1)     In the decade of self-marketing and social media, start-ups still grossly underestimate the importance of marketing and fail to commit enough time and money to it

2)     Most start-ups fail to enthuse about their product in their business plans, to the point that it is often hard to understand what is unique or great about it.  We want samples and demos or at least some great pictures of the product in operation in all business plans and pitches!

As the award ceremony was part of the School’s Entrepreneurship Conference, I attended some of the conference sessions, too.  I really liked the “Scaling up” panel discussion and was most pleasantly surprised by the frank and insightful closing notes of Lord Davies of Abersoch.  Lord Davies of Abersoch, was Minister for Trade, Investment and Small Business until yesterday, and is one of the few people who went straight from corporate business into a ministerial role with real entrepreneurial experience under his belt. 

My pen hardly stopped during these two conference sessions as I really wanted to remember the things that were said; so rare nowadays that what is said at a big conference is original and comes from the heart rather than from watered down scripts stuffed with clichés.  I copy below the zest of my notes; food for thoughts for any business owner who cares about the lasting success of their businesses in the current ever-so-unpredictable economic times.

My notes from the Up-Scaling Panel Discussion

Panellists: with James Carling (Founder of Prime Response), William Kendall (ex-CEO of Green and Blacks), Tom Sing (Founder of New Look) and Faisal Galaria (Global Head of Business Development at Spotify) 

A) One of the hardest things to do when scaling a business up is to fire the people, who became friends in the process of building the business, for the benefit of the business

B) For good product development it is essential to get customer feedback at mid-way to test its working and fit within the selected niche.

C) Financial reward is important but experience shows that good company culture, training and personal development are equally important to people (e.g. employees)

D) The secret of business success in IT industry is hiring young, enthusiastic people and give them as much responsibility as you can.

My notes of Lord Davies of Abersoch’s Closing Keynote Address

A) The best and most successful entrepreneurs:

1. Understand cash and fanatical about it
2. Keep things simple
3. Know how to nurture and grow talent
4. Know when to stand against the crowd

B) Customers are demanding more and more from businesses.  To keep up with this demand, managers should never stop learning or loose their ambition and energy.

C) In the UK, unlike in the US, there is still a social stigma attached to business failure which must change.  We also need a stronger and better functioning VC industry, as the current one is a poor driver for entrepreneurship.  We also need more business angles.

D) It is always important to celebrate success and say thank you!

E) We live in a world with fast technology development and see business cycles getting shorter and shorter.  In this environment corporations must have strong culture of entrepreneurship to cope with unexpected event and to move with speed and courage.

F) In the past, shareholders value was the singular most important corporate driver.  In the future corporations must take more responsibility for the broader consequences of their actions and we need more responsible shareholders, too.

G) The shortage of women entrepreneurs in the UK means 6 to 7 thousand less businesses that could contribute about £42 billion extra revenue to the UK economy.