Letting someone else write your business plan is almost always unnecessary and almost certainly unwise:

• Generally speaking you really shouldn’t be out seeking investment until you have a solid business model, some customers or pre-orders, some products or detailed specifications and working prototypes. You should probably also have a good team working with you. If you have these things writing a business plan takes a few days or a couple of weeks. Without these things, you don’t know for sure that you have a working business and you will have a very hard time proving to investors that you do. This will delay funding for a long time. If you can’t even write a business plan, funding will be a real problem.
• On the off chance you do convince an investor to put money into your business, he will tend to see your business plan as a kind of blueprint for how you’re going to run your business. If you see it as merely a convenient fiction to get his money, there’s likely to be some big trouble down the road. Since you probably don’t want a stranger creating a blueprint for your business you’ll have to abide by, you probably don’t want to have a stranger writing your business plan.
• Good businesses are composed of teams. In every business there’s someone who sells, someone who counts, someone who produces. Usually one of those people writes as well. Why? Because every business needs someone to create pitches, draft letters, deal with company billing and legal matters. A writer is required. And almost no business that needs outside funding can survive without one. So, if you can’t write your business plan because you don’t have an effective writer in house, go find one to add to your team as a consultant or as an employee. They aren’t that expensive.
• Writing a business plan isn’t that difficult. There are hundreds of templates around, and hundreds of others have been written that you can examine for reference. Once you’ve written it, you can hire an editor to help you clean it up so its easy to read and makes logical sense. The plan will be yours, the words will be yours, but you’ll simply have worked with an expert in grammar and formatting to put your best foot forward.

The key thing is that someone who is supposed to be helping you raise money should probably not charge you for giving you advice on your business plan.

They should either not work with you because your business isn’t ready for investment, or they should give you the advice free because they like your business so much that they are confident a slightly revised business plan is all they need to get the money your enterprise requires. A company that purports to raise money from investors, but charges to rewrite business plans and help you with creating pitches, is really making it’s money by providing services not by raising investment for people.

After you write your business plan yourself, you can find people to help you edit it at www.elance.com. There are many very cost effective professional writers and editors on the site for you to choose from. You’ll find you can have the services you need without getting scammed.

Related posts:

1. The Price of Money (At Least You Can Eat Catfish)
2. The Insanity of Angel Investors
3. What Angel Investing & 1 Night Stands Have In Common

Why was IBM Global Entrepreneur founded?

We know that working with startups can drive change. Today, the world’s physical systems are being infused with intelligence, and this opportunity to apply information technology to physical infrastructure opens up vast new markets for the IT industry.  With disruptive, new technologies, this is the perfect scenario for innovative entrepreneurs to play a major role.  With IBM’s unique vision of a Smarter Planet (ibm.com/smarterplanet/uk), we are looking to partner with technology entrepreneurs who share this vision and want to work together to address this new market opportunity.

What kinds of support do you offer to entrepreneurs?

IBM Global Entrepreneur has the products, people, and promotion that can help technology startups extend the size and reach of their company.  The initiative provides support and resources in the areas these startups need most:

1. Product
   • No charge access to IBM’s software portfolio on-site or through the cloud to accelerate software development
2. People
   • Dedicated technical enablement support to help startups develop their product and get to the marketplace faster.
   • Mentors at IBM SmartCamps around the world who can help them grow their business.
   • Industry market intelligence from our top industry experts that can help them understand the enterprise customer and the market opportunity.
3. Promotion
   • Visibility as part of the IBM Smarter Planet agenda to set themselves apart from the competition.
   • Recognition and additional benefits to partners with the most innovative solutions
   • Opportunity to showcase their company in the IBM Global Entrepreneur directory.

When was the initiative started and how many entrepreneurs have you helped?

IBM Global Entrepreneur launched on 31st March 2010, so is very new at the moment. Given this, we are at the stage of raising awareness of what we have to offer, and encouraging participation. We are doing this by engaging with individuals and organisations who are already well established in this community, and we are delighted that School for Startups is working with us as one of our ecosystem partners. Hundreds of startups have shown interest in our new initiative, and I am delighted with how enthusiastic people have been who I’ve spoken to about what we are doing.

How do entrepreneurs participate?

Startups who meet the eligibility criteria can register at ibm.com/isv/startup. On our application form we ask a few simple questions to help us understand a little about their companies, and once accepted they will be contacted by one of our Project Resource Managers (PRM). The assigned PRM will make a personal call  to welcome them, and will guide them through how they can make best us of the resources we provide on a one-to-one basis.

