How I won the Apprentice

A podcast interview with Lee McQueen of Raw Talent Academy:

Lee on the importance of winning the Apprentice in getting a business off the ground…

It was an absolute necessity in my opinion. I cannot underline enough how important it was and how much I learnt working for Lord Sugar for the past two years.

I went in at a time when Lord Sugar and his son were setting up a business called Amscreen. All they had at the time was an idea; they had no markting, they had no engineers, no product no services, nothing.

Listen to the podcast and read more at BusinessesForSale.com

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Cloud computing: implications for the IT support sector

From BusinessWings: When Google unveiled the Chromebook in May, Sergey Brin, its co-founder, described it as “a new model of computing”.

And yet, the Chromebook is a mere laptop, a breed of computer which tablet PCs and smartphones are rendering, if not yet obsolete, then certainly ungainly and ill-suited to surfing the web.

But Brin wasn’t referring to the physical interface. Rather, Google’s new device, which is manufactured by Samsung and Acer, purports to be the first hardware purpose-built for using applications and storing data exclusively through the internet.

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The secret millionaire and starting a marketing agency

I spoke to Liz Jackson MBE for this podcast interview about her experience on Channel Four show The Secret Millionaire and setting up Great Guns Marketing.

On Great Guns Marketing…

“We’re an outbound, business-to-business lead generation company, which means we makes sales appointments, book delegates into seminars, build databases, client engagement… that kind of activity.”

On the secret of her success…

“Predominantly I would say the talent within the business. The team of people we have here, both the leadership team and the telemarketers, who deliver projects for our clients, which makes a massive difference.

“For all entrepreneurs, we really covet a good team, and understanding who in our team has potential to go from good to great, and working out how you take that person from where they are to realising their full potential. So we work hard at that kind of stuff and it really does pay off.”

Listen to the podcast interview

Queen of Shops Mary Portas turfed out by stubborn baker

Read full article on BusinessWings.co.uk: Last night’s episode of Mary Queen of Shops culminated in the star, retail expert Mary Portas, being kicked out of the business she was tasked to turn around.

Despite having applied for her help, the subject of Portas’ business rescue operation was resistant to pretty much all her prescriptions to help reverse her tumbling profits.

The premise, in case you didn’t know, is that retail doyenne Mary Portas descends on struggling shops and restores them to rude health a la Gordon Ramsay with restaurants, minus the swearing, shouting and hectoring.

Read full article on BusinessWings.co.uk

on BusinessWings.co.uk

YouTube showcase for Paris-based pioneers

From BusinessWings: A new YouTube channel is showcasing high-tech innovations which owe their success – in the case of an electric vehicle, its very existence – to support from the Paris region’s primary business body.

Launched by the Paris Region Economic Development Agency (PREDA), the Paris Region Channel provides a platform to local and overseas entrepreneurs who have chosen the French capital as the base for their operations.

Already the YouTube portal features more than 30 videos in which Paris’s most dynamic entrepreneurs explain how grants, research tax credits and other investment incentives from PREDA have helped them bring new products to market.

Read full article on BusinessWings.co.uk

Genius: born or made?

From BusinessWings.co.uk: The Cambridge dictionary defines ‘genius’ as “a very great and rare natural ability or skill”.

I’m not one to question the authority of such a reputable publication. But a growing body of research suggests that, far from being innate, genius is something one can learn, primarily through sheer hard work and determination.

Of course, a strong correlation exists between IQ and achievement. Nevertheless, research suggests that the proportion of people with IQs in the top 1% of the population that actually achieve greatness in any given field is surprisingly low.

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Genius: born or made?

The Cambridge dictionary defines ‘genius’ as “a very great and rare natural ability or skill”.

I’m not one to question the authority of such a reputable publication. But a growing body of research suggests that, far from being innate, genius is something one can learn, primarily through sheer hard work and determination.

If you look at supposedly natural-born geniuses throughout the ages, how many of them excelled at their particular area without dedicating their lives to it?

Of course, a strong correlation exists between IQ and achievement. Nevertheless, research suggests that the proportion of people with IQs in the top 1% of the population that actually achieve greatness in any given field is surprisingly low.

Read full article on BusinessWings.co.uk

A good time to buy a pub, says broker

From BusinessWings.co.uk: Now could be the right time to buy a pub, according to a business broker specialising in the trade.

Far from discouraging buyers, the parlous state of much of the industry presents a great opportunity for astute buyers to pick up a bargain.

Writing in the Morning Advertiser, Joe Harvey of Savills Licensed Leisure says that “as many pubs are being forced to close or seek administration, arguably now is the time to seek out opportunities.”

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