When you check-in at a hotel and the guest queuing in front of you tells the receptionist: "There's no remote control for the TV in my room", you know you're not going to be spending the next few hours in the lap of luxury. And when the receptionist replies: "Sorry, we've run out but there are buttons on top of the TV you can use to change the channels", you know you've just arrived in the world of seriously low budget hotels.

The above tale isn’t theory; it's hard, cold fact. And it happened to me at the Farringdon branch of Travelodge in London, where I had the misfortune to stay earlier this week.

When I booked my stay, I wasn't expecting to be treated like a king but I was hoping for some level of comfort and customer service. But not at Travelodge Farringdon.

With the company taking full payment in advance, there was no "Have you stayed with us before?" or "Please take the lift to the second floor" but just a quick hello and '232' scrawled on a piece of paper displaying a photocopy of the Travelodge logo.

We’re more than four months away from the release of Microsoft’s Windows 7, but that hasn’t stopped some bloggers, tweeters, and the rest of the interweb, from speculating on what Windows 8 will be like.

Questions over the future of Windows 8 have already prompted one fan, CullenD, to produce their own concept. Called ‘Copenhagen Concept’, the 2m 23sec video introduces several ideas that CullenD no doubt hopes Microsoft will pick up and run with for their next iteration of Windows.

The Release Candidate of Windows 7 is still available – for those of you who haven’t dabbled in the upcoming operating system – so why not give it a go and let me know what you’d like to see in its successor?

Come on admit it, you could do with a bit of extra cash right now couldn't you? If so - and which entrepreneur would say no? - we discovered two competitions today which could well provide that financial injection you need.

The first, the Essence of the Entrepreneur competition, is pretty unique. Aimed at highlighting companies which are successfully embracing technology, the 20 winners, chosen by judges including Peter Jones of Dragons' Den and Claire Young of The Apprentice, will each get their photograph taken by celebrity fashion photographer Rankin. With the likes of Kylie on his list of past subjects, you'll be a sure of a good shot as this gallery of last year's winners shows.

Business Link in London were on hand at the BT Business Experience to offer advice to existing and budding entrepreneur. Verity Gough caught up with the organisation's representative Andy Berrow for a quick chat about the kind of businesses he is currently dealing with and whether Business Link has seen an increase in enquiries as a result of the result of the recession.

One of the hot themes at today's event has been flexible working. We exclusively caught up with Bill Murphy, managing director of BT Business to find out more.

According to Murphy, not enough small businesses are taking the leap and embracing flexible working practices, something which he positively encourages. However, research suggests that many small business owners remain to be convinced that letting employees work from home means they won't perform to the best of their ability. Yet Murphy urges entrepreneurs to drop this archaic attitude and have faith in thier staff, claiming, "It's all about trust."

So do you agree with Murphy? Is flexible working something that small businesses should be embracing or does it remain the domain of large corporations?

My colleague Verity Gough is at the BT Business Experience armed with her trusty Flip camera. Wandering around the venue, she's asking entrepreneurs one question: What one thing could your business not live without?

So far many of interviewees have said the internet is key but one made the very perceptive point that without customers his business wouldn't exist.

We're be uploading the videos soon but what do you think? What one thing is key to your business? Maybe it's your mum who does your accounting or perhaps your Twitter account is crucial. Let us know by posting below.

I managed to secure a seat at the much sought after Q&A at the BT Business Experience. Unsurprisingly much of the attention is being given to Dragons' Den judge Peter Jones but the other representatives are also getting a work in. Here are the highlights:

After a female entrepreneur questions Jones about how she can boost her educational business, he said "You're in a minority. We want and desperately need more female entrepreneurs." If we had as many female business owners in the UK as in the US, we'd have 800,000 more entrepreneurs.

Peter Jones urges entrepreneurs to be clever about the way they use technology.

Andy Berrow from Business Link says his organisation is getting an increasing number of enquiries from social entrepreneurs.

Bill Murphy from BT Business says the number of businesses being set up from home is growing massively. Technology makes this easier.

One entrepreneur asks Peter Jones how to sell his product to large banks. He says the route is through the back door, not the front. Rather than attacking the customer, go with the supplier. Bill Murphy from BT Business asks the entrepreneur to email him.

Well we have just arrived at the BT Business Experience at The Farmiloe Building in Farringdon - and what a great space it is too. Today's programme looks promising, and we will shortly be reporting on the first round of 'talks' being held in the exhibition space where the latest BT products are being showcased. Later we will be finding out what exactly you need to do to win the £10,000 BT business grant and you can be a lucky recipient of this year's Essence of the Entrepreneur award.

To kick off this new blog, which charts Team BusinessZone's adventures into the business community, tomorrow we'll be heading to London for the BT Business Experience.

Joined by my colleagues Verity Gough and Jon Wilcox, we'll be sharing everything an entrepreneur needs to know about succeeding in business despite the challenging times.

As well as tweeting, phlogging and blogging from the six subject zones, we'll be nabbing interviews with some big names including Dragons' Den panellist Peter Jones.

Just weeks after confirming a late September release date, Microsoft has this week confirmed the price list for Windows 7. Packaged in three different flavours – Home Premium, Home Professional, and Ultimate – Microsoft has announced a temporary price drop for the new OS in Europe (in order to avoid breaking EU Regulations and launching ‘upgrade’ editions).

Starting at £79.99 for the Home Premium Edition, the cost for Windows 7 will rise to £199.99 for the Ultimate Edition. Once the temporary pricing period ends, on 31 December 2009, Home Premium will cost £149.99, Home Professional rises to £219.99, whilst Ultimate will shoot up to an incredible £229.99...for an operating system!

In comparison, the latest update to the Mac OSX – codenamed Snow Leopard – will cost just $29 (£19) to buy.

So there you have it folks, has the price of Win7 put you off from updating your OS later in the year? Or will you wait until the next round hardware procurement takes place?