Expert : Gary Lennon

Gary Lennon - Owner Manager - Ideas2Reality

Area of Expertise :Turning Ideas Into Money

Gary Lennon founded Ideas 2 Reality in early 2006, focussing on helping entrepreneurs and businesses with their ‘ideas’. His experience of developing concepts, launching products and building sales across international markets extends over 20 years.

Each idea needs to be nurtured to create intrinsic value, understand its true potential and identify the key factors that will cause it to be successful. Only when the idea is understood and made robust enough to withstand challenges can it be exposed to market forces, so thorough research is a primary activity not only for any budding entrepreneur but for existing businesses who wish to capitalise on new opportunities.

“We find that most ideas need developing and people need support, so we do just that!”

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Gary 's Questions:

hi Gary my name is dona i have a business idea. I'm currently a student at university studying management and leadership. i was once sitting in a 2 hours lecture and i had bought a latte from costa cafe. well basically i thought that what if there is something that can be invented that will actually keep the coffee still hot. but still actually use the costa cups and starbucks cups etc....Please let me know what you think of this idea (if you can call it an idea) much appreciated. thankyou for taking your time to read my message. Dona

Hi Dona. This reads as a branded travel thermos (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermos-Everyday-450-Travel-0-45L/dp/B000OW47X0). Costa / Starbucks could investigate this themselves and buy the volumes from existing manufacturers at a much lower price and quicker than it would be for you to either source or set up. Nice thought and always good to look at how you can improve peoples lives as I'm sure you will come up with some equally good ideas! An entrepreneur in the making, keep at it!

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Hi Gary, I am in the process of launching an online shopping website selling clothes and fabrics made by other niche designers. Do I charge each designer a set supbscription fee per annum or do i charge a percentage per sale? Also how do I manage the order processing? Do the designers depatch the order themselves or do they send to me first and I despatch? I need to ensure they abide by exacting standards and quick delivery time etc Your opinions please. Many Thanks! Seun

Hi Seun

Fee vs commission:

Collecting subscription fees means you make one sale and unless it is a signicant amount you will need a lot of designers on board which could take a while.

Commission per sale works well and you can look at the difference between online and offline retail. Online means there is no retail floorspace or personnel costs. Logistics only have to happen between despatch and consumer. Marketing money can all be spent on driving traffic to the website and building / retaining a customer base, so the the margins for the 'retailer' can be spent in a different way. Please note that in offline (traditional) retailing the margins would typical be 50% - 60%, so a product sells for £10.00 (£8.50 net of VAT), the purchase price would be somewhere between £4.00 - £4.89 (£3.49 - £4.25 net of VAT). Your commission could offer a lower margin (30% - 40%) if you didn't have to stock the products.

As for who despatches, do you wish to 'own' the stock or sell it? It's cleaner for you if you provide a sales operation rather than distribution but this works only if the suppliers meet your exacting standards (lead time, quality procedures, returns policy).

As your business grows it may make sense to hold a portion of stock but I would recommend being a sales company first until you know who you can work with, which products / brands sell best and keep your costs to a minimum. Make sure your terms and conditions are tight on who is responsible for ownership of goods and returns, so you don't get caught in the middle when disputes take place, or build in a cost for this to happen and manage the process closely.

Hope that helps?

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Hi Gary, I make exotic sauces and did a few market stalls how do I grow my business. As a health visitor of 19 years of experience in running parenting groups and self esteem groups, I would now like to offer private one to one or group courses. How do I go about it. Thanks

The first business of exotic sauces is either make and sell or outsource and sell.

The next step is to make sure you have a brand (name, labels for jars, design of jar) and then the ability to produce a small batch of samples ready to be tested. The labels must comply with trading standards (try http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/advice-business-fdlabelsum5.cfm then enter your postcode for your local Trading Standards Office).

You will require health and hygiene certification for your produce and I suggest you carry out research with Campden and Chorleywood (http://www.campden.co.uk/) who will provide costs and procedures.

