Top Five Successful Businesses That Copied Their Ideas.

There’s a belief among those looking into starting a business that you need to dream up a fantastic idea to be successful. There’s some merit to this suggestion that a good idea is key, and I could point to the likes of Facebook or Dyson to back up my claim. However in most cases, that’s not the case at all. Truth is, a good idea is worthless without a good execution of that good idea. Basically, it’s whoever markets the idea better will succeed, regardless of whoever thought it up (patents aside). So this week, we’ll look at those who have found success and fortune copying the ideas of others:

1. Easyjet. Ask people to name a low-cost airline, and the name that will pop up most often is Easyjet, the Luton-based airliner owned by Stelios. However he wasn’t the first to our shores with this idea. The original idea for the “low-cost airline” idea was actually a small firm called Southwest Airlines, a Texas-based carrier, in 1971. Since then, there have been many dozens of low-cost firms across the world, yet none are as synonymous as the bright orange planes flying across Europe.

2. Dennis Publishing. There are few thriving industries that are as old as publishing, or indeed as populace, yet Felix Dennis has carved his name permanently across the industry. in 1973, following a very public arrest and trial, followed by sentencing and acquittal for conspiracy while co-editor of Oz Magazine, Dennis set up his publishing firm and made an immediate success with his first publication “Kung-Fu Monthly” while competing against the industry giants such as EMAP and Ziff. Now worth upwards of £600m, Dennis has written about his life in a book, and devotes an entire article to the fallacy of the good idea.

3. Matalan. Shops specialising in low-cost items have been around for years. Even Primark started in the 1960′s. However Matalan, first opening in 1985, has made a big success of itself and has expanded into 200 stores across the country. Like Tesco’s, it offers items for sale outside the original base products of clothes and shoes, such as books, jewellery and home-ware. Founder John Hargreaves has put a valuation on the business of £1.5Bn.

4. Reggae Reggae Sauce. There are few markets as crowded as the food market, and few within that sector are as crowded as the sauces and condiments. However this didn’t stop Keith Graham, aka Levi Roots, developing and marketing another product. As a perfect example of execution of the idea being better than the idea, his publicity on BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” told the country about his sauce. Plus, with assistance from the dragon’s on board, has turned his sauce into a success.

5. Virgin Group. With the exception of one “in development” project (Virgin Galactic), Richard Branson’s Virgin group has been massively successful in taking existing ideas and executing them perfectly. Some very well (Virgin Mobile and Virgin TV) some less well (Virgin Cola). The key is not the good idea, but going about it well; something that has made Branson a multi-billionaire.

Top Five Ways To Keep Your New Years Resolutions.

We’ve been through Christmas, with more food than we’d need for a week, and we’ve drunk our bodyweights in alcohol during New Year’s. Now is the time that a lot of people take a few moments to take stock of their lives, and make resolutions to improve their health and lives, whether it’s quitting smoking, cutting down on alcohol, getting fit, or fitting into that old dress. However, only 35% are able to keep any of our resolutions. So, we’ll look at ways that we can stick with them, meaning that we can at the very least stop making the same ones every year, followed by saying “and this time, I mean it”.

1. Be Realistic. If you want to go from couch potato to marathon runner in 6 months, then you’ll never succeed. The biggest problem is motivation, and if you set unrealistic targets, then you’re going to be disheartened when it doesn’t go at the rate you want. If you want to get fit, then why not speak to a fitness trainer to set a programme that will work for you. You might not turn into the Hulk overnight, but you’ll at least stay motivated to get fitter.

Top Five Useful Business Apps (For Most Smartphones)

It was only six years ago that people were showing off their latest phone, and were proud as punch that it had such mundane features as a flip-screen, a camera on the front as well as the back, and a colour-screen. The most amazingly advanced phones came with “WAP” (remember that?). Today, though, we have smartphones! These are our own mini-computers and if it can’t access Facebook, then it might as well be a chisel and granite. Most businessmen and women will have either a BlackBerry or an iPhone to organise all their work schedules, so I thought I’d compile a list of my top five business-minded apps. Those who get on fine without a smartphone, more power to you. For those who use it as the effective tool that it is, let’s explore:

1) LinkedIn. Now, I know that there’s a lot of people who will have spotted this one and said “but I don’t have LinkedIn or (insert any other social network here) so why is this here”. I’m aware that not everyone is on it, but not everyone has a smartphone either, but here we are. It is a very useful tool for keeping in touch with people you meet and people you know well. The advantage of being able to send a reminder, a thought or a greeting to someone at a moment’s notice is priceless. Otherwise, you’d have to note it down somewhere and hope you remember to send it when you get to a computer.

Top Five Ways Businesses Can Use Social Media.

Over the last five or so years, the massive force that Social Media, namely groups of people organising themselves through websites, has demonstrated has been immense. Protests have been organised through such sites as Twitter, Facebook has allowed individuals to reach out to people that would otherwise have been beyond their grasp, YouTube has allowed everyone from families to politicians to put their opinions online. Indeed, whole careers have been made from such sites. In this blog, we explore how you can use this force to help drive your business: