contents
02
04
introduction
06
report at a glance
08
market research
14
blueprint
22
case studies
30
our partners
32
zipcar for business
03
introduction
Entrepreneurs, by their very nature, challenge
the established order with new and exciting
ideas and concepts. They improve upon what we
already know and, increasingly aided by modern
technology, create whole new markets, products
and services, which fast become must-have.
of two strands of investigation. The first is a
survey of over 1,000 UK small businesses and
start-ups. We wanted to get under their skin,
to reveal the common traits shared in how they
are doing business and the challenges they are
facing.
For the second strand of research, we
Today’s tough economic times have produced a
gathered 11 leaders of some of the UK’s most
new breed of business innovators who succeed
innovative, ideas-driven, and successful new
through an innovative combination of agility,
model businesses and asked
collaborative strategy and
them to unpick and explain
customer-driven adaptation,
the motivations, strategies
which allows them to thrive Today’s
tough
and thinking that have
rather than merely survive.
economic
times
enabled them to launch,
As the UK’s largest pay-asflourish and expand.
you-drive car network, Zipcar
disrupted the car ownership
model, and created a new
approach better suited to
modern urban realities.
As providers of a convenient,
flexible and cost-effective
solution to urban transport
needs, we feel a natural
affinity with the men and
women behind the latest
generation of start-ups that
have set out to disrupt the
status quo and challenge
traditional business models.
have produced
a new breed
of business
innovators
who succeed
through agility,
collaborative
strategy
and customer
driven adaptation
Working in partnership with
StartUp Britain and Ashridge
Business School, we set out
to uncover the common traits of successful
start-up businesses. I am proud to introduce
The Smarter Business Blueprint: Insights from
SME trailblazers, an interactive report that
combines original quantitative and qualitative
research to outline the necessary ingredients for
SMEs and start-ups to thrive today.
It’s a robust analysis of the smart, agile new
companies that are reshaping the UK’s business
landscape, and promising to spearhead future
national economic growth. Our analysis consists
04
Their observations and
insights about spotting
opportunities to disrupt old
industries with paradigmbusting new models struck
a chord with our own
experience. So did their
suggestion that ownership is
often a thing of the past and
that the future is increasingly
pay-per-use – be that for cars,
office space, or even people.
At Zipcar, we work closely
with SMEs and start-ups
across the UK by providing
them with access to a range
of cars and vans on a payper-use basis in convenient,
on-street locations.
With our recent research revealing that the
company vehicles of small businesses sit idle
for an incredible two-thirds (63 per cent) of the
week, we predicted that, as well as smarter
transport, there must be other smarter ways of
doing business that can help today’s start-ups
to get going and thrive. We are living proof that
this disruptive approach pays dividends for the
entrepreneurs who adopt it, and we work
We feel a natural affinity
with the men and women
behind the latest generation
of start-ups that have set
out to disrupt the status quo
and challenge traditional
business models
closely with businesses large and small-ranging
from florists to accountants to film producers.
Intrigued by the common themes that were
beginning to emerge, we decided to go one
step further and ask our panel of successful
entrepreneurs to outline their own inspirational
journeys. From this, we have built a six-point
blueprint to growth and profit, providing what
we hope is an incredibly valuable tool for anyone
running or looking to start a business.
The insight gained from our panel was
fascinating. They explained how to hire top
talent without having to pay top salaries; how
to use data-mining to fine-tune your business
model and social media to spread the word;
and why it’s best to launch long before you feel
you’re ready.
Mark
Walker
General
Manager
Zipcar UK
Winning the battle against corporate inertia
and cutting costs by collaboration were other
topics that our panel covered with refreshing
honesty and enthusiasm.
This report has been an inspiring and
affirming experience for us. We’re certain
that it will become an essential source of
reference and inspiration for our fellow
mould-breakers: the new start-ups and
expanding SMEs setting out on their own
journey to re-shape the business landscape in
the UK.
05
report at a glance
Background
In April 2013 Zipcar partnered
with national enterprise campaign
StartUp Britain and leading academic
institution Ashridge Business School
to produce and publish The Smarter
Business Blueprint report.
This report combines quantitative
and qualitative research to identify
the key attitudes and business
approaches behind the UKs most
successful start-ups and SMEs.
The aim of the report is to provide
a blueprint for start-up survival and
success; a source of reference and
guidance for present and future
companies as they set up business in
the UK.
Research methodology
• Quantitative – survey of 1,296 UK
start-ups and SMEs, coordinated by
StartUp Britain: Survey respondents
comprised of StartUp Britain’s
membership base.
The survey sought to uncover the
common challenges facing Britain’s
start-up community and the solutions
they are deploying to conquer them.
selected based on a combination
of their innovative and disruptive
business models, as well as their
individual success stories.
