Frustrated with the process of scrabbling around for a scrap of paper to write down details from voicemails, Christina Domecq decided there had to be an easier way to access her messages. With the help of her long-term business partner Daniel Doulton, she turned her voice-to-text idea into Spinvox – an award-winning multinational business currently turning over more than £2m a year.
After Domecq’s initial idea in 2003, the next 12 months were spent gathering funding for the project, putting the team together, and developing the patented technology that allows Spinvox to convert speech into written word.
Daulton led the team that built the first prototype using open standard network telephony protocols and a customised conversion system, which he developed himself. The pair had the proof the concept could work even before they started looking for external funding, which meant they had an actual product to market. Their investors could see how it worked and try it for themselves.
Domecq then set about devising her business strategy, which included getting some well-known high street retailers on board. Having established partnerships with big names such as 3G, the Carphone Warehouse and The Link, Spinvox used their brands and customer relationships rather than try to compete against them. In 2005, Spinvox’s Voicemail-to-text service was launched through the high street retailers.
Initially the company was funded by Domecq and Doulton, but angel investors soon followed as the company proved to be more and more successful. Domecq says the idea was to raise finance in instalments, as the company grew.
Spinvox was not the first successful business Domecq founded. At the age of 20 she set up her own IT services consultancy, which employed 140 members of staff. It’s no surprise then that she was able to find investors for Spinvox – although the reported £25m raised is still extremely impressive for any start-up business.
Domecq says the company’s biggest success to date has been securing deals in three languages with companies across four continents for the Spinvox technology to be used with mobiles and internet calls.
However, if she could do it all again from scratch, Domecq says she would have tried to gain a stronger presence in North America. “It’s a different market, with extraordinary potential,” she says. “The American market has the potential to fast track our service into new areas, such as internet based messaging.”
But despite the fact that the company did not focus on the American market from the beginning, Spinvox’s growth has been rapid, increasing to a current team of around 130 members of staff.
Based in Maidenhead the company currently operates in the UK, U.S, Germany, France and Spain. Domecq has high hopes for Spinvox, with the aim of getting the service operating on every mobile handset in Europe by 2008.
Current turnover is over £2m per year, but Domecq has big expectations, forecasting turnover to be breaking the £100m mark within a few years. Domecq says the speed of growth has vastly improved her decision-making ability and clarity of leadership. She says she used to climb mountains for a challenge, but now she has a whole industry to climb.Story by Startups.
Thursday
Saturday
WORKING FROM HOME
More than five million people are working from home after finishing their day job, according to research. Some work from home full time.It comes with numerous benefits - there is no commute, you can balance your work around your family.There are businesses you can do from home-
Buying and selling products online
You can test the waters by starting off on ebay before going on to own your website.You have to decide what is it you want to sell. You might want to sell something you feel has a gap in the market. Take for instance Sally Preston, founder of Babylicious - www.babylicious.co.uk,Sally realised there was a gap in the market for quality, frozen baby food when bringing up her two young children, she developed the idea into a viable business.
“I just thought, this is crazy, why doesn’t anyone do this product that I want to buy, so it was out of a consumer need. And then I realised I was not alone, and there were many other people saying exactly the same thing.
“I also think that you have to be in a position in your life where you are prepared to take a phenomenal risk. My particular situation at that time was that I’d just gone through a very acrimonious divorce and had skin cancer and felt ‘Hey, why not?’
Sally’s perseverance has seen the company expand abroad, with an extension of the Babylicious range and a re-branding process in the pipeline. But she admits that, typical with many entrepreneurs, she often does not think strategically.
“I’m trying to be more strategic because I’ve now got more people to take away the day-to-day running of it away from me,” she says. “But it isn’t easy, because an entrepreneur isn’t a naturally strategic person, they do flip from thing to thing and they don’t tend to finish things.”
Converting your hobbies or skills into a business
Cooking, photography, languages(translating), child care, sewing, cleaning, e.t.c.
S&A Foods was literally inspired by a samosa its founder bought from a supermarket in 1986. Appalled at its quality, Perween Warsi saw her chance to make a difference.
The company (named after her sons Sadiq and Abid) now has 750 staff and a turnover of £65m. It supplies major retailers in the UK and has now expanded into Europe. “When I realised it was difficult to buy good-quality Indian food I thought that maybe I could make a difference,” she says.
Her initial approach was direct. She simply prepared some of her own samosas and convinced a local Indian takeaway to try them. They sold well and Warsi began supplying the outlet regularly. Encouraged, she approached other takeaways and local delicatessens, while expanding her range. However, supplying to the local trade was never going to be enough. Her eye was always on the bigger prize: the big retailers.
She began calling supermarkets, persisting until S&A was asked to take part in blind tasting sessions at Asda and Safeway. Her food triumphed over more established food manufacturers, and she received an order. There was, however, one problem.
