Enterprise and Startups

Can Tiffinbites curries take on McDonalds?

You’re probably familiar with the franchise concept:  the UK high street is crowded with Costas, Prets and McDonalds – outlets often owned by individuals who pay to operate under a recognised trade name.  But there’s a spicy new kid on the block in the form of upstart Tiffinbites.  Can they find success as a national chain selling curry based dishes?

Tiffinbites hopes to create 50 potential franchises throughout Britain by the end of 2009. For a fee of £150,000 plus a share of profits, franchisees get prepared food from a central kitchen which they reheat in store.  As with most franchises, they also get full marketing and training support as part of the package. One of the Tiffinbites directors, Arjun Varma, is quoted by the BBC:  “We are aiming for the young entrepreneurs who want to get into the Indian food industry.  Rather than taking on a family-run scenario, they can have a professionally-backed franchise, which they would then build into two or three restaurants depending on their appetite”.

The business of farm-produced ice cream

I came across a fantastic article on the costs and revenues of setting up an ice-cream business. 

Startups find success with a green ethic

Rachel Bridge writes some superb pieces in her enterprise column for The Sunday Times.  I really liked Rachel’s piece a couple of weekends ago which took a look at how a selection of successful startups embraced environmentally-friendly and ethical trading at the core of their activities.

Invest during a recession - the message from Sir James Dyson

An interesting two-minute clip from the excellent Jeff Randall Live on Sky News today.  Sir James Dyson reflects on the lessons he learned when he set up Dyson right in the middle of the last UK recession.

Coffins fit for the environment

I was intrigued by this opening line in an excellent Independent article on a fast-growing small business.

How do you persuade people to buy a product they won’t need until they’re dead?

Real Burger World - the Real Life Basis for Mobeen

It is always interesting to find out more about the real businesses that inspire the pre-release case studies for AQA AS Business Unit 2&3.  And we’ve managed to track down the inspiration for the May 2008 case study - Mobeen.

Primitive savages or cool headed risk-takers

Is there a darker side to the entrepreneurial character? 

Latte and WiFi - tools of choice for the “new Bedouin”

The rapid growth of high street coffee and sandwich chains has attracted a new breed of out-of-office entrepreneurs named the “new Bedouin”.

Most small businesses would reject an offer from the Dragons

An interesting survey of small business owners suggests that investment offers on Dragon’s Den represent poor value for money.

New profiles of Britain’s top young entrepreneurs

The Daily Telegraph is running an interesting series of articles that profile the 40 richest young entrepreneurs in the UK.

New estimates of the cost of counterfeit goods

The BBC’s Money Programme has recently highlighted the huge losses made by firms through the market in counterfeit goods.  They describe the scale of the problem as ‘colossal’, with the cost in Britain thought to be around £11bn last year. The global trade in fakes is said to have a huge impact on companies’ profits. 

A Money Programme survey, conducted by Ipsos Mori, suggests that the most popular fake product in Britain is the DVD. The British Video Association believes that nearly 80 million fake DVDs are bought each year in Britain, and it appears to be a growing problem. In 2007 the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) seized 2.8 million fake DVDs, a 74% increase on the previous year. 

Small businesses still don’t “get” the web

I’m really surprised, and a little disappointed, by news of a recent survey from Microsoft.  It suggests that only half of the 4.3 million businesses in the UK with fewer than 10 staff have a website.  The figure is reduced to 28% when sole traders are included, according to a poll by Jupiter Research.

Glenda hits the finance-raising trail

You may remember Glenn Hoddle as the sophisticated, non-tackling England midfielder who went on to manage the national team (with little success).  Now Hoddle has turned into an entrepreneur, looking to raise share capital for his new football academy.