Startups can also apply to participate in our IBM SmartCamp London event which is taking place on 21st July at Imperial College London. SmartCamp is an exclusive event that brings together entrepreneurs, investors and experienced mentors who want to help us build a Smarter Planet. SmartCamp provides startups access to world-class advisors, plus a direct route to seed and venture capital. Applications for the London event can be made from now until 2nd July 2010.

What is your background and how did you come to IBM?

In 1987 IBM launched an integrated degree scheme with the University of Portsmouth, and I was one of the original intake to the scheme of 20 students. The initiative was pioneering as it was the first time in the UK that a company’s in-house training counted as credits towards a degree – a BSc in Computer Science. Our time was split on a weekly basis between our studies and doing a real job in IBM, so a very different model to a traditional sandwich course. The great thing was that we were paid a salary for the 3 years of the course, which certainly enhanced the experience!

Since graduating, I’ve performed a very diverse mixture of technical and business roles in IBM, both in the UK and across Europe. In 2005 I took on responsibility for establishing the IBM Academic Initiative (ibm.com/academicinitiative) across Europe, Middle East and Africa, and it was through this programme that I first started engaging with entrepreneurial students in the universities. I still look after this programme in the UK & Ireland, and am very excited about the new opportunities that leading the IBM Global Entrepreneur initiative is bringing. It is such an inspirational community of people to be collaborating with.

Is there a way entrepreneurs can learn more about the initiative online?

Our website is the best place to go to learn more: ibm.com/isv/startup

Additional information on IBM SmartCamp London can be found at ibm.com/ie/smarterplanet/smartcamp

Related posts:

1. Featured Entrepreneur: Kevin Matthew
2. The Dirty Secret of Credit For Small Business: the Failure of the EFG Scheme
3. Sex, Lies and the Bottom Feeders of the Angel Community

If your business rises above the pack, you’ll be invited to the national competition where you’ll meet more people who can help you, encounter more business professionals who may be able to support you, and present your business to working angels, venture capitalists and investors. Experts advise you, and you hone your presentation until it just can’t get any better.   If you win the competition, you get crowned ‘Britain’s  Best New Business’ and win a prize package worth £50,000.

If you are thinking of starting a new business, we encourage you to have a look at the Competition Website to see where your regional competition will be held and to download an application form. Entries must be in before 15 June, with the first heat, the South West, taking place in Bristol on 21 June.

Remember that we have a great online and face to face Perfect your Pitch event coming up on June 21. Even if you aren’t going to participate in the competition, you should attend our event.  Every business needs a perfect pitch.  It is the single most important tool you have for acquiring customers, team members, strategic partners, investors and support for your business from the community.

Related posts:

1. The Pitch 2010
2. Perfect Your Pitch with Doug Richard on June 21, 6:30 – 8PM! Join Us Online or Face to Face
3. The Original Dragon Joins Judges Panel at The Pitch 09

Some people say that it is not what you know but who you know.  Truth is, it is both. If you are an entrepreneur running a business-to-business enterprise, investing time into social networking sites like Facebook (www.facebook.com) can seem like a waste of time because it probably is.  There’s little point in delivering your message about photocopiers and courier services to folks discussing dating venues and baby bottles. How can your business posts not seem like spam in that context?

That is why there is LinkedIn.com, a site where business people can talk business to other business people safely.  You really can find a large percentage of the business people you know, and those you want to know, on this website.  Perhaps more important, there are several tools that let you connect to those open to new business proposals and new networking relationships.

Using LinkedIn effectively is easy if you do the following:

1. To create an account, just go to www.linkedin.com.  Provide all the usual data.  Linked in has tools that will mine your email box for friends. If that email box happens to be your business email box, allowing LinkedIn to issue invitations is probably appropriate.  You can pick and choose contacts if you prefer.
2. Once your account is setup, your resume entered, your friends invited, go join some Groups in the business areas that matter most to you. Media, manufacturing, import/export, etc.  Groups are for people that actively want to network through LinkedIn.  Important: Being in a group with someone means you can contact them for free through LinkedIn messages. Because it means you can search for the people you need to know, based on their job title let’s say, and if you find a contact that’s in a group with you . . . you can send him a well written message and far more often than not he will reply. This means you don’t have to pay for InMail messages.
3. You can search for people by company, title, location and other parameters.  This is handy.  If you need to find potential funders for example, try searching for angel investor, private equity, venture capital, private lender, investment manager or hedge fund manager. You’ll get some useful results.
4. Make sure your profile links to your website, and make sure your website has your phone number, email address and Twitter account.
5. Ask questions on the Answers forum if you need help.  Answering questions for others is a great way to create new networking connects and demonstrate special expertise.
6. Post jobs on LinkedIn when you need to hire people.  You’ll be surprised how many well qualified people find you here.  It is also very useful to see applicant profiles, including connections, when folks respond.
7. You can now post ads on LinkedIn, and they offer some useful targeting tools. This may be a great option for straight business-to-business promotion.
8. Within Linkedin Groups, you can post links to news articles and start new discussions.  This is great for your SEO and link building efforts.

