Just a reminder that there’s still time to get your applications in for the Girls! Make your Mark Awards.
There are four categories of awards<a
Female Entrepreneur of the Year
Entrepreneurs with a conscience
The pioneer
handbags and gladrags
There are some great prizes to win including exclusive and unique jewellery, mentoring, cash prizes and more, so please get nominating.
The deadline for entries is July 21st.
This is my first guest post for the Make your Mark blog so I thought what better topic to start with than making your first sale?
There are some simple steps you can follow to secure that first customer cheque – a cheque that will look so good you’d rather hang it on the wall than put it in the bank.
1. Make a list
Make a list of the people you think will be interested in your product/service. Include friends, family, contacts, colleagues and other local businesses.
2. Make your pitch
Contact the people on your list with a personal message (no one likes group email!.) Set out the benefits of what you have to offer. Include details of the cost and your contact information but don’t expect to receive dozens of immediate calls. There’s a bit of follow-up for you to do.
3. Follow up
Call your contacts, ask if they received the information and whether they’d be interested in learning more at a meeting.
4. Show up
Arrive at the meeting on time! Be friendly and professional, ask plenty about the prospective customer and respond by showing how your service/product can help them. If they agree to a deal, bring the meeting to a speedy end as it’s now time for you to head back home and deliver on what you’ve promised.
5. Tell the world
With a first sale sealed, you’re well and truly in business so be sure to tell everyone! A sale gives you a customer, credibility and a track record. And that will bring even more customers to your door.
Emma Jones is founder of the home business website, www.enterprisenation.com and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’ published by Harriman House.
According to tech experts a new microblogging service called Plurk may be the Twitter for teens. I’ve only just got my head around Twitter so to be honest I’m rather glad I’m too old for Plurk. We have a Make Your Mark Twitter feed which you can follow online or via your mobile to get the latest links to information from us or our partners, in a shorthand form. It’s a bit of an experiment but I like the fact it feeds into our Facebook page to keep that group updated.
What I think is even more interesting is how community groups and individuals might be using Twitter to tackle social issues. So, for example, I could see it being used to share hints and tips on mobility or coping with certain treatment programmes like chemotherapy, which I understand can be an isolating experience. We’re hoping to discover some of these examples as they emerge through the UK Catalyst Awards.
I’ll keep on Twittering but I think for me Plurk might be a step too far.
At a time when food prices are rising it’s never been a better time to save some money by growing your own food. On TV Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is encouraging some families to do it in Bristol through a small-holding and it’s really changing the way they think about food - for the better. According to his programme, if there is enough demand councils legally have to give people access to redundant land to grow their own food, which I think is something more people should take advantage of.
I helped at the Thrive Garden in Battersea Park today, as part of the Open Squares scheme. I was truly amazed and delighted to see how many community gardening schemes exist across London, tucked away in small pockets of land. Not only are they used to grow food, but also to aid people with learning or physical disabilities and to tackle a whole host of issues. They truly show that being enterprising is about more than making money (although they need to do that too), it’s also about the individuals who use their passions and interests to change things for the better. In this case it’s gardening and I can only hope that this current trend for ‘growing your own’ continues.
As the entries start to pour in, Clippykit creator and Make Your Mark ambassador Calypso Rose has recorded a little video to tell us more about the Clippykit Challenge and to welcome the challengers:
You can find out more about the Clippykit Challenge at: www.makeyourmark.org.uk/get_involved/pocket_the_problem.
You can also have a read of Calypso’s blog.
Plus… I know I can’t win but I couldn’t resist designing my own Clippykit bag:
…hmmmm, I don’t think Anya Hindmarsh will be losing any sleep!
As we turn the corner of a new era, we need new people to help us continue with our enterprise message - As the new HR manager I am excited to have some great opportunities available to continue the enterprise message through our people. We are looking for people ready for new challenges and passionate about what we do - whether you are a self confessed enterprise junkie or want to embark on an amazing new journey you might just be in with a chance - so who’s in?
Vanessa
Enterprise Junkie - and - Make Your Mark HR Manager
Make Your Mark Ambassador Adrienne Taylor is nominated as Best Newcomer for the Daily Post & Echo Women in Business Awards. Adrienne’s company www.goodfoodstore.co.uk was set up last year and sources local produce from across the North West striving to be ethically and environmentally friendly.
