Thorneywork Studio at Spring Fair 2013

Following previous tweets and blog post, I thought you might like to see some images from Thorneywork Studio's stand at this year's Spring Fair.

Francesca Duffield & her Thorneywork Studio stand at Spring Fair 2013

A close up of the Thorneywork Studio stand

'Ophelia' lamp from Thorneywork Studio

Francesca is a graduate of our Interiors & Lifestyle Futures Ventures' programme. You can read more about her here

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at ILFutures

5 ways to create a brand

Axle Davids, of Distility Branding in Toronto, shares his thoughts about brand creation in an article from Canada's The Globe and Mail. 

"The classic misconception is that branding is just about a logo or a name.” To do it right, he advises, start with these questions:

"Who is your target audience? Before you say “everybody” – which many businesses do out of fear they might limit themselves – think hard about who your most important customer is. That’s your primary audience, Mr. Davids says. Then identify your secondary and tertiary audiences.

What’s the competition doing? How are they addressing your target audience? This is easier to determine if you’re in a mature market with one or two well-entrenched competitors.

What’s your brand position? What sets you apart in your market? If you can’t answer this, then you’re losing on a critical concept of branding: how to differentiate yourself.

What’s your brand promise? Determine what you’re passionate about, fuse that with the needs of your target audience and you get your brand promise – the benefit that you promise to deliver.

What’s your brand personality? In what style will you deliver your brand promise? Will you be dependable but surprisingly fun? Will you be the hero, with better-than-the-rest deals that don’t compromise on quality?"

For the full article and links top pieces on start-ups, entrepreneurship and blogging please see here

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies.  Find out more at ILFutures

What drives some high achievers?

Online college.org has a page summarising pieces of key advice that shaped 50 Famous Leaders. Here are 8 I’ve picked out.

1 Gen. David Petraeus: “Get out of your comfort zone.”

In the 1980s, a superior officer suggested Petraeus try something different intellectually, so he got a Ph.D. in international relations. The experience helped him become the top military officer in Afghanistan and director of the CIA.

2 C. Vivian Stringer: “Stand up for something or people will fall for anything.”

This women’s basketball Hall of Fame coach might never have had a career in sports if not for her father’s advice to fight for her place on a high school cheerleading squad, despite her skin color.

3 Tyra Banks: “Plan for the end at the beginning.”

She’s more than just a leading model; Banks also acts as CEO for her company, Bankable Enterprises. She learned from her mother that every project comes to an end and to always have a plan in mind for the next opportunity.

4 Bill Gross: “Two and two will always equal four.”

The fund manager of PIMCO’s $252 billion Total Return Fund claims the words of financier Bernard Baruch, who said there will never be a way to get something for nothing.

5 Howard Schulz: “Leave your ego at the door.”

The founder and chairman of Starbucks gleaned this wisdom from leadership guru Warren Bennis of USC. He learned to recognize skills in others to help him build a high-quality company.

6 George Soros: “Fight losing causes.”

Billionaire philanthropist and hedge fund manager Soros once met an anti-Communist dissident who told him he had spent his entire life fighting losing battles, which Soros believes sums up philanthropic work perfectly.

7 Bill Gates: “Keep things simple.”

This bit of advice was from one billionaire to another. Warren Buffett taught the Microsoft magnate to break things down and focus on the things that really count.

8 Reed Hastings: “Strategy is about what you’re not doing.”

Netflix founder and CEO Hastings has steered his company based on Jim Collins’ idea that having an effective strategy means making difficult decisions to not do things, rather than have a giant “to-do” list.

To read all 50 quotations please see here

Wendy Jones is part of Interiors & Lifestyle Futures, which provides business support to the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at ILFutures

Businesses that use external support are more likely to build the right foundations to survive and succeed

We would endorse that of course -  it's a quote from a report by Lord Young. It's included in Harriet Minter's 'Mentors, networking and professional advice - how they help your business' online article on the Guardian Small Business Network


Well, if you disagree (or agree) her article also includes an invitation to contribute  your say to a Q& A on Monday 25 June. 


One point that caught my eye, no just about  poked it out (!) is the claim that an astonishing 900,000 more businesses "could be created if the right spirit of entrepreneurship can be created in the UK", with the appropriate mentoring support.


Harriet's write up and details of the Q&A

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at ILFutures

5 reasons to visit the Birmingham Made Me Design Expo Friday 15 June- Friday 22 June

The Birmingham Made Me Design Expo kicks off next Friday (15 June) at The Mailbox in Birmingham. And, here are five reasons not to miss this week-long celebration of the best in Midlands design and innovation.