Blueprint summary
The focus group discussion and
supporting survey data combined
to highlight six key approaches and
considerations for the budding UK
start-up:
1
Adopt beta attitudes – A startup should never be regarded as
a finished product. An experimental
work-in-progress approach is
essential to disrupting established
industries and markets, and adapting
quickly to the competitive landscape.
2
Be a collaborative cost cutter
– Sharing costs and services
is crucial to start-up scalability,
efficiency, cost savings and long term
survival. This collaborative approach
can extend from IT equipment and
office costs, to staff and transport.
3
Use staffing 2.0 – A compelling
vision and equity in the business
should be utilised to attract, retain and
• Qualitative – focus group discussion motivate the world-class team needed
to build a company from the ground
involving 11 small business leaders,
up. A step away from the traditional
hosted by Ashridge Business School:
business world towards something
The participating businesses were
06
more exciting and inspiring can be a
more powerful motivator than money
and pay increases.
4
Get tech savvy – Technology
should sit at the heart of today’s
smart businesses and start-ups
should maximise the potential of
online by ensuring they launch and
maintain a brand-specific and userfriendly software interface. This online
presence should extend to social
media engagement, a fundamental
way to cut the costs of traditional
marketing and advertising.
5
Battle the box tickers –
Determination and persistence
are essential when attempting to
disrupt long-established supply chains
and modes of operation. Focus on
proving the value of the model to key
stakeholders and expect to come up
against both external and internal
inertia on route.
6
Stay forward-focused – Avoid
micro-management and only be a
perfectionist about those things that
are essential to the business vision
and its survival, be a pragmatist about
everything else.
Together the research findings lay
down an invaluable six-point blueprint
for future UK business start-ups.
07
Zipcar polled 1,296
StartUp Britain
members in order
to uncover how
start-ups are
rewriting the
rules of
businesses.
market
research
Our findings were
compelling.
08
09
key findings
What are the rules of business in 2013?
1,296 Start-Up Britain members were polled.
Here are the results...
Together we are stronger
Fast movers ...on the road to success
IDEA
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
21% plan to
share over the
next year
currently
54% share
resources
Within 6 months of initial business idea...
...60% make the first moves to start their business
Gut feeling
‘gut instinct’
What drove you
to start your
own business?
27%
10
13%
Sharing to
survive
More than 1 in 2
say it is essential
to share resources to ensure survival
‘extensive
market
research’
Access to finance
Cash flow
Time
Reaching customers
Resourcing constraints
Recruiting right skills
45%
43%
42%
33%
27%
17%
Road
Blocks
11
key findings
Money walks
How to incentivise the talent?
Top 3 shared infrastructure services
Technology
22%
Office
space
22%
Vehicles
The business vision
66%
Innovative environment
54%
Chance to make a difference
40%
Attractive Salaries
30%
15%
Tech set
Top 3 shared human services
Accounting
Admin
HR
35%
21%
15%
93%
Rely on
technology
to function
Today’s tough economic times have produced a new breed of
business innovators, who succeed through a combination of
agility, collaborative strategy and customer-driven adaptation,
which allows them to thrive, rather than merely survive.
Mark Walker, General Manager, Zipcar UK
12
13
Zipcar partnered
with Ashridge
Business School
to host a focus group
discussion involving
11 small business
leaders.
The aim: to work
together to outline a
blueprint for start-up
survival.
14
15
the blueprint
Zipcar recruited a team of 11 of the UK’s best and brightest
entrepreneurs and asked them to outline an inspirational six-point
blueprint for launching a successful start-up business today
01
Adopt beta attitudes
Today’s start-up business should
never be regarded as a finished
product. Instead, entrepreneurs must aim
to keep their project fresh and innovative by
maintaining the experimental work-in-progress
approach of the initial launch stage.
The aim of the successful start-up is to disrupt
the existing business model of the industry
incumbents. So, rather than attempting to
build and launch a perfect service or product,
it’s better to send a Beta model out into the
marketplace, and use customer feedback to
fine-tune the business as it evolves.
As James Davis, CEO
of UPad, an online
lettings agent, says:
‘Get your product or
technology 80 per cent
ready and then bash
it out there. That’s the
only way to find out if
you’ve got something
that people want.’
‘If I’d known how complex it was going to be
to challenge centuries of established practice in
the accountancy industry, and the backlash we
would face in doing so, I might not have had the
nerve to do it.’
A Beta attitude must run through the very
structure of the business in order to allow
entrepreneurs and their teams to adapt their
original concept to inevitable strategic changes
of direction necessitated by the realities of the
marketplace, and shifts in an often challenging
commercial environment.
‘Drop any pre-conceived notions and accept
that your business
vision may not finish
up where you expected.
That’s the agility of
creativity,’ says Mark
Antwis, MD of Brompton
Dock, a convenient bike
hire service from onstreet docking systems.
