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Business Location: Entrepreneurs Get Creative with Where to Locate their Businesses
A terrific video here from Jonathan Moules, the Enterprise Editor of the FT, which showcases some creative choices of business location in London.
This would make a great stimulus piece for a lesson on startup business location - what are the attractions of some of the unusual locations featured?
read more...»The problems of overnight success – and how to prepare for growth
I’ve come across a great article and video clip about the problems faced by a company whose business boomed overnight. A nice problem to have, and an interesting problem too!
read more...»Is there a Business Opportunity from Your Digital Afterlife?
What happens when we pop our digital clogs?
I'd like to think that my collection of Tweets and Blogs might be acquired by the British Museum and placed in a special room that you could all visit. My collection of fascinating photos on Facebook are surely destined to become a national treasure - possibly.
Or possibly not.
But what happens to everything you do online once you've passed to a different kind of social network in the cloud?
There are an increasing number of businesses who spot an opportunity here. And now Google has decided that it has the ability to offer services to help people manage their "Digital Afterlife".
read more...»Can Healthy Fast Food be Turned into a Global Success?
A great video to share here with your students and pose the question - can a fast food chain based on healthy eating succeed?
Students at tutor2u's EntrepreneurLIVE 2012 events met Vincent McKevitt, the entrepreneur behind Tossed, a healthy-eating fast food chain based in London.
It looks like Vincent might soon be facing some competition from an ambitious Canadian startup Freshii which is also testing the idea that fast food can be healthy by building a chain of healthy fast-food restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.
Can the concept work? Why not? But what will it take to encourage more of us to switch from the instant satisfaction of a burger or fried chicken.
And can businesses like Freshii and Tossed compete with established multinational fast food giants like McDonalds and Subway who may simply alter their product offering if significant numbers of customers decide to start looking for a healthy-eating alternative?
read more...»The Link between Immigration and Entrepreneurship
Look at the personal background of successful entrepreneurs and you will often see evidence of achievement against the odds. Around the globe, many entrepreneurs overcome adversity, building a successful business after migrating from their home countries to a different country.
This excellent video from the FT explains how many of the world's best entrepreneurs have been immigrants and examines what links being an outsider to business success?
Ravi Mattu, Business Life editor, talks with three immigrant entrepreneurs at different stages of their careers to hear what has driven them and the challenges they have faced.
read more...»Raising finance for startups - the real-life Dragons
This is a useful short video from the BBC which illustrates the process of business angel investing.
There is a strong flow of entrepreneurs who attempt to raise capital by pitching their companies to so-called angel investors. So what are the investors looking for before they part with their cash? And how helpful is the process for the entrepreneurs themselves?
read more...»Is the Teapigs approach to branding effective (and ethical)?
As reported in Private Eye, when is a small business not a small business? At first glance, Teapigs looks like a small company on a mission to introduce quirky, premium teas to the mid-market segment. The company’s website tells a reassuring story of Nick and Louise who “met while working for a really big tea company”. What you won’t find out by reading the website is that the really big company is in fact…
read more...»Revision Presentation - Cost Basics
This revision presentation looks at the key concepts of business costs. What are the main types of business cost and how can they be categorised? Why is the distinction between variable and fixed costs so important? Why do new businesses often find it hard to estimate the costs of the business - particularly in the startup business plan?
read more...»Revision Presentation - Cash Flow Forecasting for Startups and Small Businesses
Every startup should consider the likely future cash flows of the enterprise in the first few weeks and months of trading. This revision presentation takes students through the basics of the cash flow forecast.
read more...»Revision Presentation - Recruitment for a New Business
Many new businesses or start-don’t recruit people until the enterprise has become reasonably well established. Others need to recruit people before trading can begin. This presentation looks at the basic employment options for a new business and some of the employment challenges facing an entrepreneur.
read more...»Revision Presentation - Raising Finance for a New Business
This revision presentation looks at the options and issues for a new business looking to raise finance.
read more...»Revision Presentation - Risks and Rewards to Enterprise
Entrepreneurs taking calculated risks expect to enjoy suitable rewards for their endeavour. But what are these risks and rewards? And how can an entrepreneur minimise risk? This updated revision presentation provides an overview…
read more...»Revision Presentation - Limited Liability
The important concept of limited liability is explained in this revision presentation
read more...»Revision Presentation - Startup Business Structures
This revision presentation examines the choices of potential business structure for a startup.
read more...»Hotel Chocolat - British Chocolatiers on the March!
