This document is the September 2012 issue of Talk Business magazine. It contains articles on various topics related to running a business such as entrepreneur profiles of Moonpig founder Nick Jenkins and printed.com's Nicholas Green, guides to success, marketing, social media strategy, and legal and financial issues for businesses. It also includes advertisements from business service providers.

1. TALKBUSINESSSEPTEMBER2012ISSUE12
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8. 101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1101210_gbr_smb_aug_1b_4c_pcp_fp210x297_talk_business_pr.indd 1 8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM8/24/12 11:06 AM

9. talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 09
Inside
96
18
36
Inside
Editor’s letter
News & events
Letters
Focus on success
Face on the cover
Moonpig entrepreneur Nick Jenkins
Take one company
Inspired Thinking Group
Introducing…
TB grills an up-and-comer
12 steps to success
Carly Ward shows us step three
Here come the girls
Three businesswomen tell their
success stories
Writing the business book
How to stand out from the crowd
Book reviews
The daily grind
printed.com’s Nicholas Green
Focus on money
Beating a bad rep
Recover our banks’ reputations
Growing pains
Seven steps to profitable growth
Go with the cash flow
Six top tips
Before you sign on the dotted line…
First in a new series of legal features
Focus on strategy
Baby talk
Claire Young on balancing business
with a new baby
How’s your social life?
The importance of social media
strategy
The branding column
Rich With on keeping it sexy
The 50 Shades phenomenon
Learning from a marketing marvel
Good things come in micro packages
Running a micro business
A new lease of life
Commercial leases for your business
Don’t waste your energy
Business energy costs
Lost in translation
Entering foreign markets
A tale of three businesses
Social media case studies
11
13
16
18
24
26
28
30
33
35
130
36
40
45
49
51
52
54
57
58
60
63
64
66
Focus on marketing
The marketing column
Kimberly Davis’ marketing MOT
The Google gurus
Improving your rankings
Stop the press!
How to use B2B PR
You’re how much?
Managing prospects’ expectations
Focus on people
The people column
Lee McQueen on networking
The baby boom
Maternity cover
Culture shock
Cultural assumptions in the
workplace
Take a load off
Dealing with executive stress
Secret diary of an entrepreneur
Caroline Stanbury’s Paris and
Milan diary
Focus on technology
Enhancing the online experience
Building a superior website
How smart is your site?
Smart phone-compatible websites
I’ve got an app for that
The best business apps around
All together now
Collaborative technologies
Gadgets to sigh for
Our favourite cases for tablets
and laptops
Focus on franchise
Franchise news
Spotlight
Cartridge World
Take one franchisee
Recognition Express’ Jan Chidley
Driving your business
Pros and cons of franchising
your business
68
71
77
80
85
87
90
95
96
98
103
105
110
112
114
115
118
121
009 contents.**ga**.indd 9 11/09/2012 12:24

10. Untitled-1 1 10/09/2012 09:42

11. talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 11
Scan this QR code to register
for your free
copy of Talk Business
EDITOR
Helen Coffey
helen.coffey@astongreenlake.com
DESIGN
Stephanie Allingham
stephanie.allingham@astongreenlake.com
Ross Trigg
ross.trigg@astongreenlake.com
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
An Truong
artwork@astongreenlake.com
WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Mitchell Finlay
mitchell.finlay@astongreenlake.com
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Scott Hartley
scott.hartley@astongreenlake.com
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Damien Ward
damien.ward@astongreenlake.com
Trystan Hurley
trystan.hurley@astongreenlake.com
FINANCE DIRECTOR
Stephen Jones
stephen@astongreenlake.com
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Jay Boisvert
jay@astongreenlake.com
Circulation/subscriptions:
UK £40, EUROPE £60, REST OF WORLD £95
Circulation enquiries:
Aston Greenlake Limited
T: 0203 617 4680
Talk Business is published 12 times a year
by Aston Greenlake Limited.
Floor 8, 6 Mitre Passage
Peninsula Central
Greenwich, London
SE10 0ER
T:02036174681
©Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
No part of Talk Business may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, without the prior written consent of the editor.
Talk Business will make every effort to return picture
material, but it is sent at owner’s risk.
Due to the nature of the printing process, images can
be subject to a variation of up to 15 per cent, therefore
Aston Greenlake Limited cannot be held responsible
for such variation.
Comment
Back to school
I don’t know about you, but I definitely have the back to school blues. Who
knew I’d still get them when school was but a distant memory? The summer
of Olympic glory, bursts of transient sunshine, festivals, holidays and long
weekends is officially over. It’s time to turn the ‘out of office’ off for good, put
the sandals and sunglasses back in cold storage (literally), and get back to the
serious business of, well, business.
The back breaking labour of keeping a company going certainly doesn’t
disappear over the summer, but things inevitably mellow a bit, with both
suppliers and customers unreachable as they head off on vacation. Accompanied
this year by Olympic fever, the season has felt like one long street party at times,
with real life taking a back seat as celebrations took precedence.
So it is natural that the idea of normal life resuming once more can make even
the most positive amongst us feel a little melancholic.
We must remember though, that with the new “term” also comes fresh
opportunities to initiate bold new ideas and ways of doing things, and brand new
chances to innovate and win clients. If you can remember back to your school
days (tough, I know), the new school year was also an exciting time, where
anything seemed possible.
See it as a time to re-engage with staff and customers, to improve and set
goals for the year ahead; a time for renegotiating with suppliers and chasing
new leads. This issue of Talk Business is right behind you, helping to refresh and
reinvigorate with ideas and advice to improve your business. Take inspiration
from the story of Moonpig founder, Nick Jenkins on page 18, find out how to use
PR properly to give your business a facelift on page 77, and peruse some of the
best business apps on the market on page 105.
And if all else fails, cheer yourself up with some new pens and a novelty eraser
for the new term. It always used to work for me.
Enjoy,
Helen Coffey
Editor
011 comment.ga.indd 11 11/09/2012 11:03

12. 12 September 2012
New faces
Neil Thompson is a well seasoned, all-round marketing
specialist. Commercially minded with an insightful and
innovative attitude to problem solving, he is high on results
and low on maintenance.
He started life on the spanners, working in an engineering
shop in Bolton, toying with large Meccano industrial
gearboxes. After an epiphany he sought out the bright lights of
a marketing agency in London.
He loves watching the mighty Saints, spoiling his daughter and
enjoying a pint of the golden nectar that is Carlsberg Export.
Stephen Archer is a founding partner of UK business strategy
and leadership consultancy, Spring Partnerships. With
30 years of business building, marketing and strategic
implementation behind him, he has been described as ‘the
most accurate forecaster of the current recession in the UK.’
He has consulted for CEOs, boards and senior management of
FTSE 100 and multinational companies, including Nestle, GE,
KPMG, Carlsberg and Oracle among others.
Stephen is also a regular commentator in the media,
providing analysis on breaking news affecting businesses.
Zoe Cairns is a social media wizard who helps individuals
and small businesses to create an online awareness. How?
By providing in-depth, step-by-step coaching via videos,
webinars, and one-to-one mentoring on social media.
She has helped many individuals and businesses establish
their online presence and attract new clients within their
niche, which in turn has increased their business profits and
built their email list.
Her motto: “content is king, and video is queen”.
Caroline Stanbury is a straight-talking, well-connected
Londoner. The founder and CEO of the Gift-Library,
Caroline is respected around the world as an authority on
luxury gifting and style.
Having built a successful personal styling business over
ten years, Caroline developed a large and loyal clientele
with designers and artisans across the globe.
In 2008, Caroline launched the Gift-Library, a bespoke
service providing select luxury gifts from more than
100 elite designers. Every single product is handpicked
by Caroline.
Contributors
012 contributors.ga.indd 12 05/09/2012 12:02

13. talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 13
Ne
Dates for the diary
The Business growth shows
11 September
Telford
thebusinessgrowthshow.co.uk
Lectures from two of the
world’s leading economists
12 September, 9.30am
Cass Business School
www.cass.city.ac.uk
MADE:TheEntrepreneurFestival
19-21 September
Sheffield City Hall
www.madefestival.com
The Business growth shows
20 September
Birmingham
thebusinessgrowthshow.co.uk
Optimize 2012
26 & 27 September
AndazHotel,LiverpoolStreet,London
www.casewise.com/
optimize2012
YESNetwork“SocialMedia–What
EveryStartUpShouldKnow”
27 September
Holborn Summit House, London
www.yesnetwork.co.uk/book
The Business growth shows
28 September
Worcester
thebusinessgrowthshow.co.uk
Meaning Conference
1 October
The Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
www.meaningconference.co.uk
Data Days Conference 2012
1 October
Nhow Hotel, Berlin
www.data-days.com
The Business growth shows
2 October
Maidstone
thebusinessgrowthshow.co.uk
The Big Business-Get-Ready
Event
3 October
Cole Court Centre, Twickenham
www.fabulous-women.co.uk
The Business growth shows
5 October
Coventry
thebusinessgrowthshow.co.uk
TheNationalFranchise
Exhibition
5 & 6 October
NEC, Birmingham
www.franchiseinfo.co.uk
National Achievers Congress
London 2012
5-7 October
London Excel Centre
www.nationalachieverscongress.
co.uk
Internet Retailing annual
conference
9 October
Novotel, Hammersmith, London
www.screenevents.co.uk/
IR2012/index.html
NEW RESEARCH CONDUCTED
by ICM on behalf of Boox
highlights the misconceptions
of the self-employed lifestyle,
revealing the true work/life
balance of the self-employed
worker is far more workcentric.
The number of self-employed
workers in the UK and Ireland
has reached a 20-year high
of 4.1 milllion (12% of the
working population). These
latest results indicate that 24%
of self-employed workers take
no holiday at all each year,
compared to 5% of permanent
workers. Additionally, 11% of
contractors have never taken a
holiday due to work demands.
Research suggests that when
on holiday they aren’t able to
switch work mode off, with 45%
of self-employed admitting
to working while on holiday,
compared to only 23% of those
in permanent employment.
Phillip Venn, Managing
Director of Boox, said: ‘The
reality is that when we are in
charge of our own business, the
stresses and strains of securing
our next contract or missing a
deadline play a much greater
role in our lives. This makes
it harder to take time out and
if we do manage to get away,
retreat anxiety makes it that
much more difficult to switch off
from our work life.’
However, despite 48% of
self-employed workers taking
less time off than permanent
employees, 56% believe that
they still have a better work/
life balance when compared to
those in full time employment.
SELF-EMPLOYED
WORK/LIFE
BALANCE REVEALED
News &
events

013_014 news.indd 15 11/09/2012 14:47

14. 14 September 2012
News & events
For more
information,
go to: www.
BizBritain.org
Liz Bingham, Ernst & Young’s
managing partner for people,
said: ‘Professional working
women have told us they face
multiple barriers on their rise
to the top. As a result, British
business is losing its best and
brightest female talent from
the pipeline before they have
even had a chance to smash
the glass ceiling.’
Delving into the findings
behind the barriers, the
survey identified age –
being perceived as too
young or too old – as being
the biggest obstacle that
women face during their
careers. Thirty two percent
of women questioned said
it had impacted on their
career progression to date,
with 27% saying that they
thought it would inhibit their
progression in the future.
Women in the early stages
of their career seemed to be
most acutely impacted, with
half of respondents between
18 and 23 saying age had
been a barrier they’d already
encountered in their career.
THE CONCEPT OF a single
glass ceiling is outdated
and no longer reflects the
realities working life for
women, according to a poll
conducted by Ernst & Young.
The survey of 1,000 UK
working women aged 18-60
revealed that two thirds
believe they faced multiple
barriers throughout their
careers, rather than just a
single ceiling on entry to the
boardroom.
Ernst & Young has
identified four key barriers to
career progression for today’s
working women. These
barriers are: age, lack of role
models, motherhood, and
qualifications and experience.
YOUNG PEOPLE BECOME
ENTREPRENEURS TO
AVOID TUITION FEES
News & events
For more
information,
go to: www.
BizBritain.org
THE LATEST FINDINGS have shown that British young people
are increasingly choosing to become entrepreneurs rather
than going to university.
Asurveyof16-29-year-olds,conductedbythenewlylaunched
social enterprise BizBritain, indicated that around 70% would
like to start their own business if they had adequate support.
According to BizBritain founder Matt Gubba, the
organisation has seen a large increase in the number of
young people who are not prepared to commit to the financial
burden of university when there is no guarantee that it will
result in them landing a well-paid job.
Matt Gubba, founder of BizBritain, said: ‘The notion of going
to university without any real idea of how a degree is going to
be used is fast becoming obsolete. We need to take a fresh
look at ways in which business and entrepreneurship can help
our next generation of young people to succeed in life, and
create value in society.’
Barriers to women’s career
progression identified
EMPLOYERS ARE BEING urged to recruit more
old talent after new research showed that 65% of
jobseekers aged over 50 would be willing to work
for free.
In a survey of 441 over 50s, the over 50s
jobsite skilledpeople.com found that there was a
strong willingness to do work experience for no
pay, other than expenses, to help secure a new
position.
Over three quarters (75.5%) of those surveyed
said they would accept a lower salary than they
had earned in the past, to secure a new full-time
or part-time job.
Skilledpeople.com’s Managing Director, Keith
Simpson, said: ‘It is indicative of the very deep
frustration felt by the over 50s that, even with
their skills and experience, most would work for
nothing.
‘This is good news for small and medium sized
businesses who can cherry-pick fantastic older
people to fill skills gaps at modest cost.
‘Graduate training schemes and youth
internships abound, as the country wrings its
hands in dismay at youth unemployment, but what
of the forgotten over 50s?’
Skilledpeople.com is run on social enterprise
lines to connect businesses looking for
experienced, skilled employees with suitable
people aged over 50 who are more job-satisfaction
orientated than money-motivated.
SMES URGED TO TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF OLDER TALENT
Formoreinformation,goto:www.skilledpeople.com
013_014 news.indd 16 11/09/2012 14:48

15. GREAT BUSINESS
WEBSITES
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16. 16 September 2012
After almost a year on the scene, we thought it high time
that our thriving Talk Business community had a place to
air their opinions on all things business
Tweets of
the month…
@BradBurton To make your
first million you have to first make
£1,000... £10,000... £100,000...
There are no short cuts.
@GeoffAlexander1 Remember
“It does not matter how many
times you get knocked down, but
how many times you get up.”
@PamMktgNut “Lack of
direction, not lack of time, is the
problem. We all have twenty-four
hour days.” – Zig Ziglar #quotes
@ApprenticeKim Very proud
to announce that I’m the official
marketing columnist for @
TalkBusinessMag! Follow them
and keep a look out!
@Rich_Hoot My new article
in @TalkBusinessMag...it’s
blinkin’ marvellous
@LynnSerafinn DELIGHTEDto
have@TalkBusinessMagassponsor
for#7GGCconference,showing
theircommitmentto#ethics#CSR
@MartinRSpiller Submitted an
article for @TalkBusinessMag
today. Feel like I am about 15
again submitting work for my
tutor....hopefully it’s good enough!
@BizCircuit Sometimes Being
an Entrepreneur Can be Lonely.
But it Doesn’t Have to be
TECH
SAVVY
DearTalkBusiness,
FirstofallIwouldliketocommentonhowrelevant
and helpful the editorial has been for my own
businesses development. I am currently in the process of upgrading the
hardware in the office and implementing a more mobile system to
enable my staff to work on site or at home. Your piece on ‘All systems
go’,outliningthebestmobileoperatingsystems, has been a great help
as it clearly states the features of the different options in a language
that a non-techy such as myself can easily digest. For a company
such as my own, which is in its second year of trading, keeping the
costs low is a must, so reading an article such as this has given me an
insight into the best tech available for my buck!
Great stuff and keep up the good work.
YannikSchtott,copywriter
(byemail)
Hi,
IreallyenjoyedRich’scolumnlastmonth,asalways.Inthe
B2B industry, it’s all too easy to blend in and become one
of the crowd. Rich’s points that you should try and stand
out, rather than becoming a business clone, were key, I
feel. I’m in the process of rebranding my business right
now,andthemostimportantthingforusistohaveareal
personality, that really puts us ahead of the competition
who all look the same. I’m not sure we’ll be dancing
aroundtheofficeanytimesoonthough!
Ryan, consultant
(by post)
Branding fan
Thank you for sending me
the August edition of Talk
Business Magazine.
I have just had a quick flick
through it and I am really
impressed with the quality
and content. Looking forward
to reading it properly later on!
Thanks,
Jo
www.thelovelyroom.co.uk
(by email)
AT A GLANCE
Just a quick note to say how much I’m enjoying reading the magazine. It looks classy, is
very engaging and the content is appropriate and interesting. I love seeing Julie Meyer
on the front cover too – it’s so refreshing to see women on the front cover of a business
magazine, especially Julie who has been seminal in the Internet industry.
I look forward to the next edition!
Anne
www.easynet.com (by email)
Women on top
After almost a year on the scene, we thought it high time
that our thriving Talk Business community had a place to
air their opinions on all things business
If you’d like to send us your
thoughts about Talk Business, or
anything else that’s happening on the
SME scene, just get in touch.
e: helen.coffey@astongreenlake.com
snail mail: Aston Greenlake, 6 Mitre
Passage, 8th floor, Greenwich
Peninsula, London SE10 0ER
Letters
LETTER
OF THE MONTH
014 letters.ga.indd 16 05/09/2012 12:13

