Rex Lambert, Editor of The Listener, wrote in 1936, 'Television won't matter in your lifetime or mine.' John Langdon-Davies, fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute opined in 1936, 'By 1960 work will be limited to three hours a day.' Sir Richard Woolley was the British Astronomer-Royal who declared in 1956 that, 'Space travel is utter bilge.' Don Rowe was the director of Decca Records who turned down the Beatles. He said to their promoter, Brian Epstein, 'We don't like your boys' sound. Groups of guitarists are on the way out.' Frank Sinatra in 1957 stated, 'Rock and Roll is phony. It's sung, written and played by cretinous goons.' Ken Olson, CEO of DEC said in 1977, 'There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.' Bill Gates stated in 1981, '640k ought to be enough for anybody.' Don't be put off – go for it! 1

Start-up Issues...And how to avoid them Peter Doggett – Vistage International 2

What’s the best way to make sure that your new venture fails? List and rank What worries you about these issues? What could you do to reduce their effect or eliminate them? 3

Start Up Issues Skills and experience Time & passion SupportPartnersPlanning£££££PricingMarketingSellingGrowingIdeas YOU ARE HERE end 4

TIME The Issues – Not enough time – Poor time planning/utilisation The Cures – Proper planning – be realistic – Don’t underestimate – Take breaks – Ask for help 5

Confidence 6

You - your skills, passion and commitment What are the issues? – Commitment – Time – Get bored/distracted – Discouraged – Scared The cures – Who are you? Are you the right person? – Why do you want to start a business? Are they good reasons? – Personal SWOT 7

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE Always 4Sometimes 3Occasionally 2Never 1Possible consequences Can you work long hours with persistence & stamina? Can you balance work, family & friends? Is £ a big motivator for you? Can you deal with criticism and failure? Do you prefer excitement and risk over stability? Do you treat problems as a challenge? Do you find it easy to talk to new people? Can you persuade people? Do you find it easy to ask for help? Are you self confident and independent? 8

NOTE: CRISIS, OPPORTUNITY & THREATS HAVE SIMILAR CHINESE ROOTS STRENGTHS What are you really good at/talented at ? WEAKNESSES What do find difficult- what are you not very good at? What do you need help with? OPPORTUNITIESZone of Riches ACTIONS = S +OWannabe Zone ACTIONS= W+O Current opportunities – personal and business challenges. What are you good at? What should you focus on to give easy and significant ‘wins’? What special action do you need to take to compensate for your areas of weakness to turn them into positive results? Who could help you? THREATSGet tough Zone ACTIONS = S+THazard Zone ACTIONS = W +T What threatens your success in your role? What will happen if you don’t use these strengths to address the threats? What’s stopping you? What will happen to these threats if you don’t recognise and address your weaknesses? What do you need to do?. 9

The Idea The Issue – No ideas/limited ideas – Don’t know how to get started The Cure – What do you love doing that somebody might pay you for? – Who could you talk to who could help? – What is unique/needed/you can do better than others? 10

The Big Idea How do you decide? – Something you like/are good at – An existing product – but yours is better – A new market or product/service – An existing market or service – Where’s your niche? 11

“Create something that is unique… If you set up a company selling widgets like the bloke down the road and the only difference is that yours are cheaper, you’ll make a living, but that is all you’ll achieve. If you can be truly differentiated and unique, then you’ve really got something.” Martyn Dawes, founder of Coffee Nation 12

“The difficulty is NOT developing new ideas but escaping the old ones.” J.M. Keynes 13

“The difficulty is NOT developing new ideas but escaping the old ones.” J.M. Keynes 14

“I’m an optimist. I am always excited by the prospect that something can be done better. ” Charles Dunstone, Carphone Warehouse 15

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Market Focus – where’s yours? STUCK ZONE M & S FOOD ASDA SAINSBURY ??? LIDL WAITROSE MORRISONS COOP BROAD PRODUCT OFFER NICHE LOW COSTPREMIUM PRICE 17

The Support The Issue – Who can help me? The Cure? – Ask people you trust & who are positive – not too emotionally attached. – Beware of strangers bearing gifts – Network with purpose – Get a mentor and be very honest. 18

Partners Key to your success or... A major part of your failure – Choose carefully Complimentary skills Same passion Same ethics Do you trust them implicitly Do the have similar ambitions? Families are not always the best Above all – create an agreement very early on in your growth 19

Cash £££ The Issue – I’m no good with money – I don’t understand The Cure – Keep it and systems simple – Watch the cash at all times especially Bank Breakeven Key numbers that drive your sales – Be honest – Keep good but simple records 20

Where can I get financial help? What will I need? Before doing anything – Business Plan – honest and realistic Establish how much you can put in yourself You’ll need – Setting up funds – e.g. Premises/equipment/IT etc – Working Capital – funding the gap between paying for materials and receiving money from your suppliers Funding options (sole trader) CostSecurityRisks/implications – Self£NilOverspending – Families & friends£NilRelationships – Partners£NilWill want a share – Banks – overdrafts£££YESWithdrawal – Banks – long term loans££YESLimited – Foundations£NilLow – Some government agencies£SomeLow – Business Angels££SomeWill want return The more risk they take the more they’ll want you to contribute, provide security and a payback 21

IMPORTANT NOTE Small increase in sales price rapidly reduces break even Even small discounts increase the break even considerably BREAK EVEN 22

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Plan Plan Plan Keep it simple – Spread sheet Review – Keep a score – Define what will drive sales – Work out your break even – how much do you need to sell to make a profit? £ Selling price£10 Number of sales250 Total sales£2500 Cost of Sales£1000 Gross profit (%)£1500 Expenses£1000 Net Profit£

Marketing 25

Planning – the development process ConceptFeasibilityDevelopTrialsLaunch Review Ideas Sketches Models Business plan Prototypes Customer feedback Research Funding Finalise plans Marketing sales strategy Develop final product Systems Test real products with real people Review and change Marketing Customer feedback Measure Control REVIEW = YES or No or modify COST OF STOPPING 26

Pricing Key to your success – Market research – Decide where you will focus sales – Don’t confuse the market – Care with discounts – Don’t fiddle your business plan by using un realistic prices which you cant achieve 27

IMPORTANT NOTE Small increase in sales price rapidly reduces break even Even small discounts increase the break even considerably BREAK EVEN 28

Marketing Who are you trying to reach? Where are they? What do they do now? What do you want them to do? What do they read, watch, listen to? SOCIAL MEDIA? 29

MethodResponse Radio0.1% TV0.04% Bought data lists5% Direct Mail0.5-3% Newspapers0.13% Telemarketing6% Texts13% Inserts in magazinesUp to 2% Blackberry etc10-20% Online banner ads1-2% click through Online adverts2-20% Your website? PPCUp to 2% Door dropsUp to 4% 30

“What you do speaks so loudly that I do not hear what you say” Ralph Waldo Emerson 31

Selling How? Where? – Location – Marketplace – Internet Who – you or....? Costs? 32

Organization Life Cycle Getting Organized Making It The Dream The Venture GROWTH – THE RISKS Start-growth, matured decline, and termination or revitalization Becoming an Institution Closing In Revitalization Denial= Termination Formalism= Termination 33

Growing 34

Change is critical to Success 35

Go forth and multiply! Keep it simple Write and paint your dream Find something you really believe in Surround yourself with honest and positive people Be realistic about your time and cash Review Review Review 36