The Business Boot Camp founded by 20 year old young entrepreneur, Micheal Allen, helps young people aged between 18-25 set up their own businesses. Programme candidates are chosen because they are willing to put their time, money and energy into building their business idea. Critically they must also have an overwhelming passion for their business ideas.

The Business Boot Camp helps provide the resources that will help them get the money and people around them to build a successful, sustainable business.

Ever since Micheal was in school, he has always been interested in finding out the reasons that lead to people  achieving, “not only in school but in the big wide world, why are some poor and some consistently earning well above the average.”

Having networked across the UK speaking to many entrepreneurs, investors and business mentors Micheal noticed one consistency, passion!

“All the information is there, you just need to find the energy” says Micheal. This is what led him to build and invest in his own business.

The Boot Camp based in the UK features lectures and workshops lead by local, national and internationally recognized business leaders, providing insight and inspiration to help the select few who are up to the challenge of starting and sustaining their own business.

The programme is supported by local businesses that are giving back to the community that have made them successful.

The initiative is in line with the Coalition Government’s ‘Big Society’ plan in which communities, businesses and government work in partnership for the common good.

This is a great project that can provide much needed support to individuals in the initial stages of building a business. Good luck to Micheal Allen in his goal to create the biggest business support project in the UK.

Guest Post by: Brad Lauritzen

Brad is a successful author, speaker, and entrepreneur. He has created three profitable and growing businesses. He now teaches his students the process to start their own profitable business through the BEAR Formula.

In this article I will discuss 9 essential parts of a company’s business plan. Understanding and implementing each of these points and how they affect the business plan will be crucial to the success of the business. They are listed in a possible order they might appear in a strong business plan. Following the outline below will allow for a strong business plan that will ensure the company has a greater chance of success and this preparation will have a business plan ready to present to investors.

1) Company values and mission statement – This will clarify why you are going into business and what you hope to accomplish. This can be looked at as the foundation of the business.

2) Research for the business – Identifying your target market as well as your competition is one of the most important factors as to whether your business plan will be effective. The more clearly you can define these items, the more successful your business will be.

3) Financial Plan – What upfront costs will be involved with starting the business? What ongoing costs will there be? How will the business be funded?

4) Marketing Plan – Using the research from number two, it should be defined how the target market will be best reached. A marketing budget should be discussed as well as the plan for online advertising, offline advertising, and image advertising. Define the company’s brand here.

5) Revenue and Profitability Targets – This is the most important section for investors. You must have a logical conclusion as to why you arrived at the numbers you propose. Be optimistic in your outlook, yet be realistic in the potential of your business.

6) SWOT Analysis – This acronym stands for Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats. By reviewing this you can emphasize where your business may excel, where help may be needed, what opportunities for entry or growth exist in the marketplace, and what could potential be an obstacle for your business.

7) Staffing/Outsourcing – Explain what hiring will need to be done to meet the company’s needs, where your core competencies lack to define what you will outsource, and what potential growth in staffing will be needed over time.

8 ) Plan for Growth – How will the company handle the growth as business begins to increase?

9) Plan for Uncertainty – What will happen if things go wrong in the business? Is there an exit strategy? How will you prevent investors from losing their money?

The more you clearly define when starting your business, the more likely you will be to achieve your goals faster and with fewer losses and mistakes along the way.

Are you interested in getting more information about starting your business? Check out Brad Lauritzen’s free report “7 Steps to Creating Your Own Profitable Business” – http://thebearformula.com/take-action-now.html

How to Start Your Own Business for Entrepreneurs

Jason Trost and Hunter Morris got together in 2008 to set up a company, Smarkets which would provide users with the simple and social way to bet on sport, TV shows and politics. The new company which the two wanted to set up would bring new highs to the world of betting allowing its users and fans to set their own odds and bet against each other.

The website allows users to bet on any events that they like including politics, sports matches and even the general elections that were held in Britain earlier this year.

‘Around the time of the General Election we created several political betting markets which really took off. Since then we’ve been discovering that there is a huge appetite for betting on politics and current affairs, which we’ve been quick to capitalize on,’ said Trost.

After graduating from North Western University with a degree in Computer Science, Jason went ahead to become an application developer at UBS’s Global Asset Management based in New York where he focused on innovative web technologies. He founded internet start up Decipher, a consumer medical website which was later sold to a private sector.

Jason next joined UBS in March 2005 to gain corporate banking experience. He worked for two years in Global Asset Management, designing and implementing proprietary software to assist in day-to-day trading operations. His co-founder on the other hand Hunter Morris was born in Northern Texas but is currently residing at London. Hunter was a senior software engineer at Wolverine Trading where he was responsible for developing market making systems and trading infrastructure for the company’s trading desks before he co-founded Smarkets with Jason.

