Interesting to watch Peter Mandelson's announcement this morning of the package of support which has been put together by BERR to support Britain's small business through the current economic crisis.
For those of you who didn't see it, main features are £20billion worth of guarantees matching bank lending 50:50 (so if a bank lends £100k, £50k is guaranteed by the government) plus a £75 million enterprise fund providing seed & working capital for small business.
Small print is that the £20billion support is only going to 'ordinary risk' businesses - and interesting also that the government is only making a provision for £225million in defaults - which is around 1%. Methinks it will prove a lot more expensive to the taxpayer than that.
While it's great that support is being provided for UK business all this feels a bit like King Canute trying to stop the tide coming in. It feels like the government is desperately trying to preserve the business status quo rather than addressing the REAL issue of where is our future wealth going to come from?
As I've said elsewhere on this blog, I would really like BERR to identify key growth sectors - or sectors it would be foolish/dangerous to lose - and target all this financial support at those. For example, renewable energy, manufacturing, engineering, farming and bioscience. That would encourage ailing businesses to divert their energy and resources to exploring new, higher growth areas as well as build a really strong economy to secure the future (which in turn will provide the money to pay for all these current bailouts!)
Like it or not, the world economy is changing dramatically, and much as governments may try I don't think we will ever go back to the mass consumerism era of the past couple of decades.
It's just not sustainable.
Showing posts with label small business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small business. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Sunday, 4 January 2009
38% of small businesses say they won't survive 2009
An incredible 38% of small businesses predict that they will not survive through to the end of 2009, according to an article in today's Financial Mail on Sunday.
Given that there are something like 4 million small businesses in Britain, that's something like 1.5 million businesses which may go under - with the knock on effect of redundancies and creditors being left unpaid.
As I've said elsewhere on this Blog, this country's economy is in serious trouble.
What the above does mean is that there is also tremendous opportunity - in the small business sector - either to help those ailing businesses or to assist the failed entrepreneurs phoenix themselves into new ventures.
Meantime, back to basics business rules now apply. Be careful who you give credit to. Defend cashflow. Adapt your offering to ensure it is still what customers want. And become as flexible as possible so you can move quickly to cut costs if you need to.
Time to batten down the hatches methinks - it's going to be a tough year, but also one of great opportunity for those well prepared to weather the storm.
Given that there are something like 4 million small businesses in Britain, that's something like 1.5 million businesses which may go under - with the knock on effect of redundancies and creditors being left unpaid.
As I've said elsewhere on this Blog, this country's economy is in serious trouble.
What the above does mean is that there is also tremendous opportunity - in the small business sector - either to help those ailing businesses or to assist the failed entrepreneurs phoenix themselves into new ventures.
Meantime, back to basics business rules now apply. Be careful who you give credit to. Defend cashflow. Adapt your offering to ensure it is still what customers want. And become as flexible as possible so you can move quickly to cut costs if you need to.
Time to batten down the hatches methinks - it's going to be a tough year, but also one of great opportunity for those well prepared to weather the storm.
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Sell or Fail
New research by NatWest has revealed that Reality TV shows such as Dragons' Den and The Apprentice are inspiring millions of new business start ups. Apparantly 17 million have considered an idea to create a business, with 30% intending to make their dreams a reality.
That's 5.1 million new businesses coming your way soon!
While on the one hand it is brilliant that so many are now being inspired to go into business, without wishing to sound like a pariah of doom, the sad fact is that within 2 years around two thirds of those new businesses will have failed. That's c3.4 million people dealing with the fallout of business failure and all that goes with it - piles of unsold stock in the garage, boxes of unused brochures/leaflets/letterhead, and in the worst cases bankruptcy proceedings and even marriage breakdown.
I know, not just because I have been there myself, but also because I receive a lot of emails from people who are in that early stage 'Pit' - where all the initial enthusiasm has evaporated, all the money has gone, nothing is working - and they are desperate for help.
The problem with most of these businesses is that they simply have no SALES.
You can have the best business idea in the world; the smartest office; the best website; the flashiest brochures - but without SALES you do not have a business. Yet so many businesses fail to put Sales as their Number 1 daily priority above all else that may be going on - tinkering around the edges of their business instead of going out there and getting deals.
This is the big myth of business - write your business plan, raise capital, put your product or service into production, then go out there and the money will just start pouring in. Personally I think it should be done the other way round - create your product or service in the smallest most inexpensive prototype form; go out to the market and test the reaction (even if that is a last minute cheap stall at an exhibition or a couple of meetings with retail buyers), and SEE IF IT SELLS.
