What happened at Home Enterprise Day

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprisenation.com, welcomed an audience of home business owners to the Enterprise Nation Conference on the UK's first ever Home Enterprise Day last Friday (20th November 09).

EMBRACE WEB 2.O

The day was a huge success with lively speeches and panel discussions across a range of subjects. Doug Richard (former Dragon and CEO, School for Startups) kicked off proceedings with an inspiring talk on marketing and sales. Home businesses are essentially "freedom businesses", he said, and a "fantastic constraint" when it comes to cutting costs. "Stop being embarrassed about whatever geeky thing you do," he told the audience, and start embracing social media, which, he said, has been a "democratising force" for small businesses.

THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL ONLINE BUSINESS

A panel discussion on sites that have changed the home business world was chaired by Dan Wagner (Founder, Venga.com) with Mark Lewis (head of eBay UK), Louise Campbell (Founder MyEhive.com) and Ivan Croxford (Head of Digital Marketing Services BT Business). The importance of customer service, good photography and the use of video as a marketing tool were identified as key to running a successful online business.

HOW TO APPROACH THE MEDIA

A media panel including Daryl Willcox (DW Publishing), Jenny Culshaw (Working Lunch), Lisa Sykes (Features Editor, Country Living) and Jimmy Leach (Head of Digital, Independent) advised small business owners on the best ways to obtain media coverage. Find your story and what makes you unique, said Culshaw. Don't send attachments with emails, be as concise as possible and try to have an idea of the publication's lead times, said Skyes. Be contactable, was another point raised, and when you do get national coverage, make sure that you are equipped to deal with the flood of orders/interest that is likely to come your way!

A WORLD OF SMALL BUSINESS

In the afternoon, David Parsley (Parsley Media) interviewed Mark Dixon (CEO, Regus), who said that working from home was being seen as a smart alternative to flashy offices and that in the next 10 or 20 years, it was going to be "a world of small businesses." A panel including Patrick Elliot (CEO, Business Link for London), Prof. Colin Mason (Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Strathclyde), Dawn Whitely (Chair, National Federation of Enterprise Agencies) and Andy Hudson (Director, BT Local Business) discussed the future of business support and commented on the "myth of the risk of failure" concerning entrepreneurship. Motivational speaker, Mike Finnigan (www.i2i-121.com) spoke on turning the impossible into the inevitable by changing our attitude to goals, followed by Scott Cain (Deputy Chief Executive, Enterprise UK), who named all home business owners as his personal "heroes".

HOME BUSINESS AWARD WINNERS

Emma Jones rounded up proceedings by announcing the winners of the 2009 Home Business Awards 2009. These included:

* 2009 Home Business of the Year: Janan Leo, CocoRose London

* Home Business Couple of the Year: Gordon and Liz Maw, Maw
Communications

* 5 to 9 Home Business of the Year: Michelle Briffa, Paragon Virtual
Assistance

* Young Home Business Owner of the Year: John Randall, JV Bouncy
Castle Hire

* Home Office of the Year: Sharon and Gary Bassett, Enjoy-a-ball.com

To find out more about the day and the winners, visit www.enterprisenation.com and to read this year's Home Business Report 2009, click here.

Emily Jenkinson

23 November 09