Smarkets have had tremendous success over the years preceding its foundation, online gambling audience gas grown by over 3.2 million people, an increase of 40% compared to 2008 when the website was started. It now makes about £20,000 per day.

Smarkets was unveiled as a finalist at the Start ups Awards 2010 in the ‘Angel/VC-backed Business of the year’ category. The award ceremony held on 2nd December 2010, showcased the best new business in the UK.

Written by Christine Maema

When people think about entrepreneurship, it often the possible lifestyles that people think about. The freedom of working your own hours, control of your business, the money being able to retire at 30 etc… Often the other parts of a career as an entrepreneur can be forgotten. So here is a brief breakdown of the good, bad and ugly sides of entrepreneurship.

The Good

The best part about being an entrepreneur for many people is the lifestyle it brings. The chance to be your own boss, making the decisions and seeing something that you built grow, is highly attractive.

Another great benefit is you can impact on the world, a lot of entrepreneurs find that the most motivating factor rather than money. Just look how Mark Zuckerberg has changed the world with Facebook. What about Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin?

Obviously with success comes money, a lot of money. Most of the richest people in the world started their own companies. Even if your company isn’t as big as those you still have a good chance of making more money than if you work for someone else.

Another reason why people choose to be an entrepreneur is the excitement it brings. The varying daily challenges that keep you on your toes. You will probably feel more fulfilled than the usual 9-5 job, since your responsibilities are down to you. You will be constantly learning every day which is what we are all about, learning and moving forward.

Also we excel when we are passionate about something and when you have your own business it will feel like your little baby which you can nurture and grow.

The Bad

So sometimes starting your own business works and you become successful and rich, but more often than not this isn’t the case. With about 80% of new businesses failing within the first year there is quite a high failure rate. This is normally due to lack of capital and/or bad management.

The lack of capital is the bad part to entrepreneurship. Not having the security that comes with a regular income is often what puts many people off. At the early stages of starting a business the lack of revenue coming in can represent a problem if you have many bills to pay or family to support. It is easier when you are younger and have fewer commitments but you might have to rough it for a while.

If you’re not careful you can also find yourself in a lot of debt and if your venture then goes belly up, you can find yourself in serious financial troubles. It is paramount to stay within your means and look at the long term future of the business rather than the short.

Watch out for those just looking for a piece of the pie. If your company does start to gain momentum you may start getting people looking to join purely in the hope of a pay off. These are not always the most helpful of people. When looking to hire people it can be difficult to spot these types.

Sometimes working as an entrepreneur you can get carried away only thinking about the potential future success which can sometimes be detrimental. If you enjoy the journey of building a successful start up rather than just the outcome you will be a better leader.

The Ugly

So the ugly side of entrepreneurship. Money can be the factor that leads to the ugly side. Every venture needs capital to be raised, whether it comes from savings, support from family and friends, bank loans or investors.

If you do borrow money from family and friends, it can cause problems when it comes to paying them back. If your start up becomes very successful then those who lent you money may try to claim more than you expect. Dealing with that situation, should you come across it, can be difficult and can ruin relationships.

Looking for investment from investors is a very desperate situation a lot of the time, since there is a lot of competition and this can lead to young entrepreneurs falling into traps. There are many bad investors out there looking to take advantage of inexperienced start up founders, by conning them out of equity with false promises.

Sometimes the lust for control can also become overpowering, leading to distrust and paranoia. Not trusting employees as you feel they may be taking advantage of you is harmful to the business and is something you need to watch out for. Make sure you get the right employees in the first place; it’s worth the extra effort.

Small businesses tend to be a high risk of being victimised by fraudulent activities. This is why entrepreneurs need to have a high regard for the protection of their data. If not, all the hard work you’ve put in could be wasted if you go out of business because of fraud.

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David Cameron today announced his vision for a ‘Silicon Valley’ in the East End of London. The high-tech hub to be based at the site of the Olympic village after 2012 has already attracted investment opportunities from top firms including ‘Facebook’, ‘Google’ and ‘Intel’.

Mr Cameron announced the news to entrepreneurs and investors, stating how he wanted London’s East End to rival Silicon Valley in California and evolve into the “world’s greatest technology centres”.

“We’re not just going to back the big businesses of today, we’re going to back the big businesses of tomorrow,” he goes onto say.

“We are firmly on the side of the high-growth, highly innovative companies of the future. Don’t doubt our ambition.”

“Right now, Silicon Valley is the leading place in the world for hi-tech growth and innovation. But there’s no reason why it has to be so predominant. Our ambition is to bring together the creativity and energy of Shoreditch and the incredible possibilities of the Olympic Park to help make East London one of the world’s great technology centres.”