Even if it doesn't, the feedback you will have gained will be invaluable in honing your product. Too big? Too small? Too expensive? Too cheap? Wrong Colour? Too fast? Too slow? Too sweet? Too salt? Badly packaged?
Using realtime customer feedback as your market research is the best way to protect your business from failure - so keep nimble and keep testing until you hit the magic formula.
And only then launch your business in a big way.
Good Luck!
Rachel
That's 5.1 million new businesses coming your way soon!
While on the one hand it is brilliant that so many are now being inspired to go into business, without wishing to sound like a pariah of doom, the sad fact is that within 2 years around two thirds of those new businesses will have failed. That's c3.4 million people dealing with the fallout of business failure and all that goes with it - piles of unsold stock in the garage, boxes of unused brochures/leaflets/letterhead, and in the worst cases bankruptcy proceedings and even marriage breakdown.
I know, not just because I have been there myself, but also because I receive a lot of emails from people who are in that early stage 'Pit' - where all the initial enthusiasm has evaporated, all the money has gone, nothing is working - and they are desperate for help.
The problem with most of these businesses is that they simply have no SALES.
You can have the best business idea in the world; the smartest office; the best website; the flashiest brochures - but without SALES you do not have a business. Yet so many businesses fail to put Sales as their Number 1 daily priority above all else that may be going on - tinkering around the edges of their business instead of going out there and getting deals.
This is the big myth of business - write your business plan, raise capital, put your product or service into production, then go out there and the money will just start pouring in. Personally I think it should be done the other way round - create your product or service in the smallest most inexpensive prototype form; go out to the market and test the reaction (even if that is a last minute cheap stall at an exhibition or a couple of meetings with retail buyers), and SEE IF IT SELLS.
Even if it doesn't, the feedback you will have gained will be invaluable in honing your product. Too big? Too small? Too expensive? Too cheap? Wrong Colour? Too fast? Too slow? Too sweet? Too salt? Badly packaged?
Using realtime customer feedback as your market research is the best way to protect your business from failure - so keep nimble and keep testing until you hit the magic formula.
And only then launch your business in a big way.
Good Luck!
Rachel
Saturday, 7 July 2007
The London Bombings - and other acts of Terrorism
Yesterday was 7 July, and as well as being the 2nd anniversary of the atrocities in London, was also a poignant reminder for me of the day that one of the last nails was driven into the coffin of Red Letter Days - the company I originally founded which went into administration in August 2005...
Earlier that year we had been diverted off course from other re-financing options, by a rescue deal offered by a major company within in our sector - accompanied by all the usual 'you can trust us' assurances.
We had 'opened the kimono' on Day 1 regarding all aspects of the Company, its financials, its problems, its contingent liabilities etc., and yet, despite having got to absolute 11th hour - with all the legals completed and ready to sign - the other side suddenly pulled out.
The CEO of said company (who I have since found out is something of a laughing stock within his industry, and I also think fancied himself as something of a reincarnation of Marcus Aurelius/Julius Caesar) initially placed the blame on a pot of 'Rachel's Organic Forbidden Fruit' yoghurt which his wife had placed in the fridge that week, which he took to be an omen of doom (yes, really).
When we tried to get the deal back on track (on vastly revised terms - of course! - why else does anyone pull out at the last minute if not to take the piss regarding deal structure and price?), 7 July unfolded.
If the pot of yoghurt had a de-stabilising effect, you can imagine what the unfolding scenes of carnage in London did for the deal.
(Didn't stop them coming back a few weeks later to suggest mounting a 'pre-pack' deal to buy the company out of administration for peanuts, but it would be cynical of me to suggest that was the real reason for reneging at the 11th hour.)
If the administration had unfolded during the week (when said company would have been contactable), and not at the weekend, he may well have got it too. Given Red Letter Days' recently filed first year post administration trading loss of £7.1million, that would have truly served the old codger right.
It's naive for anyone to think they can gain value in a highly branded business by pushing a company through an administration process to wipe the debt before acquiring it. It simply causes too much damage to the brand. But I digress...
So, back to 7 July, and all in all it was a most terrible day on all fronts, which will always remain lodged in my memory.
Here we are, 2 years on, and life is very different in so many ways, but in other respects old patterns still continue to emerge.