“When Asda offered me the contract they assumed S&A Foods was a fully fledged food manufacturing business,” she recalls. “At that time I was still making the dishes in my kitchen, so we had to build up the business quickly!”
So Warsi took a gamble. In 1987, S&A Foods joined the Hughes Food Group with the resulting investment injection allowing them to open their first factory in Derby.
“Although at the time it was good for the business to join with Hughes, as it meant we could afford to build a new factory and create 100 extra jobs, I wasn’t in control of the direction the business was going,” she says.
It would come at a cost later, but for now she could begin to fulfill her ambition of supplying supermarkets with her products, something she still does today.
“You need to have something different, unique and better that they currently don’t have to add value to their shelves,” she says.
However, she warns against focusing too heavily on the client and forgetting the people who really buy the food – the customers. “Obviously, the whole of the supply chain is geared up to manage our customers’ needs and requirements,” she says.
Make money from your hobbies and skills.
Virtual Assistant opportunities:
A Virtual Assistant is an independent entrepreneur that provides administrative,
technical services from their home-offices. This can be a form of a call center. If you think you have what it takes, there are several organisations on the web that caters for Virtual Assistants.
After the birth of her daughter, Carrie Opara knew she didn't want to return to her old job as a mental-health counselor. But finding legitimate work she could do at home was no small feat.
She tried a multilevel marketing plan and wound up in debt. She looked on the Internet and found plenty of scams. Finally, she heard about LiveOps, a Palo Alto, Calif., call center that hired people to work out of their own homes.
Within two years, she was earning about $2,000 a month working 30 to 35 hours a week from her home in Columbia, Md. -- about what she'd made previously as a counselor. Her shifts can be as short as 30 minutes, although she typically works five-hour blocks while her 6-year-old is in school, plus some nights and weekends when her husband, a certified public accountant, can take over child care.
Mystery shopping, survey taking and 'piece work'
Mystery shopping and survey-taking opportunities have been around for a while, but the Internet has made finding them easier, Webb said.
"Mystery shoppers" are typically paid $5 to $100 per assignment to pose as average customers and then critique a store or service, Webb said. The range for filling out surveys or participating in focus groups can be even wider, from a few dollars to a few hundred bucks a shot.
A free resource to help you start and grow your business at home
http://www.enterprisenation.com/
Friday
Starting up a Speed Dating Business
Someone asked that i post how to start up a Speed Dating Business. Here goessss......
1.Do a market research. Do find out how many singles are in the area that would be interested enough to leave their houses, ask for ages, preferred locations, leisure activities. Determine how many people you wish to include in the event. This however is the most important part of starting the business.
2.Create a marketing campaign. Follow the four Ps of marketing. They include price, product, place and promotion. Based on the market research that is aggregated, determine where the speed dating events will occur, a competitive price for the service, how the word will reach targeted singles and all the benefits of the actual speed dating service. Visit neighbourhood shops, restaurants, hair salons, spas, bars and anywhere else that caters to single men and women. A detailed plan on how to complete each one of these tasks will produce a solid marketing plan.
3. Find venues that are conducive enough to accommodate your guests. Check out restaurants, bars, banquet halls and other similar venues to determine the viability of these meeting places.
4. Stage your first speed-dating event and critically evaluate the mood of the crowd. Establish the ground rules ahead of time. Limit each couple to an exact time frame no more than 5 to 10 minutes and be strict about moving guests from one person to the next.
5. Ask for feedbacks from attendees to see what kinds of activities they would like to participate in at a future event. If you did your job right, you might have matched up some people, so while you might not see some of your speed daters again, you can bet their good fortune will be broadcast to other singles and your card will be passed along to others hoping to get lucky.
Good luck
Starting a Busines on a Shoestring Budget
You're tired of answering to someone else. You have the idea of the century that is guaranteed to make a fantastic business opportunity. You want to start your own company. But you've also got a tight budget.
Starting up a business on a shoestring seems like an impossible task conjuring up visions of compromises and cutting corners that will ultimately undermine your best efforts. But it doesn't have to be that way. Many industries are well suited to budget beginnings.
This is not a case of restricting yourself to mean margins, there are simply a number of steps you can take to keep overheads down.
The most obvious costs in the early days are premises and staffing. If you start from home then your office space or workshop budget can go elsewhere. This is easy if you are in a desk bound profession. But if it doesn't matter where you are based, rents on out of town premises or those in unfashionable areas will keep costs down.
And if you don't have the money for staff immediately don't forget friends and family. Providing that you don't abuse their good will, most will be prepared to help you out on the odd occasion.
It's inevitable that you will have to put 120% into the business at first. So try and become competent in as many tasks as possible. It will save you money if you can cope with things like basic desktop publishing and accounting. And you'll have a better understanding of the day to day running of the business.
Where possible, lease rather than buy and buy second hand. Tools, machinery and ovens, for example, are widely available to lease if you can provide assurance that payments will be made.