One thing that you must remember is that LinkedIn is not Facebook.  So this is not the place to post baby pictures, expose political or religious preferences, or discuss who you are dating.   The negative reactions you receive from such a breach are every bit as bad as you get from “spamming” Facebook with a blatant business message.

LinkedIn is an exceptionally good place to make new business connections and to maintain them for long periods of time.  It is a great place to market your business and promote all your website has to offer.  It really is a fully functional business community, and for business-to-business enterpreneurs it is much better than Facebook.   I look forward to seeing you there.

Related posts:

1. Pay Per Click Advertising on LinkedIn
2. I Have to Show You Cracklytics
3. Keeping Your Company’s Emails Out of Your Customer’s Spam Box

The 4 Ps?

Product, Price, Promotion, Place, the Four P’s that historically have defined marketing operations have long been a road map for businesses who want to bring a product to market.

• Develop a product that packages a set of features and benefits
• Determine the proper price for that product
• Decide how to promote it
• Determine how to distribute it.

That’s how you market a product. At least it used to be.

For many businesses the traditional interpretation of the 4 P’s is is misleading at best and toxic at worst.  Online games and iphone apps, open source software and social networking sites blur the line between promotion and product.  Grocery stores now take orders online for home delivery. Print shops let you upload documents that are subsequently printed and couriered to clients. Many schools now consist of students and faculty that never meet face to face. Aren’t we all Internet businesses these days?

Understanding What Has Changed . . .

The reality is that over the last decade the process by which products are brought to market has changed radically and many otherwise competent business professionals are still struggling to cope with new realities.

For example, many software startups still identify their product as being a long series of specific features that let the customer achieve a given set of objectives.   When you ask these businesses to add a form that lets someone invite a friend to use the application, or to create a Facebook widget that lets the product communicate with customers through their favorite social network, these developers say “We need to work on core features first.  Lets save that for Version 2.”

• They see all “code” as a component of the “product”.
• They don’t understand that they, like everyone else in the market, must create the code required to connect their product to customers and their customers to one another.
• They don’t understand that they never get a version 2 if they haven’t integrated their product or service into its marketplace by creating the necessary code.
• They seem to believe, despite the fact that they have no customers and usually haven’t done much in the way of classic marketing research, that they know what the customer wants and it is embodied in their feature list.

The last decade of software successes demonstrates that this is “flawed” thinking. Twitter does one thing very well and everyone that uses it invites others to use it.  There is no clear division between the Twitter service and its methodology. Facebook, Linkedin, Google, Magento, and many other very successful businesses have discovered the same solution.

More traditional businesses face other cognitive challenges.

• Brick and Mortar companies believe they have a “core business” which may be anything from producing cast iron pots to selling accounting services.
• They use the web for this thing called “marketing” which is seen as an auxilliary operation they undertake in order to increase product sales.
• Annually, or quarterly, the marketing budget is calculated. Some money is spent on advertising, some is spent on the website, some is spend on bulk mail. There is no adherence to any kind of specific strategy or methodology for this development which is considered “marketing”. Companies still think in terms of campaigns.

These businesses do not see the Internet and other communication connectivity as a necessary core element to their product or service because they do not see themselves as a “software” or “internet” company. Over the last fifteen years, Amazon, Lulu, Netflix and Ebay are just a few of the businesses that have re-envisioned traditionally brick and mortar businesses leveraging new communication options.

There is a new road map for bring products and services to market because what businesses are now expected to sell is a good “customer experience” that extends all the way from presales, to product adoption, to long term use.  Actually, businesses have always been in the business of selling “good customer experiences” it is just that these days that requires that elements of “marketing” and “software development” be incorporated into almost every successful widely-adopted product or service.

Ship Early, Ship a Little, Ship Fast

Given the changes in how products are developed, priced, promoted and distributed, there has been a concurrent change to how most enterpreneurs should launch their businesses.

• Create a very stripped down version of your product or service with a very small number of features, maybe even just one really great feature.  Ceate all the code required to connect this product or service to its target market.
• Launch the product aggressively, so people who need the tool can find it and share it with friends.
• Wait for the “wall of sound” that comes as customers adopt the product and begin providing feedback. Release new versions of the product based on what actual customers want from the product rather than what they imagine the “ideal feature set” to be.

This methodology for bringing a product to market offers many advantages over more traditional strategies.

