One Day Workshop

Start-up Clinic

Everything you need to know to create a successful web start-up

Event Photo

Leaving your 9 to 5 to launch your own company is exciting but a bit scary - especially with the current financial climate. However, downturns in the market are always the best time to start a company, and we can give you the advice you need to succeed. With everything riding on your success you need to make sure that you have the best advice from the folks who've done it all before - that's where Start-up Clinic comes in.

It's a small and intimate workshop (limited to 12 people) where you will receive one-to-one advice from Ryan Carson, founder of Carsonified. Over the one day workshop Ryan will work with you to create a solid start-up plan. The practical, hands-on sessions will help you to devise the right plan of action for you and your idea. You'll also get all the tips, strategies and connections you need to get your start-up up and running.

Here at Carsonified we've learned a lot about web-based start-ups - both the right way to do it ... and the wrong. You'll learn from all of our mistakes and victories. By learning with us, we guarantee that your start-up will get the best start in life possible and therefore you'll be more likely to succeed.

If you have any questions, or if you prefer to pay via invoice, email us.

What You'll Walk Away With

The Web App Survival Kit: - Each attendee will receive this amazing kit, which is chock full of useful tips and resources. We'll also be placing valuable tools on the disc as well!
Years of Experience: - You'll be benefitting from Carsonified's real-world experience in running a successful web start-up. We've made the hard mistakes, so you don't have to.
Practical Knowledge: - We're not going to bore you with theory. You will receive practical training that focuses on information that you can immediately incorporate into your start-up.

Who should attend?

Anyone who is planning to launch a web-based Start-Up company
Business owners who are managing a small team that is building a web app

Past Reviews

"I gained tons of practical advice. All valuable hands-on stuff." - Henrik Pettersen, MTV

"The question and answer section was excellent" - Mark Francis, Yahoo!

"The workshop was extremely useful and well organised" - Duncan Ponting, BBC

"Comparing example architecture to our own gave us some really great ideas" - Richard Keen, Multimap

"It was invaluable to get confirmation that other big players are using the same approaches as us" - Erki Esken, Skype

"I loved the real-life practical examples and insight into the rules behind web standards" - Andy Brockie, Guardian Unlimited

"It was great meeting other quality developers" - Ryan King, Technorati

"The workshop was great for comparing experiences" - Jeff Veen, Adaptive Path

"Being able to ask questions and participate freely was great" - Marcia Palmer, Cabinet Office

"No fluff, just good real-world info. Bravo!" - Christopher Kelly, State Farm Insurance

"Great real-world examples." -Ahren Gerber, elliance.com

"Superb organisation and preparation - thankyou!" - Andrew Hoskings

"I'll break even on this investment, both in terms of time and money, within one week!" - D Rondell

"What a great workshop! Both engaging and useful." - Chris Graver, Bank of America

"Great real-world examples." -Ahren Gerber, elliance.com

"The Survival Kit was really helpful." - Paula Davies, Legal and General

"A very valuable and interesting day." - Simon Goodwin

"Very impressive." - Carl Huber

"The Survival Kit will be really useful for reference." - Seb Butcher

How large is the workshop?

We've limited the number of attendees to 12, to enable everyone to participate in the practical elements of the course

Free Cashflow Example

We've put together a free example cashflow spreadsheet for you. Feel free to take it for a spin.

What you'll learn

Your Idea and its Viability

How to perform basic market research
How to determine who your customers will be
Determining if the market is oversaturated or if you've found a valuable niche
Differentiating yourself
How will your business make money?
Advertising, subscription or one-time payment model?
Determine the value of your product or service
US Dollars, Euros or the British Pound?
Is your product or service right for the premium or economy market?

