Mark Baker- Founder of 'Here for a day'

1. Tell us a little bit about Here for a Day - how did you come up with the concept? Hereforaday.com is the UK’s first daily deal site for home and family. We promote one item every day, it’s available for 24 hours although we regularly sell out before time’s up. I spent a lot of time researching ecommerce and came across similar companies abroad, loved the idea and wanted to launch a daily deal site in the UK. Hereforaday.com brings an element of fun to online shopping, you never know what will be on sale tomorrow but we can guarantee it’ll be a bargain, most of our items are 60% off RRP on average, it’s an all year round January Sale. The austere times that we are in also played a part. We all still want to shop, buy quality items for the home and Hereforaday.com offers exactly that at a fraction of the normal cost.

2. What sort of services does Here for a Day provide? Hereforaday.com sells one product for 24 hours or until it’s gone! We think of it as a service too, we provide the option to buy items for home and family at much lower costs than normal which really helps when budget’s are tight, everyone’s feeling the pinch at the moment.

3. Who uses the company? As we sell products under the home and family umbrella, we are of interest to most online shoppers. Hereforaday.com is a community, the Hereforaday.com Family buys together, allowing us to purchase in bulk, pass the savings on and keep costs down.

4. What were your start-up costs and running costs? We are self funded and still in start up stage so costs are very flexible although we work religiously to our business plan and forecasts.

5. How did you go about marketing the company? We market the company online using PPC, SEO and Email Marketing. Social Media is very important at Hereforaday.com as it builds the community feel of the website well. Our Facebook page is particularly popular. We also have a company blog, run regular competitions and invest in online and offline PR. There is a lot going on on the marketing side and at such an early stage a lot of testing and analysing goes on to establish the more effective methods. We are delighted that in our first few weeks over 300 other websites and forums have recommended and referred visitors to our site.

7. What are the best and worst things about running your own business? It’s a rollercoaster! I enjoy working for myself and the rewards this brings but you have to take the rough with the smooth and endure the inevitable stress and headaches!! It can be mentally exhausting but the highs and successes are all the better for it.

8. If you could turn back the clock and start Here for a Day again is there anything you would do differently? Not at the moment as we are only a few weeks in, I have gained a lot of e-commerce experience in the past and like to think I have made a lot of mistakes and learnt from them. Ask me again in 12 months, sure I’ll have a whole list!!

9. Where do you see the company heading in the next five years? What are your plans for Here for a Day? Hereforaday.com is forecast to grow rapidly. In 5 years time Hereforaday.com will be a household name, offering amazing bargains 365 days of the year. making