If you've ever been through an administration you will know that the DTI goes through an investigation process. This was particularly the case with us given that Red Letter Days had been such a high profile crash.
In fact, the Insolvency Service at the DTI put a full time solicitor on the project - who spent 18 months trying to mount a prosecution to disqualify the directors - before finally giving up and admitting there was no case.
The thing that massively counted in our favour (apart from the fact that we were innocent of course!), was getting a top legal firm acting on our behalf.
In a Director's disqualification proceedings, while each prosecution is served on the directors as individuals, typically if one is found guilty, all are guilty - there are just different levels of culpability which affect your period of disqualification.
So it is vitally important that the Directors act collectively, rather than splintering off, blaming one another and generally trying to cover their own arses.
But despite trying to coralle my co-directors, do you think this was possible? No - because no one wanted to commit to the legal cost of fighting the case. And of course, my inept co-Director who was in charge of the company's insurance policies, had not thought to ensure we had adequate Directors' Liability insurance in place to cover us for the running off period, which would have covered the legal bill.
So, while the other directors either ignored the DTI letters altogether or sent back a flimsy 2 page response (or in the case of a certain Finance Director a response which absolved himself totally while stabbing me in the back for all that had gone on), muggins here took it all a lot more seriously (I obviously had more at stake given my profile) and brought in the brilliant insolvency lawyers Ian Grier and Nicholas Hughes at SGH http://www.sghlaw.com/ to fight her corner.
Luckily I had had the foresight to retrieve 18 archive boxes full of all my copies of every Board Meeting, consultant's report, management accounts and cashflow forecasts the company had produced during the period the troubles unfolded (it is strange how things 'disappear' once the company goes into administration and you are no longer allowed access to the building - after all it is hardly in the new owners' interests for you to come out of any of it looking squeaky clean).
All of which meant that my legal team was able to put together a several hundred page response to the DTI, which covered in detail every event of the 2 1/2 year period - every supporting document, right down to copy emails, showing (in absolute excruciating detail) the lengths we (or should I say I?) went to, to try to save the business.
At a personal cost to me of something like £20k in legal fees.
And the contribution from my co-directors? A measy four hundred quid.
I learned a lesson that day, which was once again resurrected for me this week (not just through the 7 July anniversary, but via a series of other events).
When you are running a successful business, or indeed, if you have the 'tag' of being a high profile entrepreneur, everyone wants to hitch their wagon to your star. They love the status of being a 'director', they love connecting themselves to your name, but more than anything they love the thought of 'getting rich quick'.
Yet the sad fact of business is that - whoever you are, from Branson to Sugar - business is tough, there is no 'magic formula', no 'Midas touch', no 'guarantee' of success. The people who are eventually successful get there through putting in an unmitigated amount of effort, focus, committment (both in terms of time, as well as personal cash) and sheer bloody hard work.
Anyone can be a director of a business that is spinning along nicely.
It's when the sh*t starts hitting the fan that you can usually see the true colours of the spineless, penniless ones unfolding - refusing to commit time, effort or hard cash to the cause, running for the hills and leaving you to carry the can.
My advice from all this (and I promise I will get to the point of this Post very soon!) is be very careful of who you allow to hitch their wagon to your star in the first place.
The world is full of lazy passengers looking to make a fast buck, and very few people have really got what it takes to be a real success in business. Choose the wrong business partners and they will dramatically slow you down. So, unless there are very, very good reasons for you to go into business with others - or unless you find a magic person who is the exact complement to your own skills, and is as committed as you are in all respects - you will almost always find it much easier to achieve success by 'going it alone'.
And with that off my chest, I will sign off and enjoy the rest of my Sunday!
Best wishes,
Rachel
Earlier that year we had been diverted off course from other re-financing options, by a rescue deal offered by a major company within in our sector - accompanied by all the usual 'you can trust us' assurances.
We had 'opened the kimono' on Day 1 regarding all aspects of the Company, its financials, its problems, its contingent liabilities etc., and yet, despite having got to absolute 11th hour - with all the legals completed and ready to sign - the other side suddenly pulled out.
The CEO of said company (who I have since found out is something of a laughing stock within his industry, and I also think fancied himself as something of a reincarnation of Marcus Aurelius/Julius Caesar) initially placed the blame on a pot of 'Rachel's Organic Forbidden Fruit' yoghurt which his wife had placed in the fridge that week, which he took to be an omen of doom (yes, really).
