Freelance journalist and online community builder Alex Johnson is the man behind Shedworking, the online ‘lifestyle guide for shedworkers’. It may seem a little quaint, but an income-generating blog is a thoroughly modern business and Alex himself a modern freelance worker relying on a ‘portfolio’ career to put food on the table. But how has he achieved it?

“I’m not in any sense a business person at all,” admits Alex Johnson (pictured above). “But the site has been very much something I’m interested in without any thought about how it might progress. I’m a big proponent of just do it and see what happens.”

It’s quite a confession for a business-owner. But Alex is far from the clichéd idea of an entrepreneur. Rather, he’s part of a growing number of talented specialists using technology to generate small amounts of income from their interests in niche areas of life.

We’ve reported recently about the how self-employment is on the rise in the UK. It’s clear that online technology is at least in part behind the increase in independent homeworkers. Alex, while documenting this trend himself, has been among the pioneers developing a business model that just didn’t exist a decade ago – and it happened more or less by accident.

The discovery of a new passion

“We used to live in Madrid and came back to England ten years ago,” he explains. “We bought a house in St Albans but there just wasn’t the room for me to work there. So I started looking at garden offices, which at that time was a very small industry indeed.”

A shed “ticked all the boxes” for Alex, not least because it was cheaper than extending the house. But in moving into a new workspace, he also moved into an entirely new working world, and it was one he found fascinating.

“It was financial practicality, but when I started working in the garden office, I realised the advantages over commuting and working from the spare room or the kitchen dining table,” he continues. “And I became intrigued because there must be other people doing this. It became a personal exploration. How many other people were out there?”

In fact, there’s a longstanding tradition of writers working from sheds (think George Bernard Shaw and Roald Dahl) or other micro-buildings, but Alex also discovered designers, photographers, business strategists, charities, botanists and assorted craftsmen and women, among others. It’s an extremely diverse world.

The birth of an accidental business

So Alex starting documenting it in a quarterly PDF called simply, The Shed. As broadband improved, the PDF became a blog and the accidental entrepreneur found himself overwhelmed with contributions from readers.

“There were a lot of people like me who wondered whether there are other people who did it,” he reasons. “It’s bringing that disparate community together.”

As time went on, what began as a “jeu d’esprit” revealed its potential as a source of income. “It was never intended to be an income stream, though,” Alex stresses. “I only started selling ads on the blog because garden office people started approaching me. I’m in no sense an ads person at all. Once one or two started coming on, others followed.

“I keep the prices fairly low to encourage people and it’s a no-brainer for a garden office firm. They have only to to sell one thing off the back of it. That’s really taken off in the last three to four years.”

In addition to display, text and classified advertising, Shedworking features sponsored daily posts. Affiliate marketing didn’t work out, but Alex has written a book off the back of the site (Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution). It all adds up – and though the revenue from the website makes up only about a quarter of his total income, it’s proved a useful ‘calling card’ which has generated other paid projects which form part of Alex’s portfolio career.

It’s also encouraged him to replicate the business model in another niche area that fascinates him – bookshelves. “I’m now doing another blog called Bookshelf which is proving to be almost as popular as Shedworking,” he reveals.

The modern revival of cottage industries

Shedworking and Bookshelf, his work for The Independent newspaper’s online team, his role as webmaster for Designer Breakfasts, freelance writing and editing for magazines, newspapers and charities – variety of work is a deliberate choice for Alex. In that sense, he’s a classic freelancer, driven as much by restless interests and the attraction of flexibility as a need for income.

It’s preferable, he says, to a narrow focus on one thing alone. But there’s something deeper going on here, too. What’s happening in our economy, we both agree, is something of a rebirth of a ‘pre-industrial’ pattern of cottage industries. Certainly, turning hobbies, skills, crafts, interests and passions into an income is more possible in the age of the internet than it has been for a very long time indeed.

“Being niche doesn’t mean focusing on something to the exclusion of everything else,” he argues. “You have to think quite laterally about what you’re doing. If I was a proper entrepreneur, I’d ditch everything else and concentrate on Shedworking  – and it’s a definite possibility at some point. But I’m interested in other things, too, like pubworking as ane extension to what I do now. They’re very undersused spaces during the day.”

