Lucidry - Connecting The Inspired » Start Ups

USA Calls Foreign Entrepreneurs

Mel @ Lucidry — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:18:30 +0000

Found a great article on BBC Business about how the USA is encouraging entrepreneurs from foreign countries to setup their business on US shores! (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8645319.stm)

A new law currently in the Senate aims to change the status quo.

In February, Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate, and Republican Senator Richard Lugar introduced the Start-Up Visa Act in the Senate.

The bill would create a new category of visa that allows any foreign citizen who is able to raise at least $250,000 from venture capitalists, or so-called “angel” investors, to come to the US.

The entrepreneur would become a permanent US resident once the business has created five jobs, or achieved $1m in revenue, or if the visa holder has managed to raise a further $1m.

Read the full story here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8645319.stm

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The Top Young Internet Billionaires

Mel @ Lucidry — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:32:38 +0000

The internet has managed to produce some of the richest young billionaires ever, in a remarkably short period of time. Time and time again, the internet proves with the right idea, it is possible to accomplish what it has taken many decades of business to accomplish. Inspiration as ever!

The BBC compiled a list of the top young billionaires who made their fortune on the internet:

The richest are Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the pair who set up Google in the late 1990s. They went from PhD students to (paper) billionaires in about five years. The youngest is 25-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking site Facebook, who has returned to the billionaire list in 2010 after dropping out in 2009 amid the economic downturn.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8562379.stm

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BiWhizz TV – Episode One..

Mel @ Lucidry — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:52:48 +0000

We interviewd BiWhizz a few months back and they have released a snippet from their show focusing on entrepreneurs and their experiences, have a look after the jump!

Do you know entrepreneurs that would like to showcase their business and their experiences?

Writers that would like to blog for BiWhizz?

Camera-loving people that would like to present for BiWhizz.

Cash rich individuals that would like to invest in BiWhizz? Am I joking? No! Interested? We’re prepared to discuss.

It goes without saying that the right candidates would have a PASSION for creativity, the entrepreneurial scene and social media & technology.

Get involved and make sure you tell a friend. Look forward to hearing from you.

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SMB – The Virtual Office

Mel @ Lucidry — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:29:53 +0000

In times past gone, long past gone being a business and not having a physical business office would have had you laughable and ridiculed. Today, however, it is a viable option for start-ups and an accepted way of conducting small business.

Communication and its tools have come a very long way in a very short amount of time. Improved communication means it is possible to work from almost anywhere. The small business owner can have a professional video conference with a CEO of a multi-national and its all perfectly normal in these times.

In essence, unless a public front is essential to your business – i.e retail / shop etc ; what purpose do those rents and rates fixed costs serve? status? productivity? Working from home should be a viable alternative for many small businesses. Telephonists, sales people, and administrative personnel can all work efficiently from home providing appropriate systems are in place.

Working from home, has many advantages to individuals and companies. For the individual, the convenience is a big factor which cannot be necessarily quantified. Being able to take quality breaks from work in and around your home is surely going to make one more productive when back to doing work. For the company, remote working is fast becoming an increasingly attractive option in respect to expensive offices.

The ‘new economy’ is one that is rapidly becoming made up of business with small bases that operate internationally / over vast distances than the traditional huge international HQ in one place.

Anybody considering the use of a virtual office / working from home should have a lucid pathway for its implementation and successful operation. Otherwise, it can quickly unravel. In any case, make sure you make a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of not having an office in relation to yourself / your business.

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10 Reasons Every Small Business Should Be Online

Mel @ Lucidry — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:55:56 +0000

A lot of business owners still feel a website is something they can do without… oh dear

1. Low Capital / Start Up Costs

You can get yourself online for pennies these days. With low-cost professional hosting available in 3 clicks and the advent of open source web content management systems such as WordPress you can be up and running in a relatively short period of time.

2. Increase your brand awareness and company profile

Creating an online presence is a relatively quick method that can be used to increase your companies visibility. By having a look at basic seo you can increase the amount of people who know about you in a very short period of time. Achieving the same scope of engagement through traditional ‘offline methods’ would cost the best part of a fortune.