When we tried to get the deal back on track (on vastly revised terms - of course! - why else does anyone pull out at the last minute if not to take the piss regarding deal structure and price?), 7 July unfolded.
If the pot of yoghurt had a de-stabilising effect, you can imagine what the unfolding scenes of carnage in London did for the deal.
(Didn't stop them coming back a few weeks later to suggest mounting a 'pre-pack' deal to buy the company out of administration for peanuts, but it would be cynical of me to suggest that was the real reason for reneging at the 11th hour.)
If the administration had unfolded during the week (when said company would have been contactable), and not at the weekend, he may well have got it too. Given Red Letter Days' recently filed first year post administration trading loss of £7.1million, that would have truly served the old codger right.
It's naive for anyone to think they can gain value in a highly branded business by pushing a company through an administration process to wipe the debt before acquiring it. It simply causes too much damage to the brand. But I digress...
So, back to 7 July, and all in all it was a most terrible day on all fronts, which will always remain lodged in my memory.
Here we are, 2 years on, and life is very different in so many ways, but in other respects old patterns still continue to emerge.
If you've ever been through an administration you will know that the DTI goes through an investigation process. This was particularly the case with us given that Red Letter Days had been such a high profile crash.
In fact, the Insolvency Service at the DTI put a full time solicitor on the project - who spent 18 months trying to mount a prosecution to disqualify the directors - before finally giving up and admitting there was no case.
The thing that massively counted in our favour (apart from the fact that we were innocent of course!), was getting a top legal firm acting on our behalf.
In a Director's disqualification proceedings, while each prosecution is served on the directors as individuals, typically if one is found guilty, all are guilty - there are just different levels of culpability which affect your period of disqualification.
So it is vitally important that the Directors act collectively, rather than splintering off, blaming one another and generally trying to cover their own arses.
But despite trying to coralle my co-directors, do you think this was possible? No - because no one wanted to commit to the legal cost of fighting the case. And of course, my inept co-Director who was in charge of the company's insurance policies, had not thought to ensure we had adequate Directors' Liability insurance in place to cover us for the running off period, which would have covered the legal bill.
So, while the other directors either ignored the DTI letters altogether or sent back a flimsy 2 page response (or in the case of a certain Finance Director a response which absolved himself totally while stabbing me in the back for all that had gone on), muggins here took it all a lot more seriously (I obviously had more at stake given my profile) and brought in the brilliant insolvency lawyers Ian Grier and Nicholas Hughes at SGH http://www.sghlaw.com/ to fight her corner.
Luckily I had had the foresight to retrieve 18 archive boxes full of all my copies of every Board Meeting, consultant's report, management accounts and cashflow forecasts the company had produced during the period the troubles unfolded (it is strange how things 'disappear' once the company goes into administration and you are no longer allowed access to the building - after all it is hardly in the new owners' interests for you to come out of any of it looking squeaky clean).
All of which meant that my legal team was able to put together a several hundred page response to the DTI, which covered in detail every event of the 2 1/2 year period - every supporting document, right down to copy emails, showing (in absolute excruciating detail) the lengths we (or should I say I?) went to, to try to save the business.
At a personal cost to me of something like £20k in legal fees.
And the contribution from my co-directors? A measy four hundred quid.
I learned a lesson that day, which was once again resurrected for me this week (not just through the 7 July anniversary, but via a series of other events).
When you are running a successful business, or indeed, if you have the 'tag' of being a high profile entrepreneur, everyone wants to hitch their wagon to your star. They love the status of being a 'director', they love connecting themselves to your name, but more than anything they love the thought of 'getting rich quick'.
Yet the sad fact of business is that - whoever you are, from Branson to Sugar - business is tough, there is no 'magic formula', no 'Midas touch', no 'guarantee' of success. The people who are eventually successful get there through putting in an unmitigated amount of effort, focus, committment (both in terms of time, as well as personal cash) and sheer bloody hard work.
Anyone can be a director of a business that is spinning along nicely.
It's when the sh*t starts hitting the fan that you can usually see the true colours of the spineless, penniless ones unfolding - refusing to commit time, effort or hard cash to the cause, running for the hills and leaving you to carry the can.
My advice from all this (and I promise I will get to the point of this Post very soon!) is be very careful of who you allow to hitch their wagon to your star in the first place.
The world is full of lazy passengers looking to make a fast buck, and very few people have really got what it takes to be a real success in business. Choose the wrong business partners and they will dramatically slow you down. So, unless there are very, very good reasons for you to go into business with others - or unless you find a magic person who is the exact complement to your own skills, and is as committed as you are in all respects - you will almost always find it much easier to achieve success by 'going it alone'.