“Making a lot of money doesn’t make you a success,” Alex concludes. “People should be equally satisfied with a good work-life balance and a nice business that toddles along fine. Don’t get hung up on trying to be Richard Branson.”

Interview by Simon Wicks, Enterprise Nation editor. Photo of Alex’s shed by Alex.

• Read the Shedworking blog
• Follow Shedworking  on Twitter

Send your ideas for Free Range Friday

Every Friday is Free Range Friday on Enterprise Nation, where we write about fresh, fun and innovative business ideas and the people behind them. We’d love your contributions. Are you doing anything new? Have you spotted anything that’s a little out of the ordinary? Email your ideas to our editor or speak to us on Twitter using the hasthag #FreeRangeFriday.

We’re becoming big fans of infographics here at Enterprise Nation. This lovely one from Simply Business illustrates start-up trends for 2011, according to the number of people who have requested insurance quotes.

There’s plenty of good news – the number of new businesses is up (as we’ve previously reported); there’s more activity in the regions outside London and we’re seeing a growth in the number of professional service businesses, such as health, law and finance. Unfortunately, there’s a corresponding decline in creative businesses and construction.

Perhaps the best news, though, is that more and more over-55s are taking the plunge and starting a business. The 25-34 year old age group still accounts for the highest number of start-ups, but the greatest growth is among ‘silver start-ups’.

In 2011, there was a 19 per cent increase in the number of over-65s starting a business and an 11 per cent increase in the number of entrepreneurs between 55 and 64.Over-55s now account for six per cent of all start-ups.

Says Simply Business chief exec Jason Stockwood: “With ever increasing life expectancy and more flexibility around retirement, it’s interesting that those in the 60 plus age bracket are considering a second career as an entrepreneur. Starting a business can be hugely rewarding at any age and those with so much experience behind them are in a fantastic position to make it a success.” Hear hear!

How do you maximise your chances of making a sale when a potential customer arrives at your ecommerce site? In the eighth post of our series on setting up an online shop, Simon Armstrong – marketing manager for ecommerce specialist Actinic – highlights how you can remove sales barriers and make the buying process simple.

1. Give plenty of detail

It’s most likely that the decision to buy or not will be made while viewing product pages. Provide full product details, as not knowing precisely what you are buying or being unsure about its compatibility, colour, size, weight, and so on, could prevent a sale. Critical details such as delivery time and cost need to be prominently displayed, too. A picture tells a thousand words, and the importance of a clear product shot can’t be underestimated.

2. Show related items

When a shopper is looking at a particular item, there are always other items that naturally relate to it. Make this explicit to encourage a buyer to purchase these at the same time.

3. Display stock levels

Be clear about your stock position. Having stock which is running low could encourage a quick purchase. Having high stock levels shows you can be counted on for large and repeat orders. Failing to show accurate stock levels can lead to upset customers, particularly if you can’t supply what they ordered.

4. Top sellers

Nothing succeeds like success. You need to grab customers and start taking their orders at the earliest possible point. Your top sellers and best offers will always have the greatest appeal so make them clearly visible on your home page.

5. Offer more for more money

Never discount something that a lot of people will buy anyway; it is just giving money away unnecessarily. Offer them a great deal if they buy something else at the same time. This will please the shopper, encourage them to come back, and it will increase the value of each sale that you make.

6. Use deals

A person with a voucher or coupon feels that they have a special deal. It also ties them in to buying from you, because they cannot redeem your vouchers anywhere else. Use vouchers to reward your loyal customers without losing out on potential revenue from one-time buyers.

7. Encourage repeat visits

Analysing customers’ sales patterns and giving them a special offer if they haven’t shopped for a while shows you’ve noticed and makes people feel valued.

What works for you?

If you’ve had success with other tactics, we’d love to hear about it! Please leave a comment below the post.

