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Learning lessons from the US?
Reading the news that unemployment is on the up again and the general gloom about the health of our economy, I reflected that we've actually got something of a double whammy going on, at least from my perspective. While the state sector has grown and grown as an employer, by its very nature dependent on the taxes we all pay, the support for start-up businesses, tomorrow's wealth creators, has suffered and the incentives to entrepreneurs reduced as the rules for capital gains tax changed.
read more...But be that as it may, I'm not concerned with the politics, more with the practicalities of developing a vibrant and growing culture of innovation. I think there are lot of lessons which UK Venture Capital community could learn from the success of their equivalents over in the US: The US leads the way in so many areas in the real growth industries particularly the Internet and IT. Where is the British Apple? Google? Ebay? Facebook? Is it because we are less creative over here (I don't believe we are), or are there other reasons holding back UK successful business start-ups?
I think it's the pragmatic and longer-term view that the US venture firms take that makes the difference between coming up with a great idea and it's realisation and a successful business. The crucial success factor for a start up isn't innovation, business plan or talent. Of course those are very important but the absolutely crucial thing is cash. Recognising that even great businesses don't get it right first time and that virtually every start up needs to re-calibrate, change direction, or overcome some unforeseen crisis is key. And you can only do that if you have the cash to survive!
Cash gives room to manoeuvre, and cash gives a longer runway to get the fledgling business off the ground and deal with the unexpected. I think there's more of a tendency in the UK for businesses to be drip-fed smaller amounts of money, which can result in even the most promising of ideas getting choked at birth. Talking to colleagues who have raised money in the Valley in particular, there's an attitude of more trust, more support, and above all a longer runway over in the US. Sure, there's the infrastructure to support innovation, but it's attitude that counts. Net result: a healthy engine delivering wave after wave of phenomenally successful businesses fuelling tomorrow's economic growth.
What do you think?
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TopMobile Coverage on Trains - Stuck in the Past
I'm going to add a new skill to my CV: coverage spotting. I'll explain. Last year I spent ten months commuting from my home in Hampshire into central London. That's a couple of hours or so in each direction and actually useful to get on with some work. But...using email or internet? Forget it! Having a conversation..."sure I'm on the train though so I'll call you back if I drop out...hello...hello...are you still there...yes can you repeat that...are you still there?" Familiar?
read more...Mobile has been around since 1985 for goodness sake. What's the matter, is it a conspiracy to frustrate the commuter fraternity and raise stress levels to optimum point for a day in the office? Surely we can do better than this! The only way to deal with it is to learn the coverage spots and queue things up ready to catch the window of coverage! Just think about the potential revenue to the network operator that gets it right – judging by the number of laptops and mobiles I see on the journey I'm not the only one by any means.
Oh and don't get me started on the London Underground! In one of the most advanced and commercial cities in the world why can't you use your mobile? The technology exists to provide coverage on aircraft, so why not trains? Come on TFL!
...hideView / Post CommentsFirst Impressions before Your First Impression
Do first impressions before you've made a first impression really matter? What I mean by this is what does your potential SME or large enterprise customer think about you and your organisation before they've even met you. Let me give some examples...
read more...1) email addresses
If you have an email address that is in the format john.bloggs1237@yahoo.co.uk or john@mycompany.net - are you a serious business? First name.last name@company.com (and not .net, .org, .co.uk) looks far bigger and better.
2) Answering your phone
If your four year old picks up the business line I suspect that you may go some way down the shortlist. If you answer it then that's probably acceptable but if you want to look bigger then use a virtual PA service like Money Penny - it's not that expensive and they sound like the real thing without all the cost.
3) Website
Was your web-site lashed together by someone you met down the pub? - if it was then it will probably look like it. Your web-site is your window on the world and will be used to judge your business instantly by anyone looking at it. There are no short cuts - just put in the time and effort and you will get rewarded.
4) Big doesn't mean a big payroll
Companies, particularly the larger ones, can get nervous about dealing with small companies. You can overcome some of these concerns by putting pictures and small profiles of your virtual “team” on your web-site. Wives, husbands and friends are good for this virtual “team” particularly if using maiden names. Be careful though not to over-cook this as you don't want the client to say great let's meet the whole team next week to discuss next steps.
4) Some Basics
You must have a limited company (or limited liability partnership) and must be VAT registered - if you don't have enough turnover then, in their minds, you're probably a bit small or not very good. You can of course get VAT registered or bill through an associate's company that is.
5) Physical Address
The company address should look like a company and not like someone's back bedroom. Flat 2b, 25 Acacia Avenue, Village, Milesaway looks and feels very different to Norfolk House, Big Town, Home Counties.
More thoughts on this coming up on the next blog - watch this space.
...hideView / Post CommentsZX80 Mobile
I hear the word open source software and think that it should be something interesting and be like the kind of thing I could have a go at. I'm pretty good at turning my hand to practical things, a bit of plumbing, a tweak on the electrics but software code that's another ball game altogether. I suspect the army of code monkeys out there really don't want potential DIYers like me hacking away for pleasure but it didn't used to be like that and I know because back in 1981 I was one...
read more...I owned one of the first Sinclair ZX80s - a simple computer by today's standards with 1 whole kilobyte of RAM, but it worked and more importantly I could programme it. Admittedly the programmes weren't that exciting but I whipped up a mean Fahrenheit to Centigrade convertor and the Space Invaders had to be seen to be believed. It was fun and enjoyable but all of that has been taken away.
What I'd like is to have Basic back - easy to understand, with simple commands and then I'd like to be able to run it on Android so that I could take my programmes with me and show them off to my friends. The closed source world created by the big boys (you know who you are) and the open source world that is over complex has stolen my youth and my creativity - you should be ashamed!
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