And with that off my chest, I will sign off and enjoy the rest of my Sunday!
Best wishes,
Rachel
Saturday, 30 June 2007
Why Products Fail
Since writing my blog below about Peter Jones' new show Tycoon, I set up a Google Alert which has since sent me every online piece documenting - in excruciating detail - the failure of Peter's latest TV project.
When you are entrepreneur just starting out, at least you can mistakes (and there always will be mistakes!) in private, whereas we 'Celebrity Entrepreneurs' are always under the full and often embarassing glare of the media spotlight.
Although I actually feel for Peter, having been through my own very public 'media meltdown', nonetheless it did prompt me to think about what makes a great product (whether that be a TV programme, or any other creation out of which you intend to make money).
When the Dragons were first approached by the BBC and introduced to the talented producer Martyn Smith, who had been commissioned to create the concept for Dragons' Den, I think we all expected an X-Factor type show in a studio at White City.
Instead we were sent to a desolate warehouse in one of London's less safe suburbs, sat on mis-matching chairs in a bleak set and had no real instruction on what was about to unfold.
But when the first series of Dragons' Den was aired back in January 2005, it was clear just from watching episode one that the BBC had a hit on their hands. Although it was quite raw and the entrepreneurs weren't brilliant, to me that first series was by far the best - it had a great energy; the Dragon egos had not become bigger than the Show itself and the entrepreneurs were truly desperate for funding and support - not just after a free primetime TV ad.
In short, Martyn Smith threw out all conventional TV wisdom - and took the risk to create something briliantly innovative and original, which would change the way business TV programmes were conceived forever. And the BBC has been milking the formula relentlessly ever since (in fact, some would say the cow has long since run out of milk).
The reasons why Dragons' Den was such a success are exactly the same reasons why Tycoon - and many other products like it - failed.
Playing safe and following what others have done before may seem like a solid option to achieve success, but in business it is actually often the riskiest approach you can take.
When you are entrepreneur just starting out, at least you can mistakes (and there always will be mistakes!) in private, whereas we 'Celebrity Entrepreneurs' are always under the full and often embarassing glare of the media spotlight.
Although I actually feel for Peter, having been through my own very public 'media meltdown', nonetheless it did prompt me to think about what makes a great product (whether that be a TV programme, or any other creation out of which you intend to make money).
When the Dragons were first approached by the BBC and introduced to the talented producer Martyn Smith, who had been commissioned to create the concept for Dragons' Den, I think we all expected an X-Factor type show in a studio at White City.
Instead we were sent to a desolate warehouse in one of London's less safe suburbs, sat on mis-matching chairs in a bleak set and had no real instruction on what was about to unfold.
But when the first series of Dragons' Den was aired back in January 2005, it was clear just from watching episode one that the BBC had a hit on their hands. Although it was quite raw and the entrepreneurs weren't brilliant, to me that first series was by far the best - it had a great energy; the Dragon egos had not become bigger than the Show itself and the entrepreneurs were truly desperate for funding and support - not just after a free primetime TV ad.
In short, Martyn Smith threw out all conventional TV wisdom - and took the risk to create something briliantly innovative and original, which would change the way business TV programmes were conceived forever. And the BBC has been milking the formula relentlessly ever since (in fact, some would say the cow has long since run out of milk).
The reasons why Dragons' Den was such a success are exactly the same reasons why Tycoon - and many other products like it - failed.
Playing safe and following what others have done before may seem like a solid option to achieve success, but in business it is actually often the riskiest approach you can take.
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Alpha Females
Congratulations to Management Today for profiling the 'Top 35 Women Under 35' in this month's issue - but shame on the Sunday Times this week for labelling them 'Alpha Females' !
I've met several of the ladies on the list and can categorically say that they are 180 degrees opposite to the old fashioned 'Alpha Male' breed of businessmen. Yes, they are all focussed and determined - but the similarity really does end there.
Women tend to go into business through passion for what they do, not for profit. But ironically, it's that same passion - to sell great products, give fantastic services and create unforgettable experiences - that gives these 'Passionpreneurs' a formidable edge over their Alpha Male adversaries, who are typically much more interested in making money than in the customers who spend it.