Read previous ‘Setting up shop online’ posts

• Four things to do before you start
• Do it yourself, or not?
• Choosing a shopping cart
• Presenting your products
• Taking payments
• Five ways to market your website on a budget
• Security and reassurance for customers

Photo credit: Ed Kohler

As the Explore Asia event in Westminster this week reveals the potential for UK businesses to trade with South East Asia, we’ve been lucky enough to get some time with the UK Ambassador to China, Sebastian Wood.

Sebastian, who took up the role in early 2010, is integral to strengthening our cultural and commercial relationship with the world’s fastest growing nation. In this short version of a longer interview to be published shortly in a new Go Global section of the website, he explains what the opportunities are for the UK’s small businesses and what it’s like to spend time in a vibrant nation undergoing massive change.

Enterprise Nation (EN): Why trade with China?

Sebastian Wood (SW): It’s where the growth is. Over the last few years, China has been supplying a third to a half of global growth. If you want to make money in the world today, at some point you need to develop a presence in this market – and the headroom is considerable: it’s the world’s second largest economy but it’s per capita income is still only a fraction of ours. China’s economy is going to need more and more of the things that the UK can provide, in areas where small British companies have real strength, such as advanced engineering and manufacturing, design and creative services.

EN: Do the Chinese do business in a similar way to the UK?

SW: Essentially, yes as business is all about the universal aim of making a profit. But doing business in China is not straightforward, given our different cultural and economic backgrounds. The Chinese take pride in their negotiating skills and can use time, patience and control of information as their ally. It’s important to realise that a contract is sometimes seen as the starting point for negotiation rather than the end result!

EN: What sort of tastes do Chinese consumers have? We’ve heard they value British goods highly.

SW: Like all consumers, Chinese people value good design, style, reliability and value for money, so British goods displaying these characteristics stand a better chance of doing well. Chinese people love brands – especially foreign ones – and there is a very strong and fast growing market here in luxury goods, including cars, designer clothes, bespoke goods and  expensive wines.

EN: But are they interested in handmade and craft goods manufactured in the UK?

SW: Yes definitely, at both ends of the market. China’s rich have a strong appetite for fine handmade clothes, shoes, personal accessories, household goods and furnishing, cars, boats, horse-related equipment ,and so on. More modest ‘British’ branded craft type of goods like chocolates in containers representing a British landmark, branded soaps and toiletries are also very popular and can sell for higher prices than in the UK.

EN: What sort of marketing are Chinese consumers likely to respond to?

SW: Mass marketing by digital media and social networking sites, and so on, will appeal to young fashion-conscious consumers who do an increasing amount of their shopping online. Mobile communication is prevalent and consumers are generally savvy. One particular area of opportunity may be in online sales – China has a thriving internet retail culture, backed up by sophisticated and secure payment systems, and increasing availability to consumers of foreign currency credit cards. The leading B2B website is Alibaba (which operates in English and Chinese), while Taobao is the local equivalent to eBay (Chinese language only).

EN: What’s it like to spend time in China?

SW: When I first came to China from Hong Kong in 1990, it was a tough environment for foreigners, but the differences have narrowed considerably. In the big cities like Beijing, it’s much more international there are established expat populations. Beijing is full of lovely restaurants and accommodation is much more varied and of a much higher standard than it used to be. I find my own staff come from London expecting quite a tough environment and they are pleasantly surprised by how cosmopolitan and exciting life in China is.

EN: Can you see genuine opportunities for small British businesses in China?

SW: Yes, I believe that there are real opportunities. Small and medium-sized enterprises can provide huge added value, through strategic alliances, direct sales of products, technology transfer or sales of services and solutions. But small businesses will also need to balance potential rewards against the scale of effort required and the inherent risks of doing business in an emerging market where the legal and regulatory environment is not as well developed as in the UK. This is where business support organisations such as UKTI and the China Britain Business Council can provide support and valuable assistance.

Trading with China – some facts and figures

• China is the UK’s 9^th largest export destination, receiving £5 billion of goods from the UK between January and July 2011. This was a 20 per cent increase on 2010.

• China is urbanising fast: each year, 10 million rural residents move to urban areas.

• China expects to invest in infrastructure to the tune of about £5,000 per head annually over the next few years. That equates to £50 billion a year focused on the urbanisation of China.
  