And great savings can be found if you opt for second hand desks, chairs and filing cabinets. Search on the internet in the Yellow Pages for outlets and warehouses. Most large offices refurbish reasonably regularly so the market is generally well stocked.Published by Startups.
Tuesday
Starting a new Business♥
| BIZ TIPS♥ |
These are common steps to starting a new business
- WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS♥
- PROPER RESEARCH♥
- FINDING THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT YOU NEED♥
- MARKETING YOURSELF♥
- PURSING THE DREAM♥
Before you go into a new venture, make sure you have a plan. Do something you would enjoy doing in the long run. I have taken a list of 'Kinds of business' to venture in for 2009 from 'Startuplive.co.uk'-
Ebay based Business
With millions of potential customers just a couple of clicks away from your products, setting up an eBay store is a cheap, easy and massively appealing way to do business online.
Internet cafe
Although the number of household with broadband connection is soaring, internet cafes are still proving to be highly popular among people who need to get online while on the move. This business could see you log on to a tidy profit.
Consultancy
Helping other people run their business may seem daunting at first, but many budding entrepreneurs have the skills and experience to become first class consultants.
Clothes shop
With such a wide range of clothes shops out there, you have a several options when trying to tap into this huge market.
Online business
In these times of recession, there is certainly a lot to be said for online business: low start-up capital and minimal running costs. Find out how to make your new business an online one.
Dating agency
Soaring divorce rates and the scarce social time enjoyed by hard-working employees has resulted in a large rise in the number of single people. However, like some sort of Cilla Black figure, you can match people up while making money at the same time by starting a dating agency.
Florists
Whether the occasion is happy or sad, people are rarely unhappy to receive flowers. While opening a florists may be the result of a gardening hobby, you can also make a success of this business if you are new to the sector.
Catering
Whether its catering for a major sporting event or a low-key wedding, the need for food and drink at gatherings doesn’t doesn’t go out of fashion.
Courier company
If you need a parcel delivered quickly. With many businesses needing a fast, efficient delivery service, why not get on your bike and start a courier company up?
Dogwalking If you have a love of dogs and don't mind tripping over the odd leash, then why not turn your passion into a viable -- if quirky -- business.
Travel agency
Following a disastrous stretch in the early noughties, the travel industry is getting back on its feet. With travel becoming cheaper and a constant supply of sun-starved British tourists wanting to escape to the beach, becoming a travel agent could prove to be profitable.
Gift shop
Boosted by the tourist trade, gift shops can be a very popular business to own. Why not get wrapped up in the idea and start up your own?
Hotel
Whether you just offer a simple bed and shared bathroom or full en-suite luxury, somewhere for the weary traveller to stay for the night is always in demand.
Antique business
Although Lovejoy and his wild mullet added a bit of glamour to the antiques world, most people regard the sector as the preserve of fusty shops with pensionable owners. However, the antiques business, although time consuming, can prove to be very rewarding.
Driving school
Whether it took you two attempts or 20 to pass your driving test, you wouldn’t have got there without a driving instructor. If you can put up with the exams and novice drivers, this line of work can be rewarding.
Photography business
When your school photo was being taken, you probably gave little thought to the fact that the photographer would soon be off to another job, maybe a wedding, to make ends meet. If you have a passion for photography, get a clear picture of what’s involved in setting up your own firm.
Hair stylist
Could you cut it as a hairdresser? If you have what it takes. Go for it.
Landscape gardeners
If you are reading this while stuck in a stuffy office and dream of working in the great outdoors, this could be the business for you. Gardening programmes have helped raise the industry’s profile, with the sector now worth £3 billion a year.
Day nursery
With both parents increasingly keen to return to work after having children, day nurseries are also vital to many families who can’t afford to give up a regular income to stay at home.
Restaurant Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or just don’t fancy cooking, eating out is big business with a huge variety of restaurants now inhabiting British high streets.
Research your product,service basically your business idea before diving in. Find out if there is demand for your business, also who your competitions are and what is it they are lacking which you can do better.
Family
Friends
loans/Personal Savings
There are so many online tools used online to market your business and the great thing about these tools- most of them are free, from Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. They can help you make contacts and market your products or services to new customers.If you have little money to spend, advertising on Google and Msn would be a great boost too. Never estimate the power of word of mouth, spread the word to friends and family. Be sure to Self-PR, it will boost your business and ensure you have a voice on issues that affect you.
You need to be available 24/7. You can get a mobile broadband and an active phone to stay in touch while on the move and try working efficiently between meetings. You need to stay focused and ahead of the game especially in the current recession.
All of these paths require passion, perseverance, & perspiration.
DON'T PUT OFF TILL TOMORROW WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY. GO FOR IT.........would post new business ideas you can start on a shoestring on my next post.Hit me up with questions if any. Stay Inspired!!!!!!!!!!!see ya.♥
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