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GB101020100230_NGH_210x297_28L.indd 2 12.06.12 11:22
Untitled-1 1 09/07/2012 14:07

18. 18 September 2012
Focus on
success
018_022 FOTC.ga.indd 18 05/09/2012 13:40

19. Focus on success
FACE ON THE COVER
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 19
CARDS RIGHT
Nick Jenkins, the man behind legendary
personalised card company Moonpig,
talksrisktaking,redundanciesandRussia
with Helen Coffey, and reveals why he’ll
neverbeaworkaholic
PLAY YOUR
ove it or loath it, there was
a time when you couldn’t
go anywhere without
hearing the unconscionably
jaunty “Moonpig, dot com!”
jingle issuing from the mouth
of an ecstatic-looking pig in
a space helmet. Seemingly
overnight, the previously unheard
of personalised card company
was all over our TV screens
and, before long, all over our
mantlepieces proclaiming
personalised birthday messages.
Moonpig was officially a hit.
But not an instant hit, it must
be said. In reality, the innovative
online business had been
slogging it out for five years,
reliant purely on word-of-mouth
and repeat business, before
exploding onto the retail scene
with its TV campaign; the rest, as
they say, is history.
I meet founder Nick Jenkins in
central London on a swelteringly
hot morning, just days before
the Olympics are due to begin
in our fair city. It is something
of a privilege that he has agreed
to an interview, particularly
as he tells me he is currently
taking time off from business to
‘recharge his batteries’.
Somewhat unusually for a
super successful entrepreneur
(at least in my experience),
Nick is not a workhorse with a
BlackBerry permanently attached
to his hand like a freakish,
Terminator-esque extra limb.
‘I’m not a workaholic, I’ve
never worked that hard,’ he tells
me with a shrug. ‘I try to work
intelligently – as a general rule I
try not to do things personally that
I could pay someone else to do.’
If not hard work, what then is
the secret of his success?
‘The key to the success of it is
the product, always has been. It
basically does a much better job
than a card you buy in the shop,
full stop,’ says Nick.
You can’t say fairer than that.
And with the slow demise of
former card giant Clinton finally
coming to a head this summer,
with the closure of its last 76
shops, it seems the British
public agrees.
So tell us, how did Moonpig
come about?
I’d always wanted to start my
own company. I went off to
work after university – I went
out to Russia, which was quite
exciting. But I always knew I
wanted to do my own thing. So
when I came back, I left my job
and decided to start my own
business. It was at the time of
the dot com boom, so it seemed
logical to do something with
the Internet. I came up with
a number of different ideas;
Moonpig seemed like the most
sensible of those.
You knew you wanted to
do something online –
what next?
At the time there weren’t many
people with more experience
in the Internet. That was a big
advantage. As they say, in the
land of the blind, the one-eyed
man is king. And I had at least
run a business before – I’d run
a subsidiary of Glencore out in
Moscow. I narrowed down all
the things that could be done
on the Internet. If I was selling
digital cameras, I realised that I
would end up with lots of price
competition, and that would
ultimately squeeze my margins;
because the camera I’m selling
is no different from the one in
the shop. I had to be able to
create something online that
was different: certainly different
from everything available in
the shops. That told me that I
had to do something to do with
personalisation. It was a great
idea, but it worked because
of the timing with the growth
of the Internet.
What other advantages did
Moonpig have?
It was a small product that
could fit through a letterbox,
and it meant that it could be
delivered while people were
out – it could be posted not
couriered. Greetings cards are
a very sentimental product; if
you can get it right, if you can
produce a card that shows that
you’ve really, really thought
about it, it’s just worth so much
more money than an ordinary
card you buy in the shop. That
made it quite a high margin
product. The other great
advantage of the Internet is you
get paid up front and you pay
your suppliers after 60 days. It’s
a perfect business model.
L
“There weren’t
many people
with more
experience in
the Internet.
In the land of
the blind, the
one-eyed man
is king”
“Giving up
your job in
banking and
setting up an
innovative
dot come idea
is risky on so
many levels”

018_022 FOTC.ga.indd 19 05/09/2012 13:40

20. promocode
198 Brent Street, London NW4 1BE
M: 074 1109 0318 T: 020 8203 2577 E: info@yo-net.co.uk www.yo-net.co.uk
Untitled-3 1 05/09/2012 16:38

21. Focus on success
FACE ON THE COVER
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 21
Any serious struggles along
the way?
The biggest challenge of all was
getting customers. Any muppet
can set up a business that does
something; getting enough
customers is another matter.
Because the equation is: what does
it cost you to get a customer, and
what is that customer worth to you
over time. And what the customer
is worth is a factor of two things:
are they going to come back,
and are they going to tell their
friends? The wonderful thing about
Moonpig is that it was inherently a
viral product, in that with a card, I
buy it to give to someone else. Most
of our business in the first three
or four years really came through
word of mouth.
Did the business grow quickly?
It was just a steady growth of
30-40% a year, because our
customers were staying, and they
were getting their friends to come.
And that made up for the fact that
I struggled for the first four years
to find any cost-effective form of
marketing. We just relied entirely
on viral growth, which was slow.
That’s why it took us five years to
make any money. But I realised
that it was going to be cheaper to
allow the business to grow virally
than it was to try and grow it by
spending on marketing initially.
Then finally when we’d broken
even, we decided to experiment
with TV advertising. And, by good
fortune, Moonpig cards seemed
to be a very good product for
advertising on television.
Where did the start-up money
come from?
I had money of my own which I’d
made from my Russian business.
I had shares in Glencore which I
sold. And I raised some money –
£2.5m in total.
Is the key to being a successful
entrepreneur having a strong
product, or is it dependent on
the personality and ambition
of the entrepreneur?
It’s a mixture of all those things.
People say: ‘What type of people
are entrepreneurs?’ But there are
so many different types. There
are some that are complete
workaholics – but I’m not a
workaholic, I’ve never worked that
hard. I try to work intelligently –
as a general rule I try not to do
things personally that I could pay
someone else to do. And then I
focus on the things only I could
do, and that seems to work. But
the most dangerous way to start
a business is to try to invent a
new product. It’s the most risky
way of doing it. Moonpig was in a
sense a new product. People buy
cards, and it’s an improvement
on an existing product, but
to some extent it was a fairly
innovative idea.
Would you say you’re a risk
taker then?
Yeah. The risk doesn’t bother me.
If you open a bread shop, you
always know that people buy
bread – provided that your bread
is OK, and at least as good as
the next person’s bread shop,
you’ll make money. Your chances
of having a complete runaway
success is greater if it’s innovative,
but your chance of success is
probably greater if you’re working
in an existing market. Most
people that make money do so by
starting a business in their own
field, so they know the market,
they know the customers. Giving
up your job in banking and setting
up an innovative dot come idea is
“Any muppet
can set up
a business
that does
something;
getting enough
customers is
anothermatter”