Drop any pre-conceived
notions and accept that
your business vision may
not finish up where you
expected. That’s the
agility of creativity
In older business
models, naivety is
often regarded as a
dangerous weakness.
Modern entrepreneurs should see it as one of
their most powerful weapons, enabling them to
take risks and exploit opportunities that their
more hide-bound competitors may have missed.
Indeed, according to Zipcar’s quantitative
survey of 1,296 UK start-up and small business
innovators, 34 per cent of entrepreneurs would
advise start-ups to launch before they think they
are ready.
‘My naivety helped me hugely,’ says Darren
Fell, co-founder & MD of Crunch, an online
accounting service for freelancers, contractors
16
and small businesses.
‘Social media caused
our business to expand
at an incredible rate.
It was like being on a
motorbike at 100mph
and not knowing where the brake was. Only
our in-built agility allowed us to keep pace with
demand.’
In order to have the confidence to maintain
this level of adaptability, a start-up entrepreneur
must have a solid belief in his own business
instincts and the efficacy of his original vision.
‘Trust your gut instincts,’ says Jonathan
Brenner, co-founder of Lawyers on Demand, an
on-demand law firm. ‘It’s your concept and you
know where you want it to go.’
02
Be a collaborative cost-cutter
Hierarchies are anathema to the new
model start-up. A flat, collaborative
company structure that can scale up cheaply and
easily is vital both to allow efficient, innovative
problem solving, and to keep costs down.
Eight out of 10 (82 per cent) entrepreneurs
rely on collaboration to build and grow their
business, and more than half (55 per cent) say it
is essential to their survival, according to Zipcar’s
survey.
As Darren Fell says: ‘My business is designed to
conserve the close relationships of a start-up as
Premiership football
teams loan their talent to
others. That’s what we are
- a talent sharing business.
Owning staff, cars, offices
are all concepts whose
time has come and gone
we get bigger. Scalability was always part of the
plan. It will split into small 100-strong pods as
we expand, creating self-sufficient, collaborative
units who all know each other’s names and have
their own Christmas parties.’
Within this non-hierarchical structure,
entrepreneurs must foster a questioning, freeto-fail ambience that will facilitate the early
diagnosis and cure of problems that could prove
costly if allowed to go unnoticed or untreated for
any length of time.
‘Every member of the team must feel free to
question everything at any time without fear of
any career consequences,’ says Mark Antwis.
‘That way problems are spotted fast - and solved
fast too.’
‘Allow your people to fail, but enable them to
fail well. It is not a problem to fail on well thought
out process that you can move on from, and
learn from,’ says Philip Macartney, Commercial
Director of Citysocialiser, a social discovery
network.
Collaboration as a tool for reducing costs and
encouraging flexibility and dynamism should
be extended to company car, office and staffing
options too. Modern start-ups should collaborate
with pay-as-you-go model companies and
clients to avoid the expense and administrative
complexity of maintaining corporate office
facilities, owning or leasing a permanent vehicle
fleet or hiring a complement of full-time staff.
‘The idea that ownership of staff is nine-tenths
of the law is seriously out-dated,’ says Jonathan
Brenner. ‘Premiership football teams loan their
talent to others. That’s what we are - a talent
sharing business. Owning staff, cars, offices are
all concepts whose time has come and gone.’
17
the blueprint
03
Start-ups must adopt a new attitude
to recruitment. Unlike a traditional
business, competitive salary offers are much less
of a motivator for the world-class team that an
entrepreneur should be seeking to put together.
As James Layfield, CEO of Central Working, the
ideal environment for growing businesses says:
‘Entrepreneurs are the rock stars of today. It’s
Start-ups are where the
best graduates want to
be now, not corporates,
because that’s where the
passion, challenge and
inspiration is
the challenge, not the salary, which pushes their
buttons.’
Rather than putting a start-up’s fledgling
finances under pressure by attempting to
compete for talent with high salary offers, startups should consider offering equity instead.
Indeed less than a third of start-ups (30%) rely
on cash rewards to lure talented staff, according
to Zipcar’s survey.
‘Money isn’t a deciding factor for real talent,’
says Darren Fell. ‘Initially, we gave shareholdings
to our technology team. One guy gave up a £150k
a year job for £600 a month salary for six months
because he shared our vision.’
Another powerful tool to lure high-grade
candidates is the promise of working in an
exciting and innovative environment, unbounded
by the bureaucracy and hierarchies of a major
corporate business.
18
04
Get tech-savvy
Use staffing 2.0
‘Start-ups are where the best graduates want to
be now, not corporates, because that’s where the
passion, challenge and inspiration is,’ says Simon
Campbell, CEO, of The Sandpit, an investment
and sales acceleration business. ‘Get them to buy
into your dream by leading from the front.’
Entrepreneurs must look beyond the CV and
formal qualifications, and seek out raw talent.
‘I’m not that interested in your CV or where you
got your MBA from – or even if you’ve got one,’
says Philip Macartney, Commercial Director,
Citysocialiser.
