages within the confines of Twitter’s standard message length of 140 characters.

OS X

Mountain Lion

set for summer release Apple has lifted the lid on its brand new desktop operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, due out later this year

Mountain Lion follows just seven months after Lion

t

he new system draws from the iPhone and iPad by including popular iOS apps like Messages, Notes, Reminders, and Twitter integration, although Siri, the voice assistant feature introduced with the iPhone 4S, will not be making an appearance.

Over 100 new features will also be introduced, including iCloud integration,

26 | UpStart

making it easier for users to sync documents betweeen Macs and iOS devices, and AirPlay Mirroring, which can replicate content from a computer screen onto an Apple TV. “The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” says Apple’s senior vice president

of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller.

“The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

The full version of Mountain Lion will be available to Mac users in late summer.

Cisco introduces BIG Awards

amount of mobiles will exceed number of people

US computer networking giant Cisco is launching a new awards scheme aimed at technology startups in the UK

t

There will be more mobile phones than humans this year, say network firm Cisco

i

n their latest Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, Cisco said there would be approximately 10 billion mobile devices around the world by 2016 and that data consumption is on the rise.

The report stated that mobile data traffic in 2011 was eight times the size of the capacity of the internet in 2000.

Cisco said that over half of all mobile phone owners will generate more than one gigabyte of mobile data per month.

Seb Lahtinen, from ThinkBroadband, told the BBC, “As speeds and quality increases, more users will start watching streaming videos on mobiles, which is likely to lead to an explosion in mobile traffic growth.”

In four years time there will be 10 million mobiles in the world

Blackberry outsells b iPhone and Android Research in Motion reported that its troubled Blackberry was the UK’s best selling smartphone of last year

27.7%

he British Innovation Gateway Awards will be an annual competition divided into five entry categories: big data, collaboration, future cities, internet of things and mobility.

The competition will run until September 2012, when six finalists will present their business plans to a judging panel, who will select a winner.

The grand prize, worth $200,000 (£124,000), consists of £63,000 cash, 12 months of mentoring from Cisco and a 12-month support package including PR, marketing and legal services.

Phil Smith, CEO of Cisco UK and Ireland, says, “By nurtuting the growing businesses of tomorrow , we are helping to build a brilliant future for technology innovation in the UK’.

Entries close on 31 March 2012.

Blackberry’s average share in 2011

lackberry owned 27.7% of the smartphone market in 2011, having hit 8.5 million users. The company’s managing director, Stephen Bates, also reported that its PayBookTablet had enjoyed strong sales over Christmas.

“We’ve learnt a lot from the Playbook,” he told the Telegraph. “If you don’t have a Blackberry then it’s not the tablet for you.”

Research in Motion, the company behind Blackberry, has been though some difficult times. Its stock prices fell 75% during 2011, it missed a series of release dates for new products and sales dwindled in the US. However, there is hope that recent boardroom changes, including the appointment of Thorsten Heins as CEO, will turn fortunes around in 2012.

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tech top 5

iPad alternatives

The iPad and pals have been taking the technology market by storm, initially at home, but now at work too. According to a survey by Equanet, one in five businesses in the UK are already using tablets in the workplace, with this number set to

1. Amazon Kindle Fire + Great price + Portable + Straightforward to use - Screen may not be suitable for all apps - UK release date yet to be announced - No webcam or microphone - Small hard drive

(approx. $199)

increase rapidly in the coming year. As Amazon’s affordable Kindle Fire looks set to be a serious contender to the iPad’s tablet throne, UpStart thought it would be worthwhile to look at a few other alternatives to Apple’s all-conquering device.

2. Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime + Removable keyboard for easy typing + Super thin + One of the fastest processors on the market - Relatively expensive - Camera could be better

(approx. £499, including keyboard)

3. Lenovo Thinkpad + Made for business + Easy conversion of notes to digital text + SD cards and USB ports + Networked online storage + Pen input - Not aesthetically pleasing - Heavy - Pricey

(approx. £399 for 16 GB)

recommends 4. Blackberry Playbook + Cheap + Good integration with Blackberry phones + Portable - Poor range of apps - Blackberry phone required to maximise benefits - Small srceen may not be suitable for all apps

(approx. £199, for 16GB, up to £291 for 64 GB)

5. Samsung Galaxy Tab + Fast performance + Thin and light + Good battery light + Closest competitor to the iPad - Pricey (approx. £379 for 7 inch, £449 for 10.1 inch)

28|UpStart

tech How can tablets help your business?

1

Easy emails on the move

Your tablet’s 3G connection lets you send emails without worrying about inconsistent Wi-Fi signals or typing on a small screen.

You’ve bought your tablet, now find out how to use it! Here are six ways a tablet can make your life easier and more fun!

What do you use your tablet for?

