About us

So – you’re starting a business.
 
Congratulations. Welcome to the most fun and hard work you’ll ever have with the lights on.
 
You’re not alone.
 
Barclays estimates 380,000 people just like you started a business in 2008 and a further 350,000 will take the plunge this year.

But – there’s a lie in those statistics. No-one is “just like you”. That’s why you’ve started your own business I guess. Because you had to. Because you’re passionate about what you do. Because you want to control your own destiny in these toxic times. Because you believe you can do a better job than the bankers and brokers who’ve brought our economy to its knees. Because you want to build something of value. And maybe have some fun too.
 
With Inspiral you’ll be in good company. Over the past 3 years alone we have helped over 500 businesses startup  from 'bright idea' to 'in business' and many have gone on to turnover £1m plus.
 
This startup ‘midwifery’ experience has been gained through managing business support contracts for national organisations like Business Link and NESTA who want to ensure their startups have the best possible chance of success. And now you can benefit from our experience and we can all share what we’re learning at the sharp end.
 
We’re not just ‘suits’ – Inspiral is a private company run by experienced entrepreneurs. In fact, one of our own bright ideas – MusiCode – has just won the First Prize in the Venturefest ’09 competition – read all about it at
http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/8728-positive-focus-as-venturefest-celebrates-enterprise.html
 
We learned what business startups need in the vital early years and how to help them succeed. This Inspiral portal for business startups shares that knowledge with you (and, to be honest, with any other UK startup that asks). We have learned that all startups - and you don't have to be a beginner to be a startup so we know a lot of you are a serial startupers - absolutely, definitely, need:

• a compelling proposition
• access to customers
• access to finance

The unique Inspiral 'Spider' Diagnostic will helpfully scrutinise all they key aspects of your proposition and highlight areas for attention. As a member of the Inspiral business network we can help you with each of these essentials. In your Member Profile you can upload your 'elevator pitch' to promote your unique selling point to other members and the watching world. If people like what they see they can rate your pitch and make contact. If The Queen of Pitches at Inspiral likes what she sees you may win an iPhone - if you think you’re hard enough to be dissed by the pitch bitch.
 
You can make known your business 'needs and offers' and be alerted to compatible matches - a sort of ‘LinkedIn meets Dragons’ Den’.
 
You can easily identify fellow entrepreneurs from the same (or different) sector who may have just the right combination of M3 experience - Money, Marketing, Management - to  help you ... and you might return the favour by making your hard won experience available to others by highlighting your special skills and the 'Ask Me' channel. Don't hide your light under a bushel. And if you can't easily find the help you need, very soon (we like to call the first version 'Betta' rather than 'Beta') for a modest monthly subscription (£10) you will have direct access to experts.
 
Every member also has access to a FREE virtual office space - webmail, document store, calendar, to do's, group working - even sync with your office/phone - so you can do business wherever you have internet access. How good is that? By the way - in the next release we will be offering additional premium services to promote your business - a website builder and an email marketing campaign manager.
                                                  
So in a nutshell with Inspiral you get:
 

• a free virtual office
• a network of like-minded entrepreneurs
• access to experts
• valuable tools to grow your business

 
We could be on to something here. None of the 500+ businesses we have helped startup had this head start. So give yourself an unfair advantage.
 

Who's behind it?

Phil Shankland

Entrepreneur in Residence

Phil Shankland is the entrepreneur behind Inspiral. With over 20 years experience starting and growing his own businesses in computing, mobile marketing and personal growth he knows what it takes to get a business off the ground. And with the past 7 years devoted to helping startups with Inspiral (which he enjoyed so much he completed an MBO two years ago) his team have established a national reputation for best practice in business support with Business Link, NESTA, Skillset and other national organisations. Not surprisingly he was in the thick of the dotcom boom getting to Heads of Terms on a  £5.5m for a music portal with the help of Arthur Andersen (what ever happened to them?) and he is currently launching a patented mobile marketing '1-Shot' impulse buy mechanism called MusiCode for the music industry - think of it as Amazon's '1-Click' to buy but on mobiles. With the Inspiral member network he can finally adopt the title he's always wanted - 'Entrepreneur in Residence'. 

Jamie Wilkins

Digital Marketing and Website Project Manager

Following a two year stint as the Digital Marketing Manager for Gatecrasher, Jamie was brought on board to oversee the development and launch of the inspiral.biz business support portal. Whilst working for the world’s most recognised nightclub brand Jamie launched three multimillion pound nightclub venues, two large scale music festivals and numerous world tours and CD releases.

Jamie has over 15 years of marketing experience firmly rooted in music event and artist management, new media, online innovation and social networking for young adult audiences. In 1999 he set up Scuba Management with whom he organised around 500 music events and successfully toured many artists from around the world in territories as diverse as South America, Australia, Africa, USA and Europe.