‘I’m looking at you and thinking: have you got
the unique personality and drive to do the job
that I need doing? I believe I can spot it when it’s
there.’
Crowd-sourcing expert staff is another
innovative recruitment technique being deployed
by entrepreneurs. ‘We put our projects out to
the crowd online and it’s up to our community
to submit their ideas,’ says Adam Ball, General
Manager of the Concept Cupboard.
‘It allows us to source great design ideas at
no cost, and to pinpoint the best person to fill
each brief, without the expense and risk of hiring
someone full time.’
Start-up leaders must also understand that
team members who were ideally suited to
the launch stage may not have the necessary
professional outlook and skill set to take the
business on to the next stage of its development
and expansion.
‘Accept that the people you start with may not
stay the whole course,’ says Simon Prockter, CEO
of Housebites, a service that offers food cooked
by top class chefs delivered to your door.
Modern start-up culture would be
impossible without the incredible
networking powers of the Internet. The rapid
development of smartphone technology, and
its associated ecosystem of apps, allows levels
of customer and market engagement and
communication that were undreamt of even ten
years ago.
Nine out of 10 (93 per cent) of entrepreneurs’
business models now rely on technology to
function, according to
Zipcar’s survey. So,
it’s crucial for 21st
-century entrepreneurs
to maximise the
potential of online
digital technologies
by ensuring that they
launch and maintain
a brand-specific and
user-friendly software
interface.
A start-up’s software must incorporate stateof-the-art data mining capabilities in order to
capture and analyse the customer interactions
that will play a crucial part in shaping the
evolution of the business.
‘Data is your biggest ally,’ says Prockter, of
Housebites. ‘It tells you what your customers
really want and lets you become a business that
they will want to be part of.’
The explosion of social media has
revolutionised start-up culture, opening up
the possibility of
online dialogues with
customers that benefit
both parties by shaping
consumer-friendly,
ultra-responsive
businesses.
Data is your biggest ally.
It tells you what your
customers really want
and lets you become a
business that they will
want to be part of
For this purpose,
start-ups must aim to
recruit and finance a
top class in-house technology team as soon as
cash flow and revenue will allow. ‘They support
everything you do,’ says Campbell, of The
Sandpit. ‘They are one of your core competencies.
So, pay whatever it takes to get the best, and
keep them in-house.
‘These are the people who will ensure that
your online presence is cutting edge and does
everything possible to enhance your customer’s
experience. They are vital, so look after them.’
Entrepreneurs should
take advantage of the
readiness of consumers
to engage through sites
such as Facebook,
Twitter and Pinterest
by launching low-cost
social media tools and
online viral campaigns to spread a message
about new services and products.
‘It’s cheaper and simpler to get your message
across than ever before because of the Internet,’
says Matt King, MD of WeQ4U, a mobile app that
offers a solution to phone call queuing. ‘Social
media gives you more opportunities to interact
with your customers. That’s incredibly mutually
supportive. You answer their questions, and they
answer yours, and you build a mutually-beneficial
relationship built on trust and loyalty.’
‘You need to know when it’s best for both of you
to part company because having someone on
board who doesn’t share your vision as it evolves
can be fatal to your business.’
19
the blueprint
05
Battle the box tickers
Corporate inertia is one of the
biggest barriers to launching and
establishing a new start-up. In fact, a quarter
of start-ups are actually set up to escape
the bureaucracy of corporate environments,
according to Zipcar’s survey.
Major players who were once innovators
in your chosen industry are often unable, or
unwilling, to accept the arrival of potentially
disruptive emergents. ‘Old innovation is the
greatest barrier to new innovation,’ says
Jonathan Brenner, co-founder, Lawyers on
Demand.
‘All those corporates sitting there, telling you
that you’re wrong - and crazy - for trying to
change the way that things have always been
done. You need to prove the value of your model
early, build momentum and convert them to your
way of thinking. The corporates now come to
us for advice on making their lawyers as happy
and successful as ours.’
Potential customers will initially be
suspicious of a new service or product, and
unwilling to disrupt long-established supply
chains and modes of operation. Start-ups
must have high levels of persistence and, most
importantly, an offer that is demonstrably
better than what it aims to replace in order to
overturn the old order.
‘There are a lot of box tickers in a big
company and a lot of inertia,’ says Matt King,
MD of WeQ4U. ‘But you can convert them to
your business model with determination and
perseverance – and by showing them that
what you do works.’
Agility is an intrinsic component of a new
model start-up, and must be utilised to the
full by entrepreneurs to outmanoeuvre major
competitors whose ability to react fast to market
opportunities will be hampered by their complex,
hierarchical company structure.
As Elizabeth Obee, Head of Marketing
Communication and Partnership at Funding
Circle, an online investor marketplace, says:
‘Major corporates are massive, clumsy
battleships. We are a nifty little dinghy.
