Red Button Design Receive Social Enterprise Award!

Ok, we confess, we love every opportunity to update the 'awards' section of our website. It is an important part of the feedback that lets us know we're making progress in the right direction. We are thrilled, therefore, to have been named one of Striding Out's "Future 100" this Global Enterprise Week!

The Future 100 awards, encourages and rewards extraordinary vision, ethical business practice and social responsibility. They aim to showcase businesses that offer innovative and sustainable solutions to social problems. The Future 100 Awards is organized by Striding Out, a social enterprise which is committed to supporting the development and growth of young and ethical entrepreneurs.

Founder of Striding Out Heather Wilkinson said:

"The future of our world is in the hands of individuals who are committed to generating commercial and ethical returns.

Challenging economic times can offer opportunities to question the way we operate as both a business community and a society. We are looking for the 'Future 100' young entrepreneurs who are changing the face of everyday business and improve commerce's impact on the wider world."

The full list can be found here and I'd like to extend a big congratulations to the other winners, many of whom we've already had the fortune to meet at various networking events and some we're looking forward to meeting soon.

Social Enterprise Day 2008

It's Social Enterprise Day today. Possibly the most exciting day of enterprise week (biased? us?) because it celebrates businesses which are effectively combining commerce with social change. Companies who are, quite rightly, earning a profit from doing good in the world.

We are forever explaining to people that Red Button Design is not a charity, we’re a Company limited by shares. Why? Well we believe that the charity model works excellently for relief efforts and disaster response (think Tsunami) but for long term development projects it is an unreliable, unsustainable source of income.

By running a successful for-profit business in the humanitarian sector Red Button Design, and thousands of other social enterprises being celebrated today, can stimulate competition leading to the reliable development of more effective product and service offerings to benefit some of the world’s most under-served communities.

I'd like to share the following UNICEF video, it's only 2 minutes long and explains far better than I ever could why James and I decided to found the world's first exclusive humanitarian design agency and bring to market the "ROSS".

Can entrepreneurs change the world?
We think so.

Women's Enterprise Day 2008 *

Today is Women's Enterprise Day as part of Global Enterprise Week and I have been reading with great interest a post on the UK Business forums about women-only business initiatives. Do we need them, do women like them and do they make a difference?

I am torn on this debate.

A couple of weeks ago Maria Eagle (Labour MP for Liverpool) said in Parliament that "Women are the largest under represented group in terms of participation in enterprise and offer a wealth of untapped talent and economic opportunity."
Really? Less represented than the disabled? Than the over 50's or the under 21's? Aren't we just getting in a flap about nothing here?

Last year I counted the proportion of male and female professionals invited to speak / present / exhibit at three of the high profile conferences I attended, I am aware that this is far from a scientifically valid method but interesting anecdotally nonetheless:

Conference 1: 40 men to 6 women,
Conference 2: 31 men to 11 women,
Conference 3: 39 men to 9 women,

26 females out of 136 business professionals translates to just 19%, which isn't all that surprising given that the 2008 Annual Small Business Survey established that only 14% of UK businesses are women-owned. All of which paints a bleak picture of Women's Enterprise and whilst previously I would have been the first and loudest person protesting that 99% of behavior labeled as 'sexism' in the business community was brought about by attributional bias on the part of women. (Indeed, some of you may have heard me discussing this last year on BBC radio!) As my career has progressed I have undoubtedly experienced situations where I was overlooked, ignored or patronised for no other discernible reason than my gender.

So is there anything to be done about it?
Well, Women's Enterprise, to me, like Youth Led Enterprises and a host of other so termed 'minority' groups, needs work. There are quite simply more middle class, middle aged, white male owned businesses than anything else in this country but there is nothing empowering about telling women (or any other aforementioned group for that matter) that they *should* redress this balance. Pushing for a 50% male / female split in business ownership is like pushing for an 50% attendance rate at University. It will almost certainly capture some hidden talent but runs the risk of funneling people into a career situation which might not suit them as well as the alternatives. Women and men have, as a generalisation, different skill sets and as it is important to have a range of skills in any team. For this reason I find women-only initiatives off putting. This is not to say I don't enjoy the opportunity to attend a women's networking event once or twice a year, but that I genuinely enjoy the range of perspectives I get working with a diverse group of people.

It makes sense for the economy to ensure that anyone who wants to start up in business should have support, training and funding available to assist them. It makes no sense to dictate that by necessity equal number of males / females should want to make that career decision. It's all about free choice.

I am very lucky to have amongst my friends a number of amazing women who's successes are a source of constant inspiration to me. Some of these are fellow "Girls! Make Your Mark" ambassadors and actively spend their time inspiring others to achieve, putting themselves out there as examples of what can be done with a lot of hard work and a bit of determination. If you want to know what Women's Enterprise Day is really about look to them. Not facts, stats and figures.

*Alternative title "Amanda gets on her soapbox!"

Admitting it is the first step towards success!

Global Entrepreneurship week has got us thinking about what "entrepreneurship" really means, what skills you need to be an entrepreneur and why admitting it is the first step towards success! Today I've been asking myself what I did to earn the title 'entrepreneur' and whether I deserve it!

Hello, My name is Amanda and I am an Entrepreneur.

Two years ago I graduated from University and found myself in a familiar position, I had arrived at the successful end of yet another journey to recieve more academic qualifications and I had no idea what to do with them. Though previously this confusion had always resulted in a further spin on the education merry-go-round and yet more qualifications in subjects which really interested me but were, quite frankly, too diverse and wide ranging to be of any direct professional benefit, this time I was beginning to think I should get myself a career. And that was the magic word "career". I didn't want a job, I wanted a life.
I have a confession to make....I dislike work, I always have.Yet I spend around 60 hours a week, every week, on Red Button Design.
Why? because my definition of 'work' is something I don't want to be doing. I wanted to work with the United Nations but couldn't commit to the long stretches of field time at little or no notice. I wanted to work with Charities but found conflict in the ethics of relying on donors to fund growth in the developing world. I had and no aspiration to be an "entrepreneur" I just wanted to go about my life, achieving the things I wanted, doing what I found most interesting and rewarding and generally spending my time supporting the things I believed in. For me, that meant avoiding 'work' as I defined it and building my dream career.
To do this I have probably put in more hours that I would have in any standard 'job', I have survived on far less money, less sleep and less of a social life, and it's far from over yet. Why? In the hope that the gamble pays off and I end up with a career that I love to spend my time on. For more on this topic take a look at the "Turn your passion into profit!" debate

So should I call myself an entrepreneur?
- because I registered a Ltd Company?
- because I appeared on the Dragons' Den?
- because I raised money?
- beacuse I am my own boss and make my own decisions?

Yes, all of those things but critically entrepreneurship is all about taking a calculated risk to make your dreams happen, it's about having a go. So if you have an idea that you'd like to make reality, stop putting it off! Have a go this global enterprise week and start calling yourself an entrepreneur too.

Global Entrepreneurship Week!

This year Enterprise Week has gone Global!
Last year there were over 5,000 events and more than half a million people in the UK took part. This year over 70 countries signed up to run their very own versions, with an expected 13,000 events taking place, all coming under the banner of Global Entrepreneurship Week!

Here at RBD we've got a lot to cram in to the next 5 days and we'll be updating the blog as much as possible with everything we get up to. But if you can't wait to find out more - take a look at the enterprise week website or cast your eyes over the video below!