Find out more about doing business with China

• Explore Asia is a day long conference on 9^th February looking at 12 key Asian markets

• Find out about UKTI exporting help for small businesses

• Find out about the support available to British businesses from the China Britain Business Council
  

• We’re about to publish The Small Business Guide to China. You can pre-order a copy ahead of publication on 20^th February.

Sign up for our Go Global workshops!

If you’re considering exporting, but don’t know where to start, or if you want to grow your intternational sales, come along to one of our monhtly Go global workshops. We’ll be hearing from entrepreneurs, writers and representatives of some of the worlds biggest trading platforms. Find out all about Go Global 2012 and make a booking!

Photo credit: Mike Behnken

Kevin Ryan is the New York-based boss of Gilt Groupe and a seasoned entrepreneur. Thanks to Judith Clegg of Glasshouse Ventures and the London to New York mission, I had an opportunity to meet Kevin today and question him on how the company has grown and how he personally manages to run Gilt plus two other roaringly successful businesses.

Introducing Kevin Ryan

As a British start-up or business owner, you may not have heard of Kevin Ryan. But in New York, he’s nothing short of a legend! In this interview with the New York Times, Ryan is referred to as the King of Silicon Alley and his latest venture, Gilt Groupe, “the hottest start-up in New York city”. The respect is well deserved. This seasoned entrepreneur appears to almost effortlessly run multiple businesses and today I picked up some key points on how he approaches work.

Product power

Kevin has a rule that none of his businesses advertise for the first 18 months. That way, he says, the company stands or falls by the worth of the product itself. He describes it as starting a business with one hand tied behind your back (ie no advertising spend; but this makes the free arm (product) much stronger and not too reliant on the other. Sounds simple/ makes sense!

Customers count

When asked how Gilt Groupe has moved from “a fashion business to a lifestyle business”, Kevin responds that growth and expansion into new categories (menswear, travel, homewares, food etc) has come from customers suggesting new ideas and asking for more. “Customers will come up with good ideas,” says Kevin. “They are well worth listening to.”

The power of photography

Gilt is renowned for using photography to, in Kevin’s words “make things look better”. It reminded me all over again about the power of imagery; whether it be the picture you use with your own biography (if you are the product of your business) or images of goods you want to sell. Imagery is powerful and top class presentation has secured Gilt thousands of happy customers.

Focus on what you do best

I asked Kevin how he manages his time running three businesses. His reply is that he focuses on what he does best and delegates the rest to top teams of people. This completely chimes with our business mantra at Enterprise Nation which is ‘focus on what you do best and outsource the rest’ – or, in other words, choose trusted partners or personnel and let them do their job while you focus time and energy on yours.

Experiment and move fast

A message and point of advice that continues to crop up; I heard it a couple of weeks ago from Erik Riesand today from a man who is putting it into practice every working day. “We try things a lot and we move fast.” Indeed, in a recent Forbes interview, when asked for his one piece of advice to start ups and small business owners, “Move fast” was the advice on offer from this man in a hurry who you just don’t want to ignore.

And I’ll leave it at that as I better get moving!

Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation

Photo credit:  NigelMorris

Regular Enterprise Nation contributor Rickie Josen is a big fan of Jelly. No, not the wobbly stuff you eat with ice cream, but the loose co-working group for freelancers and homeworkers that meets in cafes, home, offices – and other locations – across the US and, increasingly, the UK. This is what Rickie has to say about the virtues of Jelly.

I first encountered Jelly during a long stint in New York, thanks to EN’s very own Emma Jones recommending it (she does a lot of that – Ed).

All I knew about Jelly when I RSVPed to my first one was that it’s about co-working for people who otherwise work alone, at home. When I came back to the UK, given that we have all moved towards home-working, portfolio careers and entrepreneurship – not to mention the more general acceptance of social media as a way of connecting – I was surprised Jelly wasn’t already in a huge city like Birmingham. So, eventually, I added it to my list of community tasks.