Angus Thirwell the co-founder and CEO of Hotel Chocolat is immensely grateful to Joanne Harris and Juliet Binoche. respectively the author and star of the hit film Hotel Chocolat. The movie educated a generation of aspirational chocolate lovers in how to pronounce Hotel Chocolat and has helped millions of consumers in Britain and around the world advocate the hit chocolate retail brand without committing a pronunication faux-pas! I wonder how many satisfied customers realise that Hotel Chocolat does not exist? Perhaps they have typed the name into Trip Advisor hoping for a review of a retreat flowing with rather wonderful chocolate made from a St Lucian plantation?
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Qualities of an Entrepreneur - Bounce-Back-Ability
Amongst the various qualities required to succeed as an entrepreneur, persistence in the face of setbacks and disappointments has to be one of the most important. This interview with Rachel Lowe in the Guardian provides students with an excellent example of the role persistence plays. Rachel was one of the first-ever contestants on Dragons Den and although Rachel failed to gain investment (in fact, she took a mauling from the original dragons) her idea for a board game proved popular with the viewing public and went on to become a huge success.
However, a poor business decision at the wrong time resulted in her business failing and Rachel being declared bankrupt. Rachel's response? She picked herself up, handled the significant personal disruption and had the courage and tenacity to try again. That, my friends, is known as persistence. They say that starting and building a successful business is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration. Hard work, in the face of adversity, is what it is about.
Management Today: 50 Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter
I must admit this came as something of a surprise, albeit a very pleasant one! Management Today Magazine today announced their "Top 50 entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter". There are some pretty predictable names on the list, with Sir Richard Branson (or "Branston" as a recent BUSS4 candidate wrote) coming out on top of the list. There's a listing for the Dragons, Martha Lane Fox, Richard Reed and two good friends of tutor2u - Will King and Kirsty Henshaw. But then....at number 45...well. A surprise!
All business teachers and students really ought to be on Twitter. It is a fantastic way to connect directly with people in business and many of the names on the Top 50 have a good track record of responding to student/teacher tweets. Why not give it a go!
Retailers that have collapsed in 2012
This isn't meant to be depressing, just a possible stimulus for a discussion about businesses that have failed already this year.
read more...»There’s More Than One Right Answer: Ownership
This mini case study activity deals with the subject matter of ownership status but is more focussed on developing students skills at writing answers for Business Studies and demonstrating that business is not an exact science.
What makes a good business idea?
This Powerpoint can be used as a discussion starter to look at what makes bad and good business or product ideas and what elements are essential for a business or product to be a success.
What does it take to be a successful start up?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsnnqANt92Y
With the launch of Rovio Entertainment's new game Bad Piggies this interview looks back on the early days of the technology and marketing phenomena that is Angry Birds. This case study provides a good discussion topic for entrepreneurism and business start ups with a business the students have a good understanding of.
Sources of Finance- so many to choose from!
This worksheet will hopefully get students thinking about which source of finance is suitable to specific situations
read more...»Be Your Own Boss - Episode 1: Commentary & Observations
Entrepreneur Richard Reed looks for the next generation of start-up superstars, setting aside up to a million pounds to invest in three of the big ideas pitched by 500 hopefuls. Episode 1 of the excellent Be Your Own Boss was shown on BBC Three and well worth recording to use as part of any unit on entrepreneurship and enterprise.
500 people have been given £100 each by Richard Reed. That's a very speculative investment of £50,000 by Reed to gain some insights into potential business ideas that might start to generate a return on the risk he's already taken.
What do you think of some of the business ideas featured
read more...»Great BBC Shows for Business Studies
Read on about a couple of new shows ideal for business students
read more...»EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012 - Final Call for Bookings & Confirmations!
Less than three weeks to go until EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012.
We've had a fantastic response already for the event and it is likely to be heavily over-booked. If you have already made a provisional booking, please let us have your confirmed numbers asap to secure the places!
We moved this popular student event to an earlier date to better fit with the teaching of a wide range of business courses and out of the cluttered Global Enterprise Week. So for 2012 we visit London (Fulham Broadway) on 1 October 2012, Birmingham (Star City) on 2 October 2012 and finally Manchester (Salford Quays) on 3 October 2012.
We’ve lined up a superb team of speakers for the three events who we’re sure the students will love - and gain so much from too! Details further below.
The event will follow a similar format to the one which has proved so popular with teachers and students in the last two years. Students will get the opportunity to hear from a superb selection of entrepreneurs who will tell their story, provide insights highly relevant to every business studies course and then, most importantly, take questions from our student audience. We are also running the highly popular Student Enterprise Challenge where student teams pitch their solution to a business challenge, competing to win some attractive cash prizes!
Details of the Student Enterprise Challenge for 2012 are now available here
You can read a couple of excellent reports from students who attended Entrepreneur LIVE! 2011 here: from Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls and here from Stoke Sixth Form College who brought students to Manchester (Salford Quays)
Bookings for EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012 can be made using this online form:
read more...»Sources of Finance for Startups - the Crowdfunding Phenomenon
The banks still refuse to lend. Venture capital (by and large) won’t touch startup finance with a bargepole. So should startups look to source the finance they need from complete strangers? The answer for many might now be yes - through crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is a fast-growing approach to raising finance for business startups. This BBC article and video provides a great example of crowdfunding in action and also some data on the rise of crowdfunding in the UK.
read more...»Business Studies at the Movies - Cut Out the Middleman!
A good starter idea for enterprise - starting a business - cutting out the middle man.
read more...»The Dragons get it Wrong
Hopefully you’ll be in a situation either in school, college or real life in which you have to make a product “pitch”. And there’s a good chance your audience might hate your ideas!
Here’s some reassurance. The experts don’t get it right every time, and there is room for innovative ideas that eventually do find a market.
Reflections on Bankruptcy
It must be awful to become personally bankrupt. So awful in fact that it’s widely believed that potential investors must be afforded some protection against the risk. That lies behind the idea of the limited liability company.
read more...»Most successful “kickstart” ever!
As a follow up from the recent blog entry on sources of finance in the internet age comes the story of “Pebble” - a watch that connects to the iphone. Their quest for finance on kickstarter.com was successful beyond their wildest dreams! This is a great example of the use of “crowd-sourcing” as a means of raising finance.
read more...»Epic fail: how to do really badly
This is a light hearted one, aimed particularly at those of you preparing for exams. It’s got nothing to do with exams really, just reflections on Disney’s mega flop “John Carter” in The Economist, which is said to have made a loss of over £200m and cost the boss his job.
Are there any common patterns behind famous marketing failures?
Sandwiches market - a slice of the action
The Guardian on Friday featured an independent report on the sandwich market served as a “Get up and go” supplement to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the humble sandwich and the start of British Sandwich Week. It would make useful stimulus material for a low-budget research activity for a BUSS1 start-up.
read more...»Same product - different prices: Greggs sausage roll costs more in Hammersmith than Hull
The Daily Mail reports that a 66p sausage roll in Hull sells for 85p in Hammersmith – that’s almost 30% more. That finding won’t surprise you perhaps, although the size of some price differences is quite a shock.
read more...»Wedge Welly join us for EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012
We’re delighted to announce the team from Wedge Welly, one of the most successful investments on Dragon’s Den, will be joining us for each of the three days at EntrepreneurLIVE! 2012.
read more...»Enterprise, Location and Culture - Inside the new Google Campus in London
Google Campus, a building designed to offer technology start-ups desk space and mentoring in east London, was opened to much fanfare by UK chancellor George Osborne. But is the government right to look to the tech sector for economic growth? In this excellent FT video Daniel Garrahan reports from inside Google Campus. Some good teaching points here, including:
- The role of government support for technology startups
- Non-financial benefits of a suitable location for startup entrepreneurs and their employees
- Use of a location to bring together entrepreneurs and venture capitalists
- The cost savings for startups of locating in a venue like Google Campus
Retailing booms: in railway stations
The recession has brought the troubled High Street onto the front pages of the business news over the last few years. There’s the very bleakest news stories: Shop vacancies rise to highest level in four years as retail sales plummet or Up to 40% of high street shops ‘could close over next five years’. Just last week Game came up in a blog. Another story without a happy ending.
But its not all doom and gloom, and there are fantastic retail opportunities for firms to cash in on. It might be something experimental like ‘pop up shops’ or another growing trend: railway retailing.
Practice your skills as a retailer: entrepreneurs experiment with ‘pop up’ shops
The problems on the high street, and our changing shopping habits have been much discussed recently. But “bricks and mortar” retailing isn’t dead yet. Combine landlords with vacant shop sites (often in desirable locations), entrepreneurs (perhaps active online, but not used to face-to-face contact with customers) and an appetite for experimentation - and you get the phenomenon of the ‘pop up shop’.
read more...»Start-ups - the Wooden Smartphone?
If smartphones have become mass-market, then is there now a gap in the market for a niche phone - perhaps one made from bamboo? This excellent video examines the innovative idea of Kieron-Scott Woodhouse, a final year Product & Design student at the Middlesex University in London. He’s just turned 24 and is already running his own company. This is his debut design - the world’s first smartphone made from wood….
read more...»Lesson video : Franchising for beginners
A wonderful topical video clip here from the BBC which introduces pupils to the pros and cons of setting up a Franchise. Four minutes long, the video is perfect as a lesson starter for just about every business course that requires students to develop their understanding of business startups.
read more...»MU folding electric plug
“When I’m walking down the street I see everyday objects and ask myself why that object exists. If I can find any possibility for improvement, I start to design it.” Min-Kyu Choi.
