Originally written by Alice Feilden on Small Business
Whether you’re a start-up founder or an entrepreneurial veteran, there are always new lessons to be learned. These six business books – which were all shortlisted in the prestigious 2021 Business Books of the Year – will help you stay inspired, motivated and on your toes, ready for the next challenge.
Winner –The Unfair Advantage – Ash Ali and Hassan Kubba
The co-authors of this year’s award-winning business book of the year, Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba, met years ago at a business dinner and quickly became friends. At the time, Ali, who had great success as Just Eat’s first marketing director, was concentrating on angel investing. Kubba decided to join him and watch the entrepreneurial pitches whenever he had the time.
“I used to ask these people in pitches, what’s your unfair advantage?” says Ali. “The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones that know what their unfair advantages are and how to double down on them.”
The philosophy outlined in the book, which points out flaws in the hustle and hard-work culture, instead encourages self-awareness and reflection to maximise business and entrepreneurial potential.
“Our book is not prescriptive,” says Ali, who had grown tired of self-help books “always
Tag Archive for start ups
Hot Business News Today
Six business books every start-up entrepreneur should read
by Alice Feilden • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Alice Feilden on Small Business
Whether you’re a start-up founder or an entrepreneurial veteran, there are always new lessons to be learned. These six business books – which were all shortlisted in the prestigious 2021 Business Books of the Year – will help you stay inspired, motivated and on your toes, ready for the next challenge.
Winner –The Unfair Advantage – Ash Ali and Hassan Kubba
The co-authors of this year’s award-winning business book of the year, Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba, met years ago at a business dinner and quickly became friends. At the time, Ali, who had great success as Just Eat’s first marketing director, was concentrating on angel investing. Kubba decided to join him and watch the entrepreneurial pitches whenever he had the time.
“I used to ask these people in pitches, what’s your unfair advantage?” says Ali. “The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones that know what their unfair advantages are and how to double down on them.”
The philosophy outlined in the book, which points out flaws in the hustle and hard-work culture, instead encourages self-awareness and reflection to maximise business and entrepreneurial potential.
“Our book is not prescriptive,” says Ali, who had grown tired of self-help books “always
Hot Business News Today
Free start-up checklist
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
With redundancies expected to soar when businesses eventually emerge from lockdown and those on furlough lose their jobs, many of us are thinking of going into business for ourselves.
Last year saw a record number of companies created, with an extra 84,758 businesses setting up in 2020 compared with 2019.
Indeed the number of firms incorporated in Britain during the four weeks to mid-December was over one third higher than during the same period last year.
The year-on-year growth rate for new company registrations has been in double digits since June 2019.
If you have worked for an employer all your life, the idea of setting up on your own can seem daunting. Here is a free start-up checklist to take you through every step of creating your own business.
#1 – What’s your business idea?
First, you need to have a great business idea.
British entrepreneurs have always been good on capitalising on the emerging business trends that could boom in the near future and beyond.
What’s the problem that you’re addressing?
How can you help solve it?
What is the need in your local area?
Who is the competition?
How big is the potential market?
Ground-breaking digital business ideas have found their beginnings in
Hot Business News Today
Free start-up checklist
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
With redundancies expected to soar when businesses eventually emerge from lockdown and those on furlough lose their jobs, many of us are thinking of going into business for ourselves.
Last year saw a record number of companies created, with an extra 84,758 businesses setting up in 2020 compared with 2019.
Indeed the number of firms incorporated in Britain during the four weeks to mid-December was over one third higher than during the same period last year.
The year-on-year growth rate for new company registrations has been in double digits since June 2019.
If you have worked for an employer all your life, the idea of setting up on your own can seem daunting. Here is a free start-up checklist to take you through every step of creating your own business.
#1 – What’s your business idea?
First, you need to have a great business idea.
British entrepreneurs have always been good on capitalising on the emerging business trends that could boom in the near future and beyond.
What’s the problem that you’re addressing?
How can you help solve it?
What is the need in your local area?
Who is the competition?
How big is the potential market?
Ground-breaking digital business ideas have found their beginnings in
Hot Business News Today
6 helpful tips for fleshing out a high performing team
by Matthew Cushen • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Matthew Cushen on Small Business
Last time I wrote an article about what makes an irresistible team for investors. If you’ve impressed investors enough and successfully raised some cash, the pressure now really starts.
Investors will be expecting you to accelerate your growth and demonstrate some proof points before your next round of funding. So you may be thinking about how to gather more talent around you.
These questions might help you make decisions about talent and team building.
#1 – What are we good at, where are we stinky and what are the gaps?
Discipline yourself (i.e. find some uninterrupted time and be objective) to write down:
Where the real value for the business is generated, where is the value for (potential) customers and what will create a higher valuation with investors at the time of your next round
Other activities that must get done to keep the lights on
Talents that the founders and those already in the business have, and which talents they lack
Where can you develop skills versus where you have no choice but to hire?
This should flush out what valuable skills and talents are missing from the team. A third party, such as an investor director, advisor or friend can
Hot Business News Today
New company launches fell by a quarter between January and May
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The number of new company launches in the UK fell 25 per cent on average between January and May as COVID-19 swept through Britain.
The biggest fall of 40 per cent was during the four weeks following lockdown on March 23, according to a new Economics Observatory report.