Whereas other get-togethers may be for networking, promoting business and exchanging contacts, Jelly is purely an excuse to work with other people. In New York, Jellies were literally held in each other’s homes or business premises. The best one I went to was in a shoe showroom overlooking central park! While I love that very casual approach, I manage to reserve a table at one of the Birmingham’s’ finest coffee shops, right on my doorstep. Plus, my place isn’t large enough anyway.

As regular Birmingham Jellyhead, Ian Braisby puts it: “The worst thing about being a freelance worker who works at home is the isolation. But Jelly provides a once a month social outlet – often enough to be an effective pressure valve, infrequently enough to be something to look forward to and to not take up huge chunks of your schedule.”

Why work in a Jelly?

So, there are several reasons to co-work in a Jelly:

Get out of the house! Get out of your PJs, brush your hair, grab your laptop and anything else you need to work and go and talk to some people.

Collaborate. The idea is to work in a creative, collaborative environment.  I often ask people who I potentially may work with to just meet me at a Jelly. Indeed, one of the best things about Jelly is seeing people find some synergy and pairing off to work on a project. Also, the coffee shop is normally full of other freelancers so there is always the chance encounter while you’re ordering your preferred beverage.

Banter. Yes we have social media now which makes working from home all the more fun, but once a month I trot out and sit around a big wooden table with my laptop in front of me. However, it’s not just for laptop users – some people bring a notepad and use the time to organise or think of new ideas, and it’s a perfect place to brainstorm. I’m still waiting for someone to turn up with their knitting or some other craft, but no joy yet.

Laughter. It’s just like the office, but better, as there isn’t a boss looking over your shoulder wondering why you’re having so much fun.

Change. Why not just work somewhere different for a day? Free your mind, think differently, meet new people.

People. A chance to meet new people and catch up with your Jelly family, too. There is no commitment to Jelly; just come when you can and come and go as you please during the day.

Some Jellys take bookings so they know who is coming and how much space they need. I’m of the super organised and informal persuasion, so I’ll promote Jelly via Twitter and email all those who want to know, as well as those who are fellow members of Birmingham Entrepreneurs MeetUp group that I co-run.

Coffee. Or Tea, hot chocolate, soup or indeed whatever your venue offers. We’re lucky with Urban Coffee Co as they offer breakfast, brunch or lunch during our Jelly days as well as tonnes of cakes and snacks.

Set up your own Jelly…

If you don’t have a Jelly in your area and want to set one up, simply talk to your local coffee shop or other suitable venue, set a date and tell everyone you know.

… or get in touch to find out more

For more tips, drop me a line via Twitter @RickieWrites or via my website. Alternatively, I recommend talking to UK Jelly Queen, Jan Minihane, who started the UK Jelly website, which is full of useful information, as well as Jelly listings. You can Tweet UK Jelly or Jan Minihane herself and say hi.

Birmingham Jelly photo credit: @Timmy666

How do you keep track of the things you have to do? Being an old-fashioned soul, I use a paper desk diary to note down my jobs and it’s full of lists written once, then rewritten and written again.

I’m told there are some rather good apps and other bits of software out there that could make life a lot easier for me. But I’m not technically minded and I need some persuading. San and I came up with this list of pros and cons:

Paper to-do lists

Pros:

• No training required
• You can always find paper and a pen
• You don’t need a power supply or an internet connection
• Your pad isn’t constantly telling you what you’ve forgotten to do

Cons:

• Not great for collaboration
• Not easy to change priorities, due dates, etc., or for seeing upcoming tasks at a glance
• Not dynamic – items don’t change as they approach deadline
• No automatic reminders

Software based to-do lists

Pros:

• Can follow your around – on your computer, phone, tablet, etc.
• Can be shared, tracked, monitored by team – good for collaboration
• Can sync with other services, like Twitter, email, etc.
• You can set reminders about important things

Cons:

• You need a device on you, power and connectivity
• Some training required, and set-up time
• Services may go out of fashion or out of business

What do you recommend?

So that’s we think. But what about you? And what to-do list software should I be using? Please leave your comments below.

You can also join us to discuss or tech tips and tricks every Tuesday on Twitter using the hashtag #TechTuesday.