‘We can change our business priorities on
a day-to-day basis. A corporate can’t change
anything in less than 12 months.’
Inertia can be an internal as well as an external
barrier to start-up success. Entrepreneurs are
often more than willing to go the extra mile,
emotionally and in terms of work rate and hours,
for a business that they conceived and own.
You have to accept that it’s
not life or death for your
employees in the same way
it is for you. So you need to
infect them with your passion, and make coming to
work fun and exciting
However, a clever start-up leader must be
willing to accept that some of his employees
may lack the same visceral attachment to the
business and find other ways to inspire them to
high levels of commitment and energy.
‘You have to accept that it’s not life-or-death for
your employees in the same way that it is for you,’
says Simon Prockter. ‘So, you need to infect them
with your passion, and make coming to work fun,
exciting and challenging.’
20
06
Stay forward-focused
A strategy to allow a start-up to
flourish and grow in the future
needs to be built around workload prioritisation,
a thoughtful engagement with the board of
directors, the recruitment of customers as brand
ambassadors, and a constant search for new
talent.
Entrepreneurs need to resist the temptation
to micro-manage every aspect of their business,
risking burnout through overwork as a result.
‘Only be a perfectionist about the one or two
things that need to be perfect. Be a pragmatist
about everything else,’ says Elizabeth Obee.
‘There are only so many hours in the day,
and you will kill yourself unless you learn to
prioritise.’
Having too little time is
listed by nearly four out of
10 entrepreneurs (38 per
cent) as one of the top three
challenges when planning
for the future, according to
Zipcar’s survey.
Building a good working
relationship with the startup’s board of directors can
feel like an unwanted and
irritating diversion from the
day-to-day task of growing a
business.
‘But marshalling your arguments for them can
help you see the way ahead.’
Start-ups need to see customers as far more
than consumers of their service or product.
Instead, they should be recruited through social
media strategies as cheerleaders for the growing
brand. Their Facebook ‘Likes’ and Twitter
recommendations will carry far more weight with
other potential customers than any in-house
marketing campaign.
‘Word of mouth, offline and through social
media, is the driver of our business,’ says Darren
Fell. ‘So we want fans, not customers. They will
build excitement around your brand and bring
new business on board.’
Interestingly, how to embrace social media
is seen as a major future
challenge for 57 per cent of
start ups.
Only be a
perfectionist
about the one or
two things that
need to be
perfect. Be a
pragmatist about
everything else
But successful
entrepreneurs should see the job of bringing
the board along with them into their envisioned
future as a chance to test and fine-tune their
long-term plans for the business. ‘Preparing
reports for the Board can sometimes feel like one
of the biggest distractions,’ says Simon Prockter.
Entrepreneurs must avoid
recruiting only for existing
vacancies. Their long-term
recruitment policy should
be based upon an on-going
assessment of available
talent for roles that may
emerge in the future.
‘We recruit constantly,
even when we’ve got no
vacancies,’ says Simon
Campbell of the Sandpit. ‘You
need to have new talent in
your sights at all times. The
time might not be right for either of you. But in
six months or a year, you’ll have a gap and know
exactly who to fill it with. They are your future.’
21
A snapshot
of our 11 small
business
leaders and
what makes
them
and their
respective
businesses
successful.
22
case studies
23
case studies
Simon Prockter
Chief Executive Officer
Housebites
Business model:
Home-delivered
take-away meals cooked
by top-class chefs
Motivation to innovate:
I could see the UK’s
takeaway industry,
saturated with bad pizzas
and curries, needed to
be torn apart. I wanted
to create a model that
created high-quality food
in an open transparent
way and secured better
money for lots of talented,
but poorly paid chefs.
Darren Fell
Co-founder & MD
Crunch
Business model:
Online accounting service for
freelancers, contractors and small
businesses
Motivation to innovate:
Technology start-ups have a tendency to look for
possibilities in the sexiest, flashiest sectors, but I do
the reverse. It’s the oldest, most boring industries
where things have been done the same way for
hundreds of years that have the biggest possibilities.
My biggest challenge:
My co-founder, Steve Crouch had an established
accountancy practice but his traditional accountant’s
team laughed when I told about my humans-andsoftware model to change small business accountancy
24
forever. We had to turn to a younger, more
open-minded generation of accountancy
experts who were willing to buy into our idea
and work at Crunch.
The secret of my success:
Our business model suits the customer
rather than the accountant, scrapping
expensive hourly rates in favour of a basic £700
a year flat fee that covers unlimited customer
service and access to the software and apps.
How I beat the competition:
Our approach had been carefully and
painstakingly thought out to create a unified software,
accountants and customer service package, all under
one roof. So, the competition are playing catch-up –
and they have a long way to go.
My leadership style:
We have an open-plan mind set. No boardrooms, or
executive offices, a flat structure with everyone sitting
side-by-side, with their sleeves rolled up and ready to
help with any problem that arises.
