Small businesses interested in establishing a foothold in the U.K. are invited to enter the Technium Challenge International. The winner of the contest will receive a free year of office space at one of 10 Technium incubators in Wales. The package includes strategic counsel on financing, business planning and technical issues, plus networking opportunities.

Applicants must submit an executive summary of their business plan by March 28. Full business plans must be presented to country judging panels by April 4.

Finalists will receive introductions to established business networks, guidance on developing a U.K. market entry business plan and detailed briefings about European markets. From there, they will present their business plans to the Technium judging panel, which will select one winner.  

The contest is co-sponsored by Technium and International Business Wales. International Business Wales, part of the Welsh Assembly Government, helps companies trade with or establish operations in Wales. Technium's network of innovation centers supports the growth of technology companies.

Judges include Sony Corp. Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer, a Welshman; Gordon Innes, director of UK Trade & Investment USA; and Geraint Jones, chief executive, Americas, International Business Wales.--Eve Gumpel

If you'd like to get inside the mind of an angel investor, take a glimpse into the world of Frank Peters. Peters, the current chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, was formerly the president of the Orange County chapter of the angel group. The angel investor shares information for entrepreneurs about the funding process for startups both on his blog and his podcast. Check out Peters' website for helpful resources to help you in your hunt for funding.

Oprah Winfrey is expanding her media empire, laying the groundwork for her own TV network.

Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans this week to launch the Oprah Winfrey Network--OWN--in the second half of 2009 on the Discovery Health Channel.

The venture will be half owned by Discovery Communications and half by Winfrey's production company, Harpo Inc. Winfrey will serve as chairwoman and will have editorial control.

The new channel will not initially carry The Oprah Winfrey Show.  But Winfrey said she could choose to end that show in 2010 or 2011 and move it to the new network.

"This is an evolution of what I've been able to do every day," Winfrey told reporters in a conference call Tuesday. "I will now have the opportunity to do that 24 hours a day on a platform that goes on forever."

In addition to continuing her syndicated talk show, Winfrey said she would continue to produce programming for other outlets. A new reality show, Oprah’s Big Give, is scheduled to begin on ABC in March.--Eve Gumpel

A higher price tag may actually make your customers happier. That's according to a recent study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mentioned in this MSNBC.com article. The study asserts that the more a consumer believes a product is worth, the happier he or she is with the purchase. "It's very weird, I know," said Antonio Rangel, the lead author of the study and an associate economics professor at California Institute of Technology. "But people believe that more expensive prices are correlated with higher quality. So if you believe something better is happening to you, that affects the way your brain handles the experience."

Before coming to these results, the study's participants were hooked up to brain scan machines while they sipped on five glasses of wine ranging from $5 to $90 a bottle. The result? When participants were told they were drinking a glass of wine from a $90 bottle, the area of the brain that registers pleasure had an increase in activity. The findings worry some psychologists. "So many people want more than they have because they want to be more than they are--so buying more equals being more," said psychologist April Benson.

The second-largest paper-wasting holiday is on the horizon: Valentine's Day. If your company wants to spread the love this holiday minus the waste, one company has the solution. ReProduct offers reusable greeting cards made out of a plastic material. Here's how it works: Once your card is received, the recipient inserts it back into the return-addressed, postage-paid envelope made of the same material, and it's sent to Shaw Industries, where 100 percent of the card is "ReProducted" into new carpet tiles. The greeting card line also includes invitations, announcement and other stationery items.

The product is already being used by Brad Pitt's Make it Right organization, and Mattel will be producing its annual reports for 2008 using ReProduct technologies. Mattel also recently announced that ReProduct reusable greeting cards are now carried by the Mattel corporate store.

Go to ReProduct's website to order custom or pre-printed cards.

 In July 2007, Entrepreneur explored carbon offsets being used by business travelers to mitigate the carbon dioxide produced during flight. One company, TerraPass, a carbon offset retailer, offered its "Puddle Jumper" package for $9.95, which balances out 2,500 pounds of carbon dioxide, or about 6,000 miles of flying.

Now, TerraPass is set to launch its "Carbon Balanced Business Program," which will help businesses balance out the carbon emissions they create during their daily operations. TerraPass says the program is the first of its kind to give businesses the chance to use an online carbon calculator to determine their carbon footprints. The online calculator considers on-site and off-site energy use, company vehicles, business travel and employee commutes.

The online calculator can be accessed for free on the TerraPass website.