018_022 FOTC.ga.indd 21 05/09/2012 13:46

22. Focus on success
22 September 2012
FACE ON THE COVER
risky on so many levels. But it
works for some!
I was never that worried
about the business from the
point of losing all my money –
I’m not married, I don’t have any
children. It’s easy to shrug off
your own misfortune. It’s harder
if your business failure means
you take your children out of
their school, or you have to sell
the house or your daughter’s
pony or whatever. But when it’s
just you, it’s fine. We start in life
with nothing.
What’s the best thing about
being an entrepreneur?
Probably that there is no ceiling.
You’re limited only by your
own ability. That’s not true in a
normal job – at a certain point
you come up against your boss.
Also the fact that it keeps you
on your toes; you can’t cruise in
the same way.
Anything you don’t like
about it?
When things are going wrong,
it’s very difficult to get out
of it. You can’t just throw
in the keys and walk away.
There is an enormous sense
of responsibility to your
employees, and you don’t have
that option of just throwing in
the towel.
How do you switch off from
that feeling of responsibility?
I’ve never thought about
it really…
It just comes naturally?
As long as you feel as though
you’ve done your best. Inevitably
it’s always there, the ideas
and thoughts are always sort
of whirring away – but I think
that’s the same with people in
employment as well
as entrepreneurs.
If you weren’t an
entrepreneur, what do you
think you’d be up to?
I can’t imagine being in the
corporate world anymore. I’ve
always naturally gravitated
towards doing my own thing.
Do you think everyone wants
to be an entrepreneur these
days, what with Dragons’
Den et al?
A lot of people aspire to it but
don’t ever quite get out of their
comfort zone. It’s very difficult
to give up a well-paid job and
venture out into the unknown. I
know so many people who would
love to do it, and they always say
they’re waiting for their big idea.
The truth is it’s just too difficult to
give up a comfortable well-paid
job. Very often the catalyst for
doing something is redundancy.
Redundancy can be a really
positive thing for some people.
What do you think stops
people?
The biggest problem is money. I
never underestimate how lucky I
was that I had money. If I hadn’t
had that money from Russia, the
business wouldn’t have worked.
I frequently come across people
who want to start their own
business, and they’re starting it
with nothing. It can be done, but
it’s incredibly hard. If you can’t pay
the rent and put food on the
table for six months, you’re going
to struggle.
What would your best piece of
advice be to start-ups trying
to make it in today’s tough
economic climate?
I can just commiserate! I suppose
the only piece of advice I would
give would be that if you have any
slack in the business whatsoever,
make the cut early. A lot of people
are very reluctant to let go of
people or to start that process.
But the fact is you just need to
take a deep breath and get it done
as quickly as possible, because
otherwise you are draining money.
Did you ever have to make
those tough decisions?
Yes – I had to make some
redundancies in Moonpig early
on, because we weren’t going to
survive. It’s not easy, but I realised
it’s not my responsibility to feed
people. A lot of people fall into the
trap of believing that they need
to put food on their employees’
tables. The truth is, most of these
people will find jobs elsewhere.
It’s more a question of how you go
about it, and giving people ample
time, and treating them well.
Are you working on any
business ideas at the moment?
At the moment I’m just taking a
bit of time off. I get approached by
lots of ideas, but I’m just trying to
avoid them all! I’m taking some
time to recharge my batteries.
Do you think you’ll go back
into the entrepreneurial
sphere again?
Almost certainly, because it’s
good fun!
My life
I’m watching: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
I’m reading: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
I’m listening to: I’ve got to go back and listen to
a CD of Alison Balsom
I’m surfing: I’m not a big social networker actually
– more than anything it would probably be Youtube
“If you have
any slack in
the business
whatsoever,
make the
cut early”
018_022 FOTC.ga.indd 22 05/09/2012 13:46

23. Part of the Skipton
Building Society Group
Wearefluentinallthings
Factoring&InvoiceDiscounting
Callustodayon08456029354
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Untitled-3 1 11/09/2012 10:54

24. Focus on success
24 September 2012
TAKE ONE COMPANY
We’re getting all inspired this month by Inspired Thinking Group. Here founder
Simon Ward shares something of the business journey that has seen him win
huge high street clients, and achieve £37m turnover in just three years
young start-up
company that comes
in second only to
Cath Kidson in terms of
annual growth has to be doing
something right. Right?
This is precisely what Inspired
Thinking Group, the brainchild of
Simon Ward, did last year – and
with 2012’s projected turnover
hitting the £37m mark, it shows
no signs of slowing down.
The inspiration for ITG, the
marketing company with a
difference, came while Simon was
working in marketing himself.
‘I realised there were so many
ways in which marketing could
be improved. Firstly, nothing
was joined up and this caused
problems,’ he says.
‘I could not believe how
disorganised it all was. There
was also an obvious barrier as
marketers and IT technicians do
not speak the same language.’
These obvious foibles inherent
in his industry convinced Simon
that there was another, much
more logical and productive
way of doing marketing: one
that joined the dots. And clients
agreed. Right off the bat, Simon
was paying for the business by
winning business: ‘We started
generating turnover by taking on
some work, doing artwork and
one or two other bits.
‘We won some business and
generated some more cash. So,
all the money was self-generated.’
Hence ITG was born, a
company that used the latest
digital and data technologies
to help consumer-facing
businesses improve their
marketing operations.
The challenges were there
from the outset, as they always
are: but failure was simply not an
option according to Simon.
That’s inspired
“Quitting
was never an
option, that is
for sure”
A
024_025 TOC.ga.indd 24 05/09/2012 13:50

25. Focus on success
TAKE ONE COMPANY
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 25
‘Getting any new business off the
ground is hard work. Trying to
get the momentum at the same
time as building processes and
procedures is very difficult.’
Having had a fairly long and
illustrious career already in
business, Simon was well aware
of the task at hand, and had the
confidence in his ideas to ensure
they stayed the course.
‘Quitting was never an option,
that is for sure. We had to give up
some of our ideas, but the core
strategic values, the reason
why we set up ITG, were well
thought out, well considered
and strategically correct.’
Simon puts this success at
overcoming obstacles down to
ITG’s remarkable passion and
commitment to achieving their
aims – right from the outset until
a project is complete.
He says: ‘When you hit a
barrier, as you always do, you
just have to look at it from a
completely different perspective.
‘If people can see that you’ve
got that drive, ambition and
sheer, bloody determination to
really make a difference, most
people will give your ideas a go.
Especially if they can see that you
believe in it yourself.’
This self-belief has certainly
worked wonders for ITG if its
client list is anything to go
by; it has won some of the
biggest names in the consumer
marketplace, despite being in
its inaugural three years. Boots,
Sainsbury’s, KFC, and Marks and
Spencer (to name but a few) have
all come knocking. This sort of
speedy success story can leave
one open-mouthed in disbelief
one moment, and on hands and
knees begging for the magic
formula the next. Simon’s best
advice for businesses looking
to win in today’s market is
surprisingly straightforward
and refreshingly honest: old-
fashioned hard work.
‘If you are willing to work the
long hours to get yourself a core
base then it pays off. We had to
work 20 hours a day for the first
year. If you are willing to work
hard then the world is a great
place, recession or not.’
A solid work ethic underpins
everything ITG does; this is
no “how to make a fast buck”
operation, but rather a labour of
love from people who are driven
by the desire to make things
work better.
If he wasn’t an entrepreneur,
Simon confesses he would
‘probably be driving someone
else mad’.
‘My brand of passion where
you “get up and go” would not
work in the corporate world. I
always want to make something
happen, and I have found that
colleagues in the corporate world
always find a way of stopping you.’
Luckily, he is putting all his
energies into implementing ideas
and finding ways to continually
drive ITG forward – a pastime that
suits him down to the ground.
‘I would much rather answer
to myself and set my own rules
and regulations. Within ITG, we’ve
all got direct responsibilities, but
as a business you can set the
standards, tone, culture and the
attitude right from the word go.
Culture is the most important
thing; if you get the culture right,
the whole business will work.’
It isn’t all a bed of roses though,
as any business – be it a start-up
or a seasoned entrepreneur –
knows all too well.
‘There are very high highs when
things go right, and very low lows
when they don’t,’ says Simon.
‘It can be quite soul destroying
when something does not quite
go your way, but you have to keep
believing. If people can see that
you believe, then there’s a bigger
chance your ideas will succeed.’
The moral of the story is,
seemingly, to believe in yourself
and in your business. Simon and
his team clearly believe in ITG
100%, and make no mistake: they
have plans, big plans.
‘We have such a small
percentage of such a huge
market that there is plenty of
space to grow. There are plenty of
opportunities within the Inspired
Thinking Group services and core
software products.
‘We’ve hardly started; we can,
and will, keep getting bigger.’
Fighting talk indeed, and
looking at what he’s managed
to achieve in just three short
years, undoubtedly on the money.
Feeling inspired? I know I am…
Vital statistics
Date the company was founded: October 2009
Start up capital: £0
Current turnover: £37m
Current net profit: £3.1m
Growth rate: 75% per year
No. of employees when company started: Three
Current workforce: 200
Biggest achievement: We have quite a large
shareholder base, and I do like to share the wealth
My life
I’m watching: I’m an obsessive film watcher;
I watch at least one film a day. The last film I
went to see in the cinema, rather shockingly,
was Mirror Mirror as I took my daughter
I’m reading: I listen to audio books in my car.
At the moment I am listening to Stephen Fry’s
autobiography
I’m listening to: The only music I listen to is
my daughter’s. She is often in my car and I let
her control the radio
I’m surfing: I’m a huge sports fan and like to
surf sites like BBC Sport and Sky Sports
“Culture is
the most
important
thing; if you
get the
culture right,
the whole
business
will work”
Contact:
www.inspiredthinkinggroup.com
024_025 TOC.ga.indd 25 05/09/2012 13:50

