John Timpson: Work experience is vital for pupils It is time to take a common sense look at the risks and give students the chance to spend a properly structured week in a local business (not just operating the photocopier at Dad's office). It will help young people get a better idea about work, bring business closer to schools and make school teachers realise that running a business is about creating a culture and making ideas work - you do not make money by following best practice and complying with red tape. Q As a small start-up business looking to sell nationally, how on earth do I acquire national exposure on a really limited budget? A The answer to your question is simple. You need a lot of luck! Don't spend loads of money on marketing - you could spend all your money on advertising and not get a penny in extra sales. The cheapest way to advertise is through word of mouth, so it may be worth selling some of your garden schemes for next to nothing, or even for free to get things going. You could do with some positive publicity, but you can't afford a PR company, so bang the drum on your own behalf - like you have just done by writing to me. Ultimately, every new business needs a big slice of fortune. Good luck. Q Lots of well-known retailers raise money for Children in Need, with their executives appear on television waving enormous cheques. How do you think a company should decide which charity to support? A Congratulations to all those companies who raised some serious money for Children in Need on Friday. As well as helping a worthwhile charity they will also have a positive effect on both their colleagues and their customers. People like to be associated with an organisation that has a generous heart, and employees enjoy playing a part in fund-raising. The choice of charity (or in modern business speak, 'corporate social responsibility") tells you something about a company's culture and the attitude of its chief executive. At Timpson, we concentrate on causes in which we have a close interest where we can make a practical as well as financial contribution. Our main company charity has always been connected with children. First the NSPCC and then ChildLine. We now support a much smaller organisation (After Adoption), which does a fantastic job by both finding new families for difficult to place children and providing real support for adoptive families. It is good to work with a small charity where we can make a significant difference. The £300,000 a year we raise from customers, by doing little 'free" stitching repair jobs and putting holes in belts, funds a support programme for about 500 children a year in 300 families. You need a strong rapport with the charity's top team. For the last five years I have worked closely with chief executive Lynn Charlton and her key people at After Adoption. We like finding new ways to help her charity deliver a better and bigger service. This month we are using our shop displays to recruit new adoptive parents. Posters throughout the country state '4,500 kids need a home" and 'Can you adopt" together with details of the After Adoption help line. It is working, we have already attracted interest from over 100 prospective adopters - helping to make sure that more children currently in care find a family. There is an added bonus I know of three Timpson colleagues who are about to be approved as adoptive parents. By choosing the right cause you can benefit the charity and improve your business at the same time. John Timpson is the chairman of high-street cobbler and key-cutter Timpson. Send him an email at: askjohn@telegraph.co.uk