The figures are important because new bussinesses are the engine room of the economy, employing more young people whose job prospects have been worse hit by the virus.
>See also: 5 best ideas to start a small business post coronavirus
In America, where the data is more complete, an average 16.3m jobs are created and 14.9m jobs are destroyed each year. This means that annually a third of all US jobs are either new or destroyed.
However, start-ups in the US create 2.9m more jobs than they destroy each year, so microbusinesses are large contributors to job creation. In addition, it is start-ups which are often the most productive when it comes to lifting aggregate productivity growth.
>See also: Top 10 tips for single parents who want to start their own business
The good news is that since May’s reopening, UK registrations have bounced back, with Economics Observatory suggesting just 7,100 fewer
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How I started my business – Zaffrin O’Sullivan, Five Dot Botanics
by Partner Content • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
Zaffrin O’Sullivan, 41, first had the idea for Five Dot Botanics back in 2017. She wondered why the packaging for skincare products listed impenetrable ingredients at a time when consumers were demanding ingredient transparency in food and cleaning products.
O’Sullivan found a cosmetic scientist and spent two years developing her products along with designing the brand and a website alongside her day job working in television. The idea was to create a range of skincare products with only five easily understandable ingredients each. Five Dot had its first manufacturing run in the spring of 2019 and launched direct to consumer last July. The brand is already stocked in health food chain Holland & Barrett.
Five Dot raised funding from start-up seed investment fund Worth Capital, managed by Amersham Investment Management, and plans to enter another fundraising round later this year.
Only this week, O’Sullivan won a place on the coveted Sephora Accelerate 2020 programme and she plans to spend time in the US and Paris developing her brand for international distribution.
O’Sullivan still runs Five Dot Botanics as a side-hustle, as she still works in TV as a lawyer. And, if that’s not enough,
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GoDaddy offers free websites to start-ups that complete 12-day challenge
by Partner Content • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
GoDaddy will offer new entrepreneurs a free website for one year for those taking part in its 12-day challenge.
Website builder GoDaddy will reward each new business owner that accepts its challenge, completing a daily step-by-step guide to setting up their own business with a custom website.
Its new online tool will help guide aspiring entrepreneurs through the process of turning their business ideas into reality in just 12 steps.
Irana Wasti, GoDaddy regional president for EMEA said: “People across the UK have amazing business ideas, yet many are often deterred from making their ideas a reality because they don’t know where to start. The scale of the task can appear too daunting and time-consuming.”
>See also: Registering a company name – a Small Business guide
Each day a new simple task with guidance will be revealed, empowering would-be entrepreneurs by guiding them through the process one step at a time, helping to bring their idea online.
Steps include naming your business, writing a business plan and setting up an online payments .
If they complete the process of all 12 steps, aspiring founders will have a registered business with a functioning GoDaddy website.
Wasti said: “That’s why we are challenging
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Company formations rise by 3% in 2019 hitting 681,704
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The number of companies formed in Britain in 2019 rose by nearly three per cent, hitting 681,704 according to research.
Over 45,000 tech start-ups were launched across the UK in 2019, representing 6.6 per cent of all company formations – the equivalent of more than five new tech start-ups launched every hour.
>See also: Reading has potential to be UK’s top entrepreneur hotspot
Unsurprisingly, London had the highest number of new company formations with 221,373 companies registered, followed by second city Birmingham (14,509) and Manchester (9,064). However, Bournemouth and Poole – acknowledged to be the wealthiest places in England – were in sixth place trumping Liverpool and Edinburgh as entrepreneurial hotspots.
Top 10 cities for UK startups 2019
Location#
Greater London221,373
Birmingham14,509
Manchester9,064
Leeds 7,492
Glasgow 6,733
Bournemouth and Poole5,627
Liverpool5,421
Edinburgh5,155
Leicester5,060
Bristol5,004
Source: Centre for Entrepreneurs
Indeed, tech start-ups comprised 28 per cent of all new businesses launched in Bournemouth and Poole. Tech start-ups were also highly represented in Brighton and Hove (15 per cent), Winchester (12.8 per cent) and Cambridge (12.5 per cent).
The Centre of Entrepreneurs, which conducted the research based on Companies House data, also found some quirky businesses: 10 of the new businesses founded last year were raising llamas and alpacas, while 10 new wine
Hot Business News Today
Reading has potential to be UK’s top entrepreneur hotspot
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Reading has the potential to be the UK’s top entrepreneurial hotspot providing it embraces digital technology, according to a report.
More effective use of digital technology by start-ups and scale-ups could boost the UK economy by as much as £34bn a year by 2030, says tech firm Atos.
Brighton, Cambridge, Cheltenham and Oxford were the other hotspots in the top five with the most to benefit from embracing technology.
>See also: If you want your start-up to succeed, move to Bristol
The consultancy has mapped the entrepreneurial potential of towns and cities for the first time.
Reading ranked top partly because over half of its population has gone into higher education; the high number of start-ups and existing business in the area, including 11,000 digital and tech firms; and an ethnically diverse population, which helps drive entrepreneurship.
“Digital technology is critical to unleashing the full entrepreneurial potential of the SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups in our towns and cities,” says the report. “Better use of digital technology can help entrepreneurs in all industries because while not every start-up business is in the tech sector, every start-up needs to embrace digital technology in order to compete.”
Atos makes three recommendations if policymakers