Monocle: The Entrepreneurs #6

Do you have a big idea that you'd like to make a reality? Or perhaps you're looking to take your company to the next level. If so, The Entrepreneurs is for you. The latest issue of Monocle's business-focused annual asks whether executive coaching works, profiles the slower cities to set up shop in, picks the best brand logos – and much more.

AT THE FRONT

EDITOR’S LETTERThe opportunities and triumphs of working life.

ALL THE RIGHT MOVESWe profile founders and firms that have nimbly switched direction or grasped novel ideas and tapped new markets. Plus, the reads that you never knew you needed and hot tips from top CEOs.

THE PEOPLE AND PLACES SETTING THE AGENDA

VIEWS FROM THE TOPFrom the freewheeling founder of a Taiwanese scooter company to the president of Japan’s perkiest coffee chain, we’ve tapped some of the world’s savviest leaders for their insights into doing business better.

DOES BUSINESS COACHING WORK?Executive coaching has evolved from Jordan Belfort-style barking and chest-thumping into meditative mindfulness, helping even the most harried of managers to handle their workload and teams. Useful professional tool or fluffy mumbo jumbo? We sit down with three coaches for an appraisal.

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANEBored of big cities and tedious commutes? Considering jacking in your job and starting something new in a place with a gentler pace of life? We have just the idea: start up somewhere slower. We visit Mexico, Indonesia and Sicily to find out how it’s done.

GOOD BUSINESS, ONLY BETTERJust as the global economy is in a state of flux, our ideas about what makes a successful entrepreneur are ripe for re-evaluation. We hear from seven savvy voices about universal constants in commerce and the key elements for success in the new world of enterprise.

CONTINENTAL DRIFTLeaving your homeland behind to set up a new life in Africa takes fiery determination and nerves of steel. But moving in numbers can offer a host of benefits, as Iranian, Moroccan and French émigrés have discovered. We profile three entrepreneurial diasporas in Africa.

TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN?Running one company can be an all-consuming task but there are some who find that it just isn’t enough – so they take on two. Here are the entrepreneurs achieving a perfect balance in their work lives, often in completely different fields.

CULTURE & DESIGN

SLEEPING WITH THE ARTISTSome hotels might show art on their walls but few have been engineered to put culture at their centre. We visit four properties that prove that adding a touch of hospitality to a gallery – or an exhibition space to lodgings – is an artful way to make culture pay.

SIZE MATTERSYour offices needn’t be tucked away in a monolithic multi-purpose skyscraper. Whether you employ four people or 4,000, your firm’s HQ can be a striking projection of your brand’s values and aspirations. We visit three workspaces that get it right.

MAKE A MARQUEDesigning a logo that lasts is an art in itself. So what makes branding endure? We highlight nine mid-century icons that have stood the test of time.

BACK TO BASICSFrom its new base in Italy’s design capital, family-run fashion group Basicnet is sewing together the ambition of Europe’s luxury labels with the efficiency of American-style brand management.

TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY

BALTIC REVIVALFor decades, Estonia’s most talented chefs, growers and hospitality folk left their home country for greener pastures abroad. Today a fresh crop of entrepreneurs is putting down roots, offering new reasons for people to sample the Baltic nation’s long-overlooked culinary scene.

EXPO

JOBS WITH BENEFITSThe world of work is competitive and one way for employers to attract – and hang onto – good staff is to offer them special perks. Whether it’s being able to go sailing from the office’s doorstep, choosing free new footwear or taking ‘paw-ternity’ leave for a new puppy, businesses have learnt to be creative.

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