• It allows startups and small businesses to start their business with a minimum of debt or outside investment and in a relatively short period of time.  The objective is to create a very elegant, very useful, very simple solution to a given customer problem.
• It lets them leverage the Internet for solution distribution at a minimum cost and for a minimum purchase price at a reasonable profit.
• It lets them refine the product over time based on feedback from paying customers.

The Ship Early, Ship Little, Ship Fast methodology works for almost any new product or service because it jetisons an antiquated understanding of what a product is, how it is promoted and how it will be delivered.

Related posts:

1. What Businesses Will Be Worrying About Next Year
2. The Price of Money (At Least You Can Eat Catfish)
3. Sex, Lies and the Bottom Feeders of the Angel Community

But who helps social entrepreneurs create those solutions?

You can find links and descriptions for more than 50 organizations that guide and support social entrepreneurs on the VentureNavigator website. Look here to find links to organizations like:

Social Enterprise Coalition
Look here for advice about the best practices for Social Enterprises and links to some useful financial resources. This organization is the UK’s national body for social enterprise.

UnLtd
UnLtd is a charity that delivers financial support and advanced training to social enterprises in the UK.

Community Action Network
Social entrepreneurs can acquire the office space and other infrastructure they need to start their businesses through CAN.

Unity Trust Bank
Unity delivers specialist banking services for social enterprises.

Bridges Social Entrepreneur Fund
This organization provides funding solutions to social enterprises across the UK.

In addition to a catalog of Social Enterprise focused organizations, VentureNavigator also provides a series of assessments to help you identify where you, or your business, may be falling short.  These diagnostics tools can help you determine:

• Whether your business is viable.
• When your business is ready for investment.
• What management and leadership skills you require in order to run your business well.
• What kind of legal structure best meets the needs of your social enterprise.

Related posts:

1. Choosing a Social Enterprise Legal Structure: CLS, CLG, CIC or Cooperative
2. What is a Social Enterprise? Not Another Word for Charity or Non-Profit . . .
3. Social Enterprise London

START HERE! STARTING & GROWING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NACUE

DATE: TUESDAY 15TH JUNE 2010

TIME: NOON TILL 7PM

Following the huge success of our seminars around the UK, Doug and the School for Startups team are taking their nationwide tour to Brighton. A must-attend event for any budding or established entrepreneur, “Start Here! Starting and Growing a Successful Business” is hosted personally by Doug Richard and is the cornerstone of the School for Startups curriculum.

At “Start Here! Starting & Growing a Successful Business” you will learn:

• The key questions every entrepreneur must be able to answer before starting or growing a business
• How to write the perfect business model
• How to identify your product and your market
• How to start an affordable marketing campaign to increase your sales leads
• How to treat the recession as an opportunity, rather than a threat
• How to make money and secure investment
Find, Pitch & Close!

What’s included?

• 6 hours of business tuition with one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs
• Access to online resources and materials, including membership of VentureNavigator
• Accreditation as a Graduate of School for Startups (web-badge)
• Free refreshments reception

Start Here! Starting & Growing a Successful Business -…
Start Here! Starting & Growing a Successful Business – Hosted by The University of Brighton & In Partnership with NACUE

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 from 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM (GMT)
Brighton, East Sussex

Ticket Information

* University of Brighton Ticket – These tickets are for anyone affiliated to The University of Brighton. Set discounts available at the universities discretion.
* Standard Entrepreneur Ticket – These are for anyone outside of the University
* Student & Staff Discounts – students & staff using discount codes must show their ID at registration, failure to do so will result in none entry to the event.
* Online bookings policy – We only accept online bookings with a credit or debit card. Unfortunately we do not issue invoices for future payment or allow attendees to pay on the day. Anyone who has not paid for their ticket in full before the event will not be granted access.
* Refunds and changes to ticket details policy – Unfortunately we cannot offer refunds or change the name on the booking once tickets have been booked.

Who Should Attend

* Anyone with an idea for a business
* Owners of small businesses that want to grow
* Students interested in starting a business

Event Information

* Registrations Starts: 12:00hrs
* Event Starts: 13:00hrs
* In conjunction with NACUE & The University of Brighton

For more information see our full Terms and Conditions

Money Back Guarantee

We are confident that you will be completely satisfied by this event. If you are not completely satisfied with the event, we will issue a 100% refund, no questions asked. Requests for refunds must be made via email within 24hrs of the event taking place.

Nacue

School for Startups

University of Brighton

Related posts:

1. Start Here! Starting & Growing A Successful Business, Leicester, May 10 – Home
2. Practical Q&A With Doug Richard — Cambridge Starting & Growing a Successful Business Class
3. University of Essex & School for Startups to Jump Start UK Small Business in Colchester

(Download The Entrepreneurs’ Manifesto and Declaration of Rights PDF)

The Entrepreneurs Manifesto is a public declaration aimed at supporting the UK’s 4.4 million small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Authored by Doug Richard, the high profile entrepreneur and former TV ‘Dragon’, the manifesto calls for a new deal for entrepreneurs as a “recession buster” solution for the UK.