Tweet us your ideas @upstartmaguk

2

Use the screen like a piece of paper to take notes, draw diagrams and design graphics.

3

Presentations

Small-scale presentations can be performed using your tablet alone and it can also be connected to a projector.

Video conferences

Design/taking notes

Sign documents

4

5

Built-in webcams and mics make video conferencing easier than ever.

6

Faster file sharing

There’s no need to print, sign and post contracts, you can simply sign documents there and then onscreen.

Use your tablet’s Bluetooth capability to sharefiles faster than USB or email.

“I had a dream, “I’m living it” Sir Richard Branson : Unleashing the Will to Win I’m at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress.

It’s Liverpool. March 2012 gec.unleashingideas.org

The Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2012 in Liverpool The Global Entrepreneurship Congress is an inspirational gathering of entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, economists and policy-makers from more than 100 countries and anyone of any age or background who ever had a dream of running their own business.

with Richard Branson and Lord Heseltine

A Festival of Entrepreneurship readers get 20% off Enter the promotional code GD20 when booking your ticket. Terms and conditions apply. |29

tech profile

10 minutes with

Joe Lambert, technical director and co-founder of Rareloop Rareloop is a mobile technology company specialising in building apps, websites and hosting products for companies and individuals across the UK.

L

aunched six months ago, Rareloop is the brain child of Joe Lambert and Steve Cross.

An experienced software developer, Joe has spent the last six years on the cutting edge of web technology. His partner Steve worked for five years as a manager in the NHS before becoming a developer, and is now channeling these skills into his role as Rareloop’s operations director. Rareloop has recently worked with Nimbus on Tearfund’s MiHope project, producing an easy to use survey for tablet devices to monitor the quality of life and access to medical care of HIV and AIDS sufferers in sub saharan Africa.

Q: What does Rareloop do?

A: Rareloop makes mobile apps, mobile products and is focused on mobile web.

We feel that mobile and tablet devices are going to be massively revolutionary. We’re trying to make sure their websites can be viewed on a range of Android, iPhone and BlackBerry devices. Our long-term goal is to build up several products, one of which is data collection. We’re using it to allow people to conduct surveys, visit trade shows and canvas details from potential customers or delegates.

Q: After being freelancers for so long, what pushed you and Steve to launch your own startup?

A: We’ve had experience freelancing and working for others but we had a passion to go and do something new. We both wanted to do something with mobiles so we figured it made sense to do something under one umbrella, rather then be freelancers separately. It helps to build a brand and a corporate identity around two of us, as opposed to me and Steve having to push ourselves seperately.

Q:You come from a more technical background, while Steve has more experience with managerial roles - do you think the two work well together?

A: It’s a brilliant fit - we both have technical knowledge but as you say Steve has a lot more managerial experience, whereas I have a deeper technical background. I think the skill sets are complementary and it means we can communicate with each other very quickly, because we don’t have to work out technical

30 | UpStart

jargon between the two of us. When you start a business you need people who are more technical and able to deliver on product building and you need someone who is more client facing.

Q: What challenges to you face in running Rareloop? Do you think the tech industry is competitive at the moment?

A: Our main challenge is making sure clients pay on time. If we have a large invoice that’s outstanding it needs to be paid on time so we can pay our bills. There is a lot of competition in this sector, but at the same time it’s about how you market your self. We’re quite involved with the community around the mobile web, so we make it a priority to be known in that area.

Q: What cutting edge work are you doing at the moment?

A: The idea of working on mobile and tablets is largely untapped. We’ve spent a lot of time working on user experience, making sure something is enjoyable and easy to use as well as functional. Others have tried to digitize surveys and forms but give little to no consideration to what makes touch based devices such a perfect fit. There are loads of interactions that can be harnessed to help people capture information a lot quicker.

Q: Which tool have you found to be most valuable for your business?

A: On a personal level, it’s being able to communicate openly and frankly. From

a tools point of view we’ve found that outsourcing work that isn’t part of the core business is huge. We use a package called Free Agent to manage our book keeping that allows our accountant to deal with our accounts a lot quicker. That gives us more time to focus on what makes our business unique. When we started out we spent a long time making sure our accounts were always up to date. All these headaches have gone away now.

Q: Rareloop has only been a limited company for six months, but what has been the highlight of running your own business so far?

A: As you say we’re still quite new so I’d like to answer that again in a couple of years, but one of the highlights is that something we’ve produced is being used to help people in Africa, people who are suffering with HIV. We’ve worked with a couple of NGOs now and I think that’s a pretty good use of the tools we’re creating.

Q: Do you have a five year plan for the development of Rareloop?

A: Our plan is obviously to grow. What we’re aiming to do is to get to the point where we can get some more people on board so we can build on what we’re doing and do more. We want to improve the software we’re developing to help customers solve problems we can’t currently solve. We’d like to see ouselves investing in the community and their businesses. We’ve both got a heart to help others start their business both financially and through advice.