Please vote for Adrienne at the link below
Last night I went to the launch of ‘Spare Room Start Up’ - a book from Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation which might be the refreshing business read we’ve all been waiting for. It’s easy to digest and has nice pictures (apparently a rather good one of her Dad on page 67…) and has some fab top tips and advice. One person in the book is Nula from Noolibird who sells fabrics and stamps for children’s bedrooms. I’m loving the Farmyard one myself. I hope the book inspires more people to set up business from home, its a lower risk way to do it and can be hugely rewarding.
Women entrepreneurs are more likely than men to use their wealth in charitable ways, according to the author of The Sunday Times Rich List 2008.
“Women are much more likely to see their wealth as something they can do good with than to go out and buy toys - boats, fast cars, jets and so on,” Philip Beresford told Third Sector.
Twelve women are mentioned, eight as part of a couple, in this year’s 100-strong Sunday Times Giving List, an offshoot of the Rich List. According to Beresford, the trend for female entrepreneurs to give is set to continue.
“Charities need to target women entrepreneurs because they’re beginning to make their mark,” said Beresford. “The balance in business is tilting in favour of women.”
Beresford also pointed out that women entrepreneurs could be harder for charities to target. “They tend to be more low-key and they don’t want to talk about what they do as much,” he said.
You can find the full article here: http://blog.makeyourmark.org.uk/wp-admin/post.php
Our very own Harry Rich tells Rachel Bridge at the Sunday Times why Make Your Mark is no longer just for the ‘young’ and how he doesn’t believe everybody has the qualities needed to set up their own business.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3867146.ece
The Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) – the umbrella body for the social enterprise movement – has launched an animation explaining social enterprise. If you have something to say about it, drop a comment below.
If you would like to go to a Reception at Buckingham Palace, can you think of someone you could nominate for The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion 2009?
The nominators of the successful candidates also get a Royal invitation so it is will worth making a nomination.
Each year there are up to 10 Awards plus a Lifetime Achievement Award, if there is a suitable candidate.
Previous recipients include Jane Delfino, Innovations Director at the United Learning Trust within the Manchester Academy who is a Board Member of Enterprise Insight.
For further details and a nomination form go to www.queensawards.org.uk/individual
startups.co.uk have published their list of the top 100 UK start-ups. It is great to see some familiar faces in there, and lots of young entrepreneurs in the mix. My personal faves have to be Onya (their shopping bag is always on me) and moo.com. Check em out and please let us know your favourite.
http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842910082155685/startups-100.html
Having left the BBC Your Game event last Wednesday I continued onto the Spark Women’s Business Workout (also in Bristol) which was a really inspiring event for women who either want to set up a business or grow an existing one. Amongst others I met the founder of Sew Bespoke who makes custom wedding dresses and was keen to grow her business further. We also heard from Alex Lovell, a local BBC presenter who inspired us with her story of how she got to make her mark in TV presenting and news reading. There was a real sense of support in the room and it felt like people were really benefitting from talking to others about the issues they were facing. Being an entrepreneur can be isolating so events like this are a great way to link up lots of individuals.
Having left Bristol I went to Paris to run a PR and Comms workshop for some of the people hosting Global Entrepreneurship Week across Europe. It was a great experience and I found out lots about the state of ‘enterprise’ in different countries. We had a shared vision to encourage more people to be enterprising, and it was interesting to hear about the different ways this was being approached. I am even more excited about Global Entrepreneurship Week than I was before and think it promises to be huge! And I hear the latest number of countries is 56!
I worry that I can be too London-centric in my work so last week was a brilliant opportunity to get a fresh perspective. And the cheese at the lunch hosted by Ernst and Young was also a highlight. Bon Apetit.
Coaxing the over 50s, ethnic and disabled people into starting their own businesses could produce a £9bn boost to the economy within four years, says a Cass Business School study supported by Microsoft.
The groups are described as the “hidden innovators” in research suggesting they are likely to stay the business course longer than the younger generation of entrepreneurs, given encouragement, advice and confidence.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/12/cnoaps112.xml
As announced recently in the Government’s Enterprise Strategy Make Your Mark is currently doing some scoping research into unleashing enterprise potential of over-50s, 4 ethnic minorities and women. We will definately be taking note of the findings in this study.
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