3. You can be open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year!

The internet never stops, it doesn’t get tired – it doesn’t need to take 5 and rest. Thus, you can have the online portion of your site up and running all the time. A consistent source / portal for all potential leads to find you.

4. Stay local or take over the WORLD!!

The internet knows no boundaries. Your site once up is accessible by anybody around the entire planet. The internet can be a good way to strategically begin moving your business from local to nationwide to global in incremental steps.

5. Become an expert in your niche

Through writing articles, expressing your opinion online, in your industry community you can establish yourself and your company as an expert in its field. This can open up a new flux of lead generation and create many new networks and business relationships for your company.

6. Expand your Market

As you become more efficient and learned in online marketing and the intricate ways of the web, you will not only strengthen and improve the quality of your current base and share, but you will also discover new opportunities to move into new markets for growth and expansion.

7. Improved Customer Experience

By using the foray of online tools , software and applications in your website – you can strive to offer your customers an improved level of service. Helping to add a new facet to your company and their overall feeling about your business.

8. People Expect You To Have A Website

These days customers are more savvy than ever and many whether individuals or companies will often want to look at your website to see whether your a company that they should do business with. Not having a website is denying them a port of information. The same way you know you need business cards, letterheads, a bank account – you as a business also do require a website.

9. Competing with competition.

Being online – gives you opportunity to keep tabs on your competition. No more covert break ins into offices dressed in black! Visit their websites, see how they structure their business and what they are getting up to.. Take all that and then improve upon it and integrate it into what you are offering.

10. Foster customer loyalty

With a website, after a sale you can remain closer to your customers. Gather their email addresses and issue monthly newsletters, updates and discounts. Reap the rewards of building brand and customer loyalty. Use the opportunity to cross-promote and gather vital information about your market.

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Forming Small Strategic Alliances

Mel @ Lucidry — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:25:18 +0000

Forming relationships and partnerships with other start-up businesses is a tactic that small businesses have used for many a year, as it presents many interesting opportunities.

The simplest way small businesses can prosper from having a business relationship is cross referral. In the sense that,business 1 recommends business 2 to customers for certain services and business 2 in turn does the same, by referring its customers to business 1. This is a simple referral circle.

Referrals, do however, need to be genuine, the partnership is only as strong as its weakest member and you should take time to seek partners that you feel comfortable passing your clientele onto as their performance is directly associated with your performance.

Take heed, as some problems can occur with referral partnerships:

- If one of the businesses you have a relationship start to drop in standard / level of service or execution etc then you need to consider whether this is a relationship and a business you are prepared to endorse. You do not want to be referring clients who you value to a business you are not sure will provide them with the same level of support you will.
- One – way street. It can occur that referrals only seem to be flowing from one business to the other. If this is case, take time to reflect on whether this partnership is mutuallybeneficial if not, work to make it so, maybe introduce a referral commission

Trust

Relationships / alliances that operate on the principle of trust rather than by payment or incentive usually work best in my experience. Is there a business / individual you have a special rapport with? Take use of this and maybe cross-promote your businesses. i.e Buy this from me and get 50% off on their product! etc . Find ways to utilise your relationships to better your businesses.

Survival of the fittest

There is somewhat of a myth that all business is a ruthless fight to the death in which only the fittest survive. This is for the most part not true.

It is hard, but not impossible to conduct honest business

Mahatma Ghandi

I believe one needs to find a balance between thinking the business world should be one of love and happiness and the ruthless corp attitude. Every business however, often in the early stages of development needs to determine where it is planning to sit and how it is planning to grow within its industry.

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Interview – Entrepreneur Focus – Chidozie Ukaigwe

Mel @ Lucidry — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:03:17 +0000

Interview with Chidozie, a young London Entrepreneur and co-founder of BiWhizz. Lucidry managed to catch up with Chidozie, a young London entrepreneur. We found time to talk about entrepreneurship and got an insight into one of his many upcoming ventures; Lots of detail and tips in there – enjoy!

Hi Chidozie, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Could you tell us a little about yourself, what it is you do and anything else!?