David Cameron is planning to publish a blueprint for technology designed to make Britain “the most attractive place in the world to start and invest in innovative technology companies”.

This comes on the back of Google stating that it could never have set up in Britain due to strict regulations.

Mr Cameron has also announced a US style visa for foreign entrepreneurs looking to start up in the UK. Applicants would be required to have received investment toward their idea from investors, prior to getting it.

This is not the first time that the UK has reportedly found an alternative to the Valley, in the 80’s it was Bristol, Cambridge and the M4 corridor have been touted as possible venues but the latest ‘Silicon Valley’ seems to be naturally being built around Old Street roundabout.

With over a 100 young start ups and technology firms looking to take advantage of lower rent prices, this area has become the closest the UK has got to the valley and on its own right.

As much as I think this is a good idea, it is just theory and whether or not it will develop into something of the level of what they have in America, I am doubtful. At least though entrepreneurs are certainly being thought about and that can only be a good thing.

As well as investing in the area, there is a certainly culture which they have on the west side of America which will be hard to replicate. It is an interesting project and it will be interesting to see how it develops, but whatever happens it will take a quite a few years to establish itself to the level of the ‘Valley’.

So what are your thoughts? Good Idea?

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Young entrepreneur Natasha Nelson is the founder of Yogurtini which is a self-serving frozen yogurt (Fro-Yo) company. She and her sister are frozen yogurt fanatics and have been since childhood, they began work on the company in 2007 after being disappointed by the lack of choices in her home town of Arizona.

Living in California at the time Natasha, a self described “True Beach Girl” felt she was in the perfect location for an entrepreneur to flourish with the creative, youthful culture that engulfed the famous south west beaches.

Around the time Natasha was planning the opening of her first shop, she received the sad news that her mother had Parkinson’s disease. Natasha and her sister moved back to Arizona to look after their mother. At times they weren’t sure whether they would be able to cope running a business as well, but their mother had other ideas, “She made us realize life has to go on” Nelson said.

Natasha has made sure that the company always sources good ingredients to ensure customers get a healthy treat.

She is also a real supporter of good causes, and has worked with many philanthropic companies raising thousands of dollars for causes such as Parkinson’s research and rehabilitation for those seriously injured due to the Haiti earthquake.

Yogurtini has grown quickly and Natasha puts this down to having the best Yogurt in town. Not only that, she also has made the Yogurtini a social hub where people can come and relax and enjoy the surroundings. Natasha says “Yogurtini is almost a lifestyle. Our brand reflects the lifestyle of those who want to eat healthy, have fun, and want to create their own treat and enjoy your yogurt and listen to some great tunes. When you find a favourite, you keep coming back.”

Miss Nelson is a great advocate of social networking which I believe is a great way of expanding your brand. Natasha is always studying the future trends and looking for new online marketing tools.

Today, the highly profitable Yogurtini firm is planning huge growth in the next 5 years after recently turning it into a national franchise.

“We’re ecstatic that we’ve done something our mom can be proud of,” said Nelson. “The sky’s the limit at this point.”

I think she is a true inspiration and good luck to her in reaching all her future goals!

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These are the five websites that i believe that help any university student get the right information, network, advice, expertise, funding or backing in taking their idea and turning it into becoming a business.

Cmypitch.com (Nacueventures)

Cmypitch gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to connect with investors directly, All you do is upload your own video pitch,and that gets put out to lots of investors(The likes of james caan, Doug Richard) on the network.
Check it out to find more about it.

Smarta

Smarta gives you a platform for resources, advices for starting and running your startup, They have loads of top entrepreneurs on the site that provide support to entrepreneurs, It also gives you the opportunity to showcase your business.

Enterprise UK

Enterprise Uk are connected to almost every entrepreneur in the uk and also connect them to the right people that can help them improve their business, they also have tons of competitions to help startup with business expenses or exposure.

Shell Livewire

Shell livewire have tons of competitions in which they run to give entrepreneurs/startups the required support and exposure, check out their pitching videos section.

FlyingStartonline

They offer a lot of training and workshop to entrepreneur to help them enhance their skills.

NACUE’s National Varsity Pitch Competition, in partnership with the British Library, is the UK’s premier start-up competition for university students across the country. It celebrates university enterprise by showcasing the brightest young minds and the breadth of businesses coming out of UK universities.

Young entrepreneurs will compete in one of seven industry semi-finals and seven finalists will have the opportunity to move on to the national finale on May 5th at the British Library after receiving a full day of training, one-on-one mentorship and coaching. Pitching to a panel of judges made up of some of the UK’s foremost entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and media personalities, the finalists will pitch for seedfunding, startup support and the National Title.

The deadline is March 1, 2010.
Apply Now!

Visit HERE for more information