Monday 24 October 2016

Tony Found Enterprise Hub Partner SAFE Online & Hasn't Looked Back Since

Tony approached Enterprise Hub Partner SAFE in May 2016 after seeing details of the business support workshops through our website and social media. In addition to turning his ideas into a workable business plan, Tony formed some great contacts with other group attendees and has been able to support his peers effectively during the financial workshops.
Tony says:
“I had wanted to be my own boss for a long time. I already had a couple of clients, and when the hotel I was working for closed its doors, I decided to give it a go.
I knew about the different sorts of business entities that existed, and what sort of business I wanted to be; a sole trader."

Tony turned to the internet to explore his idea:
"I researched the web, and came across SAFE, and their business workshops.
I had the basis of a business plan, and attending SAFE’s business workshops gave me the inspiration to nail down my ideas and to formally write up my plan. It was good to get Brian’s thoughts on how and what I’d put it together, and with his encouragement the final plan came together very quickly."

Tony put his business skills to use early on joining in SAFE'S workshop and finding he could support others attending thanks to his expertise.  
"Helping out at our group’s financial workshop was a great feeling. I know about finances, and I know about spreadsheets, and I love it when the two come together!”
Now running his own Professional Book Keeping business, Tony is now seeing his business moving forward.

If like Tony you are keen to receive advice to steer you in the right direction to start a business, then get in touch with the Enterprise Hub via 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk. 



Budding Entrepreneurs in Sefton Get Some Great Advice

Last week the Enterprise Business Start-up Conference travelled to Sefton.  Supported by Invest Sefton and Start-up Direct, the event hosted by Enterprise Hub Partner The Women's Organisation brought together local men and women who were toying with the idea of starting a business to give them a insight into what is really involved.




Speaking at the event were 3 Successful local business owners and local enterprise experts who each offered key insights into how to make a business succeed.  Here were the top tips on offer at the event that every potential entrepreneur should take note of:


Kevin Murphy Rentaspace


Jacke Foster Crosby Coffee with Julie Swarbrick

Cheryl Grogan of AJ's Playdays

  • Starting a business is "a way to build a job around your family", said Entrepreneur Cheryl Grogan of AJ's Playdays
  • "Market Research is so important" emphasised both Cheryl and Jack Foster of Crosby Coffee, Jo Austin from The Women's Organisation agreed citing 'lack of market research' as the top reason for business failure
  • "Social Media is a Great way to promote your business" said Crosby Coffee's Jack
  • "You only get out what you are prepared to put in" said Kevin Murphy of Rentaspace
  • Think "People and Peers" added Kevin talking about the need for creating a strong network around you
  • "If you ever have a business question get in touch with Invest Sefton" encouraged Business Growth Adviser Julie Swarbrick
  • "There is expert support from Enterprise Hub and it is FREE" said Jo Austin from The Women's Organisation encouraging the participants to soak in expert advice to avoid one of the other top reasons for businesses failing 'lack of or taking the wrong advice'.
If you are thinking of starting a business, are based in Mersesyside and could benefit from expert advice, get in touch with the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk.


A full write up of the event can be accessed here. 


Thursday 20 October 2016

Self Confessed "Passionate & Determined Woman" Irene is Making a Success of Her New Business

Prior to starting her own business Ametrine Enterprise Solutions Irene was a Detective Inspector for Merseyside Police and was the first black, female Inspector in the history of this organisation. But she had always had ambitions to work for herself; 
"I have always worked in the public sector and have had to answer to a supervisor or manager. I wanted to only answer to myself and choose my own hours so I could spend quality time with my son. I also wanted to prove to myself that I can do this and make it a success."

So Irene got in touch with Enterprise Hub Partners The Women’s Organisation and began working closely with Business Adviser Francine Taylor to get Ametrine Enterprise Solutions off the ground! 

Reflecting on the experience Irene said "I found the idea of writing a business plan really daunting! However after speaking to Francine I realised that it wasn’t that complicated and I was able to complete one! Francine was really supportive, motivating and knowledgeable about the many aspects of starting your own business. Her advice and support was invaluable in giving me the confidence to do what I have always wanted to do!"

Irene is really pleased with how things are going so far  saying "I’m very proud of myself; I know I am capable of doing anything I can set my mind to. I am a passionate and determined women and my confidence has grown immensely since embarking on this adventure. My motto is – ‘Your perseverance is your measure of your belief in yourself’ – Keep persevering!"


If like Irene you would like to access expert advice to start a business contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk. 



Wednesday 19 October 2016

Julie is Enjoying 'New Beginnings' Thanks to Support from Enterprise Hub Partner SAFE

Recently singing the praises of Enterprise Hub partner SAFE Regeneration via facebook, Sefton's Julie Awang is grateful to have received support to start her new business. 

Julie Awang, (pictured) founder of 'New Beginnings Liverpool CIC' recently attended SAFE's business support workshops and is now set up as a community interest company. 

