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Enterprise heaven
September 14, 2011
Enterprise zones in the UK are typically based in depressed urban areas hit by the decline of traditional manufacturing industries, places that most people aspire to finally escape from, one day. However, there is a different model that can potentially deliver even better long-term results.
The city of Kelowna is less than an hour’s flight east of Vancouver in the Central Okanagan region of Canada, an area of outstanding natural beauty next to a 72-mile lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Its fruit-growing industries were declining, so local entrepreneurs shrewdly switched their crops and the area now boasts several award-winning wineries.
The region might have remained a tourist and retirement destination but for local entrepreneurs Lance Priebe and Lane Merrifield who had the idea for Club Penguin, an on-line social network for children. Riding the first wave of Internet adoption, they soon had 3.9M users before being purchased by the Disney Corporation, who still maintain a 350-strong operation in Kelowna.
Once the city’s credentials as a new media hub had been established, the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission resolved to attract more hi-tech businesses. Since 1998, Robert Fine has been Executive Director, which involves constant local networking, the promotion of the area internationally and the essential ability to encourage funding and tax breaks from local and national politicians.
The result is a region that punches considerably above its weight. Entrepreneurs have low-cost access to Accelerate Okanagan, a purpose-built incubator that provides membership, networking and serviced office space, as well as practical training, consultancy and market research services.
Unlike the incubators that emerged in London during the dot-com boom, Accelerate Okanagan is not run by venture capitalists focused on generating deal-flow geared for a quick and lucrative exit. This incubator works more like a social enterprise, providing long-term mentor-focused nurturing on a not-for-profit basis.
Government funding meets the basic running costs of Accelerate Okanagan, but the incubator also has commercial targets, with profits recycled to improve and enhance the various programmes.
Ambitious entrepreneurs always crave worldwide fame and fortune, so Fine and successful technology entrepreneur Steve Wandler launched the Metabridge Conference, now in its third year. This attracted venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs who made their fortunes in successful hi-tech start-ups such as Google, Facebook and Electronic Arts.
These were the conference VIPs who delivered keynotes, appeared on panel sessions and acted as judges for the pitching competition. The conference numbers were deliberately kept small, with 14 companies pitching to twenty VIPs. This enabled all the aspiring entrepreneurs to have quality networking time with world-class business mentors in the relaxed atmosphere of a golf course or boat trip.
This year, two companies won a two-day facilitated tour of influential companies in Silicon Valley. These were Connection Point, whose product FundRazr is a next-generation fund-raising application, and Xomo, who develop mobile applications for live events, including the 2010 Winter Olympics and the Isle of Wight Festival.
As the winners were chosen by some of the most astute technical and funding experts in North America, their future looks bright as well as for the place where they got their big break.
As the Metabridge entrepreneurs and investors grow their companies, I am sure they will look to Central Okanagan not only for good staff, but also as somewhere they can enjoy the more enhanced and relaxed quality of life they will have earned after their own successful exits.
Perhaps this is a better definition of the perfect enterprise zone; not an industrial urban sprawl that most people aspire to escape from, but instead an attractive location to relocate to, once you have achieved success.
The Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission can be found at http://www.investkelowna.com
Originally published in The Financial Times. Copyright ©Mike Southon 2011. All Rights Reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission in writing. Mike Southon is the co-author of The Beermat Entrepreneur and a business speaker.
How to make an insurance claim
August 23, 2011
It’s a situation every small-business owner dreads. You arrive at your premises one morning to find the lock hanging off the door and a couple of windows in pieces, on the pavement. A quick scan inside reveals gaps where your PCs and other items used to be; files and bits of paperwork are strewn across the floor.
Either it’s time to sack the cleaner or you’ve been burgled.
At least you had the good sense to make sure your office and its contents are insured. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.
Or is it? Many people think calling their insurer’s claims department is something of a necessary evil. But it needn’t be – insurers are there to help after all – they just need all the information necessary to make their decisions.
Most reputable insurers, contrary to popular belief, don’t mind paying claims. They know their reputation is fragile and being unnecessarily difficult won’t do them any favours. The good ones will make sure they do everything they can to help.
Securing your premises will be first on the list. It’s likely they’ll authorise you to call tradesmen in to fix the doors and windows. If you’re insured for very large sums, they might do it instead and/or send their own surveyor or loss adjuster out to see you. Either way, your policy should pay for the costs you incur to make good your premises.
Next up, they’ll want a comprehensive list of everything that’s missing or damaged (everything you’re claiming for, in other words). Check you’ve listed it all – even if you don’t think it’s covered. And don’t forget things such as blinds, stationery, plants, etc, which can get damaged.
Not unreasonably, insurers have to be sure they’re paying the right people for the right things in the right circumstances.
So they’re going to need proof your business owned or bought the items you’re claiming for. They’re usually quite flexible on what they’ll accept as proof: an original invoice or receipt is obviously best, but anything that links your business to the item will often suffice (eg warranty cards, service records, etc).
Bear in mind that they’re perfectly within their rights to refuse to pay for anything you can’t prove is yours.
If it’s cheaper for your insurer, they might ask that damaged items are repaired rather than replaced. If it turns out that the items are beyond economical repair, they’ll need to see confirmation of this from an expert.
If your insurer is happy with what you’ve provided, they’ll check your policy to make sure it covers what you’re claiming for and that any policy conditions or endorsements added at the start of the policy have been met (eg that your premises have a functioning alarm).
Again, if they find that things don’t quite add up, they’re well within their rights to withhold some or all of your settlement.
All this might sound like a pain, but there’s no reason to assume that making a claim is difficult. To avoid problems, it’s a good idea to periodically check your insurance to make sure you have enough cover and that you’re aware of your obligations under the policy. Always keep an updated inventory of your equipment, too. At least then you’ll know you’ve done your bit, if the worst does happen.
