North East website - Sharemyplaylists.com - aims to be largest for global Spotify community

A North East entrepreneur, Kieron Donoghue, has launched a social media website that is set to be the largest globally for the Spotify online music community after receiving a six figure investment from four successful internet business investors.

Sharemyplaylists.com (SMP) was developed by Sunderland based Kieron after he noticed a gap in the market to make music discovery easier for Spotify users and give them the ability to share playlists.

Spotify is an online music streaming service that allows subscribers to create their own playlists from any artist, album and genre free of charge.

After developing and launching the site and seeing it grow virally, Kieron pitched the opportunity to Steven Brown, David Brown, Malcolm Cowley and Paul Fellows - the ‘dream team’ that set up www.Buy.at from Newcastle which eventually sold for $125m to AOL in 2008 - who quickly spotted the potential of the business in the wake of other social media successes such as MySpace and Facebook.

Offering a social network so music fans can talk about their favourite artists and bands, as well as the opportunity to discover and rate other people’s music compilations, SMP already works with the major record labels and ran a promotion with Warner Music UK over Christmas to promote the latest R.E.M. album. Celebrity playlists are featured on the site from the likes of Robbie Williams, The Gorillaz, Will Young, The Saturdays, Leona Lewis, La Roux and Alicia Keys amongst others.

SMP will fund its growth through targeted online advertising sales to those wishing to reach music lovers on a national and global level.

Over 16,000 playlists are currently listed on SMP, the largest number on any site of its kind. Its success to date is such that the team are looking for new premises and to recruit full time developers.

SMP founder Kieron Donoghue has been self-employed for ten years and through running UK Offer Media Ltd and Content Now LLP has vast experience of online commerce. He said: “As a big Spotify fan, I was extremely excited by the opportunity to develop a complementary site that would further enhance the offer and just knew the concept had huge potential. Music is a real passion for many and Sharemyplaylists.com allows people to meet others with similar tastes to themselves, bringing in a real social networking element.

“Gaining the support of the former Buy.at team has been a fantastic leap forward and it’s a real privilege to have their expertise involved with the business. A key next step for me now is to use some of the investment to find new offices and get a talented and experienced workforce in place.”

Investor and ex CEO of buy.at, Steven Brown sits on the SMP board as a non-executive director and is also excited by the venture and working with both Kieron and the investment team once more.

Steven commented: “The online music sector is high growth and Spotify is a fantastic application that offers legal streaming music – a service that will quite simply become the normal way to consume music in future. Sharemyplaylists.com is brilliant in its simplicity and not only plugs a real gap and allows friends to connect through their common passion but, most importantly, is being launched at the perfect time. We have great ambitions for the business and firmly believe it has all the attributes to be tremendously successful.”

A spokesperson for Spotify added: “It is great to see Sharemyplaylists.com and the Spotify ecosystem continue to flourish. Social and sharing features are very important to Spotify and Sharemyplaylists.com has been at the forefront of playlist sharing since early on.”

For more information, please visit www.sharemyplaylists.com.

Not much time left!

As we come to the final week of the entry period for the 3rd If we can, you can Challenge, we just thought we would take the opportunity to reflect on what’s been an amazing, exciting, challenging and fulfilling few months here at Entrepreneurs’ Forum HQ. It’s not that the rest of the year for us is dull, unimaginative and, well, unfulfilling, it’s just that we always look forward to this time of year due to all the new people and businesses we get to meet and be inspired by, and this year has been no exception.

Take for example the words of just a handful of entrants to the Challenge so far. Here’s a pick of what they had to say to the difficult question, “What are your aims and aspirations?” in their entry forms:

“I can see the business growing with local support and with people outside of the area that will help our local rural community and help promote enterprise and stimulate our economy. I would like to see my business create enough revenue to allow more employees, a premises to operate from instead of my home and new opportunities to form for myself and others. I have said in the past that I would like to become a commoner when I retire but try to live life to the full and to challenge myself in places that would be beneficial to obtaining new markets and seeking to help others.”