Here's what Julie told us about the experience: 
"Before I came into contact with SAFE I thought I had a plan of action, SAFE helped me discover an improved, viable plan of action. The team at SAFE made me feel welcome as soon as I walked through the door. The workshop I attended gave me options I had not previously known was open to me. Becoming a Community Interest Company will bring benefits to what I offer, ultimately helping me to achieve maximum impact and provide positive outcomes to members of the community. The team at SAFE have helped me achieve this, they offer an invaluable service."


And if reading this you are thinking 'I would like to find out about the workshops from SAFE' or more about the Enterprise Hub FREE business start-up programme, contact 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk 




Tuesday 18 October 2016

We Just 'KNOW' Lorraine Lewis Will Make a Success of Her New Business @KnowServices



The brilliant Lorraine Lewis launched her business KNOW Services Ltd. with support from Enterprise Hub Partner The Women's Organisation.

Looking back at where the idea came from Lorraine reflected "I identified a gap in the market for providing businesses access to Intelligence Analysts. KNOW Services Ltd would become an extra pair of hands in times of higher demand, or for those who did not need a full time Intelligence Analyst. I wanted to be able to provide the skills and the services that I have to small or more niche organisations. And within the first six months I successfully secured a contact to provide consultancy services in the establishment of a specialised Intelligence Unit for an International Organisation."

With words like ‘Intelligence’ and ‘Analytical’, we’d be forgiven for thinking that Loraine sounded quite like a Spy or a previous employee of MI5, and frankly we weren’t too far off the mark! Loraine’s previous experience comes largely from within the Law Enforcement sector undertaking roles such as Senior Crime Analyst and as part of a Serious and Organised Crime Team, but launching her new business, KNOW, she is taking the skills and experience that she has garnered for the past 14 years and applying it to businesses who are looking to make those important, informed decisions to improve.

To help her get started Lorraine was linked with a business adviser to talk her through the process and invited to attend a number of free training courses the develop her enterprise skills.  She told us about the experience:
"I had the opportunity to attend the Planning for Success course with Bernie – who is amazing! I loved it because she told us that we would have doubts and that the doubts would come – and they did! However knowing that they are going to come makes it just a little bit easier!"

Loraine’s business model works in three different strands…Firstly there is Consultancy where Loraine can work with organisations to implement specific procedures, "So a business could come to me to setup their own Intelligence Analysis unit, but they don’t know how to do it, and I would come in, establish the unit and show them how to run and maintain it." Secondly, Loraine can also fill in the gaps in organisations that already use analysis but don’t have the requirement for a full-time Intelligence Analyst, and thirdly for organisations that do use Intelligence Analysts and have a higher than normal demand that Loraine can assist with.


If like Lorraine you have a wealth of experience and knowledge that you think you might be able to turn into a business, why not contact the Enterprise Hub Team on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk to see how we can help.  FREE support is on offer to Merseyside residents thanks to funding from European Regional Development Fund. 




Monday 17 October 2016

Kracken Motorcycles are Driving Their New Business Forward Thanks to Enterprise Hub

With the help from Enterprise Hub Partners The Princes Trust  Thomas and Joshua (both 21) have set up a successful business, Kraken Motorcycles based in Wallasey, Wirral. The business refurbishes and sells old motorcycles giving them a new lease of life.  

Prior to joining The Princes Trust Enterprise programme, both Thomas and Joshua were unemployed and things weren’t going to plan for them as they were unable to gain work and had been claiming benefits for a number of months. They had previously trained in college to gain their motor diagnostic technician qualifications and decided that they wanted to find out about becoming self employed.

Thomas and Joshua approached The Princes Trust towards the end of last year and attended an informal Information Session to learn about Princes Trust support before successfully completing the Exploring Enterprise Course. The free four day training course gave them skills and knowledge in booking, tax, business planning and marketing and selling. In addition it gave them confidence to believe that they could make their ideas a reality.

Thomas said “The Prince's Trust Enterprise Programme gave us loads to think about and has given us a whole new outlook on life. That is 100% down to The Trust and the help they have given me and Josh.”
  
After the course they gained one to one support from a business advisor to help them focus on their next steps. Once their business plan was complete they were awarded a £4000 start up loan to launch the business.

Since starting their business they have been given a mentor for two years, have secured regular orders and haven’t looked back since. Josh said “We would definitely recommend the Enterprise Programme to anyone looking to start up a business” 


Find out more about Kraken Motorcycles on Facebook KrakenMotorcyclesUK

If you would like to find out how to receive support from The Prince's Trust or any of the other Enterprise Hub experts, contact us today on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk.

Enterprise Hub is part funded by European Regional Development Fund and offer FREE advice and expertise to help residents of Liverpool City Region to start a business.




Friday 14 October 2016

Seyi Took His Passion for Creativity and Turned it Into a Business with Help from Alt Valley

Seyi Odeyemi first approached Alt Valley Community Trust in March 2016 for business start-up advice; having heard about the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funded Enterprise Hub business start-up support available through local publicity.

Seyi has had a life- long interest in the arts, especially music and photography and thought it was about time he put his complete faith in being able to run his own photography business. All that was needed were the essential business skills and information to enable him to launch the business and give it the best possible chance to succeed in the critical early few months.

