Festival of Enterprise 2020
21st and 22nd October 2020
The first DABS Festival of Enterprise took place over two days on the 21st and 22nd October 2020, with over 100 businesses attending over the two days and 1860 minutes of one to one or group networking took place. Great to see so many people gaining new contacts and embracing the online format.
All of our inspirational speakers were rated at 100% (Good or Excellent) by the delegates who attended – all of whom were motivated and inspired to continue on their own business journey! All of the fantastic talks are available to watch again below.
2020 Speaker Recordings
Teri Ellington – Ellington Timepiece
Teri set up Ellington Timepiece when she was just 24 years old, with her last eighty pound after losing her job two months before Christmas. Teri started the business with her first design, The Grey Sheba watch collection.
She named the collection after her German Shepherd who became her therapy dog while suffering from a condition called agoraphobia which left her struggling to leave the house. Teri is very honest and tells her story of how she suffers from mental health issues and how through starting up her business has gone from strength to strength. Teri is very honest in her talk and inspirational!
Stefan Thomas – Professional Speaker
http://stefanthomas.biz/speaker
Stefan is the author of three Amazon bestsellers, ‘Business Networking for Dummies’, ‘Instant Networking’ and ‘Win The Room. During his talk at the Festival, Stefan said that there are still people who are scared to connect and network with people online. Don’t hold back networking online otherwise someone else is out there who is selling something to similar to you and getting ahead by networking.
Top tip – give people just enough so they want to find out more about you, start the conversation, remove the pressure to sell and don’t underestimate people in the room. You don’t know from appearances who they are, what they do and the connections they have.
Watch Stefan’s talk for more networking tips!
Jimmy Cregan – Jimmy’s Iced Coffee
https://www.jimmysicedcoffee.com/
Jim tells us his story of how in 2010 he set up Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, a range of awesome ready-to-drink iced coffees which can now be found in the best fridges across the UK and beyond.
The inspiration came from a petrol station stop whilst on a road trip around Oz. Jim escaped there after doing a tonne of random jobs in the UK and needed a fresh start, so bought some tickets for him and his lady to Oz.
It was there whilst road tripping, surfing, camping and chilling that he discovered the phenomenon of Iced Coffee. In his mind, he knew he had to head back to the UK at some point and wanted to bring the Iced Coffee experience with him. Fast forward 10 years and Jim is now back in the UK with his own company, Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, which is available in over 5000 outlets across the UK and beyond.
He started the business with his sister Suzie and they now lead a team of over 20 crew, have 6 products and counting and do some great stuff helping the younger generation become inspired to do awesome things.
Jake Newport – Finnmark Ltd
Jake started his business with his brother Max because they were frustrated that so few saunas outside of Finland gave credence to the authentic Finnish sauna experience.
At the festival Jake described how Durham is the best place in the UK to start up a business, it is just about the most cost-effective place to live. You can have a decent quality of living, at an affordable price and the area is the best in the country to offer support! If you are doing anything that is going to create jobs, there is a range of different support networks in this County. They will offer funding or match funding to help you grow your business, you just won’t get that anywhere else in the UK.
He talks about how important it is to surround yourself with good people, it can make or break a business. All the people that you put in place, if they are good and willing to work hard then the business will grow. Never be afraid to invest and give people the equipment they need to do the job, don’t buy cheap tools for example as the final product won’t be as good and it could ruin your brand.