Switch off take a spin on the best office chairs

32

City guide 24 hours in Bristol

33

35

top time wasting app for your coffee break

A day in the life of Neil Cocker

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spinning around: office Give your workspace a lift with our pick of Skruvsta swivel chair, multicolour, Ikea, £89.99

Great for your back

This directional floral print screams style while keeping comfort a priority, and will give any bland office a subtle lift.

Gaiam Balance Ball Chair, John Lewis, £79.99 This unique balance ball chair will strengthen your core muscles and improve spinal alignment. Who needs a gym membership when you can bounce around on this baby?

Retro Glamour

Dwell, £249

Splash of colour

With its 1950’s style, this curved creation will give any home office a touch of class. Finish off the retro look with a walnut bureau, complete with Newton’s cradle.

Book review Start Something That Matters Making money for a good cause You don’t have to be rich to give back. That’s the message of Blake Mycoskie’s book Start Something That Matters.

Blake shares the lessons he’s learnt since founding TOMS shoe company in 2006. He gives tips to anyone wanting to start a business or to transform existing businesses, with stories of how he and similar companies got started.

Giving advice on how to be

32 | UpStart

resourceful without resources, Start Something That Matters is an insightful read for anyone lacking the money to startup.

Blake is passionate about his business and TOMS is based on the idea of giving back, which it does by reinvesting 100% of its profits back into the community. For every pair of shoes the company sells, TOMS donates a pair to disadvantaged children around the world,

recently expanding to provide eye treatment, prescription glasses and even eye surgery.

An inspiring read from someone with a genuine passion for helping people in need and, like the shoes, for each book sold, one book goes to a needy child in a developing country.

For more information and book reviews visit our website at jomec.co.uk/upstart

switch off

chairs

the best office chairs

Brain Food

Running out of steam? Feast your eyes on these proven brain-boosters

Twentytwentyone, £495 Designed with the principle ‘the better you sit, the more you get done’ in mind, this classic design is functional and practical. It’s also available in a selection of vibrant colours, including neon pink and yellow.

AM Start the day with some get-up-and-go by adding some frozen or fresh berries to your cereal. Studies have shown that people with diets rich in berries, demonstrate improved motor skills and learning capacity.

Blueberries in particular protect the brain from age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

NOON Beat the midday slog and grate raw beetroot into your salad. The red veg is known to reduce blood pressure and is rich in a mood modifier called betaine, which improves mood, energy, wellbeing, altertness and concentration. Phew.

PM Welcome those chocloate cravings with open arms. Believe it or not, the sweet stuff not only supplies endorphins and a satisfied stomach, but also produces antioxidants, protecting the body and brain from ageing and helping to decrease the death of brain cells. A guiltbreaker and a brain-booster.

Clean and sleek

Time wasting app Paper Toss

We’ve all been there; after slaving over a letter, plan or business proposal, you end up throwing it in the bin. It’s an incredibly satisfying, if a little disheatening, feeling.

But what if you could recreate the activity on your phone, without destroying entire rainforests in the process? With Paper Toss, that is exactly what Colorado developers, Backflip Studios, have done for both iPhone and Android phones.

The premise is simple, throw the crumpled piece of paper into the bin by making a flicking motion on the screen. The difficulty level gets ramped up

significantly, through each of the seven stages. As the game progresses, you are faced with increasing distances from the bin, varying wind speed from the office fan, as well as verbal abuse from angry co-workers who try to disrupt your aim.

Paper Toss has great 3D graphics and is dangerously addictive, with a global online scoreboard adding to the competition. However, it will hopefully improve your accuracy in real life, and save you considerable amounts of time normally spent picking up all the failed paper tossing attempts from off of the floor.

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an atypical day in the life of Neil Cocker

For Dizzyjam managing director Neil Cocker, no two days are the same while running his music merchandising company 07.20 I’m pretty much on from the moment I wake up. I rise to the sound of my girlfriend’s hairdryer and roll over, blink a few times, switch on my phone and check my emails when I’m still half asleep. Checking my emails is always the first thing I do in the morning and last thing I do at night.

08.05 One of the rare times I switch off is when I go running. I’m supposed to be participating in a Half Ironman later this year but it involves a ridiculous amount of training, which I just don’t have the time for at the moment. Running for me is a real meditation, I’m just focused on one thing.

That, for me, is really important.

10.00 The day at Dizzyjam HQ starts and myself and my business partner, Daf, will come in and the first thing that happens is the kettle will go on. We consume a lot of tea from that time onwards. As with most small businesses, you have a role on paper but ultimately you do everything from making strategic decisions on pricing to printing T-shirts to sticking stamps on envelopes.

