Signposting for advice, tools and resources for members wanting to start turning an idea into a business.

Christopher Norris

Groups

Serial entrepreneur

Find Something

My motto in life and work is 'Meet people, make friends, and help them.' Getting to know people is the best way of finding out what makes them tick in terms of goals, ambitions, dreams, interests and life in general. I help people by listening to what they need, suggesting ideas, sending links, making introductions, adding value, and offering relevant products and services, where appropriate. When friends have a problem, I love to help them fix it.
My varied portfolio career means I have knowledge, experience and contacts in many fields. I am an expert in book publishing, media, mentoring, writing, editing, marketing, crowdfunding, sponsorship, social enterprise and commercial start-ups.
I'd love to get to know you better, so I can help you get to where you want to be.
Career highlights: • Book trade professional since 1990 • Consultant Producer, YOU'RE BOOKED! (ITV book series) • Pioneer, World Book Day UK • Research Director, StoryCode (online recommendation engine for fiction, featured on BBC TV’s DRAGONS’ DEN)
Current roles: • Founder, CopyGhosting Publishing Services (editorial, marketing, PR &amp; digital agency) • Editor &amp; Development Executive, Insight Film Festival • Founder, Jolabokaflod CIC (promoting Icelandic 'Christmas book flood' tradition) • Director of Crowdfunding, CrowdPatch CIC: free crowdfunding platform for social enterprise • Founder, The Wisdom of Coffee: a network for Meetup gatherings &amp; a community that shares best practice about business, enterprise &amp; alternative finance) • Founder, Smart Crowd Productions: integrated arts, media, business &amp; alternative finance production consultancy • Director: Corporative Sponsorship, SMGlobal Catwalk, Inc: global fashion events brand • Social entrepreneur, 12R Prizes: solving social issues and commercial problems via sponsored cash-prize comptetions • Mentor, Founders and Mentors: networking platform, comprising forum, communities and courses for mentors to help pre-launch founders launch start-ups successfully • Social entrepreneur, 12Ronnies: hub that provides founders, inventors and creatives a toolkit for launching a startup successfully • Co-founder, CrowdMall: virtual shopping centre for ideas that do not yet exist
Charities: • Chairman, Seeds Creatives (charity): runs the ‘Artist in Your Own Residence’ collaborative network mentoring scheme for creatives in all disciplines • Director, Arts Centre Group (charity): membership organisation for arts &amp; media professionals
Committees: • All-Party Parliamentary Committee for Crowdfunding (chair: Barry Sheerman MP): meets quarterly at the House of Commons
Author: • Six published books • Two books in progress

Enterprise Nation has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder, Emma Jones CBE, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.

Lunch and Learn: How to build predictable revenue that grows without you

Discover strategies to turn your service business into a scalable model with recurring revenue.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve been an angel investor to many where il exchange the use of my skill sets towards their businesses over income and watched many flourish. I’ve always enjoyed growth through the bootstrapping methods and being as resourceful as possible. My greatest interest from my studying in business innovation and entrepreneurship management was social capital, system networks and policies. They are vital indeed.

Before you start your business

This group is for those who are thinking about getting into business independently.

With over 23 years of extensive experience in Finance & Operations, I&apos;m a seasoned professional dedicated to supporting small businesses, start-ups, and scale-ups. Having previously served as the Director of Operations for KPMG Middle East, I bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table.

My passion lies in empowering small businesses to thrive and succeed. I specialise in providing tailored financial solutions and strategic guidance

FINANCE  OPERATIONS

Business Planning Growth Strategy

I offer tailored business planning and growth strategy services that will help you take your business to the next level. Whether you&apos;re looking to refine your business model, explore new revenue streams, or prepare for investment, my approach ensures you have a clear roadmap to success. With extensive experience helping businesses secure funding, grow profits, and enhance operational efficiency, I guide you step-by-step to craft a robust, investor-ready business plan. This service includes 

Serial entrepreneur and innovation director across multiple verticals, with a technology and sector agnostic approach to consulting. Currently consulting to various ventures ie Medtech, CPG, FMCG, Fintech, Adtech, HeathTech etc

Having been deeply immersed in the Startup / SME EcoSystem for approximately 25 years, in 2 distinct sectors and countries with various business models. Providing both product / services for b2b and b2b segments has allowed me to gain a solid amount of diverse knowledge and understanding.
This entrepreneurial experience also allowed to gain insights of the innovation value chain and operational requirements of building / scaling ventures, for product market fit. The critical component of fundraising through various mechanisms, is an area that I understand well, having bootstrapped businesses and then raised circa 3m Euros across angel, Venture Capital and the European Development Fund (EDF).
The full spectrum of the fund-raising process was arguably the most challenging aspect of venture building for a multitude of reasons and it was a definite grind to get it done. Learning to dealing with brutal reality was a crucial part of success and helped test / fortify my resilience and growth mindset.
The last venture Zveetz had a regenerative aspect with a mission to make a dent against sugar pollution and its consequences to people and planet. Working cross functionally with a stellar team of individuals including food and behavioural scientists to deliver an impactful value proposition was highly rewarding. The business model was multifaceted with transactional, subscription and asymmetrical revenue streams. We were able to move the needle on sugar reduction and enabled people to be more sugar smart, thereby hitting multiple impact and revenue KPI’s.
Previously to that, I had the privilege of deep diving into the world of AI, machine learning &amp; ontologies to build a recommendation engine SaaS for the e-commerce sector, although there were multiple future use cases for the technology. This immersion and venture was very challenging for multiple reasons but ultimately the outcomes were net positive, so the juice was worth the squeeze.
hankfully, I have been able to transition into the role of an Innovation Director and apply skills / experience to provide consultation across the Oxford Innovation ecosystem to various stakeholders.&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Performed 96 one to one business support sessions and workshops for students, faculty, startup and SMEs teams.</li>
<li>Consulting with the KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnerships) department to revamping program offering and positioning to meet desired Research Excellence Framework (REF 29) standards.</li>
<li>Supporting faculty members across the UnIversity’s different schools, on commercialisation of their research and various potential fund-raising strategies.</li>
<li>Working with the AI Research group within the University to develop their strategic roadmap.</li>
<li>Supporting the establishment of “Managementfest”, a student led innovation &amp; entrepreneurship conference and accelerator programme at BNU.</li>
<li>Regularly meeting with the university leadership committee to report all innovation initiatives and results.</li>
<li>Leading Oxford Innovation AI working group with a remit to i) develop a wholistic adoption strategy for competitive advantage. ii) Steering AI integration and operationalisation across the org, towards ISO42001 (trustworthy) compliance.</li>
</ul>

Innovation Director

Vishal Kawatra

Serial entrepreneur and innovation director across multiple verticals, with a technology and sector agnostic approach to consulting. Currently consulting to various ventures ie Medtech, CPG, FMCG, Fintech, Adtech, HeathTech etc

Having been deeply immersed in the Startup / SME EcoSystem for approximately 25 years, in 2 distinct sectors and countries with various business models. Providing both product / services for b2b and b2b segments has allowed me to gain a solid amount of d

Pre-launch founders, inventors & creatives

About this Group

Enterprise Nation Groups