Women who create businesses from the heart also create a really positive flow of energy - so vibrant that you actually feel energised in their presence - an energy which magically seems to attract the right people, as well as an abundance of opportunity. Speak to any Passionpreneur about their entrepreneurial journey and you can't fail to notice that amazing coincidences and synchronicity always seem to feature vividly in the mix.
Yes, there are still a few hard faced 'Alpha Females' out there, trying to prove they can be 'as good as the men' - in their navy pinstripe skirt suits and black stilletto uniforms.
By contrast, our Passionpreneurs are successful while still being feminine, and also run their business with tremendous ethics and integrity, realising that relentless pursuit of profit at any cost can no longer be the sole business driver in the 21st century .
Which magnetically attracts customers like bees to honey.
And given that 80% of consumer decisions are now made or influenced by women, it would seem that the time is ripe for our Passionpreneurs to show the men a thing or two about what it really means to be successful in business.
I've met several of the ladies on the list and can categorically say that they are 180 degrees opposite to the old fashioned 'Alpha Male' breed of businessmen. Yes, they are all focussed and determined - but the similarity really does end there.
Women tend to go into business through passion for what they do, not for profit. But ironically, it's that same passion - to sell great products, give fantastic services and create unforgettable experiences - that gives these 'Passionpreneurs' a formidable edge over their Alpha Male adversaries, who are typically much more interested in making money than in the customers who spend it.
Women who create businesses from the heart also create a really positive flow of energy - so vibrant that you actually feel energised in their presence - an energy which magically seems to attract the right people, as well as an abundance of opportunity. Speak to any Passionpreneur about their entrepreneurial journey and you can't fail to notice that amazing coincidences and synchronicity always seem to feature vividly in the mix.
Yes, there are still a few hard faced 'Alpha Females' out there, trying to prove they can be 'as good as the men' - in their navy pinstripe skirt suits and black stilletto uniforms.
By contrast, our Passionpreneurs are successful while still being feminine, and also run their business with tremendous ethics and integrity, realising that relentless pursuit of profit at any cost can no longer be the sole business driver in the 21st century .
Which magnetically attracts customers like bees to honey.
And given that 80% of consumer decisions are now made or influenced by women, it would seem that the time is ripe for our Passionpreneurs to show the men a thing or two about what it really means to be successful in business.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Peter Jones' New Show 'Tycoon'
I tuned in to last night's much hyped new ITV business series 'Tycoon' with much anticipation.
Not only am I an avid fan of the new breed of TV business shows, but also having known Peter Jones 'before he was famous' - when we filmed series 1 of Dragons' Den back in 2003 - I was interested to see how he had developed in his role as 'celebrity entrepreneur'.
But minutes in, as we were flown over the City of London in the opening credits and then had a street level view of his shiny new Bentley arriving outside a disused warehouse-type building, it became clear that we were destined to endure a lowest common denominator formulaic pastiche of The Apprentice meets Dragons' Den.
Jones has selected 6 would-be entrepreneurs to take part in the show, each trying to build their business in a 10 week period working in an open plan office, under the scrutiny and 'guidance' of Jones.
The problem with the show is that it quickly becomes apparent that Jones hasn't a clue about brands or marketing, constantly misguiding the businesses in his charge.
Thus we see the 'Gardening Girlies' being encouraged to re-brand to something more 'attention grabbing' - and then being heaped with praise for coming up with the new identity 'Sod Women'. Personally I can't think of a brand name more likely to alienate what is predominantly a female, middle England target customer.
Similarly, vodka juice girl was given a slating by Jones for her attempts at finding a name for her product - citing 'Death' cigarettes as a great example of an attention grabbing brand (yes, those were the fags launched in 1991 by the company which was in liquidation by 1999). She finally resorted to grabbing passing joggers on the South Bank for their suggestions.
Back to the warehouse office and Jones has summoned everyone to a meeting to discuss their progress. The Gardening Girlies, sorry I mean 'Sod Women', have arrived in navy pinstripe suits wearing ties - only to receive more praise from Jones for showing so much progress under his guidance. No doubt in a future episode they will arrive having undergone a complete sex change, only for Jones to coo 'Congratulations ladyboys, the penny has finally dropped with you that only men can be successful in business'.
Finally, Jones heads down a pier for a showdown with vodka juice girl - plus the inevitable threat of a sacking - when what she really needed most at this point is some friendly guidance from one of London's big branding agencies.
