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Ross Frenett
: Woolwich Attack: Should We Expect a Violent Response?
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Theo Randall
: Recipe for the Weekend: Minestrone Primavera
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Zoe Armstrong
: Five Ways to Fake a Break and Avoid Parenting Burnout
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Anne Speckhard
: Examining the Woolwich Murder of a British Soldier
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Jody Thompson
: Polo: It's Not Just for the Posh, and It's a Chukka to Play
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Something wonderfully and brilliantly provincial is happening in force right now in London: the Saturday market is back. Communities across the capital are ditching their local supermarkets, meeting likeminded neighbours and indulging in a lazy cup of freshly brewed coffee while they're at it.
Think for a minute about how much easier it is today to both start and scale your startup? When I started my first business eight years ago we had to get servers, server cabinets and IT managers to set it all up, buy software licences for practically every tool I needed to run the business.
So, it's started again. For the next three months the viewing public will be treated to and will lap up a 'fly on the wall' vision of what makes an entrepreneur - except we won't and it isn't. But many people, who aren't in the know, will think it's meant to be this way.
This eclectic city must overcome a number of obstacles if it's to challenge established startup zones and communities in Israel and the US, while also fending off competition for its European crown from Berlin.
Perfecting your pitch won't come straight away. You need to practice at home, first on your own and then in front of an audience willing to be critical. Take their comments on board and practise some more.
In putting together our book 'Business is Beautiful' I and my co-authors at Dragon Rouge looked at businesses all over the world, from Hong Kong to Tanazania and from electric car makers to textiles. In doing so we were able to outline a number of rules for the successful businessperson, whatever your sector.
My advice if you want to succeed as an entrepeneur? Be honest. About what you can do and what the market really needs. The world will not change what it does for you, but you will have to change what you do for the world!
To provide context, it's been an uphill struggle and I can't ever forget what I've overcome. After having a tough time at school, dropping out of University, finding out I'm in the bottom 2% of the world in reading due to my severe dyslexia, it was hard to believe I could achieve success. Especially doing it all on my own.
Mark Zuckerberg's note to Facebook shareholders explains how the hacker way has given his business a particular mentality. The argument, as I understand it, is that just getting stuff done is the key to progress - rather than procrastinating. It's about continuous, relentless progress. Roger so far. But then there's this...
As you may well know, last week Labour leader, Ed Miliband, announced that if Labour were to form the next government they would encourage businesses to pay employees the Living Wage (approximately £8.55) by cutting business rates or tax levels for those that do. As someone who employees 20-30 people (some on PAYE and others freelance) at the London Jewellery School, I whole-heartedly welcome these plans.
For almost everyone reading this blog, there will be one person, whether a teacher, a friend or someone in business, who has given you a vital leg up at one stage in your life and without whom you would not have done so well.
Meet Tim Armoo: an 18 year old A-level student based in South West London. His vision? To raise awareness, through the medium of design for charitable causes via his company Doodlar.
I'm a communicator, not a technologist. Yet even I know that technology is not so much about finding what's new, as using what is already here. That's why I'm a firm believer that digital technology can be woven into the fabric of our society to tackle the most important social challenges.
In business, no person is an island. You need people. They need you, and never be too prideful to think that you can do it alone - you can't.
I'm not going to tell you that you need to quit your job to start your business, that's your decision to make, but just because you're in a job doesn't mean you can't get started. Don't sit around. Get into action!
It is all too easy to let your true ambitions, your dreams and consequently yourself, be consumed by the expectations of others, by life's pressures and by fear of failure. This however; is no excuse to surrender. I often say that mistakes are things I did and regrets are things I didn't do.
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