Acting quickly to capitalise on a new market

Time was of the essence when Mario Di Giorgio, CEO of e-cigarette brand Salmon & Trout, launched his business. He explains how being proactive worked.

More from The Entrepreneur

Investment for business growth: Springfield Healthcare Group

Care home operator Springfield Healthcare Group has already begun to use its Business Growth Fund cash to get acquisitive. We find out how progress has been since the investment as part of an exclusive portfolio roundtable.

Bird's eye view: Start-ups can new begin to utilise satellites to build technologies

Bird's eye view: Start-ups can new begin to utilise satellites to build technologies

Space: The final entrepreneurial frontier

Despite it taking until 2013 for the UK to have its first ‘official astronaut’, Britain’s space industry offers many opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Lessons learned: Not taking a business card was one of Adams' regrets

Lessons learned: Not taking a business card was one of Adams' regrets

Making the most of networking and exploiting customers contacts

Business coach Alan Adams explains the value of capturing good-quality data and reveals why he wished he’d made his clients feel loved at the start of his career.

Katz got the cream 

As part of a restructure, law firm Howard Kennedy has appointed partner Dov Katz as head of AIM within the firm’s capital markets group.

Technology review: Noise cancelling Ferrari by Logic3 R300 headphones

The R300 headphones by Ferrari by Logic3 provide a comfortable and high quality way to listen to music on the move and at home.

More from: Best Business Decisions

Quality not quantity: David Barker was careful not to get clients from one sector

Quality not quantity: David Barker was careful not to get clients from one sector

Diversifying the client base at launch and learning to say ‘No’ 

David Barker reflects on resisting the temptation to say 'Yes' to the first offer when he opened his data centre, and how choosing instead to diversify his client base at launch has enabled 4D Data Centres to maintain rapid growth in a recession.

Promoting the brand directly to the consumer

To allow his brand to stand out in a crowded market, John Bramm decided that shaking up the marketing strategy was the best way to make it stand out.

Changing tack: Jeff Hughes decided that business rather and consumer was best

Changing tack: Jeff Hughes decided that business rather and consumer was best

Switching operations to purely business-to-business

Focusing on the right customer base is important for businesses – and for Omnifone CEO Jeff Hughes, it was a case of B2B is best.

Taking a chance with Groupon

Elliot Grove explains why his Raindance Film Festival and film school might not have survived without the website and Groupon.

Wazoku backer: B&Q CEO Martyn Philips is backing Simon Hill's new venture

Wazoku backer: B&Q CEO Martyn Philips is backing Simon Hill's new venture

Building a team with the right mix of experience and youth

For Simon Hill, founder of idea management business Wazoku, finding the right balance between experience and youth when building his team has given the business the perfect platform to flourish and grow.

Listing on the Alternative Investment Market

Having listed on the Alternative Investment Market and raised £4 million, blur Group CEO and founder Philip Letts explains why the IPO was the best move he’s ever made.

Altering focus: Adam Cooke's start-up decided to prioritise new services

Altering focus: Adam Cooke's start-up decided to prioritise new services

Focusing on company development, not client wins

For aTech Media founder and managing director Adam Cooke, the decision to stop taking on new clients and focus on developing his company's offering has borne fruit in the long run.

Investing in the right office environment

For Nicholas Green and his printed.com business, setting up an enjoyable and motivating office space was one of the top priorities. 

'Attraction' message: Chubb says that the business is now more approachable

'Attraction' message: Chubb says that the business is now more approachable

Getting the right PR message out into the market

With London School of Attraction having a unique and interesting selling point, director Alex Chubb wanted to make sure the company's marketing wasn't cold and formal.

Starting up a business in a recession

A recessionary period is normally a time for business struggles and ultimate failures. However, for CloudSense founder Richard Britton, he decided it was the perfect time to start a business.

Opportunist move: Zest targeted a new market when the going got tough

Opportunist move: Zest targeted a new market when the going got tough

Taking advantage of the recession

With the recession at its height in 2008, Steven Hancock, managing director of hospitality provider The Zest Group, decided to embrace the downturn and tackle it head-on.

More from GrowthBusiness

News & Market Deals

Silicon Roundabout: The competition winner will be moving to London's Tech City

Boris Johnson, Seedrs and TCIO rally round to form £1 million prize pot for next big London tech start-up

A £1 million competition has been launched to encourage start-ups to move to London and highlight the capital as a 'prime location' for building global digital and technology businesses.

Growing A Business

Stifling business: Regulation on markets like AIM makes it hard for SMEs

Light touch regulation: Friend or foe? 

Sophia Harrison, director of financial and professional services at Grayling, looks at how a new exchange platform out of Sweden could strike the right chord of regulation for SMEs.

Comment & Analysis

Partnering with larger businesses for growth

Building a high-growth business stage three: Choosing to partner with larger firms to collaborate on projects.

Research

Source of growth: There are 64 UK-listed cash shells holding £237.9 million

The rise of cash shells

New research from GrowthBusiness shows that the number of UK cash shells is climbing. We speak to new entrants to the market and those that have recently closed deals to find out what’s driving shells’ increasing popularity.