This is where I think the show was so disappointing compared to, say, the brilliant Mary Queen of Shops (BBC2 Thursdays 9pm). In that series, Mary Portas not only points out where the businesses are going wrong, but then really gives brilliant hands-on guidance - by bringing some of the top fashion professionals in to help show how it should be done.
As the show progressed, while Jones' teeth got whiter, his cufflinks got bigger and the Bentley got shinier, Jones personality got thinner and thinner. By the end of the epsiode I was left feeling that this was simply another TV vehicle for his now monstrous sized alpha male ego.
The penny finally dropped when we saw the last frame and realised that the show had been created and produced by Jones' own TV production company Peter Jones TV. Like his Max Clifford co-client Simon Cowell, Jones clearly sees TV production as his latest way to make some much needed money.
A quick peek at the latest Phones International accounts shows why the diversification is needed - £4million profit on £186million sales is a nice business to have, but hardly puts Jones in the 'Tycoon' bracket of a Branson, Dyson or Sugar. Especially when up the road at Red Letter Days (the business I started, which Jones acquired out of administration in 2005 in a flourish of 'I'm-a-Dragon-and-I-know-a-Great-Business-Opportunity-When-I-see-One' publicity) has just filed a loss of £7.1 million.
While the TV route may have worked for Simon Cowell, sadly I don't see the same happening for Peter. While the idea for the show was great, the execution was lousy, and as one of Britain's supposed new breed of business leader, Jones just doesn't have the X-Factor.
Not only am I an avid fan of the new breed of TV business shows, but also having known Peter Jones 'before he was famous' - when we filmed series 1 of Dragons' Den back in 2003 - I was interested to see how he had developed in his role as 'celebrity entrepreneur'.
But minutes in, as we were flown over the City of London in the opening credits and then had a street level view of his shiny new Bentley arriving outside a disused warehouse-type building, it became clear that we were destined to endure a lowest common denominator formulaic pastiche of The Apprentice meets Dragons' Den.
Jones has selected 6 would-be entrepreneurs to take part in the show, each trying to build their business in a 10 week period working in an open plan office, under the scrutiny and 'guidance' of Jones.
The problem with the show is that it quickly becomes apparent that Jones hasn't a clue about brands or marketing, constantly misguiding the businesses in his charge.
Thus we see the 'Gardening Girlies' being encouraged to re-brand to something more 'attention grabbing' - and then being heaped with praise for coming up with the new identity 'Sod Women'. Personally I can't think of a brand name more likely to alienate what is predominantly a female, middle England target customer.
Similarly, vodka juice girl was given a slating by Jones for her attempts at finding a name for her product - citing 'Death' cigarettes as a great example of an attention grabbing brand (yes, those were the fags launched in 1991 by the company which was in liquidation by 1999). She finally resorted to grabbing passing joggers on the South Bank for their suggestions.
Back to the warehouse office and Jones has summoned everyone to a meeting to discuss their progress. The Gardening Girlies, sorry I mean 'Sod Women', have arrived in navy pinstripe suits wearing ties - only to receive more praise from Jones for showing so much progress under his guidance. No doubt in a future episode they will arrive having undergone a complete sex change, only for Jones to coo 'Congratulations ladyboys, the penny has finally dropped with you that only men can be successful in business'.
Finally, Jones heads down a pier for a showdown with vodka juice girl - plus the inevitable threat of a sacking - when what she really needed most at this point is some friendly guidance from one of London's big branding agencies.
This is where I think the show was so disappointing compared to, say, the brilliant Mary Queen of Shops (BBC2 Thursdays 9pm). In that series, Mary Portas not only points out where the businesses are going wrong, but then really gives brilliant hands-on guidance - by bringing some of the top fashion professionals in to help show how it should be done.
As the show progressed, while Jones' teeth got whiter, his cufflinks got bigger and the Bentley got shinier, Jones personality got thinner and thinner. By the end of the epsiode I was left feeling that this was simply another TV vehicle for his now monstrous sized alpha male ego.
The penny finally dropped when we saw the last frame and realised that the show had been created and produced by Jones' own TV production company Peter Jones TV. Like his Max Clifford co-client Simon Cowell, Jones clearly sees TV production as his latest way to make some much needed money.
A quick peek at the latest Phones International accounts shows why the diversification is needed - £4million profit on £186million sales is a nice business to have, but hardly puts Jones in the 'Tycoon' bracket of a Branson, Dyson or Sugar. Especially when up the road at Red Letter Days (the business I started, which Jones acquired out of administration in 2005 in a flourish of 'I'm-a-Dragon-and-I-know-a-Great-Business-Opportunity-When-I-see-One' publicity) has just filed a loss of £7.1 million.