Simon Wicks, Enterprise Nation editor

Photo credit: Purple Slog

Whatever content you decide to carry in your email newsletter, the way you present it will have a big influence on whether or not your recipients actually read it and click through to your website, writes Enterprise Nation editor Simon Wicks.

When piecing it together, it’s important to keep in mind two things at all times:

• The reader’s journey from your email subject line to your website
• Setting clear expectations – and fulfilling them.

It can help to think of your enewsletter as a signpost to content that’s stored elsewhere – on your website or blog, for instance. Here are five areas of your enewsletter to pay particular attention to:

1. The subject line

The first thing someone sees when your email drops into their inbox is the email subject line, alongside your name. It has to give them an incentive to open the email and it should reflect the main piece of content in your enewsletter. This in turn ought to be the first thing they see when they open the enewsletter.

Bear in mind that most email clients will only show the first 40 characters or so of the subject line, so keep it short and emphasise the main topic quickly.

Drawing attention to offers can be a good tactic if you have a sale or promotion:

• 10% off sewing materials until February 10!

If you’re a hobby-based business and you offer tips and advice in addition to your product or service, then it could be worth accentuating this ‘added value’ aspect of your business:

• Cool kids: 5 new patterns for stylish teens

Likewise, if you keep people up to date with your business or offer comment via a blog; if you have an interesting story to tell, bring it to the fore.

Whatever you decide to use for your main item/email subject, though, make sure:

• you’re clear about what you’re offering your reader
• it gives them a reason to open the newsletter and take a look.

Whatever you do, don’t just write ‘Newsletter’ – this tells the reader nothing.

2. The overall layout

Once someone’s opened your enewsletter, they need to be able to scan the content easily to pick out the things they’re interested in. It’s tempting to write an article within the body of your enewsletter itself, but my personal recommendation is to split your content into several short items, each with its own clear heading and a link to the item itself on your website or blog.

This stresses to the reader that you’re offering them choice and variety – if they’re not interested in one thing, they can quickly spot something else they may be more inclined to look at. Critically, you can also measure these ‘clickthroughs’, and they provide a valuable source of information about what your customers are actually interested in.

It’s also important to have your business name prominently displayed at the top of the enewsletter and, ideally, a good-sized, attractive image – images catch the eye and help to draw the reader into the content. Bear in mind, though, that most email clients have a viewing pane that will only show the top part of your enewsletter. Get the important stuff to the top where people can see it immediately!

3. Engaging headlines

As with the subject line, it’s usually best to keep headlines short, relevant and direct. Punny headlines can work – but they can also feel quite strained. Sometimes it’s best just to tell it like it is.

Keep the headline relevant to the content, and make sure that when someone clicks on your headline to view the item, they’ll see what they’re expecting straight away. People can click away in an instant; you’ve got to give them what they’re looking for.

4. ‘Teaser’ text to go with headlines

If you’ve broken your enewsletter into several items, each with its own headline, it makes sense to have a little bit of ‘teaser’ text to expand on the headline itself and give the reader a further reason to click on the item. Keep this brief (a couple of short sentences at most), a bit intriguing and finish it with a link to the item itself (see point 5…).

5. Links that make people want to click on them

It goes without saying that headlines and images should be linked to relevant items. But another link at the end of your teaser text can work very well – in fact, you may find this is where most of your clicks come from. It’s important to stress again here the reason why your readers should click on this item -  so try to avoid simply saying ‘Click here’ or ‘Read more’ and put the link on explanatory text. Here’s an example:

• Five ways to improve your home office IT

There’s nothing more frustrating than losing an hour’s work to an avoidable glitch with your PC. Don’t worry! Here are five quick and easy IT tips to make homeworking easier.

• Five ways to improve your home office IT

There’s nothing more frustrating than losing an hour’s work to an avoidable glitch with your PC. Don’t worry! We’ve got five quick and easy ways to help you. Click here to find out more.

Which is more likely to make you click through?

The other bits…

There are some other bits of information you’ll need to carry in your enewsletter:

• Your social media links (Twitter, Facebook, etc), so people have a choice of ways to engage with you
• Your business name and address (legal requirement, this, just as it is on your website). Stick it at the bottom in small text in the ‘footer’
• An ‘unsubscribe’ option
• A ‘send to a friend’ option.