From this point it makes sense to get a taste test done,which can either be i the street, at a local supermarket or jumping straight into the major supermarkets testing labs. Before you go to a major supermarket you will require to know your methods of manufacturing (who will make it and how) and the costs, sell price and margins they can expect to make. All research that needs to be done otherwise (like in Dragon's Den) they will turn you away quickly. There's lots more but that would take a while.......

Second idea is a service as a coach. Do your research into other people offering the same services and also establish possible routes into supplying into the health service or education system to help people with specific issues (teenage parents, drug / alcohol abuse) and design a series of courses and services. You can market these privately through local village magazines or on notice boards of community centres / libraries to start with and add a website as you build up experience. This is a mould it as you grow type of business, i.e. test what people would like help with, provide a service and start small sessions until you feel comfortable spreading the news wider and bigger. Good Luck with both of these......

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Dear Mr Lennon I am part of a new group our members are 13-20 years of age and over 21's, we are a non-profit group but we are finding it very hard to find funding, We know there is a need for us being here and since we started in March of this year our members have grown to 65, We can only do outside events at the moment as we are fighting for a building so that we can have a place to meet that is safe, warm and trouble free, At the moment we are getting money for events from friends and family's but it's getting harder, We give all events for free to our members, Thank you Brian

Hi Brian

There is no real question here, but I'll try to help if I can. Establishing funding is the same for any enterprise, the funders want to know how you plan to spend their money and if they are lending or investing how you will be paying it back or giving them a return. There are specialist lenders / investors for some social enterprise or ethical organisations but without know what it is I'd rather not provide generic information. May I suggest you ask another question with more content or if you prefer to keep some confidentiality then email me at gary@ideas2reality.co.uk and we can take it from there?

Cheers

Gary

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Hello Gary, I trust your well? I've just started a business focusing on life & Business coaching also training, I dont live far from london and was going to do face to face research, can you advise is this a good idea and if there is anything else i can do, after being made redundant in december, thank you www.matthewvidalconsultancy.com, matthewvidal@live.co.uk

Hi Matthew

The first thing most people do when becoming a self employed consultant is 'this is what I do, can I help you'. Having looked at your website, it's clear that you have taken a step further than this, although some areas need a little more clarity ('Universal Law' is a little meandering). The main objective for a coach / consultant / trainer is to help move clients towards the next stage of development or to imrove business perfomance and to identify explicitly what benefits this will result in (make more money, create better working environments, creat new opportunities and so on).

I have mentioned this information prior to answering your question directly as other potential coaches / consultants may read this and it gives us an opportunity to share best practice together.

So in answer to your question. Research should now form at least 20% of your weekly activity going forward. Every new contact will teach you something, every related business / skills information will add to your knowledge base and hone your offer. So face to face is one part of the research activity. Please note it is time consuming and should form part of other desk based methods (telephone, email and internet).

Without knowing what the research is for it is difficult to advise on the various methods and sources but needless to say that the British Library in London is an excellent resource for most business based research normally undertaken.

Contact me personally to review further at gary@ideas2reality.co.uk and I'll give you more specific insight should you require it. Regards Gary

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Hi Gary. My concept involves supplying building products to Middle Eastern clients to cater for the construction/infrastructure boom in the region. I have exposure to partner firms in Asian countries that can produce most building supplies at a low cost. I was wondering what you consider the best avenues to get in front of these clients in order to convince them that we can outperform their current suppliers and turn the idea into sales? Thanks in advance

If the question is purely a sales proposition then build a strong case for why your service / solution is better than the rest. Take the proposition (business case) through the 'normal' routes in each area (either directly or through intermediaries) to the prospects and make a bid.

My suggestion is to use the UKTI services (https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/) who will help in several ways: getting to know your target market (key players / contacts), build your profile (setting up meetings at British Embassies) and supporting your interests (brokering and supporting visits through facilitation and grants).

Identifying appropriate agents and representatives in each country / region will undoubtedly be in your longer term interests as these companies / people will help to liaise, negotiate and develop localied services and help with the legal, tax and cultural relationships.

Good luck in building the new Middle East!