Recently I was hugely honoured to have fronted the ‘IDEAS MASH UP’ competition for MAKE YOUR MARK…
The clever team at MAKE YOUR MARK took one of the success tips contained in my latest book ‘IDEAS MAN’ and turned it into a thrilling contest where students from around Britain had to combine two (normally separate) ideas together to create a brand new, and very exciting, business concept. The prize for the winning entry was a whopping £2,000, more than enough to get most ideas to the next stage so that they can attract a partner or the investment to launch to market.
At the weekend I was asked to participate at The Enterprise Show, Leeds, which was an event hosted by Business Link as a ‘one stop shop’ for people with a business idea, to attend and get all the information they need to get their business off the ground.
As a Make Your Mark Ambassador, I’m often asked to do things like this. This is me at the start of the day:
Video 1 at the shows
During the course of the day I was so busy speaking to the people who stopped by my stand, that I completely forgot to do any video blogging, so this is me ’rounding up’ at the end!
Last night I popped along to the first ever enterprise master class at the National Enterprise Academy, a skills academy established by Peter Jones and backed by the government. We heard a great talk from Make Your Mark Ambassador David Hathiramani from A Suit That Fits.com. It was really inspiring stuff, and I came away from the event totally convinced that, as David said, “there is no better time to ask your parents for a loan” and start grabbing opportunities in enterprise. Whether I can convince my parents is another matter.
Well, as for all the negative press and comments about recessions and credit crunches, at the Women in Business event attended by fourteen entrepreneurs and MP, Yvette Cooper in Castleford today there wasn’t a single moan or groan in sight, just positive comments and the most tremendous inspirational stories.
Each person around the table had a different tale to tell and what made it more interesting was that they were so varied and in some cases sparked off a round of giggles – from recession busting ‘oldies’ to decisions between marrying a rich man or getting a job – the job won!
This week I popped along to see Make Your Mark in the Mall finalist Benjamin Allen. Benjamin, who, along with his dad, run Raphael. With two shops already established and running in Norwich and Lowestoft, Benjamin saw the Make Your Mark in the Mall competition as a way of testing the water for some new products.
Raphael currently source their products, which include jewellery and sculptures from Indonesia - visiting the country two or three times a year and sourcing producs from over 70 familes. Benjamin pointed out that by doing this, these families were given guaranteed regular work and paid for their work fairly.
My final stop last week on the Tenner Tour was at Orton Longueville School in Peterborough. Enterprise veterans they may well be, but could they rise to the tenner challenge?
Yes! I hear them all cry! Despite having only started the challenge last week due to a whole week of school closures because of the snow, plus half term break the following week the business ideas and creative juices were flowing with participants keen to start ventures that could get off the ground immediately and get them on their way to make their first profits.
The first stop on the ‘Tenner Tour’ was at Sandringham School in St Albans and boy did they set the standard!
The participants, who were in years 7 - 12 began by pitching their business to me in 60 seconds.. outlining what their business did, who their audience was, how they had used their £10 and what they were doing with profits they had made.
Afterwards, they had to come up with the 3 unique selling points of their venture and then use them to write a press release or advert publicising their ventures.
Congratulations to Make Your Mark Ambassador Cyndi Rhoades, who has won two weeks’ free trading space as one of Make Your Mark in the Mall’s finalists.
Cyndi is the co-founder of Worn Again - recycled fashion made from materials like seat belts, post-Glastonbury tents, bicycle tires and parachutes. Their shoes and bags have been huge hits with dedicated followers of fashion and the media, and their ethos has really struck a chord with eco-conscious shoppers. Be amazed by just how great scrap fabrics and a fire hose can look by catching Worn Again in the Mall: Cyndi will be trading at Walthamstow Mall for two weeks from 16 March.
Today I read an article that advised me that I should regularly monitor my competition to see what they are up to, to work out their sales strategy and showing me a few ‘back door’ ways to keep tabs on what my competitors are doing online.
If the economic gloom is getting you down, why not whistle a jaunty tune, sing everything for the rest of the day, or go to a CBI conference on accessing finance in the recession.
Although it might sound a little dry, if you’re an entrepreneur you really shouldn’t have missed some top speakers answering:
(1) Is there money still available for businesses?
(2) How do you get it?
First up, Anthony Clarke, Chairman of the British Business Angels Association.
Angel investors are a bit like Dragons’ Den – they take a stake in the business for an injection of cash. Unlike the TV series they are usually very nice.
Today whilst collecting my 6 year old daughter from school, I thought about this question and whether the most enterprising ideas come from a ‘Eureka’ moment or gritted teeth?
To fill you in, I’m up in beautiful Yorkshire - well it usually is beautiful but today it’s raining and snowing! This was the reason for my gritted teeth but it did give me an enterprising idea…
Hi peeps
After a long first week back at work from the festive break, most people would be looking fwd to taking it easy at the weekend. ..well not for me or indeed the other 20+ organisations who rocked up to Crystal Palace FC to set up their stalls and support the Croydon Youth Celebration event, which was organised by Jay Hollett of J Media productions.
Mikey Naylor, from Selby High School, had a great time this week when he and nine of his mates went to visit Xing, a smoothie company in Hull.
Having launched a competition to ask students to come up with a great name for a brand new smoothie, Mikey put forward the winning idea - ‘Yum yum, healthy tum’ giving him and his friends the chance to spend a day with the smoothie entrepreneurs.
Not only were the team able to ask questions about the company and how it all started they also got the chance to whiz up their very own tasty treats – our tummies are rumbling at the thought!
Wonderful to be with you.
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