“A vision is something that I think is very hard to put into words. My 'vision' of where I see myself in five or ten years' time is something very personal to me - I know what I want to do with my life, and that is what drives me, and to write that down would be a very hard thing to do. I want to do big things; I want to influence lives and have a positive impact on the world.”

“My ambition is simply to grow a good strong solid company that may possibly employ people in the future, and create a working environment that promotes lateral thinking within the work force.”

“I want to do well and be happy with what I have achieved. What I have also learnt is that there are so many great and successful people out there who give their time and who work tirelessly for other disadvantaged people. I aspire to be like them and to do the same. If ever my business was to take off I would not hesitate to do likewise....if I fail to do this you can give me a stern telling off but it shouldn't happen :D”

“I feel that with enough hard work, determination and the right ideas I will establish and run a number of successful businesses whilst also in time investing in and nurturing new business talent.”

“I want to be a successful business woman. I want to be financially independent and be able to provide for my mother and daughter. I also want to be a great role model for my 12 year old daughter and demonstrate that a lot of hard work goes a long way and does pay off. I'm now taking my first steps towards fulfilling these goals and ambitions, but I know I have a huge amount of work to do before I get there and the vision will evolve and change - nothing is ever set in stone.”

Inspiring stuff we know you’ll agree. It seems that we’ll continue to have our socks knocked off by the amount of sheer passion, dedication and bloody mindedness of the North East’s entrepreneurs – no matter how experienced they are, if they’re in the process of making their business happen or they’re exploring new opportunities to grow, it seems there’s no barrier too high or learning curve too steep. That’s what sums up the region’s entrepreneurial spirit it seems, and it’s part of our job to continue to nurture and encourage that and keep the entrepreneurial beacon shining brightly in our region.

In spite of the current climate, there are plenty of opportunities and the ‘can do’ entrepreneurial spirit shown by previous winners of the ‘If we can, you can’ Challenge is a shining example of this.

For example, when 2009 Middlesbrough Evening Gazette winner Louise Bell won the Challenge she was just starting her home spray tanning business, Healthy Glow. She says, “Since winning the Challenge the business has moved forward more than I could have imagined. I was really pretty naïve and probably didn’t know much about running a business, but I knew I had something worth pushing and the determination to get Healthy Glow going, whatever it took. I’ve got two Healthy Glow franchisees in place – in Darlington and Stokesley. The Challenge has given me so much confidence to trust my instinct, get on with it and not let any hurdle stand in my way. I know there are lots more opportunities and lots of challenges to come but the ‘tada’ moments keep coming – and long may it continue.”

There’s still time left to enter the Challenge and be crowned our 2010 winner but not much! You have until the 3rd of May (midnight) to log on at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk/challenge and put yourself forward.

To see what previous finalists have said about being involved with the Challenge, click here

More details of the format of the competition and the all important prizes can be found on this page too. Good luck to all.

Challenge alumni share their views

Finalists from the 2008 and 2009 If we can, you can Challenge talk about what they've gained from being involved, and how their aspirations for their businesses have since evolved

If you would like to enter this year's Challenge, don't hesitate to do so at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk/challenge before the deadline of May 3rd 2010

Twitter Helps Business Owners Make A Splash

Five local business owners are participating in the world’s biggest swim after meeting through social networking site Twitter.

The team, which consists of Heather Baxter of GENI, Derek Curtis of Bond Solutions, Mark Easby of Better Brand Agency, Lisa Forster of Angelfysh and Marianne Whitfield of Cobweb, will be swimming 5,000 metres on April 16 to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The group, whose businesses are all based in the North East, met on Twitter and decided to take part in the Swimathon at Sunderland Aquatic Centre. The swim will take approximately three hours to complete and the team, aptly named the Twimmers, is hoping to raise over £1,000 for the charity.

Derek Curtis said: “We all use Twitter for business purposes and we had been talking for a while previous to agreeing to do the Swimathon. We were all discussing getting fit and when the idea of participating in the event was mentioned we all jumped at the chance.

“It just shows how social media is bringing businesses together and can provide a great platform for businesses to network with others in the region. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and of course raising money for this great cause.”

