NOV
30
Doug Richard, School for Startups founder, former Dragons’ Den investor
“It won’t be in there but what I would have hoped for was a specific tax relief targeted at increasing the amount of capital that flows into newly started or young businesses. It’s been shown that almost all new jobs and productivity growth come from young, entrepreneurial businesses and one of the biggest obstacles these businesses have is the absence of available seed stage capital. What needs to be done is...
NOV
15
Small businesses around the UK are to be given a boost by the government in order to stimulate growth and job creation.
Speaking at the recent Exporting for Growth and Fitness Finance conference, prime minister David Cameron announced new measures aimed at helping small firms export to new markets, secure finance and cut red tape.
...NOV
15
The behavioural insight team at Downing Street has analysed what prevents small businesses from exporting more and its findings have led to the launch of a free e-commerce scheme for more than 3,500 firms.
Officials believe small businesses are discouraged from exporting because of “soft” barriers to trade such as a lack of confidence and social links. But firms that enhance their online presence...
NOV
15
For Global Entrepreneurship Week, we’re catching up with business’ brightest brains to find out their thoughts on the future for London start-ups
Doug Richard is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, ex Dragons’ Den star and founder of School for Startups, which teaches people how to start up and run better businesses.
Where are the biggest opportunities for London’s start-up scene?London represents probably the most important concentration of creative industries in the world. Yet all the focus seems to be on Silicon Roundabout...
NOV
12
Without clear lending processes and more sensible decision-making at a local level, government targets for business loans will not be met, according to the head of one of the UK’s largest business groups.
John Longworth, the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, issued the warning after the government announced the release of an additional £95m from the Regional Growth Fund to support lending to small businesses for new plant and equipment.
“The new SME Regional Growth Fund scheme will help some...
NOV
10
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is teaming up with School for Startups founder and founding Dragons’ Den panellist Doug Richard to teach web exploitation skills to 3,500 small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) across England.
The Web Fuelled Business initiative will help small businesses in the UK to exploit and leverage the internet for their business.
The initiative is not just about selling online. It includes aspects such as driving marketing through social media, increasing website exposure through search...
NOV
08
We were telling you in an earlier post about the School for Startups program, one of the most important startups support programs in Europe, also present in Romania. We had the pleasure of having a little chat with Doug Richard, founder of School for Startups, one of the mentors of School for Startups Romania and one of the keynote speakers of this year’s How to Web conference.
...OCT
31
With a sparkling start-up scene and a wealth of young talent, Romanian entrepreneurs, especially in the information technologies sector, are aiming for the global market.
“I am very optimistic about what start-ups can do in Romania,” Jan Muehlfeit, chairman of Microsoft Europe, said in a telephone interview. The local pool of technology talent, he said, is one of the main reasons Microsoft has invested in the country.
...OCT
20
With banks reluctant to lend, are there better options out there for small and medium companies looking to expand?
Amid the latest round of quantitative easing by the Bank of England there have been fresh calls from the small business sector for help to boost funding for small and medium enterprise projects (SMEs). John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said it was important that banks use any extra cash to decrease the cost of credit and increase...
OCT
20
Need to cut overheads quickly but not sure where to start? A new wave of technology can help you attack hidden costs, improve efficiency and boost your bottom line
Cost management is vital for small companies but can be a difficult discipline to master. When profits dip and business slows, some SMEs rush in to slash costs – but cutting in the wrong place can ultimately hurt the business.
Small-business overheads have risen by 23 per cent since 2005, according to the...