Well I am a budding entrepreneur, the current co-founder of BiWhizz.COM which has not launched yet. I took a GAP year from the University of Westminster to concentrate on building BiWhizz. I currently work on building the platform from a conceptual, business theoretical and research perspective. This means I am constantly building schematics for ideas and tools for the platform, alongside my partner. We have a third partner who is a developer who makes the ideas a reality.

I always ask myself in all business situations, what can be done to better this marketplace, product, service whateverChidozie

Well, we are having a chat as you’re an entrepreneur. Where do you think your desire to innovate, be independent and enter business comes from?

My desire to be innovative comes from my desire to challenge the status quo and change systems that are in place. I always ask myself in all business situations, what can be done to better this marketplace, product, service whatever. To be independent stems from the aforementioned point, I cannot change or challenge the status quo effectively if I am shackled down to a 9-5, brutal I know. My partners and associates know I am a stubborn as an entrepreneur and business professional; however I am better as a person. How I came into business was merely choice, there was three areas I really did excel in, that was Football, History & Business Studies, Business studies got the nudge.

Dharmesh Shah has described entrepreneurship as a ‘genetic defect’ that either makes you very happy or miserable! So far, have you landed on happy or miserable?

Honestly within this academic year, it has been miserable, Mr Shah is right, business really is polarized, black or white, happy or sad, and there is no middle ground. However the people that do know me understand I am a fighter, and as you know we are due to launch in April and that really does speak volumes about our progression and overcoming the obstacles. Business is an emotional rollercoaster, one day is good, next day is very bad, but to honest fellow entrepreneurs, I love it! All of it!

I also feel that the best entrepreneurs continue to learn new characteristics to continue being successful.Chidozie

The UK is seeing an unprecedented rise in entrepreneurship, even despite the economic conditions that we are still in. An ever increasing number of people are taking the ideas they have and actually turning them into something tangible.. Why do you think entrepreneurship is on the rise?

The rise of entrepreneurship is due to a number of issues, first thing is that people find it much more ‘cooler’ to be an entrepreneur, going on your journey, trying to go the distance; as naive as that sounds I generally find people feel much more proud to say that they have their own business.

The second issue is definitely due to the low level of risks, and the fewer or cheaper barriers to enter into certain industries, I believe the rise of the internet and the Google Generation has definitely played its part.

The third and final issue for me is that as a nation we are becoming much more confident in starting up a business, the confidence is strengthened by shows such as Dragon’s Den; I think people have strong feelings and affiliations to such shows that enable them to execute such confidence in their ideas even at the embryo stages.

Do you feel anybody can be an entrepreneur?

At the start of my entrepreneurial journey I first thought anybody could be an entrepreneur, I am an eternal optimist you see. However due to experience, lessons learned and advice, I feel that not everybody is cut out for this. I believe there are a number of fundamental characteristics needed initially, No#1 and my most important; having the confidence in your own ability to execute. I also feel that the best entrepreneurs continue to learn new characteristics to continue being successful.

Could you tell us about one BiWhizz; which is of your current projects? What it’s about and how it came to being?

BiWhizz is a business networking and management platform. We are dedicated to the development of entrepreneurs and small businesses in the UK. The platform is based on principles, technologies and applications from social media / networking and project management. The sum of the parts creates a holistic platform offering budding entrepreneurs and small business a unique online environment to conduct their business. BiWhizz today came out of an evolution of a pre-existing idea we had a one year and a half ago; of just a basic business network. As time went by and our knowledge base increased from a market perspective and technological one, we realised that we could do so much more, especially for the budding entrepreneurial community and the UK SMB industry.

the same way how a business owner may need to open up a business bank account, we want them to feel they need to open up/use a BiWhizz account.Chidozie

Not many web 2.0 applications / internet based start-ups have done well, on an international level. Excluding the goliaths of companies like Skype and Spotify. What do you hope will make BiWhizz different?

Initially our aspirations are currently within the UK SMB Industry, therefore we are not taking a detailed look into international markets, as a platform like BiWhizz is not an ‘end user’ type service, or a ‘one size fits all platform’. BiWhizz will be different because it will be an enterprise specific platform, therefore all features/tools built within the platform is there to enable an entrepreneur or business owner to fill out business specific requirements and much more. We believe that within Britain’s Tech space there is no real enterprise orientated platform and BiWhizz can fill this void.