26. This month it’s the turn of Shell
LiveWIRE finalist Jules Quinn, who’s
bringing back the nation’s favourite
drink with her online, design-led
teaware company, The *TeaShed
Jules Quinn was still at
university when she came up
with The *TeaShed concept as
part of her fashion marketing
final year project. Spotting a gap
in the market for trendy tea, the
idea was born for a design-led
tea company, born and brewed
in Britain. Well, Geordie land to
be more precise. With quality
whole leaf tea in silky pyramid
bags, packaged innovatively into
paper cups (so you already have
a receptacle with which to drink
your brew), The *TeaShed packs
a serious punch…
Where does The *TeaShed fit
into today’s marketplace?
Nowadays if you were served
instant coffee in a café, you
would be very disappointed – so
why put up with instant tea? I
would compare your standard
dusty teabag with instant coffee,
whereas our whole leaf teabags
are like whole bean coffee. You
really can taste the difference.
What’s your advice to other
young entrepreneurs?
Do as much research as you
can, have a look at the market,
talk to people and even try to
talk to buyers. Be prepared
to change your idea with the
feedback you get. Start small
and don’t invest too much; do
local markets and print your
own labels.
What’s the future of The
*TeaShed (in an ideal world)?
To be national, and then
international. To keep going
with exciting new products and
always bringing our customers
something new. Oh, and also to
do more pop-up *Tea Sheds!
If you weren’t an
entrepreneur, you’d be a…
I don’t think I could do
anything other than run my
own business…
What’s been your worst
ever job?
Haha, I definitely shouldn’t
answer this question!
What’s top of your bucket list?
Take my mum and dad on a
cruise. Since I was young it’s
something I have always said
I wanted to do when I earned
enough money. I’m not sure
they actually want to go on one,
but they are going!
What have been your
biggest challenges as an
entrepreneur?
It’s hard not being able to see
your friends and go out on the
weekend because you have a
market or work to do the next
day. In some ways you do give
up “being young”, but I know
that three years down the line, I
will be much better off than if I
had spent these years out every
weekend drinking.
What gets you out of bed in
the morning?
My dogs barking. So annoying
but so cute.
How much does money
motivate you?
Money alone is definitely not
what drives me. I think it’s
quite hard to pull apart what is
motivating; ultimately it’s the
success of The *TeaShed. This
is determined by the size of the
business, market share, growth
and of course profitability.
Therefore I think it is money
among other things that
motivates me.
What’s been your proudest
moment?
Telling my mum, dad and
sister the size of the John
Lewis order. They have
believed in me and my teabags
from day one, and it was so
nice to show them that they
were right.
My life
I’m watching: Dont trust the B**** in Apartment 23
I’m reading: I have a million magazines still to read/
pull bits out of – these are great for keeping up with
trends and getting ideas
I’m listening to: My sister’s iPod
I’m surfing: Our website. We have just redone it
so I am checking for any more improvements
INTRODUCING…
JULES QUINN
Focus on success
26 September 2012
UP-AND-COMING
Contact:
www.the-teashed.co.uk
026 young entreprneur.ga.indd 26 05/09/2012 13:54

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28. Focus on success
28 September 2012
12 STEPS
The steps to success: Step 3
“Purpose, vision and goals” is the
name of the game this month, as
we take a look at Carly Ward’s
third step on the road to becoming
a successful entrepreneur
No one ever got rich just to
get rich. Charlie Mullins is a
prime example of this. Charlie
is London’s top plumber and
founded Pimlico Plumbers. He is
a multi-millionaire and employs
more than 200 people. From the
age of nine he had a passion for
plumbing and bunked off school
so that he could go to his local
plumbers yard and hang out.
This is how he started on his
entrepreneurial journey – with
an obsession for plumbing, a
desire and passion so strong
that nothing was going to stop
him. There is no doubt Charlie
enjoys being wealthy. However,
without that life purpose of being
a plumber, he probably would
never have been rich.
We all need to have a purpose in
life. Some find it by accident, some
just know what they are meant to
be doing, like Charlie did. We are
all here for a reason and we must
seek out that reason.
Your purpose in life could be
a desire to change something,
invent something that doesn’t
yet exist, to improve something:
anything that you really feel very
strongly about and think you might
be in a position to change. It needs
to be something that excites
you – what is going to make you
bounce out of bed in the morning?
What do you love so much that you
would do it for free? Can you make
money doing it? It is essential to
do something you love, otherwise
you either won’t do it or you will
do it badly. No one becomes
successful by doing things badly.
Once you can determine your life
purpose, you can then start to
visualise what it would look like if
you brought it all to life.
My vision is that every young
person aged16 to 18 has the
chance of learning entrepreneurial
skills, so that they have another
career option in life. I can see
many more businesses being
started than ever before, and
the UK economy turning around
with more businesses creating
more employment opportunities.
I can see it. You need to be able
to see exactly what your journey
destination is, how it looks, what’s
been achieved, and even how it’s
changed the world!
In order to get to your journey
destination (your vision), you must
set goals. It’s rather like setting off
on a journey across Europe in your
car without a Satnav or road map.
If you don’t know where you are
going, you are likely to end up in
the wrong place.
Goals keep you on track and
give you achievable milestones
along the way. Cut it down into
small bites but set the large goal
first. You have to start somewhere.
As Julie Meyer once said to me:
‘Start small, think big and move
fast’. Great advice, and I use it
all the time. Only the top 3% of
successful people in the world set
goals – don’t be one of the 97% of
unsuccessful people who don’t.
Contact:
www.yesnetwork.co.uk
Twitter @carlyyes @yesteam
“What is going
to make you
bounce out
of bed in the
morning?
What do you
love so much
that you would
do it for free?”
028 carly column.ga.indd 28 05/09/2012 13:55

29. Untitled-4 1 05/09/2012 16:42

30. Focus on success
30 September 2012
THE INTERVIEW
HERE
COME THE
GIRLS
Three women, three nationalities, three companies. Cecile Bonnefond, Mairead
Molloy and Jackie Golden are very different businesswomen, but they all have
one thing in common – they are at the very top of their game
heir chosen businesses
span high class dating,
luxury Champagne,
and project management
consultancy. They have their
origins in Ireland, France and
the U.S. They have different
approaches, attitudes
and leadership styles; but
regardless, these international
businesswomen have well and
truly made it to the boardroom
and proven that there is no
place for ‘frailty, thy name is
woman’-type thinking in the
2012 global marketplace.
First up we have Mairead
Molloy from Ireland, client
director and founder of
Berkeley International, the
world’s leading and fastest
growing introduction agency
for wealthy professionals. Next
is Cecile Bonnefond of France,
a long-standing prominent
figure in the French luxury
sector who has just taken the
reins as CEO of prestigious
Champagne houses Piper-
Heidsieck and Charles
Heidsieck. Finalement, from
across the pond we have
Jackie Golden, currently VP
of Global Services for AtTask,
which is just the latest in a
series of high profile business
roles which have seen her
grow profit margins for some
of the biggest companies in the
world. Let’s go and say hi…
T
Luck of the Irish:
Mairead Molloy, Berkeley
International founder
Berkeley International was
born from spotting a niche in
the market for high-end luxury
introduction agencies.
The company idea was
already there, and I just
developed it, so I didn’t need
any money starting out. You
don’t always need money
to start, just a phone and a
computer.
Trying to grow the
membership, and being able
to pick out the people who
were suitable and those
that weren’t, was tricky at
the beginning. Also, people
are very fussy! They say one
thing and mean another. You
become more astute and
aware as time goes on. You’re
dealing with human nature,
and that’s difficult.
I’m a networker so I actually
went out and met people to
grow my client base. It wasn’t
hard, it was just a lot of work.
I worked 16 hour days at the
beginning.
The freedom is the best
bit of being an entrepreneur.
The ability to use whatever
talent you feel you have to the
best of your abilities, without
bureaucracy.
For me, there’s nothing hard
about it. It’s a joy, because it’s
what I love. Obviously it’s a lot
of responsibility, but I wouldn’t
have it any other way.
My advice: work hard, keep
your feet on the ground, take
risks for sure. Don’t invest too
heavily. Have an intelligent eye
and be a hard worker, be one
step ahead of the game, keep
an eye on your competitors.
Be frugal, and don’t get into
debt – if you’re in debt then
you’re not free.
“The freedom
is the best bit
of being an
entrepreneur”
030_031 women in business.indd 30 05/09/2012 13:59

