Entrepreneurship is not the preserve of the young: You can succeed at any age March 8, 2015 Popular portrayals of entrepreneurialism might leave you convinced that the only people who are going to make it in business are twenty-somethings – millennials. But the reality is not nearly so clear cut. My own experience of setting up Zendesk is a testament to the fact that, if you’ve got a great idea and the [...]
Gimme 5 March 8, 2015 …EVENTS FOR ENTREPRENEURS Self-Management, Branding & Decision Making This is day one of a three-day CPD course which explores how to manage yourself better – particularly helpful for those running their own business. 24 March, £180, UCL www.ucl.ac.uk/advances Silicon Drinkabout This weekly meetup for entrepreneurs has become a fixture – and is now in cities [...]
Impatient for success: Is Generation Y prepared for reality? March 5, 2015 It's a well-worn stereotype that young people want overnight success and underestimate the amount of hard graft they have put in to make something of themselves. This is perhaps true more so now than ever with young successful tech billionaires dominating the news and even becoming the focus of the silver screen. So do today's [...]
The Golden Age: Octopus’s George Whitehead on an extraordinary five years for UK technology and enterprise March 1, 2015 It's been an impressive five years for the UK technology and enterprise industry. From the establishment of Tech City to the development of world-leading accelerator programmes, and the international success stories of businesses like Deep Mind, Asos, Zoopla, CSR and Shazam, it is no secret that Britain has become a leading light in entrepreneurship. DISPROPORTIONATE [...]
General Election 2015: What the parties are offering small business March 1, 2015 Before the 2010 General Election, Britain’s small business community was a rather uncoordinated mass, largely invisible to the political elite. This time around, the UK’s 5m small firms can’t and won’t be overlooked. This newly-drawn constituency has legs, and we know how to use them. In a brave small business world, the party that can [...]
Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins talks pipes, politics and £1m election bets February 22, 2015 I don't know much in life, but I know how to run a plumbing company,” says Charlie Mullins, founder of Pimlico Plumbers, matter-of-factly. Mullins is entitled to his own opinions (and he’s got his fair share) but he’s probably wrong on this one. The self-made multi-millionaire is unerringly humble – he’s not just any managing [...]
The Drum co-founder Diane Young talks learning curves and Scotland February 15, 2015 A career analysing statistics in community and mental health services may not be an obvious route to heading up a publishing business, but that didn’t stop Diane Young, co-founder of media company The Drum. The move from healthcare into business came when Young’s husband, Gordon, and his business partner Nick Creed, saw an opportunity to [...]
The next generation: How we will prepare them for the business world of the future February 15, 2015 Last week, I published the final instalment of my report on small firms. Unbelievably, the only other report on small business, the Bolton report of 1971, said that they were on the way out – that in a few years, they would cease to exist. Yet now, over 19 firms out of 20 employ fewer [...]
Gimme 5: Books on conscious business February 15, 2015 The Responsibility Revolution Jeffrey Hollender Promoting the idea that business can move beyond “less bad” and embrace an ethos to be “all good”. The book presents ideas to inspire leaders to create socially and environmentally responsible companies. £18.99 (Jossey-Bass) Conscious Capitalism John Mackey & Raj Sisoda An argument from the founder of Whole Foods [...]
From banking to barista: Meet Notes director Edward Halfon February 8, 2015 Mass-produced coffee is out: new, hip speciality cafes are in. Former financier Edward Halfon tells Annabel Denham how the founders of food and wine “destination” Notes plan to indulge our ever-evolving taste buds. Recent research from the small business website Startups.co.uk found that “cult cafes” will become the hottest business opportunity over the next 12 [...]