Nick Green, PolicyBee, professional insurance brokers
10 important lessons our Q&As can teach you
August 09, 2011
1 Buying a business
“Buying an existing business can be less risky than creating one from scratch. If the business has customers, it has income. Risk is also easier to assess because you can calculate costs, turnover and profit – and thereby predict cashflow”
Emilie Corbille of www.daltonsbusiness.com
2 Setting up a limited company
“If you want to form a new company, you must send Companies House your registration fee plus a memorandum of association, articles of association and a completed IN01 form, which details the company’s registered office and the names and addresses of its directors (and company secretary, if applicable)”
Andrew Millet of Wisteria Formations
3 Tax for the self-employed
“By putting away some money from your earnings each month – say, 25 per cent of your gross earnings – you should have more than enough money in the bank to take care of your tax bills”
James R McBrearty of www.taxhelp.uk.com
4 Market research for start-ups
“Even if you believe you have an excellent idea for a business, you mustn’t allow yourself to get fooled into a false sense of optimism. Test it thoroughly by doing some basic market research. Only then can you move forward on any sound basis”
Start-up author Kevin Duncan
5 Calculating start-up costs
“You should minimise your start-up costs because then you’ll stand a better chance of surviving that crucial first year. Also, it’s a good discipline to get into from day one. In business, you must keep your costs as low as possible – and avoid buying things you don’t need”
Martin Dunne of Sayers Butterworth chartered accountants
6 Effective cashflow management
“The old saying ‘turnover is vanity, profit sanity and cash reality’ remains true. Businesses go bust in the long term through lack of profit, but in the short term, they fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their bills on demand. Cashflow is the lifeblood of any business”
Chartered Accountant Howard S Hackney
7 Supplier contracts
“Having a written contract clearly sets out the roles and responsibilities of both parties, which is helpful when it comes to monitoring the relationship’s success. It can also act as proof if a supplier’s performance falls short”
Marie Kell of Andrew Jackson solicitors
8 Complying with environmental legislation
“The onus is on the business to ensure staff comply with legislation. An act of omission by an employee is likely to have consequences for the business. In some circumstances, directors may even be personally liable. The consequences can be drastic”
Kevin Turnbull of Muckle LLP Solicitors
9 PR for start-ups
“Editorial is regarded as more believable than an advert. I’ve read that it’s 50 per cent easier to sell to someone who has read positive things about your business, products or services. And such publicity is usually no cost or low cost. Even if you have to pay someone to do your PR, gaining one piece of coverage per month can be much cheaper than advertising”
Jane Lee of IT PR specialist Dexterity
10 Setting up a home-based business
“It’s low cost and therefore less risky, because there aren’t any expensive premises overheads. You can also claim for a percentage of your domestic bills, for lighting, heating, telephone calls, etc. A home office means no commute, so you save money and time, too”
Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation
How to use technology to reduce your carbon footprint
February 25, 2010
Businesses and individuals across the globe are becoming more aware of their carbon footprint than ever before. We have all learnt to switch off lights in empty rooms and turn off the tap while brushing our teeth but the expectancy on us to do more to stop global climate change is increasing.
It can be hard to see what more you can do if you are already very conscious about your carbon footprint but perhaps your work or business life has not had as much scrutiny as your home life.
With all the great advancements in technology surely there are alternatives that many businesses may have overlooked. Here are a few of our suggestions:
Cut your travel with VoIP
How often do you travel across town for a ten to thirty minute meeting? Cut the cost of travel and the price to the environment by exploring the benefits of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Call conferencing features enable you to hold meetings over several sites on one phone system – saving time, money and emissions.
If you would like to enhance your meeting then you can use services like GoToMeeting where you can share your screen, and therefore PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations, video etc with all the meeting participants. It will add extra interaction to your meeting and help add the visual element conference calls lack.
By holding meetings online you can easily work from home meaning you don’t have to drive to work or drive around all day to get to meetings. Cutting transport emissions is key to the Government’s ‘Low Carbon Transition Plan’. It’s not just great for your company’s green image, but also your budget.
Why run two offices?
Think about all the things that are needed to run an office. Electricity for your computers, phone system, servers, lighting, air-conditioning etc. And then there’s the gas for your heating systems and your staff facilities. Why not seriously cut costs and do your bit for the environment by encouraging your staff to work from home.
Not only will you cut emissions from reducing travel to an office but you’ll also be using almost the same amount of energy that is used to heat and light your home anyway.
If you are concerned about accessing your files and you still have an ‘office machine’ then you can remotely log into your work computer by installing free programme LogMeIn or ask your IT consultant about remotely accessing your server.
Accessing files wherever you need them also reduces the amount of hard copies you have to make, saving paper, ink and energy on printing those long documents – which are usually only read over once or twice before being discarded.
There are also other hidden benefits to working from home such as reduced stress, increased productivity and no train delays or traffic jams.
Gradwell is keen to assist their customers to reduce their carbon footprint. One such client ‘Sustain IT’ has already adopted this as part of their corporate culture and reducing their carbon footprint is seen as a vital part of their company policy, with VoIP being the centre and catalyst for this.
“Initially we had not thought of our carbon footprint. However we now consider it to be a vital part of our Company Policy. Internet Telephony helps us to reduce our employee travel and therefore reduce the impact on the environment that commuting is having. So anything we can do as an employer to encourage our staff to use home working or increase the use of the public transport network and cycling has to be good for the future of our children and the planet.”
Everyone making a small change will make a big difference to the planet – and it can benefit your business too.
Peter Gradwell, Gradwell
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