People start enterprises for many different reasons - to make money, to give themselves interesting jobs, maybe even to make the world a better place. But they all have to find a way to get going - and starting up is never easy.
INTERNET BUSINESS: Spoonfed is a web-based guide to events in London. started up by two students in a basement. Taking the plunge meant doing hard research on the venues and potential customers for their service. They got important help from mentors, put a lot of work into recruiting a well-motivated team and made great use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to build up awareness of Spoonfed.
THE TEA ROOM: Who in the world would go to a poor area, with a bad reputation, and set up an old fashioned tea room serving locally made food in a state-of-the-art eco-building? Carole Wells, that's who. Carole set up her Croft Tea Room as a new type of business - a social enterprise called a CIC - a community interest company. Marketing the business has meant using a computer database, emailing and old-fashioned house-to-house leafleting.
THE FITNESS BUSINESS: Penelope Fitstar is a tiny business -- with big ideas. At the moment founder Louise Whyte is helping new mothers in her local area to get fit, but her hope is for a global brand with franchises everywhere. Setting up has had its problems, too - not the least of which has been a clash with a multinational company over copyright issues!
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