12.30 We spend a lot of time banging through emails as we get a lot of customer support stuff. There’s always lots of communicating with the customers and corresponding with the brands that use our service.

13.50 On my way to a meeting for TedxCardiff, an event run with local entrepreneur Claire Scantlebury. It’s an inspirational conference series we hold in the city that prides itself on showcasing the greatest minds in technology, entertainment and design. The week before it takes place, I won’t be in the office at all. Instead, I’ll be running around trying to make things happen.

16.25 Finally finishing a document that I’ve been working on for the past four days. As I’m involved with so many different projects, it’s really easy to flip between doing bits and pieces. I’ve got a programme on my desktop, which I haven’t used yet, called Freedom,

34 | UpStart

No two days are the same for Neil Cocker, managing director Dizzyjam

which turns off your Wi-Fi for a set period of time and you can’t turn it back on unless you reboot your computer. I’m on the verge of using that this afternoon to see the back of this document.

17.45 On the phone to America. A lot of people we work with are based across the pond, with 20% of the T-shirts we sell going to the States, so we’re constantly trying to foster better links with America. At the moment, we’re spending a lot of time chatting to services over there that provide similar things to us to see if there’s any way we can hook up and do stuff that’s synergistic, for want of a buzzword.

19.00 Home time and a relatively early finish for me. Sometimes, I’ll be in here for 12 hours and other times, I won’t be here at all. As some of our printing is done elsewhere, we often don’t come in unless we actually have to be here. I find that sometimes it helps to have a change of scenery. If it’s 4 o’clock in the

afternoon and I’m still in my pyjamas and on my laptop, I can get more work done than if I’d been in the office for eight hours.

22.15 If I can tear myself away from the laptop, I’ll either make a trip to the cinema or catch up on any TV I’ve missed. I’m really into the BBC 4 drama series Borgen at the moment. I enjoy watching foreign dramas because they’re subtitled so you can’t check tweets or you’ll miss something really important. It’s a tactic I’d recommend.

03.10 I’ve had really bad insomnia lately so if I can’t sleep, I plough through emails. If you have your own business, you’re constantly working. The great thing about being your own boss is having the opportunity to do something where you’re totally in control but the flip side is you never really switch off.

Visit jomec.co.uk/upstart to watch our interview with Neil Cocker onUpstart TV

24 hours in

Bristol

Multicoloured houses in the Clifton Wood and Hotwells areas of Bristol

Glass Boat glassboat.co.uk 0117 9290714 Cosy but classy and an easy distance from the city centre, this restaurant boasts an elegant menu and its size lends itself to a quiet lunch, perfect if you are Glass Boat restaurant entertaining a potential client or investor. The lunch menu is reasonable and set menus are available.

brave.org.uk 0117 9445330 This hub not far from the city centre is dedicated to small businesses. It offers seminars, workshops and support for small businesses.Visitors can also hire meeting rooms complete with Wi-Fi access. Desk space, £10 per day.

Hamilton House work space

Hamilton Hub

Brace and Browns

braceandbrowns.co.uk 0117 973 7800 For something a little more lively, this spot in Clifton offers a range of traditional British dishes along with tapas dishes and roasts on a Sunday. But this is not simply pub grub, quality ingredients and value for money are key to this restautant’s success.

eat

Hotel24seven

www.hotel24seven.com 0844 7709411 Situated in the Southville area of Bristol. Guests are given an access code upon booking, allowing entrance to the hotel Brooks Guesthouse B&B and your room without the help of hotel staff. Wi-Fi is available in all rooms at no extra cost.

Rooms from £40-£75 per night.

Brooks Guesthouse B&B

Brave

www.brooksguesthousebristol.com 0117 9445330 Perfectly located in the heart of the city, this B&B entices guests with touches of luxury at very reasonable prices. Decor is more beach house charm than city pad and there is a communal lounge area to relax in.

Rooms from £70 for a double, £90 for a triple.

coexistic.squarespace.com 01179 249599 Situated in Bristol’s bohemian capital of Stokes Croft, the fifth floor of Hamilton House provides space for the self-employed community.

Wi-Fi and use of printers and photocopiers are included in the cost of hiring the space. Desk space, £10 per day.

work

The Bristol Museum and Art Gallery plays host to art and artifacts spanning a range of genres and civilisations, from ancient fossils to Beryl Cook paintings.

Alternatively, take a wander round Museum and Art Gallery the city to spot some of Banksy’s original street art in his home town. But after dark is when Bristol comes into its own. For a cocktail, try Haus Bar (http:www.hausbar.co.uk), one of a handful of prohibitionstyle drinking joints, where entry requires a knock on the door. It’s a little out of the way but the quality of German proprietor Aurelius Braunbarth’s mixes are worth the walk.

For live music, comedy nights and theatre, check out Bierkeller (www.bristolbierkeller.co.uk) on All Saints Street.

bed downtime

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