31. Focus on success
THE INTERVIEW
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 31
French connection: Cecile
Bonnefond,Piper-HeidsieckCEO
Many of my family members
are in business, so it was an
obvious option. What I wanted
to do was to work in the food
industry, because it was
about daily choice from the
consumer. When I began it was
the start of people being aware
that what you put in your body
has to do with your health,
and it also has to do with your
social life. There are a lot of
motivations beyond hunger. I
found that fascinating.
I’ve been in the food and
drink business for over 30 years
and I still find it absolutely
great. Especially working
globally – you realise how
different it is country by country
and continent by continent.
Moving to Champagne
was in some ways the same
because what you do with
grapes is not so very different
from what you do with corn
or milk. What makes it very
different is the fact you are
talking about French luxury,
which means a lot of heritage.
If you think about Piper-
Heidsieck it’s been around
since 1785. 1785! We still had
a King and a Queen.
Looking at what made it
possible for me to progress
– certainly the word passion
would come. Passion, work
hard and seize opportunities.
There’s not one CEO
model. Everyone goes at it
with their own personality.
But there are some of the
obvious competencies –
know your business, listen
to your clients, respect your
consumers, be a good leader.
We in France have a
reputation for cooking,
cuisine, perfume, everything
which has to do with the art
de vivre (the art of living), and
if you’re lucky enough to be
involved in that area, it’s a big
honour. It is very demanding,
but it’s also very enjoyable.
“I’ve been in the
food and drink
business for over 30
years and I still find
it absolutely great”
American Dream: Jackie
Golden, AtTask VP of Global
Services
My degree is in business. I was
always one of those people
that every time something was
manual, I thought: ‘There’s
got to be a better way!’ So
I’d go and look for a system,
and I’d learn a programming
language, and I’d start
programming to figure out a
way to make our jobs easier.
I used my business
background and my financial
background and my love of
technology and went out and
started my consulting career.
I ran across AtTask, and got
a call from the founder. I
thought he was calling to hire
me to consult, and he wanted
to hire me full-time.
AtTask started because the
founder had a company and
wanted a project management
solution to manage all the
million things that were going
on – marketing, IT, finance...It
helps organisations to realise
where the waste is in people,
time, and money.
I’ve been in the consulting
business for 15 years now, and
you see a lot of companies, a
lot of different models, a lot of
different ways of approaching the
market. When you see that much,
you really do get very quick at
identifying the right questions to
ask and how to get to the bottom
of things straight away.
Ever since I’ve been at
senior director level, I’ve
usually been the only woman
in the room. I speak to
customers all the time, and
every VP I’m speaking to is
male. You have to play it very
differently as a woman.
Unless I’ve got short hair and
look like a guy, when I walk
into a room of men I have to
intellectually stay on top of my
game, and actually outsmart
them to earn their respect.
“You really do get very quick at
identifying the right questions
to ask and how to get to the
bottom of things”
030_031 women in business.indd 31 05/09/2012 13:59

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33. Focus on success
BUSINESS BOOKS
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 33
Once upon a time…
How do you make your business book unique
and ensure it stands out from the hundreds
of thousands on offer? Leading book coach
Mindy Gibbins-Klein shares her know-how
I often hear business people
saying that, as the market
has been so badly hit by the
recession, they can’t really afford
to take time out to write a book.
My response is, quite simply, you
can’t afford not to. It’s precisely
when times get tough that
customers start scrutinising
their purchases and looking for
the best value for their money.
In a market that is already
competitive, shrinking demand
means fewer pounds flowing
around, and those pounds will
go to the exceptional companies,
those that stand out.
I write this because time
and time again I see truly
inspirational thought leaders
lurking in the shadows when
they should be up there on their
soapbox, demonstrating why they
are the leading light in their field.
In a downturned market,
you need to be making a big
impact by being bold and
opinionated in order to stand
out. You need to be able to share
experiences and knowledge
and, more importantly, your
wisdom and views on key issues
within the market.
No ghost writing please
Customers want to hear your own
beliefs, in your own words. This
doesn’t mean you should go out
and look for a ghost writer to do
the hard work for you though. It’s a
common misconception that using
a ghost writer will save a significant
amount of time. To achieve a really
accurate portrayal of the topic, you
would need to spend time briefing
the writer, then looking at various
drafts, making comments and
amendments and reviewing it again.
With the right plan, structure,
techniques and guidance, anyone
can write a great book in as little
as 40 hours.
Marketing is not enough
Differentiation can obviously be
achieved with marketing, but to
get a real competitive advantage,
you need to get vocal as well.
It is impossible to delegate
the critical task of thought
leadership to someone else.
What we desperately need at
the moment is REAL thought
leadership: content which
asserts your views and opinions
on important issues and provides
a vision that inspires confidence
in both you and your business.
Think about the business
leaders that stand out in your
mind. Chances are, they have
been writing, speaking and quoted
in the market. Being visible and
vocal is the only way to raise your
credibility and stand out from the
crowd. It goes beyond strategic
marketing; this way you get your
own voice heard. It shows faith in
yourself and your brand and that is
very attractive to a customer.
You’re probably thinking: it
can’t be as easy at that. I can
assure you, it is. It is exactly this
kind of boldness that will lift your
book and your unique message
over and above the thousands of
competing titles on offer.
The real question is, are you
willing to rise to the challenge?
“To get a real
competitive
advantage you
need to get
vocal as well”
Contact:
www.mindygk.com
033 writing a business book.ga.indd 33 05/09/2012 14:04

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35. Focus on success
BOOK REVIEWS
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 35
The Hidden
Agenda is
published by
Bibliomotion,
priced at £20.99
in hardback
original
*****
*****
Whether you are pitching your
company, services, ideas, or
simply trying to convince a
friend to try a new restaurant,
veteran ad-man Kevin Allen
argues that success is
contingent, almost exclusively,
on your ability to tap into
the unspoken emotional
motivation of the person
on the receiving end – their
hidden agenda.
In this Wall Street Journal
best seller, Allen offers the
blueprint to elucidating the
not-so-obvious motivations
and desires of a client.
He says: The single most
important thing I’ve learned is that
there is no magic formula, trick or
technique of hypnotic persuasion
that will make people do anything
you say like a bunch of zombies.
Instead, behind every decision
to buy is an unspoken emotional
motivation. People don’t follow you
because they’ve been hoodwinked;
they follow you because they
believe in you. This book is about
how to unlock your target’s hidden
agenda and connect your core
strengths, values, and ambitions
with your prospect in a way that
resonates, engages, wins.
We say:Split into three sections
labelled Who?, What? and How?,
thisbookisdesignedtohelpanyone
and everyone find a formula for
connectingwithprospects’unspoken
emotionaldesires,thereforewinning
them as clients. Allen’s theories
are based on his many years as
a pitch man for some of the top
ad campaigns, and he obviously
knows his stuff. What remains to
be seen is whether his natural gifts
for genuinely empathising with
clients and “getting” them in terms
of their hidden agendas, can
be emulated by less sensitive,
insightful souls than he.
Culture Shock
is published by
Wiley, priced
at £14.99 in
hardback
original and
e-book
Business has changed profoundly
– fuelled by aggressively
advancing technology and a
volatile global economy.
And a new generation of
workforce are looking for
something different. So why has
most business culture remained
unchanged?
Will McInnes, MD of Nixon
McInnes, is here to make a
change – he wants us all to work
in places that are supportive,
open, conducive to creativity,
motivating and fun.
In Culture Shock he maps
out ways to create an uplifting
work culture, and to understand,
mould and implement a 21st
century business model.
He says: We have to start
operating our businesses in
new ways. Because what good
business has to give is so, so
needed. In this book you will find
out how different companies
are doing things better, right
now. Not theories, but real
world realities. The benefits of
these new progressive business
practices are substantial and
broad – from improved financial
measures like lower costs,
higher customer lifetime value,
through to the less measurable
but more meaningful, like
providing purpose and
satisfaction to people and
helping the world become
more sustainable.
We say: You can’t help but be fired
up by McInnes’ call to action: ‘We
need you. Come and change the
world.’ The whole book is designed
to inspire and excite, proving that
doing things differently really
does help businesses thrive, and
that this evolution of the business
model is integral if we are to move
past former economic mistakes.
Outlining a manifesto, which
includes democratic decision
making, open book accounting,
social media tools and “change
velocity”, the idea of responding
and adapting quickly to stay
ahead of the competition, Culture
Shock provides practical steps to
implement radical change in your
business today.
CULTURE SHOCK:
A handbook for 21st century business
by Will McInnes
THE HIDDEN AGENDA:
A proven way to win business and create a following
by Kevin Allen
035 book review.ga.indd 35 11/09/2012 15:02

