HSBC: Start-up Stars

• Bulldog Natural Grooming
• First Luggage
• Racketys
• Red Spider
• Sportstars
• The Bury Black Pudding Company
• Concert Live

“We went crazy when they announced we’d won…”

Who?

Adam Goodyer, co-founder of 2007 Start-Up Stars winner Concert Live

What?

Recording concerts and selling the CD of the gig to punters as they leave the show. They’ve now worked with Keane, Faithless and The Fratellis, among others.

Adam’s thoughts on…

…reasons to enter start-up stars

“If you’re a young business without much marketing spend, then entering awards can be a cost-effective way of generating positive marketing and PR, because you’re thrown into the spotlight. It also offers a seal of approval. Potential customers can look at that and think ‘I’m happy to do business with this company because they have that recognition’.”

…the application process

“You go through a lot of stages on the written application before an interview, so it’s important to focus from the beginning on what makes you stand out as a business and use each question to bring out your unique selling points.

“We were asked, ‘What does your business do? What’s the market like? How did you identify your customers? Do you have any competitors? Are you socially and environmentally conscious? What are your plans for the future?”

Adam’s business hero
“The business heroes that I look up to are not the big entrepreneurs, your Bill Gates’s and Richard Bransons. The person I look up to is the guy who runs my local newsagent, because he’s there from 5am to 10pm and he provides an excellent service to everyone who goes into the shop. Half the community goes there even though there may be more convenience elsewhere.”

… the interview

“Out of the regional finalists they pick the ten best nationally. At that point you have an interview with the panel of judges. It’s nerve-wracking but it’s all about preparation. I got people from our office and from friends and family and did the presentation to them. Friends and family can pick things out – if you know what would be a difficult question to answer, get them to ask you.”

…the Dorchester Hotel, London, 24 October 2007

“I’ve got little memory of the ceremony! We were very nervous. Our overwhelming thought was ‘We’re not going to win so drink as much champagne as possible!’. We went crazy when they announced we’d won because it was so unexpected.”

…the benefits
“Winning Start-Up Stars has been a huge benefit, a lot more than I thought. We still have PR opportunities coming from it. But the main thing we got from it is that we are firmly on HSBC’s corporate banking radar and we have an excellent business manager as a direct result of winning the awards.”

…the prize money

“We spent the prize money on staff bonuses. It also helped to fund new product development – it’s a nice thing to put into growing and securing your business in the long term, rather than to use as a short-term plug in a cashflow situation.”

Adam’s top tips for would-be winners

1. Focus on getting across the key stand-out point of your business at all stages of the application.
2. Just go for it. What have you got to lose? If you win or become a finalist, you meet so many great people it inspires you to keep going. Don’t think ‘I’ve got nothing to shout about’ because you’re bound to have.
3. Hang on to the PR company and the people who set up the awards and ask ‘What else can they do for me?’. You don’t get anything unless you ask for it.