My biggest challenge:
We had a high churn rate at first because we
could only afford to pay our chefs £30 a day. So we
‘bought’ customers with a marketing campaign
and soon boosted our chefs’ pay to £200 a day.
The secret of my success:
We used a high press profile to establish a
brand personality, then played the celebrity card.
Our online data told us that the actor Michael
Fassbender, the Blairs and Stephen Fry were
ordering Housebites. We made that work for us.
How I beat the competition:
Closely monitoring our online feedback allowed
us to transform ordering a takeaway from a
guilty pleasure into a matter of pride because our
customers can show off their good taste in food.
My leadership style:
I encourage an atmosphere in which ideas are
allowed to flourish. Everyone is encouraged to
suggest changes and if an idea is easy to introduce
we just do it – whether the rest of us agree or not –
and see whether it works.
Philip Macartney
Commercial director
Citysocializer
Business model:
Social discovery network
Motivation to innovate:
We had a single, simple
question at the heart of
our business that we ask
ourselves to check we’re
innovating in the right
way: are we helping our
customers to have more
fun together?
My biggest challenge:
In our early days, we were almost too far ahead
of the times. We were a social discovery business
before the term had even been invented.
It was hard to explain to potential investors and
customers what we were doing without being able
to say: ‘It’s a bit like that business over there.’
The secret of my success:
It all comes down to one big factor: the vision
and commitment of our CEO Sanchita Saha. She
had an idea that no one else had ever had and the
drive to make it a reality and bring everyone along
with her.
How I beat the competition:
We’ve put in the hard yards offline – we have 300
people in the field, feeding back to us constantly.
All that data from people on the ground means
that we understand the market in incredible detail.
My leadership style:
Our business is a meritocracy that promotes on
talent. Our culture is built on responsibility rather
than blame.
25
case studies
Jonathan
Brenner
Co-founder
Lawyers
on Demand
Business model:
On-demand law firm
Motivation to innovate:
We played a hunch. We thought a revolution in law
was just around the corner because we had clients
telling us that they wanted to work in a different way
and lawyers telling us they were sick of being in the
office for 12 hours a day.
My biggest challenge:
We were working for a law firm with 200 partners
and our model looked like it could cannibalise their
James Davis
CEO
Upad
Business model:
Online lettings agency
Motivation to innovate:
In 14 years as a landlord, I’d seen
lettings were the poor relations of the
property industry. I decided it was time to take it
online in the same way that travel and dating had
migrated, and make it an interesting, attractive
career in its own right.
My biggest challenge:
Assembling the right team means switching off
your own ego and hiring people who are a lot more
talented than me in their particular area. You have
to be confident in yourself and your vision to be
able to do that.
26
business and deconstruct a 400-year-old career
path.
The 2008 crash then increased the urgency
for a more innovative approach to resourcing
legal work, so it was then that they let us go
ahead, giving them a share of the profits.
James Layfield
CEO
Central Working
Adam Ball
General Manager
Concept Cupboard
The secret of my success:
We are always in Beta mode. We never, ever
tell ourselves that this is the finished product
and that we’ve done everything we can. It’s a
counter-intuitive business model, but it keeps
us nimble.
How I beat the competition:
We invented the wheel and then made our mistakes
early and learned from them. Our competitors are
years behind us, trying to reinvent our wheel.
My leadership style:
We’ve stuck to a core group of nine people in head
office who are very, very open and collaborative, and
we give our bright recruits total access to the people at
the top.
Business model:
Business model:
Shared workspaces
for small and medium
businesses
Motivation to innovate:
I could see that the way
we work is changing fast.
I wanted to find a way
to help freelancers and
contractors to find a place
to evolve their businesses
that wasn’t just about
renting them a desk.
My biggest challenge:
People just couldn’t grasp what we were trying
to do. In the end, I had to build a living, breathing
£500k, prototype, using every penny I could scrape
together or borrow.
The secret of my success:
You have to sell the sizzle of your idea to
everyone around you, and ensure you’re
fulfilling a mainstream need. A niche business
that only appeals to about 10 people will not
be improving and expanding in two years’
time.
How I beat the competition:
Exceptional customer service is the key to our model.
We’re on the end of the phone or the computer seven
days a week, including Bank Holidays, with trained,
qualified staff. With us, it’s never a voicemail, or, worse
still, no telephone number at all.
My leadership style:
We lead by example from the top by demonstrating
drive and inspiration, and ask everyone to be part of
the vision.
The secret of my success:
We spotted and harnessed a tipping point.
Millions of people are becoming entrepreneurial,
through choice or necessity, and they are
discovering that they need somewhere to work
where they can get a lot of love and support.
How I beat the competition:
We’ve created a club that’s about business
people interacting and finding ways to grow
and develop together. Having a desk is almost
incidental to our business model.
