A hackathon is an event which will usually span several days, and revolves around teams of people attempting to bring their projects to life in a short space of time, usually a new piece of technology. They are fast-moving, quick-paced events that aim to have one or more successful projects, businesses and ideas alive by the end of the hackathon. While this sounds like a great way to ‘hack’ your way to quick success, are hackathons really worth your time?

The benefits of a hackathon

Fast-moving

A hackathon is designed to be fast-moving, getting you from A to B as quick as possible, with B being a completed project or design. This means that any unnecessary meetings, slow communication processes and days of to-ing and fro-ing are dropped. Instead, it is replaced by a team of engineers who just, put simply, what to get stuff done.

They’re relaxed, fun and informative

Hackathon events are not scary events that can only be attended by expert engineers; they’re fun and relaxed, but still offer you a real chance to learn something new and be a part of a cool, potentially world-changing, project. You can learn quickly in a few days what might take months of lectures or courses.

A creative environment

You can be as creative as you like when you’re at a hackathon. The idea is to tackle and solve problems in a short-space of time; you might not have enough hours to use conventional methods! This allows you to try new things, be a little unconventional and maybe even end up creating a new solution in the process.

Community

A hackathon provides a great community environment where you gel with your team to produce what can be real, meaningful projects. With the sleepless nights, free food and chill out times that hackathons normally involve, you’ll create some great bonds with new people.

But are hackathons worth your time?

Fast-moving

While the fast-moving nature that was touched on earlier can be a positive, it also has its drawbacks as well. Sometimes faster does not necessarily mean better, especially if you are working on a new project or idea.

The race to the finish line can mean you overlook certain aspects, skimp on quality and end up with a less-than-successful project, especially considering no hugely impactful piece of software or technology was ever developed in just two or three days.

It can cost you valuable time

If you are an already established business or project and are looking to ‘hack’ your way to more growth, hackathons could even end up costing you valuable time that you could have spent with output on your usual work.

It can be difficult to tackle large problems

We’ve already mentioned that you cannot create a hugely impactful piece of software in just a few days, and this is because you do not have enough time to understand and approach large problems.

You may be given just a few days to ‘hack’, what can be complex problems shortened down into small paragraphs for the team to understand, process and then come up with a solution. For many problems, this quite simply is not enough time.

There is no guarantee of working software or technology

While the idea of a hackathon is to ‘hack’ your way to success in just a short few days, there is no guarantee that there will be working technology at the end of it. While, of course, teams can continue to work on the project once the hackathon has finished, if results cannot be promised then it be hard to get commitment from everyone involved.

What’s the solution?

Hackathons can be extremely useful, valuable events that produce some good results. The best way to make hackathons worth your time would be to:

• Take the task as seriously as your own work
• Commit to delivery and follow through with the project
• Be open to learning from other attendees and experts

Follow these steps above, and the few days of fast-paced action can be extremely useful in helping you to build a new project or scale the one that you already have.

Expanding your SME to trade abroad can be a highly lucrative move, bringing in new clients, customers, business ventures and, of course, much needed revenue. However, each and every country is different, with its own set of rules, regulations, laws, cultures, languages and business practices. It is important to conduct proper research on any new country that you are planning to do business in. Below, we look at what you need to know about trading abroad as a SME.

Should you trade abroad as a SME?

You may have some questions as to whether your business is large enough or stable enough to be trading abroad. While, of course, no business should ever overreach its aims too quickly, there is never a ‘right’ time to start trading abroad.

Various studies and economists have said that the number of SMEs trading abroad is on the rise, and international trade is great for the home economy. If you have a wish or a desire to trade abroad, then do not let the size of your company limit you.

Support for trading abroad

The UK government recognises the importance of international trade, but also the struggles that SMEs may face as compared to large, corporate organisations. They offer several means of support for helping you to branch out abroad, such as with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), formally replaced as the Department for International Trade in July 2016.

New documentation and laws

You will be faced with new documentation and red-tape should you choose to trade abroad. For example, if you’re looking to trade in the EU you will need to fill out an EC sales list, which is a list of your European sales (required for VAT reasons). While this is not always difficult or complicated, it represents a shift away from what you are used to, and it can seem daunting. Again, seeking support, such as with the link provided above, can help you in solving these issues.

Also take a look at this link on Import export services: Advice and guidance for further information on rules and regulations, intellectual property issues and how to develop your SME in a foreign market.

Rising costs

Expanding your business to begin trading abroad can be costly, especially for a SME. It can also be expensive and risky, thereby potentially limiting the financial support that you receive for your new venture.

But, there is a flip side to this. Successfully trading abroad can increase your revenues tenfold, and often you must take risks to reap the rewards. British SMEs are in a unique position that helps them to minimise the risks for trading abroad, which we will touch on below.

Language

One of these benefits is that the use of the English language is an important factor. Many businesses and countries around the world use English either as one of their primary languages, or as the main language for conducting business in. This will immediately put you on the front foot.

