Entrepreneurs

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Has anybody here got any experience of launching a product/business etc?

Have come up with an idea and a friend of mine, who is an entrepreneur, has offered me the chance to 'lead a team' (of ppl he knows) to take it to market.

:eek:
 

nomadthethird

more issues than Time mag
Has anybody here got any experience of launching a product/business etc?

Have come up with an idea and a friend of mine, who is an entrepreneur, has offered me the chance to 'lead a team' (of ppl he knows) to take it to market.

:eek:

Wow... tough time to do it, but sounds fun.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
"then get some law advice"
Important. One of my friends was involved in some company set up a few years back and one guy basically shafted them and took the idea. They made some money out of it but he took the lion's share and the worst thing is, occasionally they have to do some maintenance on their product - because they make some money from it - and they have to meet up with this guy and see how rich he is from their endeavours. They thought he was a mate.
 

swears

preppy-kei
A friend of mine ran a relatively successful clubnight for a couple of years before moving abroad. He worked his arse off and reckons for the first six months he was just about making minimum wage on 50 hour weeks.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I play football in a league. Was originally for Aussies and New Zealanders etc who had just arrived in London and wanted to get fit. Advertised through those SANZA mags and stuff it had a kinda captive audience.
The guy who set it up books the pitches in blocks and then charges each team (two divisions of eight I think) about six hundred pounds each for a fourteen week season. So that is 16 x 600 = £9600. He pays two refs forty pounds a week (though to start with I think he was one of the refs) - 80 x 14 = £1120. He has to pay for the two pitches (not sure of the price) and balls obviously but after that the rest is profit. When the league started going well he opened a netball one and a touch rugby one and another football one for girls I think.
Now this is ticking over he moved back to Australia and just collects the money each time, think he also does something similar over there. Brilliantly simple once you get it going.
 
I've been running a business with my brother since 2003. We're turning over well over a million every year now, but not as much of that as I'd like reaches my pocket. We're opening a shop in a swanky part of London soon though, so I'm hoping that will change this year. But there are other perks - car, computers, phone, I get to test and use the products and meet a lot of interesting people.

The Internet has been our friend, along with a few specialist magazines. Customer testimonials go a long way.

Press ads have been a waste of money, but a bit of national press editorial is golden.

Check references for anyone you employ.

Do you need a friend to take it to market, or is it something you could achieve yourself, with a little planning? And how is your friend looking to be rewarded for taking it to market if you agree to that?

I could have spent the last 7 years working for some other bastard and, though it's helped turn my hair grey and caused some sleepless nights when things have been tight, that alone has made it worth it.
 
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