The document consists of two sections:

• The Entrepreneurs Manifesto
  A statement of principles highlighting the challenges that the UK must overcome to truly harness the potential of its entrepreneurs
• The Declaration of Rights
  A series of practical recommendations for the current and incoming Government to clear the path for an explosion in entrepreneurial activity

Doug Richard will be speaking about the manifesto at the major social enterprise conference Growing a Successful Social Enterprise at the Royal Institution, London on Tuesday 19th January 2010, hosted by the University of Essex and supported by the Transformation Fund of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

The Entrepreneurs Manifesto

And what it held
stood ready to be loosed
with all the power that being changed can give.
Philip Larkin

A spectre is haunting the United Kingdom – the spectre of Capitalism.

As a nation we fear that nothing has changed; that greedy bankers will continue to be rewarded for their failure, that amoral corporations will continue to put profits in front of people and the environment, and that the State, however bloated and costly, is not only unable to control the beast but must compete with other nations to be its servant at an unbearable cost to itself.

We have banks so large that they dwarf the very governments whose guarantees they rely upon for our trust. We have become hostage creditors to their uncoupled risk taking. And worse, as nations we are reduced to acting like market stall vendors shouting our best price louder than the adjoining shopkeeper hoping they will purchase just one more night. They are not just too big to fail. They are too big to even let leave.

The largest corporations pit our tax systems against each other. Their capital alights like a wind born leaf ready to whisp away on the slightest breeze of taxation. In the failure of a global commons their profits shoulder a fraction of the costs of the infrastructure and shared society whose foundations support them.

The environment has no voice, the consumer has no collective;  thus the largest corporations are neither charged for their cost to the world nor rewarded for building products that endure.

Yet our State continues to grow. It has devoured every pound of taxation and growls for more. Our civil servants earn uncivil wages. When the economy grew, it outgrew the economy. Despite a decade that has seen more than a 40% increase in welfare spending (i), our rates of poverty and joblessness have continued to climb.  One in four UK citizens live in poverty; nearly three million children do (ii).  Over the last ten years our index of production has fallen more than 10%. In the last two years our index of services has fallen over 5% as well (iii). Our national debt is now 60% of our GDP (iv). We are demonstrably poorer as a nation. The system does not work.

In their fear, and amplified by their impotence, our politicians rail against the excesses of the global financial system, the greed of the corporations and the system that drives it: capitalism.

Their fear reflects the real power of capitalism. It is the acknowledged force that respects no nation’s boundaries and no politicians’ calls for fairness.

But the current economic downturn, precipitated by the credit crisis in the financial system is neither proof of the failure of capitalism nor an endorsement of the profligate spendthrift ineffectiveness of our government.

It marks the first recession in a globally connected economy and the speed by which local folly is amplified into a global crisis. It demonstrates the short‐sightedness of permitting investment banks to co‐habit with retail banks thus coupling the low risk savings and loans business that underpin our citizens to the high risk and volatile business of financial inventions and speculation. And it is a vivid demonstration that much of what we call financial services adds little or no economic value to the nation.

Unleashing the wealth creators

But, the wealth of this nation, and of every nation rests on the shoulders of entrepreneurial activity. The innovators who open new markets, create new products, deliver new services and change the processes of business itself; by the very act of creation, destroy less efficient industries, create greater productivity and as a direct result create all new wealth.

The State is not our society.  It is the largest servant of our society and to the degree it intends to deliver greater benefits and services to all of its citizen’s in equal measure the greater its moral obligation to ensure that it harnesses the power of the entrepreneur  to constantly improve the delivery of its services. The size of the State, itself, is not the enemy. Thus focusing on its size will not lead us to a solution. “Societies that try to reap the gain of creative destruction without the pain find themselves enduring the pain but not the gain.” (v)

The tax receipts that flow from the entrepreneurs’ efforts pay for all the services we receive. Yet the services we receive are not beneficiaries of that gale of creative destruction. The State, often operates from the flawed assumption that if it’s the State’s obligation to ensure we are safe, healthy and educated, then only the State can deliver a fair service. That notion of fairness is the fairness of the least: that no one can benefit more than the least the state can deliver. Thus, everyone gets the least, we cannot improve until we can improve everyone and we end up improving no one.

But to the smallest degree that the State aspires to deliver more than it can afford; it has no choice at all: it must recuse itself from the monolithic delivery of all services and create playing fields upon which entrepreneurs can be unleashed. Harness the collective creative self‐interest of our entrepreneurial output for the benefit of meeting our social objectives and we can ensure that they will improve at the fastest possible pace. We will see a flowering of ideas, a manifold unfolding of new approaches and a gale of creative destruction that sweeps the Kafkaesque bureaucracy and sclerosis from the implementation of government.

