Articles
The BBC
is looking for UK companies with 20+ employees and/or turnovers of over £1m who are perhaps encountering
challenges in the current economic
climate, to appear in a new television programme.
The BBC are hoping the new series will replicate the success of its Dragon's Den programme, one of its flagship business shows, which regularly draws in 4m viewers. And your business could be starring in it!
BethAnn Lederer has built Working Wonders into one of the leading resources for green interior design material and products for the home and workplace.
In 2010 she was named one of the Top Ten Sustainable CEOs alongside big names such as John Mackay of Whole Foods and Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia.
BethAnn spent over 18 years in the healthcare sector working as an educator, marketer, and advocate for both childbirth and geriatric care services. She started two non-profit organisations for promoting the wellness approach to maternal-child and integrative healthcare. She carries a deeply rooted passion for sustainable design, and is a USGBC LEED AP, championing green products that protect indoor air quality.
We spoke to BethAnn about her tips for balancing motherhood with a career; the Afghan startup she'd like to champion; and the tough choice facing every entrepreneur.
85 Broads commenced its programme in Delhi
last week with a discussion on starting and running an e-commerce business in
India, led by the charming CEO of Crazeal.com, (Groupon India) Ankur Warikoo.
You may be surprised that we had chosen a man to kick-start our Delhi programme, as indeed were the educated professional women in our audience. Ankur is of course a fantastic speaker, with a sense of humour combined with experience and insight – any organisation would be lucky to have him as a presenter. Yet, a women’s network, aiming to promote women’s achievements, being introduced to Delhi by a man?
The fact is, while there are indeed inspiring and successful women in India, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi and global beauty entrepreneur Shahnaz Hussain being just two examples, this country has a long way to go in promoting the success of people with two X chromosomes. With this is mind, we had asked an accomplished entrepreneur to teach us how to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and here are some of the things he shared:
The death of Steve Jobs of Apple lead to an outpouring of grief on the
internet. Many who used his devices felt it as a personal loss.
Others referred to the movies, such as Toy Story, created by Pixar, as having
babysat their kids.
And yet, in the midst of this praise, there were a few dissenting voices. Had he paid child support for his first child? Was he sometimes rude to employees? Did he contribute to charity? What’s that got to do with the product? Nothing, but it is part of our overall perception of the brand. It is a testimony to his superb orchestration of both Apple and his personal brand, that the naysayers were a very small minority.
Entrepreneur and designer Cecile Reinaud is the founder of international
maternity fashion label Séraphine and co-founder of patented shoe brand,
ShoeTherapy.
Cecile has always had a passion for creating clothes and founded Séraphine in 2002 after several pregnant friends approached her to tailor clothes to suit their bumps. Spotting a business opportunity, Cecile's first creation for Séraphine was a pioneering pair of maternity jeans, the first of their kind, which she made simply by adding a jersey panel along the waistband. The now award-winning range of comfortable and versatile denim was an immediate success and soon had a two month waiting list.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Cecile and her team have ensured that Séraphine has grown from an independent maternity boutique based in London to one of the leading online specialist maternity fashion brands, with a range of over 200 styles including wardrobe basics, underwear, tailored work and party wear and accessories.
Russia is now the largest internet market in
Europe, with more than 55 million online users. Russian internet market
leaders, Yandex and London-listed Mail.ru Group, both reported a year-over-year
revenue growth of 50% for the first quarter of 2012.
The Russian market is growing at a supersonic rate and provides excellent exit opportunites for investors in Russian online ventures to create a brand-new breed of Russian internet entrepreneur.
So who are the trailblazers in the new web frontier to watch? Yankov Sadchikov, Russian startup blogger at Quintura.com, talks us through the hottest Russian entrepreneurs to watch right now…
The international network that seeks to promote and empower women in tech and entrepreneurship, Girls in Tech, has just announced that it will be launching in London in June. The Next Women will be their media partner.
Founded in 2007 in San Francisco by Adriana Gascoigne, the network counts numerous chapters around the globe – in China, France, Greece, Singapore, Taiwan, the US and more – and over 8,500 members worldwide.
Girls in Tech UK seeks to empower women in technology by simply providing them with more visibility through hosting mini tech conferences and meet-ups where a majority of the speakers – unlike other tech conferences – are women.
Sponsored by Google and Criteo, and with The NextWomen as media partner, the London launch of Girls in Tech will take place on June 1st at Google Campus with speakers from companies and organisations including :
Geeta Sidhu-Robb is a multi-award
winning entrepreneur and founder of Nosh Detox, a company offering bespoke
health packages and unique, natural health solutions to achieve optimal
well-being.
Nosh Detox has been valued at £3 million with a £700,000 turnover in just its fourth year. The business grew 100% in 2009, 200% in 2010 and over 300% in 2011.
Geeta's many accolades include: Exceptional Working Mother of the Year at the Everywoman Annual Conference (2008); Best Diet Delivery Zest Magazine (2009); Vogue Magazine's ‘Best Detox’; Business Woman of The Year at the World Sikh Awards (2011); and Best Detox in London; Evening Standard Magazine (2011).
We love to celebrate female heroes, so we are delighted to report that Yell, a leading provider of digital services, yesterday announced its acquisition of Moonfruit, the UK’s leading DIY
website and online shop builder, founded by Wendy Tan-White. The total cash consideration for the acquisition
is approximately £18 million ($29m).
Moonfruit’s website Moonfruit.com was launched in the UK in 2000 with a mission to make the web easily accessible for local businesses and consumers. When a customer builds a Moonfruit site, with a click of a button they can add a commerce option, a mobile presence and build a Facebook store, all from the same platform.
Don't assume a socially conscious angel will be a soft touch. To win their money, you've got to get a lot of things right.
Angel investors bridge the gap between the money you have and the money you need to grow your business. Angels provided $8.9 billion for 26,300 entrepreneurs in the first half of 2011, according to the Center for Venture Research. That’s a nice pot of money, and by all indications, it’s even larger now.
Still, getting your share of it into your social enterprise is no small feat. Most pitches to angels fail.
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