http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk Fresh Thinking Mon, 12 May 2008 04:36:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   From a database of nearly 21 million companies reviewed by Entrepreneur magazine and research provider CentrisPoint, Simply Self Storage was distinguished as one of the nation’s “Hot 100, The Fastest Growing Businesses in America” for 2008. The company ranked No. 1 on the list for its rapid sales and job ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1020/simply-self-storage-named-no-1-in-fast-business-growth/   Bilha Maina could not have ignored the chance to invest Sh500,000 of her savings on a Jatropha plantation in Matuu where her family owns 40 acres of land. Ms Maina is the CEO of Adopt a Village an enterprise that grows Jatropha trees and trades them to farmers, and industries that ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1018/kenya-entrepreneurs-concept-blossoms/ At age 10, Seth Davis would go door-to-door offering his lawn mower service to any neighbor who would give him a chance. Back then, the child showed a budding chutzpah, said Mel Kornbluh, the father of one of Davis' childhood friends. "He was never afraid of a challenge, never afraid to try ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1008/young-entrepreneur-gets-dollars-signs-in-his-eyes/   If the men are doing it so are the women. From opening restaurants to starting hotels, actresses are also blurring the lines between the worlds of Bollywood and business. While actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Shah Rukh Khan and Suniel Shetty are thriving in the business world, their counterparts Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1016/bollywood-women-get-into-business-too/   Ron Sim is an entrepreneur at heart. As a child, he sold noodles on the streets of Singapore for pocket money. In the early 1980s he set up a trading company selling household goods and appliances. Over time, that evolved into Osim, which today generates most of its 380 million ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1014/entrepreneur-at-heart-ron-sim/   Company: OpenDNS Funding: $2 million from Cnet (CNET) Founder Halsey Minor Ulevich wants to change the way you call up Web sites. So his company, OpenDNS, has come up with what it considers a faster, smarter, and more secure method for translating requested URLs into corresponding sites. It helps companies guard against ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1012/one-to-watch-david-ulevitch-26/   Company: FriendFeed Funding: $5 million in February 2008 from the two co-founders and Benchmark Capital Taylor and Norris left Google (GOOG) last July to start FriendFeed, a startup that's tackling the thorny issue of helping people organize the growing array of social networks and services they use. FriendFeed lets subscribers pull together ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1010/ones-to-watch-bret-taylor-27-and-jim-norris-26/ A fraudster who cheated the tax man of up to £4m through a lucrative empire trading on the work of airport staff was jailed yesterday for six years.Multi-millionaire Mazher Raja, 50, launched a "sustained, carefully-planned and determined fraud" on the Inland Revenue stretching from at least 1993 to 2001, London's ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1005/millionaire-gets-six-years-for-%e2%80%98complex%e2%80%99-4m-fraud/ Company: RockYou Funding: About $15 million from Sequoia Capital, Partech International, and Lightspeed Venture Partners RockYou co-founder Shen likes to boast about his company's speed. RockYou makes software that helps Internet users add pizzazz to social network profile pages. Last year the company introduced Superwall, a feature that lets users post video ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1007/one-to-watch-jia-shen-28/   A true domestic goddess who swept away the competition has been named as a finalist in the British Franchiser of the Year awards. Businesswomen Pam Bader, of Vicarage Road, Maidenhead, has gained recognition from the British Franchise Association (BFA) after succesfully franchising Molly Maid Ltd in the UK 22 years ago. Pam's ... http://www.ukpreneur.co.uk/1004/entrepreneur-nominated-for-franchiser-of-year/