Beyond the state, the promise for the United Kingdom is to lead the world, not follow. To create the economic freedoms necessary to nurture innovation and entrepreneurialism and to realise that entrepreneurs, like teachers and doctors are key contributors to the healthiest societies. That is the promise of entrepreneurship. That is the opportunity for the United Kingdom.

The Entrepreneurs Declaration of Rights

We stand at a crossroads. The United Kingdom has the potential to remain a central economic and political power amongst the world’s nations or it can sink slowly beneath the weight of its problems and the impotency of its remedies.

We are a nation that has everything it needs to enter the 21st century on a wave of growth and prosperity. But to do so we must harness the only force for growth, for prosperity and for fairness and social justice that exists: the entrepreneurial culture.

This is not about capital. This is not about the few getting rich at the expense of the many. This is not about the preservation of privilege. If anything it is the key to the opposite: the creation of ladders of social mobility, and increasing of the wealth of the nation so we can afford the services we believe are the rights of our citizens: to be healthy, to be educated, to be safe and to remain free.

But harnessing entrepreneurialism first means understanding it: an entrepreneur takes on the risk of innovating in the expectation of being rewarded for success. Reducing the incentives of being rewarded, increasing the obstacles to create new enterprises, limiting the shape and type of entrepreneurial activity and not investing in the key infrastructure upon which the next wave of innovation will depend, all combine to emasculate our nascent entrepreneurs.

Thus we call for our government to change its priorities.

We must increase economic freedom for new businesses and small businesses and all businesses that take new business risk. We must cut the time it takes to start a new business. We must radically streamline the effort of complying with government regulation and exempt the smallest businesses from many of the regulations entirely.

We must sweep clean the entire government funded industry of business support and leave behind solely an institution whose remit is to expedite and simplify the effort of small business to manage the burden that government places upon it.

We must free up the savings of our families, friends and communities so that they may give, invest or lend their own small capital into the nascent businesses of their children, their friends and their communities with credits and exemptions that radically encourage the activity.

We must stop paying people to be un‐employed and begin to share the cost of them being taught to be employed. Apprenticeship is not solely for the trades; it is for any job in any company. We face a lost generation of students and young graduates with no hope for jobs whilst employers have no means to underwrite the period they need to make those students into productive employees.

We must recognize that the largest customer in the UK is the government itself. The government must adopt a requirement that a specific percentage of all of its procurement will be through small and medium businesses. It must place the responsibility for compliance with industry and at no cost to itself drive revenue to our entrepreneurs and open the doors of government to innovation.

We must broaden the scope for social entrepreneurs by creating new legal frameworks that explicitly encourage a broad range of social businesses from co‐ownership models such as John Lewis to for‐profit businesses that seek to achieve a social bottom line as well as a traditional profit.

Finally, we must recognize the centrality of connectedness in the competition amongst nations. The United Kingdom must wire itself and do so urgently. Just as our roads and trains are a public service and a natural monopoly; so too is true broadband. True broadband is not 1MBof information trickling down to some of our homes. It is 100Mb to every doorstep in this country. It is the key infrastructure that will kindle a wave of creative destruction and increased wealth that will match the industrial revolution. It will reduce the stress on our crowded transport systems, it will re‐vitalize neglected sections of our nation, it will place the key tools in place to amplify and distribute scarce resources in education and health care. And it is achievable now.

Finally, we must understand that we do not understand. People are not empowered to step out on their own, take risk, hope for reward, and move on from failure. The corrosive impact of an overprotective State is not merely the loss of our sense of responsibility to a civil society; it is the even more profound loss of our sense of capacity to change society, to have an impact, to be, in short, an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship can be taught and must be learned.

About Doug Richard

Doug Richard is a successful entrepreneur with 20 years’ experience in the development and leadership of technology and software ventures, Doug featured in the first two TV series of Dragon’s Den. He is the Founder and Vice‐Chairman of the Cambridge Angels and Chairman of the Conservative Party Small Business Task Force.

Between 1996 and 2000 Doug was President and CEO of Micrografx, a US publicly quoted software company. Prior to that he also founded and subsequently sold two other companies: Visual Software and ITAL Computers.

Doug holds a BA in Psychology from University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctor at the school of Law, University of California at Los Angeles. In 2006 Doug was an Honorary Recipient of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. In 2007, Doug became a fellow of the RSA. In 2009  he received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Essex for his contributions to the teaching of Entrepreneurship.

Doug has always been a champion for startups and small businesses. Even before founding School for Startups he actively mentored, coached and supported many entrepreneurs. In 2008, after teaching a one‐day class in entrepreneurship, Doug decided to found an enterprise dedicated to helping people start better, more profitable, businesses. Since 2008 he has taught thousands in face to face and online classes across the UK.

His wry, candid, practical and ultimately upbeat courses in how to start a business quickly, with a minimum of outside investment and how to market and grow a business efficiently make him a sought after speaker.

As Doug says, “Entrepreneurship can be taught and must be learned.”

Sources

i   Centre for Social Justice report ‐ “Dynamic Benefits: Towards Welfare That Works”

ii  Households Below Average Income (HBAI) survey for 2007/08

iii Office of National Statistics – Index of Production & Index of Services charts

iv  Office National Statistics – November 2009, UK public sector net debt was £829.7 billion (59.2% of National GDP)

v   Joseph Schumpeter, economist

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Following the huge success of our seminars around the UK, Doug and the School for Startups team are returning to The Royal Institution. This must-attend event is for aspiring social/ethical entrepreneurs as well as existing small social/ethical businesses wishing to grow and become more successful and sustainable.

“Growing a Successful Social Enterprise” is hosted by Doug Richard and comprises two main sections, followed by a 1 hour live S4Stv ‘entrepreneurial surgery’. As an attendee you will have the opportunity to interact with Doug and our impressive panel of guest speakers including Uday Thakkar of Red Ochre, Antony Ross of Bridges Ventures, Jonathan Jenkins of UnLtd and Julie Devonshire of ONE.

At “Growing a Successful Social Enterprise” you will learn 20 key questions every social entrepreneur must be able to address:

• What type of social enterprise are you?
• How does a social enterprise get the capital investment it needs?
• Who is your target market?
• What is your industry and what are its characteristics?
• etc.

Don’t miss the chance to learn from highly successful and foremost experts and join Doug and his special guests for a seminar guaranteed to help prepare you on the road to successful social entrepreneurship.

Who should attend?

• Owners & managers of growing social/ethical businesses
• People thinking about starting a social/ethical business
• People interested in learning about social/ethical enterprise

What’s included?

• 6 hours of business tuition with one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs
• Business resource information from various participating social / ethical organisations
• Access to online resources and materials, including membership of VentureNavigator
• Accreditation as a Graduate of School for Startups (web-badge)
• Free refreshments throughout the afternoon, followed by an evening drinks reception

Where?

The Royal Institution
21 Albemarle Street
W1S 4BS London
United Kingdom

When?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 from 12:00 PM – 8:30 PM (GMT)

TICKET INFORMATION

• Online bookings policy – We only accept online bookings with a credit or debit card.
• Unfortunately we do not issue invoices for future payment or allow attendees to pay on the day.
• Anyone who has not paid for their ticket in full before the event will not be granted access.
• Refunds and changes to ticket details policy – Unfortunately we cannot offer refunds or change the name on the booking once tickets have been booked.

AGENDA

Summary:

• Registration Starts: 12:00hrs
• Event Starts: 13:00hrs
• Event Ends: 20:30HRS

12:00-13:00
Registration

13:00-14:15
Introduction by Doug Richard
The core principles of starting a successful social enterprise
and the key 20 questions to ensure success
Introducing Carole Ann of The Real Coaching Co and coaching opportunities

14:15-14:30
Showcase One: Featured Entrepreneur

14:30 – 15:00
Joint session Doug Richard and Uday Thakker, Founder of Red Ochre
What type of social enterprise are you?

15:00 – 15:15
Julie Devonshire – Presents the story of ONE
A thoroughly successful social enterprise

15:15 – 15:30
Showcase Two: Featured Entrepreneur

15:30 – 16:00
Break

16:00 – 16:45
Doug Richard: Social Enterprise and Investment
How does a social enterprise get the capital investment it needs

16:45 – 17:15
Interactive Panel Discussion: Doug Richard, Antony Ross of Bridges Ventures
& Jonathan Jenkins of UnLtd
How to source & secure early stage funding & what investors look for

17:15 – 17:30
Showcase Three: Featured Entrepreneur
With Doug, Antony & Jonathan

17:30 – 17:45
Showcase Four: Featured Entrepreneur
With Doug Antony & Jonathan

17:45 – 18:00
Wrap up

18:00 – 18:30
Break

18:30 – 19:30

S4Stv Live Web Broadcast:

Doug Richard & Antony Ross, Featuring Social Entrepreneurs
Interactive coaching sessions hosted by Doug Richard & Anthony Ross in the form of ‘entrepreneurial surgeries’ where pre-qualified social entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to discuss and promote their businesses. Delegates attending the live event will have the opportunity to participate in the interactive discussions with Doug and our guest expert panellist as international online viewers contribute their ideas via the live chat-room & #S4Stv Twitter feed.

19:30 – 20:30
Networking

School for Startups are proud to present The Royal Institution as our official strategic event partner.

About the Royal Institution of Great Britain

The Royal Institution is the leading science based community delivering balanced, relevant understanding of science and technology and its impact on our rapidly changing world. As an independent charity, it is dedicated to increasing knowledge, excitement and involvement in science and technology for current and future generations. www.rigb.org

Related posts:

1. Growing a Successful Social Enterprise
2. Start Here! STARTING & GROWING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
3. What is a Social Enterprise? Not Another Word for Charity or Non-Profit . . .

Nov 01, 2009 – (London, UK) In preparing to speak at an 18 November “Find, Pitch and Close: The Art of Securing Investment” event to be held at the Royal Institution in London, Dragons Den investor and serial entrepreneur, Doug Richard has been researching start up and small business funding options in the UK. He has begun sharing his insights into the industry with visitors to his blog at www.schoolforstartups.co.uk.

“When I wrote the report for the Conservative Party on small business support and its effectiveness or ineffectiveness I was struck by the number of bottom feeders in the marketplace who make their money by preying on insecure and inexperienced entrepreneurs,” Richard writes. “Just to be clear . . . start-ups should not be charged to pitch their businesses to angel investors. . . . Corporate financiers do not make their money on [upfront] fees but by taking a percentage of the money raised.” In summary, Richard says entrepreneurs must differentiate between “corporate finance, angel group investing and rip-off artists.”

Since 2008, Doug’s School for Startups has been providing accelerated instruction to UK entrepreneurs.   His 1-day courses have included “Start Here! Starting and Growing a Successful Business”, “Fast Growth Marketing” and “Six Rules for Startups”. On 18 November, together with O2, Doug will be speaking to several hundred UK entrepreneurs at the Royal Institution about how to raise funds to develop and grow small to medium sized enterprises.   Topics covered in the one day course will include how to know when a business is ready for money, how to know how much money is required, where to find investors, secrets for increasing company value, and three things to avoid in any investment.

Speaking about the ongoing series of blogs about investing, Doug says, “My customers are all UK entrepreneurs and my blogs are a record of my investigation into the funding market they face in these turbulent times.  While I’m in no position to govern who my customers give their money to when they look for funding, I’m definitely in a position to tell them that, in my experience, reputable, honest, effective angels don’t make you pay to pitch them. And real angels and real financiers document their successes very publicly.  Look for their track record of success.  If you can’t find it, think twice.”

To read Richard’s current and future blogs about investment and small business finance, to learn more about his accelerated online and face to face training in starting and running successful businesses, go to www.schoolforstartups.co.uk.  You can also follow Doug Richard via twitter @s4startups and @s4stv.

About School for Startups:

School for Startups was started by Doug Richard in 2008 to provide accelerated instruction to entrepreneurs.  His one-day classes cover how to start a business, how to grow a business, how to seek financing, how to build an effective management time, and how to design great products and services. School for Startups provides on going support and services to its students. Visit our site at  www.schoolforstartups.co.uk.

About the Royal Institution:

The Royal Institution is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science. We’re an events space, a museum and a place to eat and drink. But we’re more than that as well. We’re also a philanthropic organization that has been actively supporting many of the world’s leading scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs for more than 200 years.  For more information on all that we do, please visit www.rigb.org.

About O2 UK :
Telefónica O2 UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 20.7 million mobile customers and 457,000 fixed broadband customers as of 30 June 2009. Telefónica O2 UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc which is a business division of Telefónica S.A. and which owns O2 in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 46 million customers.

O2’s UK mobile network covers 99% of the UK’s population. O2’s 3G network covers over 80% of the UK population and is fully HSDPA-enabled, providing speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps for customers with an HSDPA-enabled device.

O2 was ranked highest in customer satisfaction for both UK mobile and fixed broadband customers according to the J.D. Power and Associates UK Mobile and Fixed Broadband Studies 2009.  For more information on O2, please visit www.o2.co.uk.

Contact:
Nicola Coleman
School for Start-Ups
Wellington House, East Road
Cambridge
CB1 1BH
+44 (0) 7702 313 226
www.schoolforstartups.co.uk
info@schoolforstartups.co.uk

Related posts:

1. UK Startups Get Accelerated Training in How to Find Investors from Doug Richard at The Royal Institution of Great Britain
2. Sex, Lies and the Bottom Feeders of the Angel Community
3. Press Release-Doug Richard to Teach UK Entrepreneurs How to Start and Grow a Business at Newcastle University on February 3