The newly launched folding MU plug uses less materials, less space yet meets current UK regulations for electric equipment, and will appeal to users of tablets, smartphones and ipods, which require a slim USB adapter.
It is a great case study for consideration of all aspects of entrepreneurship - risk taking, design, development, finance, marketing production and profits.
read more...»Spotting a Business Opportunity - Eastenders and Coronation Street
Whilst watching Eastenders last night, this belting activity just popped into my head. I think its perfect for the first unit of most GCSE courses but could also be used for BUSS1. A while away I know but I thought I would blog it before I forget.
read more...»Tesco takes it ‘easy’, controlling costs in its US operations
You may already know about Tesco’s overseas expansion strategy, and its Fresh & Easy venture in the States. The US expansion is taking place in challenging economic conditions and according to The Guardian, the business is ‘mothballing’ a second wave of Fresh & Easy stores, suggesting that the supermarket group’s loss-making US start-up has hit another bump in the road.
read more...»Dragons Den - the board game
How many Business teachers and students received this as a Christmas present?
Certainly one student in my family did, and having tested it out the other evening, we found it quick to get into, good fun and quite competitive. Players take the role of Dragons, with a pile of cash to invest and several hundred cards with (rather brief) outlines of business ideas being pitched for investment. All the business ideas are, apparently, genuine; some you will recognise as having become big successes, some you may remember from the TV programme, some are very obscure. You have the chance to bet on the outcome of each, and the winner is simply the Dragon with the most money left at the end. After a couple of rounds we got into some wild all-or-nothing investments - some of which actually paid off!
My next investment plan is to buy this for the classroom; it only needs half an hour or so to play it, and will be worth having for those lessons which need some light relief!
Buy the Dragons Den board game from Amazon
Strategies to revive the High Street: Mary Portas reports
The woes of the UK High Street had begun long before the Credit Crunch and recession. It seems that a combination of factors (think PEST analysis) have combined to create the difficulties that are squeezing this traditional sector of business activity. Nobody has the answers to saving the High Street, but Mary “Queen of Shops” Portas has given it a go.
Why not try this exercise for yourself?
Firstly, use a form a marketing analysis like PEST or the Porters’ 5 Forces model to identify where the problems lie. Secondly, make 3 recommendations to either firms or governments as to how they might resist the decline (there’s some background here to help). Then read on…
read more...»Characteristics of an entrepreneur - Fil Adams-Mercer
Born into poverty; can’t spell for toffee; no qualifications. So why is this serial entrepreneur a multi-millionaire?
read more...»Straight-talking answers to business questions - the examiners might hate some of this!
I just love the regular series in the Telegraph in which business questions are answered by John Timpson, the Chairman of retail group Timpson. Here is yet another superb selection of three problems solved!
read more...»Cut price cup cake deal goes wrong…...
This is classic business studies news article, packed full with learning for students!
‘Need a Cake’ is a small business in Reading owned by Rachel Brown, who has been in the baking business for 25 years and simply loves making and decorating cakes. Her website says “I can never remember a time, even as a child, when I did not enjoy creating innovative cakes.” The business employs eight people, and normal production is around 100 cakes a month. Mrs Brown thought she would like to try expanding a little, and decided to offer online vouchers for a discount deal in order to drum up some new customers - with disastrous results.
read more...»How we made our millions: Michelle Mone and Richard Reed under the spotlight
I enjoyed watching this programme last night in which Peter Jones investigated Michelle Mone, founder of Ultimo, and Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent in order to find out ‘How we made our millions’. The programme looked at their very different characters as Peter discussed with them their childhoods, studied their business models, asked staff what they are like to work for, and considered what it was that drove them to be entrepreneurs.
read more...»Lets Teach Kids to be Entrepreneurs
A huge hat-tip to Debbie Gordon for spotting and recommending this 20 minute TED talk from Cameron Herold. The subject is simple - how do we teach children to be entrepreneurs? Show it to your students and see what their response is.
read more...»The Breakfast Enterprise Challenge - EntrepreneursLIVE! 2011
Entries are now being accepted for the student enterprise competition being run at EntrepreneursLIVE! 2011 (London 14 Nov | Birmingham 15 Nov | Manchester 16 Nov). This year we’re delighted to partner with Moma Foods to set a breakfast food challenge! Details below and best wishes to all the student teams who enter for the three events. Last year we had some great pitches for the fast food challenge - we’re sure that 2011 will be just as good…
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