However, be aware that not all countries and businesses that you try to trade abroad with will use English, creating an immediate language barrier. Consider using a translator to help with business negotiations.

British goods

Another benefit of being a British SME is that UK-made goods are considered to be of an extremely high quality, and there is a global fascination with British culture, so this will automatically open up doors for you when looking to trade abroad.

As with the language issues above, there will of course be cultural differences as well, so be sure that you conduct thorough research on this beforehand, and consider employing or hiring locals to educate you and deal with any cultural differences.

Sufficient research within a new market in a new country should help to identify who the key players are for you, and from this you can develop your network and connections in the area.

Going digital

Going digital is a great way to trade abroad as a SME. With two billion people now online, the internet makes a great place to effectively trade abroad without having to deal with many of the potential issues. There will, of course, still be rules and regulations that you need to follow depending on the country you’re trading in.

If you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise, you might not have the budget to run a large and effective marketing or media relations campaign. While both are key components of helping a business to grow, there are also other ways to scale and develop your business, such as getting featured in newspapers or on the radio or TV. Below, we look at how you can get press coverage as an SME.

Why do you want press coverage?

The first question to ask yourself is why you want press coverage and what you hope to achieve from it. Do you want new leads, to attract investment or to find new hires within the industry?

It doesn’t matter what your reasoning is, just be sure to have a detailed and well-thought-out plan that is both actionable and measurable for your desired goal.

Who is your audience?

Part of your press coverage plan will include targeting your key audience, or perhaps trying to reach out to a new one. It helps to be as specific as possible with this so that not only will you be able to craft your pitches in a way that is likely to get accepted, but you’re also much more likely to be successful in winning that audience over.

Once you have decided on your target audience, you can look at the publications that you want to target. A great way for doing this is to create a survey for your current customers, finding out what they read, watch and listen to. Tools like Survey Monkey are extremely helpful for this.

Again, think carefully and objectively about who you will target. Getting published in large, national newspapers is not necessarily more beneficial then small, regional newspapers, depending on who your audience is.

How to do it?

Once you have figured out exactly which publications or press sources you would like to target, you can start gathering contact information for the relevant people in those organisations.

Many of these companies will list contact details of the appropriate editors, but some won’t, and spending a little bit of time searching the internet will either reveal the right contact details, or will provide you with enough knowledge to know how their e-mail address might be structured.

It is always best to target an individual, and if you can find their e-mail then great, but social media is a great resource too; contacting an individual on Twitter can often get you a response. Avoid generic e-mail addresses such as news@, or the Twitter equivalent, as these, more often than not, either do not get checked or get so many communications that yours is likely to get overlooked.

Crafting a press release or e-mail pitch

Once you have figured out who the appropriate people are that you need to contact, you need to pitch to them with a press release your reasons for them giving you press coverage. A press release is a statement that you issue to publications on a particular subject, and is the most common way of pitching to these publications.

The people that you are pitching to are likely to receive hundreds of pitches for press coverage per week, so yours needs to be tailored in the same language and story approach as each publication normally uses.

It’s about selling a story, not a product or a service. Why should your product or service be featured in the press? Why should the audience of that press invest in your product or service? It is much less about the what, and a whole lot more about the why. As with any social media post, sales pitch or piece of marketing, make sure that there is a hook in your story that will draw the press, and ultimately their audience, in.

The more detail that you put into your press release, the sooner it is likely to get published, sometimes with minimal changes. If you’re pitching for press coverage to a national newspaper or publication, usually a few short paragraphs are enough with a catchy e-mail subject line.

Getting press coverage as an SME can be difficult, and you need to be realistic about your expectations. But sufficient research and time will make the process much more likely for you and your SME.

Chase up your pitches

Be sure to chase up any pitches that you send in two or three times, in busy newsrooms they can often get overlooked by mistake.

This may seem like a costly process in terms of time, but the biggest benefit about the above steps of trying to get press coverage for an SME is that it is all free. As an SME it may be that cash flow is limited, and press coverage will not drain you of any vital funds. It does, however, have the chance to be extremely fruitful.

The success or failure of a new startup or small business is largely down to the experience, commitment, and knowledge that the founding team possesses. While for larger corporations it is easy to rely on revenue streams while team members can be replaced, for a startup hiring the wrong team member can cause the business to collapse in a short space of time. Hiring your first financial team member is an important step as it is ultimately financials that will make your business grow. Below, we look at the key traits to look out for when hiring your first finance team member.

Analytical skills

Your new finance hire will be working with figures, projections, estimations and all other kinds of financial numbers. They need to be able to easily analyse where the financials are going, if unnecessary money is being spent and where improvements can be made.

This will require forward-thinking, intuition, great analytical skills and, of course, a great knowledge of working with money. From this, they can provide the team with important figures such as a business’ burn rate, the current cash position of the company and when this money will run out if that burn rate continues.

Good communication and board reports

Taking this analytical skill further, it is highly likely that much of the financial language will be confusing to the rest of the team. The new financial hire needs to be able to not only analyse the state of the finances of the company, but to also be able to effectively communicate this back to the other members of the team; whether that be the CEO, a manager or a regular employee.

Someone that is able to produce monthly board reports with up-to-date numbers can keep everyone aware of the current state of the business.

Technological ease

Your new hire will need to be able to work with technology with ease. Not only is financial information now primarily stored digitally, but it helps to keep the whole process streamlined. Such technological knowledge includes things such as whether the potential hire knows Structured Query Language (SQL); a quality that many firms now look for.

Knowledge of fundraising sources

Not only is it useful for your hire to have inside-out knowledge of the finance industry, but also if they have knowledge of fundraising or investment opportunities. There are many government grants and research and development tax credits available to businesses which can sometimes return millions of pounds’ worth of cash. Someone with this knowledge could be invaluable.

Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) management

If you have ESOPs in your business, which is employees that have stocks within the company, then it can be useful if your finance hire has knowledge of this field; therefore, meaning they can help to manage this for you in-house rather than handing it to a law firm.

As a new startup you may have equity options being handed out, but as this is your first financal hire, it may be that the team is not that large, therefore having a candidate with ESOP knowledge is not essential. However, it does not hurt to think about these things for the future.

Honesty and independence

Money and cash flow is the most important factor in keeping your business alive, and so you need someone that you can trust and that is honest. Your cash will determine exactly what state your business is in, and it is highly likely that your financial person will be working independently much of the time.

With this, you need someone that is good at working independently, but will still report in on the exact figures. And, of course, they need to work effectively in the team as well.

Problem-solving

Your financial candidate will need to take their analytical skills one step further and ensure that they offer solutions to any problems that may arise. As the first finance hire in a team, the responsibility falls on them to solve these problems, and in a fast-moving startup this may need to be done quickly or risk causing further damage to the business.

Making your first financial hire can be a challenging decision, especially if you aren’t knowledgeable in this field yourself. However, it is an important decision, so be sure to take into account the factors listed above to continue building your successful team.

If you have equity in a business, it means that you have ownership of part of a business, depending on the size of your equity. So if you have 5% equity in a business, then you own 5% of that business. Equity can essentially be worked out by subtracting the liabilities of a business from the assets, and from there you can work out the portion that you own of the remaining amount. Below, we look at the ins and outs of equity.

Why is equity important?

Equity, also called equity financing, is the raising of capital or investment through the selling of shares or ownership within a business. The alternative is offering equity to members of your team who, rather than investing in your business, will be offering their services instead to help the business grow and increase revenues.

Equity gives entrepreneurs and small business owners a way to scale their business without parting with much-needed cash, especially in their early years.

What equity will mean for a business

For a bootstrapped business that is not seeking external investment, but is instead offering equity to their employees, co-founders or one of the early team:

For the business owners

They may be able to offer equity in return for a lower salary each year, which will help them retain much needed cash. They will most likely find that they get more effort and commitment from the employees who have equity as they have a personal stake in the business.

However, on the flip side, it may mean that the business owners are forced to part with a large chunk of cash further down the line when the employee trades their equity in. But, if this employee has been integral to the growing of the business, then this should be well deserved.

For the equity holders

The employees or workers with equity will have a direct stake in the business, giving them a real reason to go the extra mile each and every day.

A downside is that they may have to take less salary, or potentially even no salary, in return for equity, and there is no guarantee that the equity will turn into anything should the business fail. They would also need to fund themselves in the meantime should they be taking a lower salary, which could be hard if they are fully focused on the startup.

For businesses that are offering equity in return for investment:

For the business owners

This is a typical way for a business to raise investment should it need it, and they will trade some of their business away in order to receive funding to grow. Again, it means that they can hold onto much-needed cash, which can be vital in the early years of a business.

However, business owners do not always have as much control over how much of their business they have to give away, especially if they desperately need the money. Investors will typically take a larger percentage of a business in return for investment. Should the business grow to be of high value, then this will be a profitable venture for both the business owner and the investor, but if this is not the case, it can be costly for the company founder.

For the investor

This can be a great move for investors as a way to generate passive income, and hugely successful businesses like Uber, Air bnb, and Dropbox have come from investment platforms. There is no guarantee that they will get a return on their investment, but they only need one investment to be successful to provide them with their necessary returns.

The benefits of equity

As a business owner, there are many benefits for equity. You will not need to repay anything at any time, and there is a much lower risk of bankruptcy involved, but you will, of course, be giving away part of the ownership of your business.

While some believe the private equity market can be associated with greed, it can be an extremely profitable and lucrative move if the business continues to grow, and is a good route to go down should you need to save cash within your business.