While the TV route may have worked for Simon Cowell, sadly I don't see the same happening for Peter. While the idea for the show was great, the execution was lousy, and as one of Britain's supposed new breed of business leader, Jones just doesn't have the X-Factor.
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
Big Fish and (Two) Dragons
Fresh back from London (I love London and still find myself spending at least two days a week down there, but am always grateful to get back to our beautiful home in the Peak District), and full of renewed inspiration for entrepreneurship...
Yesterday I interviewed Karan Bilimoria (founder of Cobra Beer) for my forthcoming book on entrepreneurship - and then went to the Big Fish entrepreneur's networking event http://www.bigfishnetwork.co.uk/sponsor.aspx in the evening to hear my old pal and co-Dragon Doug Richard talk about his entrepreneurial experiences.
Karan is the most charming man; newly appointed as a member of the House of Lords and now moving in terribly high circles. We both started our businesses back in 1989 and have both faced business meltdowns; his in 1998 when, similarly to me, the banks pulled the plug - the difference being he managed to survive! Since then, he has gone international with the Cobra Beer brand and now has the vision to take sales to £1billion - and will probably float in 2008/9.
His new book is a great read too - get it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bottled-Business-Gassy-Guide-Entrepreneurship/dp/1841127264/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-8916901-1947858?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182260901&sr=8-1
Doug was in brilliant form and actually it is the first time I had heard him speak and tell his own story. He started out building software businesses in the States before coming to the UK and becoming an Angel Investor.
I always felt that Doug was one of the best ever Dragons - certainly the cleverest, sharpest and most entertaining; the Show just isn't the same without him.
On that note, I saw at the weekend the BBC has just announced the line up for Series 5 - Richard Farleigh has gone in favour of James Caan - some much needed fresh blood, but personally I would have kept Richard Farleigh - who represented the only human face of business on the Panel.
Dragons' Den may be good ratings fodder for the BBC but as a business show has totally lost all credibility - and that is a view consistently echoed by the entrepreneurs I meet at business events up and down the country. The old pin-stripe suited 'greed is good' Alpha Male (& Alpha Female) face of business is now so dated, it's really time that the BBC woke up to the fact that there are a whole new generation of entrepreneurs out there doing business in a much more ethical, collaborative way, and with real integrity and respect for others.
And, ironically, it is exactly those types of business that are increasingly turning customers on too.
Yesterday I interviewed Karan Bilimoria (founder of Cobra Beer) for my forthcoming book on entrepreneurship - and then went to the Big Fish entrepreneur's networking event http://www.bigfishnetwork.co.uk/sponsor.aspx in the evening to hear my old pal and co-Dragon Doug Richard talk about his entrepreneurial experiences.
Karan is the most charming man; newly appointed as a member of the House of Lords and now moving in terribly high circles. We both started our businesses back in 1989 and have both faced business meltdowns; his in 1998 when, similarly to me, the banks pulled the plug - the difference being he managed to survive! Since then, he has gone international with the Cobra Beer brand and now has the vision to take sales to £1billion - and will probably float in 2008/9.
His new book is a great read too - get it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bottled-Business-Gassy-Guide-Entrepreneurship/dp/1841127264/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-8916901-1947858?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182260901&sr=8-1
Doug was in brilliant form and actually it is the first time I had heard him speak and tell his own story. He started out building software businesses in the States before coming to the UK and becoming an Angel Investor.
I always felt that Doug was one of the best ever Dragons - certainly the cleverest, sharpest and most entertaining; the Show just isn't the same without him.
On that note, I saw at the weekend the BBC has just announced the line up for Series 5 - Richard Farleigh has gone in favour of James Caan - some much needed fresh blood, but personally I would have kept Richard Farleigh - who represented the only human face of business on the Panel.
Dragons' Den may be good ratings fodder for the BBC but as a business show has totally lost all credibility - and that is a view consistently echoed by the entrepreneurs I meet at business events up and down the country. The old pin-stripe suited 'greed is good' Alpha Male (& Alpha Female) face of business is now so dated, it's really time that the BBC woke up to the fact that there are a whole new generation of entrepreneurs out there doing business in a much more ethical, collaborative way, and with real integrity and respect for others.
And, ironically, it is exactly those types of business that are increasingly turning customers on too.
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