36. 36 September 2012
BEATING A BAD REP
Stephen Archer, business analyst and director of Spring
Partnerships, takes a look at how the banks can recover
their reputation after the economic turmoil of recent years
here are continued
intakes of breath, tutting
and shaking of heads at
the antics of the banks. Barclays
is in for the harshest criticism
after the scandal a few months
ago, but the banking community
have been viewed as villains ever
since Northern Rock was the
first to have the wheels come
off in 2007 – yes, it’s nearly five
years since this all kicked off.
Incredibly, the Bank of England
has also become tainted by the
latest scandal, and of course
politicians cannot escape
the howls of derision as their
unseen hand in banking affairs
is nonetheless detected.
Let’s put a few less mentioned
facts out there on Barclays.
Firstly, that $450bn fine: $75bn
of this was by the FSA, but the
rest was US regulators, so let us
remember that the bank is in the
global cross hairs, not just the
UK. Though the bank has been
accused of casino banking and
mixing its investment and retail
balance sheets, the rate-fixing
problem related to the whole
of Barclays and its relationship
with the wider interbank market.
Let’s also remember that, with
Government support, Barclays
bought the wreckage of Lehman
Brothers in 2008 – so far the
biggest bank failure in history.
Diamond, his COO and the
chairman resigned after the
scandal broke, but will the
removal of the head cure the
rot among the other 140,000
employees? As is so often the
case, the leadership carries the
can (rather faster than politicians
usually do), so that’s OK then – or
is it? Do we really understand
what has gone wrong? How
far do the problems extend
beyond and beneath the senior
leadership? How do we prevent
such things happening again?
Judging by the repetitiveness
of bank management errors, it
seems that the lessons are
either not being learned or not
learned fast enough.
No matter what the failure,
be it RBS under Goodwin or
Barclays under Diamond, we put
down the root cause of the failure
as leadership.
But how can we say it is
leadership when a) Diamond had
achieved significant financial
results for Barclays and b) it was
not him personally that fixed
the rates? It appears that he
was an effective leader, he got
things done and huge numbers
of people were marshalled to
achieve good results for the bank.
So was it a case of one error
that he was punished for? This is
highly improbable, which means
that Diamond is what I call an
EBL – an effective but bad leader.
T
“It should
be equally
important to
determine
whether
candidates
have the
values and
integrity to
suit the job”

Focus on
money
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38. Focus on money
38 September 2012
BANK REPUTATION
We can point to many others in
history in this category. Robert
Maxwell is a great example.
Generally, only effective leaders
make it to the top, but because
of narcissism, insecurities or
other personal flaws, they are
often really bad leaders.
There are IBLs but they don’t
last long. EGLs, well, we need
more of them. More of the likes
of Ian Cheshire, Lord Patten,
Digby Jones, Barbara Cassani
etc. Leadership effectiveness
skills are well understood,
demonstrable and in most cases
trainable too. Not all of the
great business leaders would
be labelled as “born leaders”
and not being a born leader is
not necessarily an impediment
to progress. But what defines a
“good” rather than an effective
leader? This is harder to
measure, and the problem we
have is that generally leaders
are assessed on effectiveness
and results. How they got
the results and the price of
what may be unacceptable or
unworthy practice is very rarely
evaluated. For example: some
very successful businesses have
very high staff turnover. It is a
cost that may be “blind-eyed”
if the results are good but it is
a sign that leadership is not
matched by followship and that
the leadership is not sustainable.
Bad leaders usually preside
over, create, or tolerate a
bad culture. Tellingly, before
Diamond resigned he said that
the conduct of the fixers was
not in line with ‘the values or
culture of Barclays’. This was
one of the most significant
statements that he made and it
has not been picked up enough
by investigators since. What he
was really admitting was that,
given the amount of time that
the fixing had been going on
for, it was in fact exactly in line
with the culture.
What is culture? It’s “the way
we do things around here”.
Leaders may set the culture
by their explicit instruction,
tolerance and the sorts of
things they reward. In doing
so, the leaders set the cultural
tone. This is why it can be
very hard for the replacement
leader to correct the flaws.
They often have to remove far
more management to enable
progress – removing more
leaders removes the disciples of
the bad culture.
Good culture in turn is a
reflection of good values that
are brought to life, day after
day. It cannot be lip service or
an act. It has to be authentic.
When Diamond was hired,
was he hired for his previous
achievements or his values?
How were these assessed?
This brings us to the crunch
question. How do we prevent this
happening again?
Clearly we need talent: skills
for the business and the softer
skills of leadership. But when
interviewing it should be equally
important to determine whether
candidates have the values and
integrity to suit the job.
So the methods of
recruitment, as directed by
boards, will have to be expanded
to gain far deeper insight into
people. But this cannot be done
before governing boards also
assess the values and culture
that is going to deliver the best
results for the business, and
in turn what leadership skills,
characteristics and values are
essential in senior management
to deliver integrity as well as
results. We really do have to
start at the top, and right now
Mike Rake, deputy chairman of
Barclays, should be doing some
soul searching of the sort that is
not habitual in governing boards.
Contact:
www.springpartnerships.com
“It seems
that the
lessons are
either not
being learned
or not learned
fast enough”
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40. Focus on money
40 September 2012
PROFITABLE GROWTH
Growing pains
Is your business achieving profitable growth? Ishreen
Bradley, managing director of Bizas and co-founder of My
Business Adventure, shares seven steps to make it happen
ith news that the UK
is back in recession,
you could argue
that entrepreneurs don’t have
much cause for positivity.
Many are complaining that it
is hard to grow their business
in these tough times, which is
understandable. However, while
market conditions have been
better, they are not an excuse
for lack of growth. Profitable
growth is achievable even
in the toughest of economic
circumstances.
By following a simple seven-
step approach, entrepreneurs
can go beyond the conversations
and circumstances that hinder
growth and start to realise their
business ambitions.
Step 1 – Direction
Step one is to set the direction
of the business. Having a one-
page business plan outlining
a clear vision, purpose, goals
and quarterly milestones for
each business area will enable a
leadership team to engage with the
future of the company, understand
their personal accountability and
view the company’s performance in
line with its goals.
Step 2 – Energy:
determination, passion,
inspiration
The next step is to have a clear
vision, purpose and set of
values that engages everyone
and gives the business an
energy surge. Don’t be tempted
to opt for a “cookie cutter”
vision either plagiarised from
another company, or to impose
it on people without giving them
the opportunity to respond.
You need to create an
authentic vision and purpose
that is true for you, share
it openly and allow your
employees to challenge it,
contribute to it and get their
thumbprint on it. Only then will
people share the future of the
business. This shared purpose
will be infectious and seep into
conversations with customers
and prospects, enabling sales
at an unprecedented level.
It also enables support staff
and suppliers to experience
being a part of your business
and communicate your brand
powerfully with all stakeholders.
Step 3 – Finance: get the
basics right
We are all in business to make
money, so it is critical that
we manage the basics of our
financial health and monitor
how we are doing. Review the
costs in your business against
what is needed to deliver your
plan. Identify and remove
any non-value adding costs
and re-negotiate supplier
prices where possible. Look
at how you can do things
more effectively and if you can
improve efficiency.
Have you invested in having
accurate financial reporting at
a frequency that fits the rhythm
of your business? For some
businesses, you need to count
the cash daily, for others it could
be weekly or monthly.
Finally, do you have a
financial forecast against which
to track cash flow, or do you
spend money on a whim, only to
find that you don’t have enough
to pay the bills next month?
W
“Do you
spend money
on a whim,
only to find
that you
don’t have
enough to
pay the bills
next month?”
040_041 profitable growth.ga.indd 70 05/09/2012 14:38