Twitter is now one of the UK’s leading social networking sites with over 58 million members. It is a microblogging site where users can interact and post ‘tweets’ of up to 140 characters.

Heather added: “It’s amazing how many contacts I have made since joining Twitter last year. Since agreeing to do the Swimathon I have met several members of the team to discuss potential business opportunities. Although the Swimathon will be a challenge, I am excited to take part and hope we will exceed our fundraising target.”

Rewarded For Doing Better

Stokesley based branding agency, Better is celebrating after winning another top business award.

The agency - set up in 2008 by Mark Easby, Declan Metcalfe and Peter Jones - won the Internet and ICT category at the nebusiness Awards which were sponsored by Business Link and The Evening Gazette.

The judges were looking for an innovative use of internet technology to improve business performance or boost competitiveness within the business. Better were credited for using their website and social media to communicate with peers, potential customers and the wider region to develop a powerful digital footprint.

Beating off competition from companies across the Tees Valley, Better will now represent
the region at the Regional Final which will be held at Hardwick Hall Hotel on Thursday 29th
April 2010.

Managing Director, Mark Easby said: “We are delighted to win this prestigious award in
only our first full year of business. It is a testament to our teamʼs adoption of the latest
technologies in both our own and our customerʼs businesses and it is brilliant that we have
been recognised for this.”

“Staying connected is important to us as individuals and as a business in todayʼs marketplace. We use social media tools extensively to keep in the regional digital loop, as well as informing our friends and audience of how our business is growing and developing its service offering. In a competitive marketplace differentiation is key. We believe in breaking down the corporate wall, being human and letting the personalities of the individuals in the company talk for us. Our digital footprint facilitates this.”

Within the first 18 months the agency has expanded to 7 staff and is proud to have established a client base which includes NDI, Freshfayre, Philippa Gregory, SASDA, Codeworks, Onyx Group, Teesside University, The Enterprise Team, MPI Offshore, and Northumbria University. The team also won Best Social Media Marketing Campaign at the 2008 North East Digital Awards.

"Since winning the 2009 IWCYC Challenge..." by Louise Bell, Healthy Glow

"Since winning the Ifwecanyoucan Challenge the business has moved forward more than I could have imagined.

Looking back I didn’t really understand most of the questions people asked me when they were writing articles about me for the press. I was really pretty naïve and probably didn’t know much about running a business even though I was convinced I had something worth pushing and the determination to get Healthy Glow going, whatever it took.

How times have changed. And I’ve learnt so much in such a short space of time.

Winning the Challenge has been fantastic. I seem to have done lots of things right, I’ve done lots of things that I didn’t realise I knew how to do and I’ve met lots of people who have pointed me in the right direction and offered support when I needed it (I’ve met a few who I wasn’t too keen on but you’ve got to expect that – you’re never going to click with everyone).

We’ve got the set up in Tees Valley spot on. I’ve got two Healthy Glow franchisees in place – in Darlington and Stokesley – and we work really effectively as a team so we never let a customer down. Both of the girls do 60 spray tans a month (about half an hour per tan) and two thirds of the business is down to repeat customers which is perfect.

The next step was working out how to grow from there – and I’ve got the guys at the Entrepreneurs’ Forum to thank for an introduction to Graham Mylchreest from Be Franchising. It turns out they were looking for an opportunity that they could open up for women in the County Durham area to buy into as part of the LEGI programme – helping them to get back into work. So all of a sudden I’d got a partnership and my first master franchise licence was in place. Tada!

I’d also been doing a lot of work with my Google adwords which seemed to be working well (I rank number one for spray tanning) and one day I got an enquiry through from a woman with a marketing background who was looking to get back to work after having children. What I didn’t realise was that she’s from Germany – I didn’t even know that the adwords were international!

So I went about getting a ‘Passport to Export’ through UKTI so that I could get as much information as possible on the German market – do my homework! Germany is way behind us in terms of their attitude to sunbeds but things are changing so it’s the perfect time to get into the market.

