Asides

Recommended reading list

Since joining the Rise Up team, have noticed that a lot of students and graduates ask what would I recommend for them to read. Some might be looking for extra references for an assignment, others might want to know more before deciding if entrepreneurship is for them, some are already developing an idea but have gotten a bit stuck with something, and some simply enjoy reading and are naturally curious.

Whatever their motivation, I’m always happy to oblige and offer some recommendations. So I thought I should provide a list through this space and keep it updated as we go forward, so that anyone interested can have a look through it in their own time.

Below you will find a list of my personal favourites, with small descriptions of why I think they’re great and even convenient links to their location at our very own Newcastle University Library system (where applicable).

Value proposition design : how to create products and services customers want
Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, Alan Smith. 2014
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.4012 OST)

All in startup : launching a new idea when everything is on the line
Diana Kander, Steven Gary Blank. 2014
Available online (from the Newcastle University Library website)

Idea work : lessons of the extraordinary in everyday creativity
Arne Carlsen, Stewart Clegg, Reidar Gjersvik. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.421 CAR)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.421 CAR)

This is service design thinking : basics, tools, cases
Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.562 THI)

Sprint : how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days
Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz, Simon Schuster. 2016
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.403 KNA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.403 KNA)

The startup owner’s manual. Vol. 1 : the step-by-step guide for building a great company
Steven Gary Blank, Bob Dorf. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 BLA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.11 BLA)

The lean startup : how constant innovation creates radically successful businesses
Eric Ries. 2011
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 RIE)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.11 RIE)

Scaling lean : Mastering the key metrics for startup growth
Ash Maurya. 2016
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 MAU)

The four steps to the epiphany : successful strategies for products that win
Steven Gary Blank. 2013
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.4012 BLA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.4012 BLA)

As always, I hope that’s useful. Do let me know if you want to include any personal favourites of yours and I’ll be very happy to update the list with your contributions.

Happy starting-up!

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Business expenses if you’re self-employed

HMRC letter
HMRC can help with business expenses for the self employed!

As I previously mentioned, HMRC has a wide range of help for all types of businesses, and in this occasion I would like to share with you some really great links detailing how to deal with business expenses when you’re self employed.

To know more about what counts as business expenses when you’re self-employed, you can visit this link: https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed

Cash basis is the accounting method where you record transactions when they actually hit or leave the bank. This makes it simpler to track your money movements and keep records if you’re not an accountant (or haven’t hired one yet). For more info go to: https://www.gov.uk/simpler-income-tax-cash-basis

If you are a sole trader or a partnership and work from home, you don’t have to do complicated calculations to find out what you can claim anymore. HMRC has launched the Simplified Expenses scheme to make it even easier for you: https://www.gov.uk/simpler-income-tax-simplified-expenses. In fact, if you’re unsure whether or not you can use it, they even have a checker tool where you can find out if this scheme works for your business: https://www.gov.uk/simplified-expenses-checker

For those of you who are more visual, here is a YouTube video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHFhnmosFis

And if you feel like you need to sit down and have a proper look at this, there’s even an e-course for you! http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/courses/SYOB3/syob_3_exps/html/syob_3_exps_menu.html

Happy starting-up!

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HMRC webinars

calculator-calculation-insurance-finance-53621

Accounting tasks, taxes and compliance with financial reporting obligations can be very daunting, especially if like most startup founders and first-time freelancers, you’re not an accountant or have previous experience.

Fortunately for UK-based businesses, HMRC understands this and really strives to help you start off on the right foot. They have developed tons of materials for you to train in different aspects of tax and make sure you are complying with your obligations.

Some of the topics covered are self-assessment, being an employer, VAT, trading internationally and money laundering, and information comes in the form of webinars, videos, e-learning courses, toolkits and email alerts.

For more information and access to the range of HMRC training offers, head here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-webinars-email-alerts-and-videos

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Pitch day is coming!

Microphone

If you’re on Start-up Essentials, and you’ve volunteered to practice with some experts and getting feedback, then pitch day is coming for you.

But putting a pitch together might be a daunting and confusing task if it’s the first time you’ve done it, so here are some resources to get you started.

If you think crowdfunding might be the way to go for you, your pitch should focus on the problem you’re solving and the benefits you’re providing for your customers. Crowdcube has an excellent post on how to make a pitch for crowdfunding: https://www.crowdcube.com/pg/creating-a-successful-pitch-1373,  and Indiegogo has a list of pitch video examples that might be worth taking a look at: https://go.indiegogo.com/blog/2015/12/crowdfunding-pitch-videos-2015.html

If you’d like to have a pitch deck tailored to investors, you will need lots of details (especially in the financial department). In that case, I would recommend you taking a look at this blog post from Y Combinator http://blog.ycombinator.com/guide-to-demo-day-pitches/ as it has many good recommendations and a very good list of further resources.

The truth is that everyone and their dog will have different recommendations, suggested structures and tips, and when I write everyone, I truly do mean it. From Guy Kawasaki (https://guykawasaki.com/the-only-10-slides-you-need-in-your-pitch/) to American express (https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/how-to-structure-the-perfect-elevator-pitch/), to Forbes and Hollywood (http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/01/22/copy-hollywoods-3-act-structure-to-make-your-pitch-irresistible/#71906e75399c), everyone is a pitch expert these days.)

If all you want is to have a general pitch that you can use as a foundation to build upon and adapt to different situations as you need, then go with something that covers what you think is important but isn’t too long.

Ultimately, maybe read all of the above, or some, or none. The important thing is that your pitch makes sense and that you communicate what your idea is, its potential to turn into a good business and what do you need (from that audience) to make it happen.

If you do that, you will be fine. And if you’re not, at least you got practice, experience and valuable feedback for the next time you pitch!

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Google’s advanced search operators

Google Search

A few days ago, whilst delivering one of our Start-up Essentials sessions on doing market research, I briefly mention that Google is your best friend for doing research, specially if you familiarise yourself with its advanced search operators.

Google itself has a great little basic guide on how to use them here: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en

Though my absolute favourite is this one by the Australian SEO company Supple, because is more of a quick, simple, visual reference library: https://supple.com.au/tools/google-advanced-search-operators/

Regardless of which one you use, Google search operators are incredibly useful when searching for very specific information or documents in a certain format that normal general searches would otherwise not rank as relevant enough to show up in search results.

Don’t be scare to give them a try, you never know what hidden information gem you might find!

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