My leadership style:
We ask our people to believe in a vision of the
future that is exciting with lots of opportunities to
grow and get involved.
Online creative
crowdsourcing service
working with young talent
Motivation to innovate:
We are constantly
experimenting, but that
doesn’t always mean
inventing something brand
new. It can mean looking
at something that already
exists from a new angle
and finding ways to make
it better.
My biggest challenge:
Getting the word out about Concept Cupboard
on a shoestring. We overcame that problem by
launching a multi-media offensive built around
social media.
The secret of my success:
It’s tempting to say that we had some good luck:
a brilliant opportunity came up at a meeting that
allowed us to really take off. But we worked hard,
created a clear vision and had a great team in
place, ready to pounce and take advantage of our
luck when it came along.
How I beat the competition:
Our unique selling point is that we are socially
motivated: we want graduates to be more
employable and get good jobs because we were
very recently one of them and understand exactly
where they are coming from.
My leadership style:
We come from a generation who don’t really do
hierarchies, so we trust our people to flourish if we
leave them to get on with it. We want work to be
cool and fun.
27
case studies
Matt King
MD
WeQ4U
Business model:
An award-winning mobile app that
puts users through to UK 08 telephone
numbers without queuing for free
Motivation to innovate:
Customer reaction is always my big
motivator. I can’t wait to get my idea in
front of real people so that I can start
asking them: is that good for you?
What works and what doesn’t? What
extra things would you like?
My biggest challenge:
There is a massive amount of corporate inertia out
there. The first barrier is to get them to listen to you.
The second – and biggest one – is to get them to take
you seriously enough to do business with you.
The secret of my success:
We truly listen to our customers. We react
every time one of our customers says ‘That’s
brilliant – but that isn’t.’ It is like having 100,000
sets of eyes examining our business and
helping us make it better.
How I beat the competition:
We’ve got a product that is unique in
our marketplace so we don’t have any real
competition. And staying small and focused
gives you the agility to deal with whatever each
day throws at you.
My leadership style:
We aim to give everyone a stake in the
business so that they are not just turning up to
claim their wages. And our motto: destroy a bad
idea but not the individual that has it. We celebrate all
ideas.
Mark Antwis
MD
Brompton Dock
Business model:
Simple convenient bike
hire from on-street docking
systems
Motivation to innovate:
Innovation is not
necessarily an idea. It is
often about spotting that
there is a connection
between a number of
existing elements and then
finding a way to make that connection work as a
business.
My biggest challenge:
Simon Campbell
CEO
The Sandpit
Business model:
Investment and sales acceleration
business
Motivation to innovate:
We want to naturally allow
innovation by removing the barriers to it that
established organisations often build. We are creating
a culture in which all ideas, good or bad, are celebrated
as a step towards changing other peoples’ lives.
My biggest challenge:
Finding the right people, and knowing when to say
goodbye to others, are two of the hardest aspects of
life in a start-up. You have to accept that sometimes
the business moves on and people may not be right for
a part of the journey.
28
We started with one location in April 2012 and
now have 22 docking stations spread between
Exeter and Canterbury. The customer support,
infrastructure, and security challenges are huge.
The secret of my success:
Celebrate that and have them understand
that moving on is not a negative should that
moment come.
The secret of my success:
I’m proud of the fact that we’ve created a
business where excitement and the freedom to
grow as a person are seen as equally valid as
earnings as benchmarks of success.
How I beat the competition:
There are a lot of people out there who are all about
launching early stage technology, and others who give
direction to successful companies who want to scale
up. We operate in the middle of those two sectors.
My leadership style:
Empowerment is what my business is all about – for
our clients and for the people who work for me.
We had no pre-conceived notions of how our
business would look. We had a vision of where we
wanted to be in three or four years’ time, but we
were completely open-minded about the path we
would take to reach it.
How I beat the competition:
Talking problems through is how we solve them.
No one had done what we are doing before, and
we kept coming across difficulties which needed
original solutions.
My leadership style:
I’m a natural delegator, not a control freak. I’m
very happy to listen to my team, and discover that
my idea is the worst one around the table.
Elizabeth Obee
Head of Marketing
Funding Circle
Business model:
Online investor
marketplace
Motivation to innovate:
In-depth use of customer
data is how we find ways to
innovate. We use the latest
technology to analyse our
customers so fully that
we often understand their
needs better than they do.
My biggest challenge:
People are notoriously reluctant to change the
way that they bank and we were saying:
‘We’re the new kids on the block – trust us!” It
was a big ask.
But we turned our newness into a news story
and pushed our message out through unorthodox
channels such as social media and QVC.
The secret of my success:
We have achieved a synergy of collaboration.
Side-by-side and working together, our talented
team are an even more formidable force than they
are as individuals. You can never underestimate
the power of a good team.
