Enterprise Mastermind interviews Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation

1. Introduce yourself

Hello! My name is Emma Jones and I’m founder of Enterprise Nation, the home business company.

2. What is Enterprise Nation?

Enterprise Nation is a company dedicated to helping anyone who is starting and growing a business from home. We host the home business website at www.enterprisenation.com, manage the Home Business Awards and produce the annual Home Business Report. I brought out a book in May called ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’ so I suppose you could say home business is well and truly our business!

3. What gave you the idea for starting Enterprise Nation?

The idea for Enterprise Nation was borne out of personal experience. After 5 years working for a big international accountancy firm, I left at the age of 27 to start a business from my spare room in a Manchester apartment. Within the space of 2 years I had started, grown and sold that business so started to think ‘what next?’ – I could see that many more people were starting up at home yet there was no place for them to turn. That was the start of planning for Enterprise Nation. We researched the market and planned for 2 years before launching the site in January 2006. It’s gone on to become the most popular site of its kind; a free resource for anyone starting and growing a business from home. Visitors enjoy the lively features, webchats, free e-news and … meeting each other in the forums.

4. How important do you rate the internet for a new home business and why?

The internet is, in a word, critical for new home based businesses. The Internet is used in the start-up phase to research markets, competitors and partners and, in the growth phase to keep costs low and sales and productivity high. Without the Internet we wouldn’t have online stores or tools like Skype, Basecamp and Salesforce.com that are the foundations for so many home based businesses. The Internet (and advances in technology in general) has been a key factor in the dramatic increase in the number of people avoiding the daily commute and working from home.

5. What is your top tip for business on the web?

My top tip for business on the web is to keep your eyes and ears open at all times. To always be on the look-out for new ideas, opportunities, customers and technologies that will help push your business to the next level. This is all the information we aim to provide on www.enterprisenation.com so tied in to this tip is the suggestion to visit my site!