In these recessionary days, increasing trade on the internet perhaps gives budding entrepreneurs the best chance to make their fortunes.
ITV Tonight reporter Jonathan Maitland looks at the profits and pitfalls of becoming an internet entrepreneur. And he talks to some of those who are attempting to make their dream come true:
He interviews:
• Stay at home mum Helen Chapman who started Shimmy Shoes and Twinkle Toe Shoes when she had her second child as a way to keep busy. Now the baby shoes company is selling so many mail order shoes, Helen’s income has just overtaken that of her IT executive husband.
• YouTube phenomenon Lauren Luke who was so bored being a radio operator in a cab company in the North-East that she started buying and selling perfume online. Now the 27-year-old’s business has blossomed to such an extent that she has her own make-up line, a newly published book and tens of thousands of loyal fans around the world who watch her weekly YouTube make-up tutorials.
• Brit Anthony Eskinazi was on a round the world tour when he thought up his website idea ParkatmyHouse.com, He was running late for a baseball game in the USA and saw an empty drive near the ground. What a brilliant idea, he thought, for the householder to rent it out. By the end of this year, Anthony will have a £1m annual turnover website generating cash for people who have car parking space near airports, sports grounds etc all over the UK. His firm takes 15%.
• Then there’s Nathan Wood who followed in his parent’s footsteps by running a white goods shop selling everything from vacuum cleaners to fridges. But he was working long hours for little profit. His eureka moment came when he realised there were dozens of different types of vacuum cleaners all with different dustbags. He realised that with his own cyber company he could make a good living selling the bags mail order. He gave up the shop front and now sells every imaginable vacuum cleaner product globally through dustbag.co.uk from a warehouse in Derby.
Perhaps, most surprisingly, the show draws the conclusion that you don’t have to own a website business to be a successful online entrepreneur.
Howard (he asked us not to give his surname) shot some amusing home video footage of his two young sons sat on an armchair and then put it on YouTube so that it could be watched by friends and family in America.
The footage “Charlie bit my Finger” was being watched by so many people round the world that YouTube invited him to allow them to put adverts round the clip. It is now the number one watched video on YouTube – with an incredible 130 million hits – and Howard has made tens of thousands of pounds for his family which he has wisely invested.
In the film, we take Helen Chapman (of Shimmy Shoes) to Google UK for an “internet makeover”. While there, she hears how much the internet is growing in the UK:
• 42 million online shoppers in the UK
• 71% growth in the last 2 years
• Now 17p in every pound being spent online (almost twice that of the US).
• £68.4 billion UK trade expected to be done on the internet in 2009 compared with only £87m in 2000
But there are pitfalls. Research indicates that many internet companies fail in the first 3 years. Some never try again. Others see the thin line between success and failure as a challenge and bounce back.
One such person is Mark Fraser who is featured in the programme. He set up an internet business buying and selling student books. Despite every effort, the company went bankrupt with the loss of tens of thousands of pounds of investment money. That has not dulled Mark’s enthusiasm. He now has a full time job but is starting a new website with friends called Fabbers Market.com designed to connects people and businesses across design, engineering, sourcing and manufacturing
For more information:
Shimmy Shoes and Twinkle Toe Shoes: www.shimmyshoes.com
www.mytwinkletoeshoes.co.uk
Lauren Luke: www.youtube.com/user/panacea81
Anthony Eskinazi: www.parkatmyhouse.co.uk
Nathan Wood: www.dustbag.co.uk
“Charlie Bit My Finger” www.youtube.com/user/hdcyt?blend=1&ob=4
Mark Fraser – he has now started a social b2b website and marketplace for the global design, engineering and manufacturing communities at: www.fabbersmarket.com