I’ve teamed up with Claire Mitchell who’s a brilliant marketeer – who I met through ifwecanyoucan (she was a finalist in the Northern Echo area) – and we went out to Germany together to meet with Christina and we’ve started discussions about a master licence for her part of Germany.

The Germany trip was a valuable learning experience, I have decided to concentrate on the UK for the time being as I think the control of another country would stretch me too far at this stage. We need to expand in the UK first and that is where hopefully an Entrust programme called Coaching for High Growth will help, with guidance from people who have done it before.

It was great to spend time with Claire and we were able to get our heads together in how we are going to market Healthy Glow in the UK. Quite scary that we both had to go to another country to get time to talk to each other without interruption, but fab anyway!

I’ve been signposted to all sorts of people – and they keep telling me that I’m doing everything right and they can’t add anything. And eventually I was signposted to the very person I needed to speak to apparently – and the Forum had already put me in touch a few months earlier!

I’m in the process of getting my product IP sorted (I know what that means now!) – and I’ve got the supply sorted. In fact, I set the girls targets and it means I can pre-order because I know exactly how much I need. It’s a big relief because I went through a very dodgy period when I wasn’t sure I could get the stock I needed when I needed it.

I guess the next step is rolling it out! Which is so exciting and has come much quicker than I could ever have imagined.

I’d like to think I’d have got to this point eventually but winning the Challenge and the support I’ve had along the way has certainly got me there quicker and it’s given me so much confidence to trust my instinct, get on with it and not let any hurdle stand in my way.

I know there are lots more opportunities and lots of challenges to come but the ‘tada’ moments keep coming – and long may it continue."

The 2010 Challenge is now underway - you can now enter online at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk/challenge until the deadline of May 3rd

Offer from Clare Fenwick, Kudos Koaching

Offer from IWCYC member Clare Fenwick, Kudos Koaching:

"Would You Like A Day of Relaxation, Pampering and Learning How to Dress, Plan & Take Action for Success ??

It is my own personal belief that the best investment ever made in time, money and energy is in YOURSELF! But I find that most women put themselves right down the list when it comes to priorities. Work, kids, husbands, parents, partners, friends, siblings all compete for our time and energy. It's hard to balance all of these roles. So, after attending to all of these there's not much (if any) time left for ourselves.

Wouldn't you just love to get off the treadmill? Just for one day? To take a step back and think of nothing but YOU? And in that day of relaxing and being pampered and learning how to 'dress for success', come away with a vision of your life and work that truly inspires and fills you with passion?

I'm inviting you along to Broom Mill Day Spa. Set in tranquil surroundings in the heart of the Durham countryside. I fell in love with this place the first time I set foot in it! As well as the warm and friendly reception, you are left to enjoy all the spa has to offer in your own time and the treatments are truly amazing. I'll leave you to check it out at http://www.broommilldayspa.co.uk/

A day at the spa, with a delicious home-cooked 3 course lunch is heaven on its own. But I wanted to make this day an unforgettable experience that would always have an impact in your life. So, I'm also offering you the chance to experience a holistic make-over! On the day, you will have an individual session with an amazing Image Consultant, learn how to build a capsule wardrobe, develop a career and life vision that is truly extraordinary and what you deserve, pick up a few make-up tips, get some pampering and, of course, lots of opportunities to chill out and relax in the sauna, hot tub or go for a dip in the pool!

This is really about peeling back your layers (real and imagined), understanding what is important to you and what you want and, more importantly, why you want it. It will be a journey of reflection and self-discovery set in stunning, nurturing surroundings. Of course, it's not for everyone. But it is for YOU!

Details of This Exciting and Unique Event

Date: Sunday 18th April 2010.

Time: 9.30 am - 6.00 pm

Venue: Broom Mill Day Spa
Price: Usually £295, but £250 for anyone brave enough to book before the end of March!

USEFUL INFORMATION

This Spa Day may be eligible for 100% funding!! Please contact Michelle Gudgeon on 07801 372591 or email Michelle at michelle@kudoskoaching.com for further details.

What more could you wish for - a lifechanging, invigorating experience set in tranquil surroundings - this could all be for FREE !!

Book your place now to avoid disappointment ........"