Born into wealth and with a senior job in his father’s shipping company guaranteed, Stelios Haji-Ioannou could have taken it easy.

Instead, he founded his own shipping company, before masterminding the success of easyJet. The “new Richard Branson” has systematically replicated the ‘easy’ format in 15 industries, amassing a £725m personal fortune in the process.

Stelios, a Greek-Cypriot born in 1967, always wanted to escape the “gilded cage”. And he did. Armed with an economics degree, £5m from a sceptical father (imagine his generosity if he was more sanguine) and a ‘no-frills’ plan, he set up the easyJet airline in 1995, and trounced the incredulous competition by offering £29 one-way flights. Even when BA launched its ‘no-frills’ equivalent Go, Sir Stelios, as he is now known, and easyJet staff gatecrashed its maiden voyage in orange boiler suits, and easyJet later bought the company.

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Lyle's Golden Syrup has been named as Britain's oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885.

The Guinness Book of Records gave the breakfast and teatime sweetener, whose tins bear the image of a lion and a biblical quotation, the prized honour.

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According to a new study, most small and medium sized companies have failed to take advantage of blogging. 

Nearly half of Britain's small businesses would use a blog to drive traffic to their website and increase sales according to new research from the UK’s largest hosting provider, Fasthosts. However, only three per cent of the 2,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) questioned are actually intending to start a blog.

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The biggest roadblock in becoming your own boss will be convincing your bank to give you a loan. Here are 5 strategies to help you.

1. Buy a Business
If you're buying an existing business, with a history of revenue, it's a much easier proposition for a bank to lend you the money. Buying an existing business may be more expensive than starting one, but your chances of success will be greater. Banks know and like this. If you're  also buying a property-based business, such as a hotel, then the loan can be leveraged against the value of the property. This means that even if your business fails, a bank can get it's money back from the property. Again, banks like this. Go to BusinessesForSale.com

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Entrepreneurs often ask BOB about learning. Where can they go to learn more about business, specifically about starting one? Now, BOB has the answer...

Leicester's De Montfort University, along with Business Link Leicestershire have joined forces to stage a two-day intensive course this autumn.

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Advertising on the Internet continues to be an increasingly lucrative sector of the market, according to results announced Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The revenue figures, which were released at the MIXX 2.6 Conference and Expo in New York, show that Internet advertising revenues have increased 37 percent from the first six months of 2005 to those of 2006, reaching a total of $7.9 billion. Additionally, quarterly revenues topped $4 billion for the first time in the second quarter of 2006.

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Thinking of buying a business? Need to ask a question? Here are some of the questions and answers from the Buyer’s Networking Forum on BusinessesForSale.com:

Internet-based/IT business wanted
Michael: Hi, I'm new to the BusinessesForSale website and I'm looking for either an internet-based business or IT-based business for sale. Ideally the business will need to be Northwest England-based. I'm looking at investing between 10k-60k for the right business, or open to joint ventures. One of my current developments is http://www.thepricesite.co.uk - I'm also open to joint ventures to help exploit this business.
Jay: Hey, I am also interested in online business. I have a couple of ideas I am looking for someone who has website knowledge and experience as well as online marketing experience. I am interested in online casino. I have done some research, but more is required. get in touch 07853466544 or reply back, regards Jay.

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Family-friendly policies being proposed by all three main political parties will restrict small business growth says the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Small businesses are already straining under a huge volume of red tape added the FSB, filling out regulatory forms for an average of 28 hours a month.

The organisation thinks that existing legislation is adequate, and by adding to it the government risks jeopardising the goodwill that already exists between employers and employees.

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To expand your business you will need to let others run it, so you can lead it.

Theodore Roosevelt once said: "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

If you're thinking of starting a business or you're already growing one, then one of the big challenges you will face is how to appoint the right managers and then have the discipline and the belief to let them get on with their job - especially as your company expands.

Entrepreneurs often have obsessive natures. To start a business and make it a success requires a huge amount of energy and passion. You'll be working every minute of every hour. You'll dream about your business, wake up thinking about your business and no one will truly understand what's going through your mind.

Don't Dream It. Do It. BusinessesForSale.com

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Were you ever belittled by a schoolteacher? Albert Einstein was.

