Make Your Mark Blog

So sad to see Coffee Republic to go into administration this week, let’s hope they find some buyers. At least one of our Ambassadors cites them as the inspiration for setting up her business, so it just shows that even good and inspiring business people don’t neccessarily last for ever (at least in their current guise - true entrepreneurs will bounce back!).

Do you think there are too many coffee shops on the high street, what innovative business ideas could use their shops and replace them on the high street?

What an inspiring story for anyone else on the dole. 18 year old Josh found himself out of work and bought an ice-cream trike off ebay for £1000 as a way to make money. He’s hiring the trike out for weddings and fetes. Brilliant!

It’s very rare that I watch a programme which really inspires me but last night I was lucky enough to catch Mary Portas Queen of Charity Shops and it honestly left me buzzing. I’ve been thinking for a while that charity shops should be taking advantage of the recession and making it sexy to buy second hand goods from them. And as I mentioned in my last blog I did ‘grow up’ in a retail environment so I’m probably inclined more than some to get over excited about the programme.

Yesterday saw the finale of the Make Your Mark in the Markets competition and a few of us trotted along to find out more. We ended up in the very plush surrounding of a parliamentary reception and chatted to some of the finalists whilst sipping tasty juices and eating scrummy cakes.

It was then time to find out who the winner was so we all trooped into the hall. After a suspenseful silence (as suspenseful as some of the best reality talent shows, only with more cake) Denise announced that Matthew Crawford of Easy’Nuh was to be crowned king of the Markets!

When Howies got bought out by Timberland I wondered if it would retain it’s ability to be entrepreneurial. Happily so far it doesn’t seem to have dented their enthusiasm for innovation and the latest to be launched is Teepay - a site where designers upload their t-shirt designs and, if they receive 30 orders, their order is printed and the designer receives a commission for each one. A great idea which is very new and I can’t really believe that it hasn’t been done before. If only more companies would innovate themselves out of the recession! Customisation is a trend which has been around for a while but seems to still be allowing companies to innovate - like Adam from Looks Could Kill, a young business which is proving to be very successful and an inspiration to many.

Being green fingered myself and a lover of good food I was particularly pleased to be alerted to the story of Andrew Johnson in the Guardian. He was made redundant in 2004 but is now running a business expected to turnover more than £1m next year.

His business is Living Salads, a great supermarket alternative to the chlorine filled bags of salad you get offered. His living alternative works in a similar way to the pots of herbs you are probably used to buying.

Great idea and a great business - well done Andrew. A great inspiration for anyone else who has been made redundant and fancies going it alone!

If you consider yourself a retail queen, get your entries in for the fantastic Specsavers Everywoman in Retail Awards! Supported by us, Everywoman (the UK’s leading provider of training and resources for women in business) and Specsavers, the awards aim to highlight the contributions women make in their field.

The awards, now in it’s second year, hopes to encourage more women to pursue a career in the retail sector and winners will benefit from gaining support and recognition from those in the world of industry, government and media. For more information check out our website and make sure you get your entries in by Tuesday 2 June!

Well we think it is if you have a strong idea, but don’t take our word for it. Mark Dixon, founder of Regus office spaces, tells Working Lunch he’s noticed a lot of start-ups appearing during the recession.

I settled down under my fleece blanket last night to watch a bit of telly and who should appear on my screen but the real life Willy Wonka. I am of course referring to Willie Harcourt-Cooze who is all at once; brilliantly bonkers; entrepreneurial and energetic; father of three; chocoholic; oh and a good cook.

If you’ve seen any of his programmes on Channel Four you’ll see that he is singlehandedly trying to revolutionise the chocolate market with his wares made from Venezualan cocoa beans.

Even with a more beady eye on our purses we are still spending like mad. However, it looks like we are choosing to spend our hard-end moolah in shops we may have ignored before. I read an interesting article over the weekend about the success of budget stores and supermarkets, which once marginalised have become part of the retail mainstream.

It’s always heartening to see businesses growing despite the slump and budget stores can provide brand-name products usually at half the price.

The winners of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards were announced today (Tuesday 24 March 2009) at a very swanky ceremony at the Institute of Directors (IoD), London.

They were each presented with a trophy and £1,000 prize money by Chancellor Alistair Darling, who made time to chat to finalists and hear their positive stories.

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.

With the deadline for Make Your Mark in the Markets drawing ever closer, it is now more important then ever to get your entries in and win the chance of a lifetime. We have markets up and the down the country and to prove it we have plotted them all on a nifty Google map. So, if you have an amazing idea for a product and you are desperate to be your own boss, check out the map and get your entries in today!

Good luck and God’s speed!

A hat from Girls Make Your Mark Award winner Pachacuti is featured on handbag.com and according to the site’s lifestyle editor Alaina has been doing really well in terms of web hits. Fab stuff! It’s great to see entrepreneurs competing for space with the bigger brands on top fashion sites like handbag. Who would you like to see on the site? Let us know and we’ll pass your top tips back to handbag.