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What's Our Purple Cow?
2010-11-01 18:54
What: Rachel Elnaugh: What's Our Purple Cow?
When: Tuesday November 9th
Where: SKEMA Executive Center, Rue Albert Einstein, Sophia Antipolis
Tickets: €30 for Members and €40 for Non-Members
Contact and bookings: Riviera Business Club
Rachel Elnaugh is the entrepreneur who created the market leading experiences brand 'Red Letter Days' at the age of only 24 - growing it from nothing into a multi-million pound business - only to see the company taken into administration following a period of over-expansion.
Not one to be put off, she immediately set herself to writing a book about her hard-learnt lesson, 'Business Nightmares'. The timing of the book launch could not have been more fortunate: published at the beginning of the current recession, it has since become the business survival bible for many struggling entrepreneurs.
After winning the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2002, Rachel secured celebrity status by appearing as one of the 'dragons' on the first two series of the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, which invites would-be inventors and businesspeople to bid for sponsorship in a highly-competitive interview.
Although she has not stood as a Conservative MP yet (she was invited to do so), she has advised parliamentary committees on the development of small businesses and enterprise culture. Numerous awards have followed, including being named IAB Champion for Entrepreneurship in the UK for 2008, and runner-up in the SFEDI Supporter of Enterprise Award for 2009. She currently acts as ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ at the British Library, working to empower business leaders of the future.
All of which makes her amply qualified to be the special guest speaker at the Riviera Business Club on 9 November at an event co-sponsored by the European Professional Women's Network. Rachel will describe her 'Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster Ride', telling the story of her business failure and her phoenix-like ascent from the ashes;.and in an intriguing talk entitled 'What's our Purple Cow?' she'll explain how we should always learn - especially in the business world - to expect the unexpected.
Programme
6.30-7pm: Welcome with drinks and networking
7.15pm: Presentation followed by questions
followed by: Indian buffet dinner and drinks ... and more networking
10.30pm: ends.
Rachel is currently
- non-executive chairman of the market-leading childrens’ wall mural company Walltastic, which she has helped develop from front-room start-up to a company with a turnover of at least £1m, exporting to 28 countries
- non-executive director for the social enterprise The Small Business Consultancy CIC, which empowers disadvantaged youths through enterprise
- non-executive director of Sustainable Bakewell CIC, which drives awareness and initiates projects connected to sustainable living in Bakewell and the English Peak District