James Hill

Academy Taxis

My latest project - Academy Taxis!

We’re making a new taxi base that will be better because:

• No lies - we’re committed to making sure what we know, you know.
• Track your taxi online - you can see it moving towards you on a map.
• Automatic ringbacks when your taxi arrives, and when it’s nearby.
• Speak to your driver direct.

How would you like your taxi base to be?  What can be improved?

Academy Cars in the Manchester Evening News

http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/10/07/14-tools-to-legally-spy-on-your-competition/

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/business/s/1073654_boss_who_helped_80_firms_steps_down?rss=yes

Kashef Ahmad and James Hill being congratulated for being a northern finalist up in the HSBC Startup Stars contest.

I was at the first 2008 Enterprize event, and heard about a model I haven’t come across before, from the speaker Permjot Valia.

The full name of the model is Porters 5 Forces, and a full explanation can be found on wikipedia.

These are the forces that determine the overall attractiveness of a market.

The threats are:

• Bargaining power of suppliers - how much power the suppliers have (customers/pharmaceuticals).
• Bargaining power of customers - how much power the customers have (think farms/supermarkets).
• Threat of new entrants - how hard is it to set up a new business.
• Threat of substitute products - customers may drive instead of taking a train
• Established competition - who’s already in your space.

I’m in the background, munching on food, then later in front of the camera proper.

See the video over here at Winning Pitch

A friend of mine, Zain, recently launched a new social bookmarking site for men - Darchy.com. The site’s got plenty to keep you clicking away, and you can feel the passion that Zain’s put into making the site. One warning though, the site is slightly addictive!

Screenatize is already being picked up by the trade blogs/magazines. See http://www.dailydooh.com/archives/893 (the rest of this entry is a copy of the dailydooh’s page).

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Two unintentional themes this week it seems - digital menu boards and taxi advertising systems - Screenatize have just come to our attention…

Screenatize Ltd is the brainchild of two of Manchester’s most exciting entrepreneurs. Kashef Ahmad and James Hill bring together diverse but complimentary skills and experience to bring about a revolution in interactive advertising.

See their web site for more information http://www.screenatize.co.uk/index.html