How I beat the competition:
We offered the most creative disruption of the
banking sector after the 2008 financial crash. We
enabled aggregate lending by lots of people to
one person, and established a direct connection
between lenders.
My leadership style:
Every solution is fully debated in a very inclusive
environment and so no-one is shy about saying
‘That’s not going to work.’ I guess our only rule is
that your argument only truly stands up if you can
provide a fully thought through alternative plan.
29
our partners
Ashridge
Business School
StartUp
Britain
Our research partner, Ashridge Business School, is ranked
as the UK’s top business school in the Financial Times
Custom Executive Education 2012 rankings and one of only
two UK schools included in Business Week’s global top 20
rankings for custom and open programmes.
StartUp Britain is a national enterprise campaign
that was created two years ago by eight independent
entrepreneurs. Its mission is to spread the word across
the UK that starting a business is possible for everyone,
to share start-up learning and knowledge, and point
new entrepreneurs toward the support they need. The
campaign celebrates British entrepreneurship as an
increasingly important driver of the country’s economy.
Established in 1959, Ashridge provides a portfolio
of qualifications, including MBA, MSc, Post-Graduate
Certificate, Diploma and Doctorate programmes, to over 100
organisations and 9,000 managers each year.
It is one of the very few schools worldwide to achieve
triple accreditation from AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB; the UK,
European and American accreditation bodies.
Vicki Culpin, the Director of Research at Ashridge,
facilitated the Zipcar focus groups and collated the core
findings for The Smarter Busienss Blueprint. Vicki studied
Psychology at Manchester University, followed by an MPhil
and PhD in Psychology from Lancaster University and
an MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology from Leicester
University. She is an Associate Fellow of the British
Psychological Society, a Chartered Psychologist and a Fellow
of the Higher Education Academy.
She works with a range of clients, nationally and
internationally, from the public, private and cultural
sectors and delivers guest lectures around the UK on a
variety of psychological topics. She delivers workshops on
a wide range of psychological issues including memory
and leadership, works with clients to design and analyse
psychometric tools and surveys, and supports the design,
implementation and analysis of faculty research.
30
There were more than 480,000 new businesses
registered in the UK last year. Small and micro
businesses employ 13 million people and generate
£500bn in revenue. And StartUp Britain research shows
the average entrepreneur generates an estimated
£130,000 a year.
StartUp Britain co-ordinated the quantitative side of
the Zipcar research, polling 1,296 of StartUp Britain’s
membership base.
Emma Jones is co-founder of the campaign and was
awarded an MBE for services to enterprise in the Queen’s
Jubilee Birthday Honours List. She also runs Enterprise
Nation, an online business support membership. She
studied Japanese and law at University and had sold her
first business by the age of 27.
31
zipcar for business
Zipcar is
the world’s largest
pay-as-you-drive
car network with
operations in
urban areas across
the United Kingdom
United States,
Canada, Spain
and Austria.
32
What is Zipcar for Business?
l Zipcar is the world’s largest pay-as-you-drive car network
with operations in urban areas across the United Kingdom
United States, Canada, Spain and Austria.
l With a fleet of over 1,500 vehicles in the UK, Zipcar for
Business operates in London, Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford as
well as having local authority partnerships in Kent and Surrey
l London is Zipcar’s biggest network, with a wide variety of
vehicles across 31 London boroughs
l Zipcar provides businesses with a network of low-emission
cars and vans by the hour or day, providing a viable alternative
to pool cars, lease agreements, vehicle ownership, taxis and
traditional vehicle hire
l With Zipcar for Business there are no hidden costs:
Rates start from just £3.96/hour (excl. VAT) and include
comprehensive insurance, multiple employees under one
account, the Congestion Charge in London, maintenance,
roadside assistance, 40 miles of free fuel per day and a 24 hour
Business Support Centre
l In the UK, Zipcar offers businesses a dozen models,
including: VW Polos, Golfs, Tourans, the Audi A3 and vans
l Zipcar helps businesses achieve greater efficiency and
streamline fleet management. Businesses can remove the need
for costly and inflexible lease agreements by using and paying
for Zipcars only for the hours or days required
l Businesses can manage their Zipcar experience online or
on the Zipcar mobile app, with detailed account management
information available at all times. Live statements can be
exported from the Zipcar site too, meaning businesses save the
time spent on processing fuel and car hire receipts
Top Zipcar for Business facts
l Research shows businesses could make huge savings
by switching to Zipcar, with company and personally owned
vehicles sitting idle for a staggering 63 per cent of business
hours per week
l 4.6 million Londoners are within a ten minute walk of a
Zipcar
l Businesses using Zipcar can save over £3,000 per annum
on vehicle costs
l Zipcar helps businesses improve their environmental
credentials
l 62 per cent of car club members are less likely to
purchase a car in the next few years
l Car club vehicles emit 20 per cent less CO2 per km than
average vehicles
33