Tips

With Startacus' own collaboration platform on its way very soon, the subject of ideas, innovation and collaboration is close to Startacus' heart. Guest Writer Clare Griffiths asks; Innovating with people? What’s that all about?Many people mistakenly limit innovation with technological developments. However, as I have already asserted in this series, innovation is much more than that – ...
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Peter Ames of Office Genie makes a case for why your startup could benefit from a leap into the world of shared offices...  Life as a home-based startup owner can be difficult: there are a myriad of potential distractions in the home. Distinctions between work and personal lives may begin to blur. You may start wondering if life might be better in a more focused environment. This is where a ...
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Trade fairs and exhibitions can be one of the best ways of promoting your business or craft and getting your name out there. The organisers of these fairs and exhibitions all tend to be experts in sales and marketing, promoting their particular event as being the biggest, the best, the most unique or whatever. Deciding then which event to attend can be pretty difficult, since they all claim to be ...
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Do forgive us if you feel the language used in this article is rather basic, however, most new self starters and startups can be forgiven for not appreciating or understanding where and how they can go about raising money to fund their start up. So, look at this as being our ‘beginners guide’ to finance and raising capital - and hopefully these nine financing options will help you out ...
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Whether you are looking for investment or simply to get a new customer, perfecting your Elevator Pitch is a must - these basic tips should help...Whether you’re looking for funding from an investor, communicating with a potential client or you simply casually meet someone at an event or otherwise, describing who you are and what you do is vitally important in determining how they view you im...
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These days there are apps for virtually everything and everybody. And if you’re the creative type, you’re pretty much spoilt for choice with the range of apps that are available for your smartphone or tablet. But which are the best? Which should you be using? Well...to be honest, we could probably write about the best and must-have apps for hours, but we know that you’d probably ...
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Creating a Marketing Plan - the basics...For a business to be really successful one of the key elements that needs to be addressed from the earliest stages is the whole issue of Marketing. Of course you could decide to just let your business coast along but chances are you’ll get a whole lot further and in a more straightforward way if you just put a little effort into creating a Marketing P...
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Doug Richard of School for Startups and Dragon's Den Fame guest writes for Startacus with some handy tips for Designers to beat the recession...   1.  Sell your work at local events. That local market or pop up shop is your best chance to meet customers face to face, to show them your work, to find out why they buy when they buy and to see what they are selling. If the fees are too hig...
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Some great pointers from Joseph Benn on how to avoid the Dragons-Den-like humiliation when your idea is broken down (and into pieces). Startacus will be using some of these tips for sure...Dragons Den....The entrepreneurs presentation is going really well.All of a sudden the Dragons ask a question the entrepreneur has not thought about (or more often than not wilfully ignored). Cue music chan...
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Money (or lack of it) is so important when starting a business. So here is a guest post offering some handy tips to keep you going without spending a small fortune. So you have your great idea all set and ready to go. Your business plan is infallible and you’ve thought through every possible contingency. You are a business god. Unfortunately, you’re also dirt poor and the idea of ...
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Thinking of seeking Angel Investment? We give the rundown on some of the basics that you need to know... When you’re trying to get a business off the ground, the primary focus, at least initially anyway is usually money related. Getting those all essential funds together can be one of the most difficult tasks of all - difficult, yes, but certainly not impossible. From banks to crowdfunding,...
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Clare Griffiths is a Director of Think Innovate Change, a company which enables individuals and organisations to become more innovative by designing and delivering practical innovation management courses, tools and solutions. Last month Clare began the first of a series of helpful articles when she wrote about how you can generate creative business ideas. This month she goes on to talk about ...
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