“Being vague is the road to ruin,” Albion Startup Kitchen entrepreneurs told

“Being vague is the road to ruin,” aspiring entrepreneurs were told at the latest ground-breaking mentoring workshop, designed to stop Hackney’s business talent being overlooked.

Jason Goodman, whose Shoreditch-based creative agency Albion is funding the Startup Kitchen, made the comments in the latest monthly session about marketing.

Mr Goodman came up with the idea to ensure Tech City knowledge doesn’t pass by the rest of the borough, and every month this year different mentors like Lovefilm and Skype co-founder Saul Klein – who are giving their time for free – are taking part in workshops geared towards overcoming the fundamental challenges faced by start-up companies, with themes like product design, funding and building the right team.

Simon Duffy, the founder of male grooming brand Bulldog, attended to latest session to advise five selected fledgling entrepreneurs on how to turn their ventures into thriving businesses.

The focus on how small businesses can use marketing as a small business, starting with the principle that all good businesses can be explained in a single sentence.

Many of the young entrepreneurs, including Vanja Przuli, founder of online art business Monde Mosaic, realised they would have to modify their product or service to make them easier to explain to customers.

There was also advice on when it’s right to give up on your day job to focus full time on your business, why it’s rarely a good idea to compete on service and price at the same time, and why - for start-ups - focusing on being great at one thing is better than being merely good at a number.

The next session with Richard Moross, founder of Moo.com and Matt Gooch, head of European Banking at William Blair & Company on how to grow your company from idea to its stock market launch takes place on Tuesday June 3.

For more information see www.albionstartupkitchen.com.