Russell Copley, Director of East Midlands Incubation Network, answers your questions about starting or running a new business in the East Midlands. 

That's it for today!
Thank you to everyone for sending in their questions & many thanks to Russell Copley for providing his expert advice.

For information about future Ask the Expert sessions, click here.

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11:47 - Suzie Walters asks:
"Why would a new business want to locate at an incubator? What types of business assistance are available?"

Russell Copley replies:
Different incubators offer different services but some of the more common ones are:

• on-site business support through an experienced centre manager and a team of support staff
• links to business support networks
• often discounted rents in the first 1-3 years
• access to free training and development, on site
• co-location with like minded businesses in the same stage of development as you
• help with defining the business plan, and then tailored help to work through and deliver the plan.

National research shows that businesses in a business incubator, going through a formal incubation "programme", have an 80-90% chance of survival.

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11:38 - Alastair has sent in the next question:
"I'm running a business from home but I still want to use incubator development programs. Is this possible?"

Russell replies:
To a large extent, yes.  We can offer you most of the incubator services through the EMIN website.  It's designed, as far as is possible, to replicate the experience of being in a physical incubator centre but without the rent!  For example, this service that you're now using is a "virtual Incubation Manager" and we also offer online, as well as face to face, training that is open to all (particularly with the current European funding that we've been lucky enough to get). 

Where you might struggle, unless you make an effort, is in some of the social interaction and networking.  I'd strongly recommend our Discussion Forum and logging your details on the Directory as these will help "virtual networking".
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11:23 - Simon from Northampton wants to know:
"I am looking for a incubation unit in or near Northampton, can you help either direct or point me in the right direction?"

Russell replies:
I suggest you contact the University of Northampton to see if they have space in either of their incubation units - one is based in their Park Campus and the other, focused on creative businesses, is based on the Avenue Campus.

www.northampton.ac.uk/research/businesssupport/ or www.northampton.ac.uk/portfolio/ for more details.

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11:05 - Estela from Kettering has the next question:
"I am planning to set up an adult toy shop, could you please advise on market research?"

Russell replies:
There are a range of techniques that you should be deploying, depending on the specific nature of your intended market.

The first is to see what else exists in your local geographic market (assuming a real, rather than web based) shop. This can involve driving round the area, searching through telephone and business directories and potentialy searching on the net using a search engine like Google.

The second would be to use a market and business intelligence service, such as the one on the EMIN website that's available to members.  You can then get them to search national databases for potential competitors, potential suppliers and some market analysis (size of adult population, average spend etc.).

Good luck!

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10:49 - Ted has emailed in to ask:
"I have a design idea that I need to protect, what do I do next?"

Russell replies:
You have a number of options, depending on the type of design, the type of product and what you want to do with it.

It may be possible for you to REGISTER your design.  This gives you maximum protection should anyone try and copy your design or try to exploit it.  You also have automatic protection through something called DESIGN RIGHTS - which is similar in context to COPYRIGHTS.  This means that, if you can prove that the design was first yours, then nobody else can copy that design without your permission.

It's an interesting business area and you can read more on our website, or visit one of our partners, ProspectIP, whose website will be shortly launched (www.prospectip.co.uk).  They're running a whole day event in September on protection and exploitation of intellectual property based products  and you may be interested in attending.

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10:37 - Nathan from Derby has this question:
"I'm a small business owner & I want to to develop my business skills further. But I'm very busy & dont have the time to attend your workshops. I've heard that EMIN has online training modules. Can I get access to these?"

Russell replies...
We do have a variety of online training modules available but these are currently restricted to members who have completed the Business Skills Assessor Tool.  On average this takes around 10 minutes to complete and will allow you to take up to three free online modules.  It is also a useful tool for highlighting your strengths and weaknesses.

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10:15 - Kate from Northampton has sent in this question:
"I have just set up a new business and I getting confused about insurance options.  Please can you advise me as to what I need to ensure I have?"

Russell Copley replies:
It is a legal requirement for limited companies to carry insurance.  I would advise that it is best to speak to an insurance adviser to ensure that you get the correct cover for your companies needs.  EMIN’s does have a recommended supplier for insurance on our website so please look at /main/Services/Insurance for further contact details.

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10:04 - Simon from Mansfield has emailed in today's first question:
"I am a new start business with very little time available to network and find new clients.  Is networking a valuable tool or is it a waste of time at this stage in the business?"

Russell replies:
Whatever stage your business is in you always need to be looking for new ways at sourcing potential clients.  Networking can be a valuable way to find these new clients. However, you must learn how to network correctly or you will simply be eating and drinking at these events but achieving little results to show for your time. 

We are running a series of workshops on networking skills with Rob Brown, the UK’s leading expert in reputation and referral building.  I would recommend investing some time early on in your business to find out how to network efficiently in order to make your time count for profits in the future. 

Please see /main/Services/EMIN%20Workshops for further details on these events.

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Alternatively, you can also contact our Expert in confidence by using instant messaging. 

Previous Ask the Expert sessions

• Your questions about Intellectual Property answered
• Your questions about accountancy answered