• It’s the first one and it’s telling a unique story - drawing together strands of design inspiration to create a unique platform for growth - featuring over 100 exhibitors from business and education in the Midlands.
• It’s all about design for everyone – thought provoking, inspirational, conversational, challenging.
• It’s been created and led by the region’s leading businesses, to pass on their unique experiences.
• It’s showcasing new talent, new design and providing inspiration for new collaborative opportunities. Many of them Interiors & Lifestyle Futures companies.
• The only cost of accessing this wisdom is your time!

Thanks to Charmaine Stint, Enterprise Development Manager at Birmingham City University

 For more see ilfutures blog and for a detailed programme Birmingham Made Me 

And, don't forget to call into the Entrepreneurs store

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at ILFutures

Olympic heroes - Bean2Bed

Three cheers for Bean2Bed who’ve landed a very cool deal to provide its bean bags, which convert to full size beds, for both the Jamaica and USA Olympic teams.

The company - an active member of the Interiors & Lifestyle Futures community  - will be providing specially-embroidered bean bags for both the Jamaica track and field team and USA athletics team’s training camps in Birmingham. 

Matt Roberts pictured, January 2012, on the Interiors & Lifestyle Futures' stand the UK  Interiors Show

Visit Bean2Bed

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at www.ilfutures.co.uk

Five tips for growing your business with Twitter

Small businesses need to be making the most of Twitter.  Consumers are using it to search for services so any business ignoring Twitter is missing out on potential customer opportunities. That’s the upshot of research recently published by Orange Business.

And, their five Twitter tips (in summary) for growing your business:

1. "Mobilise your Twitter account: ...  makes it easier to respond to work requests … and allows you to make the most of any ‘dead time’ to see if people are shopping for your services.
2. Be prepared to offer advice: ... It’s not about giving away free counsel but showing you know what you’re talking about
3. Be quick ... If you don’t offer your services to somebody looking, your competitors will.
4. Reach out to communities of tweeters: The more networks you are engaged in … the fewer degrees of separation there will be between you and potential business leads.
5. Demonstrate ‘real-world’ credentials … link from your Twitter profile to a website that showcases your location, qualifications and credentials."

Click for the full story from Orange 

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at www.ilfutures.co.uk

100% design talent

Great write up about talented designers Plant & Moss in the promo material for this September's 100% Design.

 James Plant  and James Moss are part of the Interiors & Lifestyle Futures community and took part in the ILFutures-backed stand at the Interiors Show in January as well as our Celebration Exhibition at the School of Jewellery in March (see also our picture blog below).

If you are planning to go to 100% Design, make sure to call in on Plant &  Moss.

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Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at www.ilfutures.co.uk

Buzzing debut for Brum Made Me team

 Hailstorms and streets awash with rain did nothing to deter a throng from attending the debut of the Birmingham Made Me store on Tuesday evening. If anything, the buzz inside the Mailbox's newest retail venue was so great it threatened an electrical storm all of its own.

As executive dean of Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Chris O'Neil said this venture by talented entrepreneurs, with strong support from the University's employability team, is an opening salvo in the forthcoming IDEA Birmingham Design Expo, which doesn't just rival anything London has to offer, it trounces it.

Interiors & Lifestyle Futures is delighted so many of its member companies are part of the Birmingham Made Me store. Go see all the companies* soon and often at the Mailbox. Bring your friends and your wallets!

A hot bed of West Midlands-based design talent, photo Ronald Gunawan

*Angela Burman Fine Arts, Bangers & Mash, Bonnie Lush Hair, Coco's Closet, Creative Lab, Grabkowska Applied Arts, HCF Boutique, Penelope Jordan,  Sara Page Design, Sit On My Face and Tiny Chair,


Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at www.ilfutures.co.uk

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I'm a Kickstarter, a terrific Kickstarter..

Forget the Dragons’ Den. The adventurous entrepreneurs out there looking to fund or project-test a new idea or product should take a look at the Kickstarter website. The concept is straightforward – you build your project pages and attract feedback and potential funders. Crowdfunding not just crowdsourcing!

As the website states: “If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal all backers’ credit cards are charged when time expires. If the project falls short no one is charged.”

So, if you are willing to expose your idea to the world (remember, if it is on the Net, it is out there in the open, make sure you read the Terms of Use) have a look: Kickstarter website

Naomi Alderman  writes an informative piece here


Adrian Burns is part of a team supporting  the West Midlands community of interiors & lifestyle companies. Find out more at www.ilfutures.co.uk


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