Branding can be immensely important. The value of the ‘brand’ of household names such as Hoover and Mars, is put at multi millions, forgetting the products behind them.

Launch

When launching a new product/setting up your business it is vital to check as far as reasonably possibly you are not going to find yourself hit by an injunction to stop using a name or a style and/or a claim for damages for passing off, which would undoubtedly be very expensive if not ruinous. We advise instructing lawyers check for similar names in:

When considering investment, and before addressing your specific questions Carl, have you considered the following alternative forms of finance?

• Do you have family/friends that are willing to invest?
• Have you approached banks? You will need to consider, (i) whether a bank will lend to a new company, and (ii) what security you can offer.
• Are grants available to you?  Any grants usually have a stringent criteria, often requiring the applicant to match the funding. This has obviously taken a hit in the recent spending review.

Effective risk management is important in business. One of the best ways of sustaining growth is by identifying potential risk that the business may face and managing it. We see this day in and day out. Our advice is to make a list of what these areas of risk are and decide how to effectively and proactively manage them from the outset. Amanda's business Mama Jewels brings up some immediate thoughts: