“Nu:Move” into Business for Mike Roxburgh with help from Alt Valley

Mike Roxburgh first approached AVCT in January 2016 for business start-up advice, having been recommended by a work colleague. At the time Mike was employed and was looking for a career change.

Mike had already had the idea of acquiring an online real estate agency franchise, but without any previous business ownership experience Mike really needed the essential business start-up knowledge and skills to enable him to launch the business. He signed up to the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funded Enterprise Hub Project with Alt Valley Community Trust. 

“I had already decided to go down the self-employment option”, says Mike, “but I had never been self-employed before and I needed some pointers to help me get off the ground. I attended sessions at the Alt Valley Community Trust which benefited me enormously.”

Mike added “I also decided to launch a complementary company, MJR Property Management. There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, Nu:Move Liverpool’s services to landlords end at the point of letting. Secondly, ever increasing legislation is being introduced to regulate the private sector letting”

The business start-up workshop that Mike attended at the beginning of the Enterprise Hub programme provided information on setting the business up, business planning, marketing & sales, financing, taxation and keeping information records. The additional support that Mike accessed concentrated on developing essential marketing and selling skills including research, branding, social media, website optimisation and customer management; these sessions were led by the Enterprise Hub advisors John Mathias, Ian Marshall and Roy Meredith.

Mike added “The advice I received from several highly experienced business advisors at Alt Valley was really helpful and really made a difference when I was setting things up. I never felt alone and always had a friendly face or voice at the other end of the line. Just the opportunity to sit down and bounce ideas or thoughts off someone who understood exactly where I was coming from and understood the concerns and anxieties I had was of huge assistance alone.”

Mike’s online Estate Agency Nu-Move Liverpool and his property management company commenced trading on 6th April 2016 and are already showing very promising signs of early success. In the first 6 weeks of trading the companies have sold and let a number of properties across Liverpool with one recent property in the Huyton area being sold subject to contract in just 5 days. There are also a growing number of private tenancy management properties being added to the portfolio with a possible expansion planned as far as Blackpool.

For more information about the Enterprise Hub project and how AVCT can help you; please call the team on 0151 546 5514.