Where do you see BiWhizz being in one year, three years and 5 years from now?

Our ultimate goal is for BiWhizz to become integrated into the UK SMB Ecosystem; to elaborate, the same way how a business owner may need to open up a business bank account, we want them to feel they need to open up/use a BiWhizz account. We have tried to shy away from thinking 3-5 years ahead of time, as markets change, technology changes and there too many confounding variables at play. In saying that, our main focus for the next 12 months from the point of launch, is to grow the platform in regards to users and to strengthen our technology and main areas of the platform. We are due to discuss the main areas of the platform on our pre launch site.

Being a web platform, it’s a very technical start-up. What problems have you come across and how have you addressed them?

The main problem we have come across is how to update the platform, in regards to bringing into new technology, tools and features. We have built three versions of the BiWhizz, one is the actual platform you will see at launch, and the other two are in concept and schematic phases. To be honest we are still brainstorming strategies, we want to be able to update the platform extremely fast and get it up to the version already designed. I believe we have addressed the issue by acknowledging the issue and tackling it on a daily basis, this is a problem that will not be solved in a week but more over the course of a month or two.

When will we get access to a beta?!?!?!?

Our good friends at Lucidry will be one the first establishments to get a crack at BiWhizz in beta phase, however to stamp a date on it is quite difficult. March next month is the preferred month to initiate beta and BiWhizz will keep Lucidry informed of all progressions and set dates as and when it happens. Lucidry could offer this opportunity to its readers, as we are currently doing on our pre launch website.

Thanks for taking the time today Chidozie. How can people interested in yourself and BiWhizz get in touch with you online?

Thanks for having me, it has been a pleasure to talk to Lucidry and been a great pleasure to talk to your readers and fellow entrepreneurs. To get into contact with me or BiWhizz, we have a lot of contact information on our pre launch website, as well as access to join our Twitter movement and our Facebook group. If users are looking for more info/opportunities about BiWhizz or personal wise please do use our contact us form on the pre launch. Thanks Again

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The Simple Start Up Business Checklist

Mel @ Lucidry — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:13:20 +0000

Hi all, today we have an interactive checklist which I hope will help all in setting up a business.

Here is a simple checklist which I hope will prompt you to think about the different facets of starting up a business and taking it from that crazy idea in your head to the finished product. If anybody has any boxes or suggestions or amendments please let me know and ill get them added on as soon as possible.

How many of these have YOU ticked?

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Hope the list was useful! Do you have any suggestions

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Why Write A Business Plan?

Mel @ Lucidry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:33:17 +0000

Many small business owners and entrepreneurs have taken the first footsteps in their journey without a business plan and have since seen no reason to take the time to construct one. A business plan is a living, breathing and organic document – open to growth, revision and correction.

If you haven’t taken the time to construct a business plan, hopefully this article will convince you to do so…

It is far easier to be passionate about the future if you can see where you are going and how you are going to get thereCheryl D.Rickman

Doing anything in life we need a goal, aim or objective – whether that fact is set subconsciously or consciously – it occurs. Your business is no different, it however, cannot be left to chance. There must be a conscious examination of its goals. If your starting a new business, and are leaving the security of your monthly salary – a business plan is even more important – addressing how your business will run and making realistic cash – flow projections will be a necessity.

You absolutely must know where you want your business to go and how it is going to get thereAuthor Unknown

By figuring out your destination and writing down what actions you need to take and who needs to take them, in order to reach that destination – you make its achievement much more feasible. Similarly, looking ahead into the future and all the challenges and tests that could present themselves leaves you prepared and make it easier to manage obstacles and your manoeuvrings.

An effective business plan communicates ideas, tasks, goals and strategies it facilitates focus and direction by specifically defining mission statements and long – term objectives.

Use your business plan to map your idea, write your manuscript to achieve success. Use it to tie together your vision, market research, resources and personal attributes.

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Peter Jones’s 10 Rules for Entrepreneurial Success

Mel @ Lucidry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:42:39 +0000

Leading businessman and TV personality Peter Jones reveals the behaviours you need to adopt in order to achieve entrepreneurial brilliance.

Interesting video and points raised and some of it is highly motivating.