Dragons Eggs 
Cartoon Shorelines Art Wondered what happened to all those hopefuls who entered the Dragons Den and walked away without securing an investment? One such was Peter Ashton who wanted an investment for his business Easy X, an armchair that converts to a multi gym including a walking treadmill and cycling machine. The Dragons liked retired engineer Paul but didn’t think the Easy X which Peter invented and built himself was a viable business idea and so none of them wanted to invest. Where is Peter today? To date he has sold no Easy X chairs but undaunted is busy inventing an office chair version of Easy X so that busy executives can maintain their fitness by converting a traditional black leather swivel chair into a multi gym. And ………Jacqui Edwards who went into the den with her own inventions, a throw away toilet seat cover and a furry version. Completely serious about her business idea Jacqui fended off the sceptical dragons but failed to secure an investment. Where is she today? Jacqui has modified her throw away seat cover so that it is fully disposable and undaunted has gone against the dragons advice and bought a large volume of stock. Jacqui has a steady stream of regular customers mainly smaller chemist shops and is making £35,000 a year profit but has so far failed to secure the major buyer she really needs. And ………..Imran Hakim who invented i teddy and walked away with an investment? Within six months of coming up with the concept of the teddy bear that plays bed times stories, cartoons and films from a speaker or screen in his tummy. Two dragons invested and this Christmas i teddies were for sale in Argos. Source BBC Swedish Banks Despite rumours of a down turn in the economy due to problems with the housing market a predictions for the economy of the Yorkshire region are good. In support of this Swedish Bank Handelsbanken that they have just opened their fifth Yorkshire branch. The first branch was opened in 2001 in Leeds followed by Hull, Sheffield and Doncaster. The latest branch is in Wakefield. Steve Pusey new manager of the Wakefield branch said ' By establishing separate branches to service local needs rather than expect clients to deal with a highly centralised organisation like many high street banks we think we offer a genuinely personal service'. source The Yorkshire Post Your Business in 2008 If you are a small business owner, the day to day running of your business often means that you spend much of your time with your head down dealing with everyday tasks. But to grow your business you must take time to stand back and remember what it was you actually wanted to achieve for your business when you first started out. The new year as the perfect time when to review your business direction and make some changes. A recent survey of 15,000 business owners valued their operations performance as high, but the marketing of their products and services as low. Firstly check that the process and systems that you have put in place are in good order, then take a look at your business activity in the last year. Are the products and services your business sells in the spirit of your original business idea Are the markets for your business the original ones you anticipated Have you developed new products and services What is your biggest selling product and for marketing Review last years marketing strategy Or if you did not have a marketing strategy! In actual numbers where did each sale come from in the past year How many enquiries came via your web site Check your competitors to see what they are doing? Put together this years marketing strategy based on last years successes What can you do to increase profits? Put your prices up Decrease your costs Sell more to existing customers Get customers to buy from you more often Increase the number of customers you have Research new markets Ask your clients about other services or products you could provide they would use Use Internet Marketing techniques to build a mailing list from your web site Back to the top Web site news Who says it's impossible for a small business to compete online against big businesses. The following is a Google search for Marks and Spencer's food hampers in Hong Kong and guess who came up above M & S! .jpg) Online Retail The Internet Farm shop now has an online store selling Foody gifts and books. and........ Monday 10th December was Britain's biggest buying day on the Internet. Web site analysts have pinpointed 1.09pm as the busiest time of the busiest day, no coincidence this is lunch time for office workers. 128 people per second logged on and spent on average £100. The estimate for the day as a whole is £17.6 m an 82% increase on last year. Favourite buys were Nintendos Wii iPods and boots No. 7 face cream. Source The Week Back to the Top And finally The Movida nightclub in London whose customers include celebrities, footballers and the super rich have launched a new cocktail which costs £35,000 a shot. The cocktail is made with Louis XII cognac, Cristal Rose champagne, brown sugar, angostura bitters and flakes of 24 carat gold. The drink is marketed as warming and refreshing and at the bottom of a crystal glass is an 11 carat diamond ring. the drink is mixed in the presence of two security guards, who keep watch over the buyers table until the drink is finished. One of the first to order the drink was a 28 old property developer who bought it for his girl friend saying 'I just thought it would be a nice thing to do for her. She has so many other things.'! Source The Guardian If you enjoyed reading this newsletter please E mail it to a friend Return toTop of Page | 