Photo credit: Joseph Nicolia

Read the other articles in this series about email marketing

• Part1: Five reasons to have an email newsletter
• Part2: What should you put in your enewsletter?
• Part3: Choosing the best platform for your enewsletter

With thanks to Simon Devonshire, I had the pleasure this week of visiting Wayra in Madrid; it’s a project that’s on it’s way to the UK and my advice to small businesses and large corporates is to take note!

A bit of background

The idea for Wayra came about when Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete and Gonzalo Martin-Villa (pictured below) were out for a run, passed by a building and wondered why they couldn’t fill it with developers and young start-ups. The idea evolved and the result is Wayra; a global network of accelerators offering investment, space and support for start up stars across Latin America, Europe, and soon, the UK.

How Wayra works

Funded and launched by Telefonica, Wayra calls for applications from start-ups in the territories in which it operates. To date, over 5,700 entries have been received in locations from Brazil to Colombia and Chile. From the applicants, 30 are invited to attend a Wayra week (which is actually 2 – 3 days) and 10 final companies are chosen who will receive funds, space, mentors and access to the Telefonica base of 300 million customers. It’s a compelling proposition. In exchange, Wayra takes an average 10% stake in each of the businesses.

At Wayra in Madrid on Thursday the ten chosen companies pitched their wares. They are working on products from medical technologies to location reviews and musical apps. What was common to them all was their appreciation for being part of the Wayra family which brings not only support in the domestic market but access to peer companies in Wayra accelerators across the globe.

This would not be possible without the pure passion and dedication shown by the Wayra team; a passion that has keenly been embraced by Simon Devonshire who is the man charged with introducing Wayra to the UK. I, for one, can’t wait to see the doors open, companies thrive, and have the entrepreneurial leadership shown by Telefonica spread to other large corporates.

Thanks to the Wayra team for an incredible day and here’s to welcoming you to the UK!

Defining lines:

‘We acted and then asked for permission’ Gonzalo Martin-Villa, Director, Wayra Global

‘We are investing in businesses that will make us a better business. Wayra companies are developing the products we’re going to sell to our clients’ Ronan Dunne, CEO, O2 UK

‘We can’t afford to stop’ Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, CEO, Telefonica Europe

• Visit the Wayra website 
• Follow Simon Devonshire and Gonzalo Martin-Villa on twitter for updates

Emma Jones is founder of Enterprise Nation

Greencup is not your standard coffee vending machine business. Driven by the restlessness and passion of founder Jeremy Knight, they’ve exploited the astonishing versatility of a simple cup of coffee to create a business that is green from bean to cup and produces a growing range of highly innovative additional products.

“I’ve always been quite entrepreneurial,” says self-confessed coffee obsessive Jeremy Knight. “I do believe that ideas come from actions and momentum. You must be open to other opportunities when they come along.

“But I’ve also learnt that you need to build a foundation around your primary product and service to get it going and you need to be good at what you do,” the Greencup founder continues. “You can’t be all things to all people from the start. I was always into coffee so good coffee is at the heart of everything.”

The stirrings of a coffee-based idea

Jeremy’s passion for coffee really started to take shape in 2001 when he founded Greencup’s parent company, Redcup. A restless soul, he had spent his adult life flitting from one field to another – first he was an estate agent and then he founded a cleaning business, before landing a job as a salesman for a vending machine company.

With the first stirrings of what’s now become a fully-fledged ‘coffee culture’ in the UK, Jeremy realised there was an enormous gap in the corporate market for a vending machine that produces a decent, fresh cup of coffee for employees. That was his first good idea.

To cut a longish story short, Jeremy built a machine, got Redcup off the ground, picked up customers and started making inroads into a sizeable market.

Then he had his second good idea. “I had a meeting with a chap who runs an American charity called Coffee Kids,” he recalls. “He told me that one of his donors makes more money from old coffee than new coffee.