Has your confidence been destroyed by job rejections? Well, remember that Apple Founder Steve Jobs was rejected by Hewlett-Packard.

Were you ever put off a business idea by an authoritative source? Even the seer of the business world, Business Week, can get its predictions spectacularly wrong.

Check out these wildly inaccurate predictions, grammatical gaffes and shocking pronouncements.

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This is our latest card which we're handing out at start up and franchise exhibitions to promote BusinessesForSale.com and FranchiseSales.com

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Starting a business is hard enough as it is – Gillian Nissim, 34, managed it while juggling the arguably more difficult job of raising two children.

BOB: Your website is fairly self-explanatory regarding the type of people it is targeting. What services does it offer?

Gillian: I launched www.WorkingMums.co.uk to help mums who have had successful careers get back into jobs they love, but with a more flexible approach. The site started primarily as a job site focusing on most mums’ need to either work from home, or have part-time, project-based or freelance work without having to sacrifice the level of career they had reached before having children.

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The search is on for the UK's most publicity shy business.

Lancashire-based public relations agency The Buzz Factory has launched a national search for the 'UK's Most Publicity Shy Business' and, they're stumping up a total of £1,600-worth of PR support available in prizes.

The Buzz Factory offers a comprehensive range of PR services and their new approach has already won them a broad range of clients including QS Discount, BMI Healthcare, PSL Plant Hire, Hilton Leisure, Enjoy Your Meal, The Royal Academy of Engineering, YE Magazine, Ideas North West, Red Welly Media and Sleeptracker.

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From Entrepreneur.com Here are 10 ways to get your startup in shape and off to a great start in the race for entrepreneurial success.

The starter’s pistol has gone off, the rest of the field has taken off, and you're still frozen in a kneeling position, head down and bracing for the race to begin. As your fellow competitors race to the finish line, you rise slowly and try to convince yourself that this race was not really for you. You console yourself by saying that the risks were too great and ask yourself such self-doubting questions as, "What if I had fallen?" or "What if I'd started and couldn’t finish?" and "Who was I kidding? I had no business even thinking about entering that race."

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A teenage entrepreneur who set up his own company at the age of only 13 is getting his membership to Business Link for free.

Lewis Bankes-Hughes, who is now 14, will become Business Link’s youngest-ever member.

The business support organisation is sponsoring the Oxfordshire teenager’s membership after he set up Fluffy Duster, a graphic and website design business.

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Recruiting new members of staff is a serious business.

Wage costs are the single biggest monthly cost for many companies, but, the financial implications of contracting a new employee can be much bigger than you might expect.

When buying a business, invariably you will buy the existing staff as part of the package. You may find that you need additional staff at the time of takeover, or further down the line.

Under current employment law, you are liable for sickness and maternity pay, as well as having to make provision for holidays. You are also partly responsible for your new employee’s health and safety in the workplace.

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A format which adapted dating to the fast-paced modern world is being replicated for aspiring entrepreneurs that want to exchange ideas and forge new contacts.

Speednetwork the Nation, which is Part of Enterprise week, is aimed at aspiring start-ups, with a particular emphasis on young people.

The format is essentially the same as speed dating, except attendees meet potential business partners, suppliers and customers rather than future girlfriends and wives.

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If you're buying a business you'll need to make a sound judgement on the viability and true worth of the opportunity.

On BusinessesForSale.com there are over 35,000 opportunities and it's important that you play the part of a good detective and uncover the truth about the business you are considering.

The first assessment you must make in evaluating a business for sale is to review its history and the way it operates. It is important to learn how the business was started, how its mission may have changed since its inception and what past events have occurred to shape its current form.

Don't Dream It. Do It. BusinessesForSale.com

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An investment banker, Charles Merrill was an unlikely champion of the common man. Yet he set in motion the democratisation of the stock markets and ended the closed shop of Wall Street.

Charles Merrill was born in Florida in 1885. Growing up, money was scarce and young Charles had to leave college through lack of funds.

Fortunately, Merrill’s legendary foresight was innate. He saw that Middle America – a huge, untapped market – was being excluded from the markets by traders.

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