41. Forme
Appre
and m
supers
Davis
her se
showi
the rip
from t
Focus on money
PROFITABLE GROWTH
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 41
Step 4 – Your brand: invest
in marketing to stay
competitive and visible
There’s no point in having the
most beautiful dress if you keep
it in the wardrobe. If you don’t
market your business, how will
people know about the benefits
of working with you?
You need to track the return
on your investment with your
marketing and reallocate funds
to marketing activities that
result in profits.
Step 5 – Nail them: hold
onto existing customers
This step is all about making
sure you are managing
relationships with your
customers so well that they
keep working with you. Are
you offering the best possible
service? Are you delivering
on your promises? Have you
followed up to understand their
experience of doing business
with you and used that as an
opportunity to strengthen the
relationship, looking at how else
you can serve them?
Step 6 – One and all: get
everyone involved
This applies when things are
tough and when they are going
well. It is often said that ‘a
problem shared is a problem
halved’. This is very true in
business. Of course, one must be
careful to share the problem in
a responsible way, so your team
can actually do something about
it – or they can see a way forward.
Step 7 – Win: look for
opportunities to leapfrog
your competition
Smart business people are
always looking to grow. What is
your competition doing, and what
can you do to leapfrog over them?
These seven steps, diligently
applied, will ensure your
business grows ahead of the
competition – whatever the
circumstances; whatever is
happening in your industry or
the economy.
Contact:
www.mybusinessadventure.com
www.bizas.co.uk
“Reallocate
funds to
marketing
activities
that result
in profits”
040_041 profitable growth.ga.indd 71 05/09/2012 14:38

42. ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
THE IMPORTANCE OF
TELEPHONE ANSWERING
ê Sales Order Processing ê Disaster Recovery ê Holiday Cover ê Overflow Calls
ê Event and Exhibition Response Handling ê Advertising Response Handling
ê Recruitment Response Handling ê Virtual pa ê Brochure Response Handling and Fulfilment
ê Telephone Answering for Franchises
ad v1.indd
he Virtual Business Centre is
a family operated telephone
answering and ‘virtual’
business Services Company, located
in beautiful rural surroundings in
Wiltshire.
Over the past decade they have
successfully grown their business
by providing flexible telephony and
support services - allowing clients to
concentrate on growing their business
whilst the friendly experienced VBC
team answer their calls – truly
providing a level of professionalism
that all companies should expect.
Focused on our customers
Claire said “When we first set up
VBC we worked out that about 90%
of business transactions take place
through initial telephone contact. We
therefore decided to focus our efforts
on working with SME and medium-
sized clients, where we could make an
immediate difference to their business
in the way that their telephone calls
are handled. All we then had to do was
recruit the right call handlers.”
Professional, capable staff
The business has been successful
by recruiting a team of professional
support staff, providing flexible
working as a means of attracting
highly capable, enthusiastic and
committed staff to work for The
Virtual Business Centre.
Claire said “As a busy working
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staff who maybe cannot fit into a
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a team based around such flexibility
is a win-win situation all round. We
get excellent staff and our clients get
very professional, committed people
handling their calls.”
When every call counts
Evidence suggests that 80% of callers
hang up when their call is diverted
to voicemail, even worse 70% of first
time callers will not ring back if they
get an engaged tone. It is therefore
reassuring to Claire’s clients to know
that whilst they are busy getting on
with their business, we will handle
each of their calls personally and
professionally.
So the message is clear, The
Virtual Business Centre provides an
absolutely critical service to its clients.
When over 1 in 3 businesses are
unable to answer all their incoming
calls, maybe it is time for them to ring
the changes by calling Claire!
“We can have clients set up very
quickly using our state-of-the-art
systems. In fact, we can be ready to
take your calls within a single working
day. This means that if you phone us
today, you needn’t miss that vital call
tomorrow”. Claire added.
T
For further information please visit
www.virtualbusinesscentre.com
or call Claire Brewerton on 01666
511340. Alternatively, please send
your enquiry via email at enquiries@
virtualbusinesscentre.com.
advertorial v1.indd 26 05/09/2012 13:37

43. • UK Based Presence
• Family Business
• Mature Friendly Staff
• No long term contractual tie ins
For more information, contact us on:
P:08080 510866 W:www.virtualbusinesscentre.com E:enquiries@virtualbusinesscentre.com
or follow us on twitter @virtualbuscent
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advertorial v1.indd 27 05/09/2012 13:37

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For further information, call +44(020) 8144 9531
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Jointhethousandsofsmallbusinessesinover70countries
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45. Focus on money
TOP TIPS
talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk 45
n the current economic
climate, managing your
cash flow is more important
than ever. Mark Byrne is the
managing director of Calverton
Finance, an independent
company that provides services
including invoice finance to help
with cash flow. He says there
are many things that companies
can do themselves to help keep
their cash flow in good shape;
here he shares his top six tips
with Talk Business. If you have
a business, you should be doing
all of these...
1) Negotiate credit terms
when you negotiate your
sales price
Begin to think of your cash flow
as the most valuable part of
your business. Every time you
grant credit to your customers
it is costing you cash flow (as
well as real money). Every time
you negotiate credit with your
suppliers it improves your cash
flow (and saves you money).
Credit terms should be
negotiated early on, in your
initial sales meetings.
Make it your goal to be stingy
when granting credit to your
customers and pushy when
negotiating credit with your
suppliers. For new customers,
ask them to pay on invoice, or in
14 days, before you go to 30 days.
To help customers pay
quickly, offer them discounts for
early settlement and consider
penalties for late payment (you
are legally entitled to do this;
go to the Business Link website
and search on “late payment”).
2) Put together realistic cash
flows and review them
Even if it’s just for the next
quarter, put together a cash
flow detailing your future cash
requirement. Review this every
month (every week if cash is
tight) and look at your actual
position against your budgeted
position. If it’s way out then
find out why. Are payments
slowing? Do you need to step up
credit control? Are you making
your margins on sales? Are
you buying the right stock? Are
costs under control?
There are so many variables
and so many ways for cash to
move out of the business, you
must be vigilant. Even if your
cash position is healthy, there
is no room to be complacent in
this market.
3) Don’t pay lip service to
credit control
A good credit controller is worth
their weight in gold and, more
than anything else, good credit
control is about consistency.
Most small companies allocate
too little resource to proper
credit control. Often it will be
the owner-manager who will
chase for payment – probably
the most unsuitable and least
qualified person in the business
Go with the
CASH FLOW
Six tips to help you
manage your cash
flow by man in the
know, Mark Byrne,
MD of Calverton
Finance
I
“There is no
room to be
complacent in
this market”

045_046 money top tips.ga.indd 45 11/09/2012 10:02

46. Focus on money
46 September 2012
TOP TIPS
to be carrying out this crucial
role. This means that credit
control is sporadic and often
panicky, e.g. the customer who
hasn’t been contacted for 60
days gets a call threatening
legal action. Good credit
control works to a system of
statements, letters, telephone
calls and, only if completely
necessary, legal action.
Implement a system of
consistent and regular contact
with the customer; most people
want to pay, you just need to make
sure you are first on their list.
4) Credit check your
customers
This is a must. Although credit
checking agencies work on
historic information, which may
be a year or more out of date,
they will give you a feel for your
customer’s financial strength and
will list County Court Judgments
(CCJs) – a real and immediate
indicator of financial problems.
This is not just for new
customers: remember things
change quickly in this market,
and if you can get regular updates
from a credit agency on your
customers, then this will provide
you with valuable information.
If you do get negative
information, then act on it: chase
harder, put the company on stop,
take legal action if necessary.
5) Consider bad debt
protection
The only reason for not taking
out credit insurance is if you are
dealing with the Government.
If banks can fail, then your
customers can fail. Credit
insurance does not exist to pay
for itself, it is there to protect
one of the most valuable assets
in your business: your debtors.
Businesses will fail. If it is
your customer, make sure that
you are covered.
6) Keep your lender
informed of your progress –
before they have to ask
A disappointingly small number
of our clients are proactive
about keeping us informed
of their progress. Those that
do tend to gain respect and
credibility quickly, so if it
comes to increasing a limit or
arranging an overpayment, their
applications are 90% there.
Send your lender monthly
management accounts
with a brief commentary on
performance. Inform them well in
advance about required changes
or increases in your facility.
I wrote an article back in early
2010 on recession-proofing
your business, which had a
very similar message. It ended:
‘The most important thing to do
is NOT TO DO NOTHING. Your
motto should be: act quickly,
act strongly and believe that this
recession will last twice as long
as everyone thinks.’
As Mervyn King said: ‘We are
only halfway through this’. I get
the feeling he’ll still be saying
that next year.
The big six:
1. Negotiate
2. Review cash flows
3. Be consistent
4. Run credit checks
5. Get insured
6. Be proactive
Contact:
www.CalvertonFinance.co.uk
“If banks can
fail, then your
customers
can fail”
045_046 money top tips.ga.indd 46 11/09/2012 10:02

47. JLP Payroll Services Limited
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048.indd 1 05/09/2012 16:52