“I Googled ‘coffee waste’ when I got home and all sorts of amazing things came up about the uses of old coffee for gardens, because the nutrients in the coffee waste are good for plants. So I started to explore all the options and thought I would go ahead and give this a go and learn as I do it,” he explains. “We started collecting old coffee from clients and composting it. But I wasn’t really satisfied with that – we tried lots of ways to compost and treat it and nothing seemed to work.”

Breaking the coffee barrier

It was frustrating. Jeremy was only too aware of the amount of coffee waste produced in the UK each month (27,680 tons by current estimates) and its contribution to global warming (365kg of CO2 for every ton of coffee that waste that goes to landfill) – and he had a pretty good idea of how much waste was generated by his own business. He wanted to do something about it.

It was another chance encounter with a fellow coffee obsessive that helped him over the obstacle. Industrial product designer Adam Fairweather was trying to create a solid material based on waste coffee that could be moulded to create furniture and domestic fittings. But Jeremy persuaded him to work on compost instead. Together, they recruited scientists from Imperial College in London, experimented with different combinations of coffee grounds and other substances and eventually cracked it.

“We came up with a natural fertiliser that was easy to use, didn’t go mouldy, didn’t stink and would work in the garden as a mulch. We also proved that it has slug repellent properties because they don’t like to cross the coffee barrier.”

Adding value for clients

Having the extra product has opened up a wealth of possibilities for the business. For example, Greencup – now a formal offshoot of Redcup – provides a recycling service to customers that makes them a more attractive supplier. The fertiliser produced from the collected waste has also created an extra revenue stream – it’s now sold through Nottcutts garden centres and a number of smaller independent garden centres, too.

But Jeremy is less concerned about making additional profit for the business (in fact, Greencup’s profits go to charity) than he is in providing an ‘added value’ service that differentiates Greencup from other firms in the industry. Greencup’s principles also fulfil his own mission to create and promote social responsibility through his business.

“It’s become a really good added value to my business that I can go to my clients and offer a service that helps their corporate social responsibility by removing waste from landfill and the waste stream,” he explains. “Clients respond to it really well. But coffee is the foremost thing. It’s important that people like the initial product.”

A world of coffee

Jeremy’s openness to collaboration and his desire to underpin every aspect of the business with an ethical principle has led to other partnerships, too. Greencup’s coffee is supplied by a family-run Swedish firm, Löfbergs Lila, that sources organic and fair trade coffee. The profits generated by recycling go to Coffee Kids, which works with coffee-producing families around the world. For every coffee machine sold by the Redcup, a donation is made to Trees for Cities that enables them to plant a tree in an urban environment.

Then there’s the furniture. Adam’s experiments with solid materials mean the company now produces bespoke furniture and fittings made partly from waste coffee and aprtly from recycled plastic coffee cups. Yup, coffee and cups. So far, they’ve kitted out their own Coffee Lab in London where they teach clients how to make a perfect cup of coffee, and Google’s coffee lab for employees. It’s yet another revenue stream.

What Jeremy is demonstrating with Greencup is the potential that almost any business has to build on a core product or service. He’s recycling waste, selling two new products (with more potentially on the way) and provides after-sales training to clients. Aside from extra revenue, these activities go a long way to making Greencup the most attractive supplier in their market.

“I started out as me in my bedroom. I was engineer, managing director, salesman, delivery boy… My USP was simply to take great coffee from bean to cup in vending machines at work,” he stresses. “Everyone told me not to do it and there were lots of reasons not to do it – we’d just had a baby and bought a big house.

“But running a business is all about perseverance and believing in what you do. I learned to stick to what I was good at and my core business is still coffee. Greencup has taken me a few years to get right, but I was determined to do it.”

It’s amazing what you can achieve on a simple cup of coffee.

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Every Friday is Free Range Friday on Enterprise Nation, where we write about fresh, fun and innovative business ideas – whether to do with improving products and services or simply making businesses run better. We’d love your contributions. Are you doing anything new? Have you spotted anything that’s a little out of the ordinary? Email your ideas to our editor or speak to us on Twitter using the hasthag #FreeRangeFriday.

Photo credit: Chris Collins