Funding Your Start-Up

Bootstrap, Venture Capital, Angel Investment - what's involved?
Which one is right for you?
How much money do you really need?
The next step - getting the money

Registering Your Company (Nick Callen)

Limited, Limited Liability Partnership or Sole Trader?
How much will this cost you and how can you save money?
Actually applying to register your company

Accounting and bookkeeping (Nick Callen)

Finding an affordable and reliable accountant
The basics of bookkeeping so you can save cash
QuickBooks, Sage or MYOB - how to choose which is best for you

Customer support

How many customer support queries to expect and how to deal with them
The secret to dealing with large amounts of customer support queries
How to apply the Golden Rule and keep those customers coming back

IT infrastructure & Office

MS Office, Google Docs or iWork - How to choose a software platform that's expandable and affordable
Should you use EC2/FlexiScale, Google Apps, S3 etc
How to use Version Control to avoid source code disasters
Mac or PC?
The essentials - what you need and what's a waste of money
How to save money on desks, chairs, phones and office supplies
Office or your top bedroom? Tips for choosing a location

Your Sites

Creating a website strategy - For example, do you need a company site?
Beta testing and soft launching
Do you need a blog?

Marketing

Ideas for marketing on a budget
A list of marketing that you absolutely must do
Do you need to advertise? How much does it cost?
Should you advertise - where to spend the money
Advanced tips for measuring your traffic with Google Analytics
Knowing what people want - how to use Crazy Egg effectively
How to create a passionate community around your product or service
How to write copy that will increase revenue and communicate more effectively with your audience

Important, but boring, Bank Stuff

Which bank is right for you?
How to establish a solid and friendly relationship with your Bank Manager
The simple way to negotiate better rates and deals

Your Merchant Account

Which banks are best for merchant accounts?
How to connect your merchant account to your bank account
Technical tips on how to hook up your website to your merchant account (tech spec hand out provided)
How to connect your merchant account to your accounting software

How to stay in business

How to set up an effective cash flow spreadsheet
The importance of knowing your margins and profitability
What are the hidden costs?
How to save money - bargaining for better prices
Doing an Expenses Laundry
Do you need an overdraft and how to set one up

Getting things done

Do you really need to work like a dog in the early days?
How to keep a healthy work-life balance
Tips for using IMAP to make life better
Activating your to-do list secret weapon

Your Team a.k.a. employees

How to decide if you're ready to hire employees
Contracts and other really important legal crap
How to lay the foundations so expanding is easy
Management for dummies
Keeping your Team happy - pay, environment, career development, rewards
How to keep your company creative and fun

Your Launch Plan

Creating your own personal Launch Plan - We'll work with you to create your own actionable plan with everything you've learned at Start-up Clinic!

Who's speaking?

Ryan Carson

Ryan started his career as lead PHP developer at several design studios. He developed his first web app during his spare time in 2003 before founding Carsonified in early 2004. Shortly after that he built his second large-scale web application, the hugely popular DropSend followed by his third web app, Amigo and the online blog/magazine Vitamin.

Since then Carsonified has become famous for organising and co-ordinating the biggest Web 2.0 event in the UK, Future of Web Apps and its sister events Future of Web Design and Future of Mobile. More recently Carsonified has created a popular site featuring handmade items for your Mac hardware, Hug My Mac

Ryan is a passionate advocate of developing forward-thinking web applications. He writes regularly on the topic of building web apps. His articles have appeared on several websites including: A List Apart, Signal Vs Noise (37signals), Treehouse, and BD4D

Nick Callen

Nick is an experienced Chartered Accountant and Tax Adviser. In the early days he sacrificed his physique for his profession by studying when he should be down the gym and went on to become Finance Director for several large and small organisations in various parts of the world.

Seven years ago he set up his own accountancy business solely with the aim of dealing with small and start-up business. His practice currently has a client base of some 120 clients ranging from small sole traders and partnerships with turnovers of a few thousand pounds to Ltd Companies turning over £2.5m.

He provides services such as advising on business start ups, setting up of accounting systems, preparation of accounts, preparation of tax returns and tax planning. He is well-versed in the needs of Web start-ups and has been Carsonified's faithful accountant since April 2004.

Thanks! Hope you can make it.

Questions?

Please ... email us

or give us a call on: +44 (0) 1225 324 980