“I grew up thinking I wanted to become a doctor,” adds Seyi, “but after working in the hospital for over 5 years and successfully completing a degree in biochemistry I knew I wanted something different for my life. I worked as a photographer for the LJMU student union and during this period, I realised that I wanted to pursue a career in photography. As such I started taking the necessary steps to build a photography business to the point where it's my main source of livelihood.”

Seyi initially attended a business start-up workshop that gave him the essential tools and knowledge required to get the company started; this was quickly followed by a detailed session on marketing and customer generation.  A “wrap up” session concentrated on matters of legislation and compliance and as a result Seyi registered his new company with Companies House in April 2016.

The company is called ESSOD Limited and the business provides inspirational and high quality commercial and privately commissioned photography to a wide range of clients.
Throughout the process Seyi was assisted by the team of Alt Valley Community Trust Business Advisors.

Seyi commented:
“One of the best perks of being part of the Alt Valley partnership is the opportunity that is given to network with very high value entrepreneurs and business owners e.g. Lawrence Kenwright of Signature Living. The amount of support given by the experts is tremendously beneficial. They have helped refine my business even from an early stage and I'm continually making improvements based on their advice.”

Seyi is now concentrating on building his client portfolio and showing examples of his work on his new website – www.essodphotography.com. He has already been commissioned to shoot a newly refurbished  leisure and sports Centre in Liverpool, which will be followed by a shoot at a rapidly expanding Animal Farm and Visitor Centre. With Merseyside’s fantastic reputation and expansion as a visitor and leisure economy, Seyi hopes to capitalise on this:
“As a company, Essod Photography is looking to expand in the near future by hiring and training young/new Liverpool based photographers. We want to be a source of employment for aspiring Liverpool based photographers to save the trouble of having to relocate to a new city just for work.

The future is bright, and as the right foundations are being set, a sustainable business will be created that will remain for years to come and resonate with the people of Liverpool.”
“Essod Photography is different because we set very high standards in image quality and production. We don't just take pictures, we take time to understand what it is that needs to be photographed and why so that the right tools are used to create the PERFECT image. We bring a fresh perspective to image creation.”

For more information on Seyi and Essod Photography visit www.essodphotography.com or
call 07940144906.

If like Seyi you have a passion you would like to turn into a business and are living in the Liverpool City Region, then you could also get funded support via Enterprise Hub.  Contact the team today on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk to find out more. 




Wednesday 12 October 2016

Mum & Daughter are Creating a Recipe for Business Success with their New Venture 'Perfect Samosa'

Knowsley resident Kay Wadud launched her new business with help from the Enterprise Hub Programme and since starting it’s just snowballed – and how could it not when her and co-founder daughter Sanya have dedicated their business to creating the 'Perfect Samosa'.  

Kay told us; "I had no idea when I started it that this would happen. I knew that they were things that people loved but I never dreamed it would grow this fast." Within a matter of months, Kay has moved from her utility room into purpose-built kitchens and is quickly building up a client basis across the North-West of the country.

Prior to setting up her own business Kay was a Police Officer and lived in Bedfordshire, before moving to Merseyside and working as a Business Analyst looking at Wirral Council’s digital strategies. However, when facing a career crossroads, Kay started to reflect.

"When my last contract came to an end I decided that I just needed a change" said Kay. "I knew I was employable but I kept thinking – what is it that I want to do? And making food, making people happy with food has always been a passion of mine!"


Once Kay had decided that she would take a leap into the unknown, she got in touch with Enterprise Hub partners The Women’s Organisation and began working closely with a Business Adviser, attending courses and workshops to build her business skills and receiving ongoing support with her business plan. Kay has built up a close relationship with adviser John and Training Coordinator Bernie and was extremely grateful for the support received saying:

"Bernie has been tremendous! When we first came we were taken aback by her Planning for Success course because it was so good! And John has been great – he’s been helping us with the numbers because he’s good at those! John is also there to bounce ideas off of, he’s been a fantastic help to us which I’m grateful for."

Things have really started to get exciting for Perfect Samosa in the last couple of months after they were crowned BBC Good Food Show Champions.


If you would like to find out how to taste the Perfect Samosa, visit their website here. 

And for more information on the European Regional Development Fund backed programme 'Enterprise Hub' and the free support you can receive to help get your business off the ground, contact the team on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk. 


Tuesday 11 October 2016

Enterprise Hub Business Start-up Conference Heads to Sefton

Following two successful conferences in Liverpool City Centre, the Enterprise Hub team are excited to be heading out on the road to inspire the local residents in Sefton.



Teaming up with Invest Sefton and Startup Direct, the Enterprise Hub Business Start-up team will be giving budding entrepreneurs in Sefton the opportunity to explore their ideas and understand the practicalities of going into business through the 'Enterprise Hub Business Start-up Conference Sefton'. 

The conference takes place on Thursday 20th October from 10am-1pm at the L20 Hub, the new conference centre within the Hugh Baird campus in Sefton. Places are FREE and open to anyone living in Merseyside who is looking to start a business.

At the event budding business owners will hear from successful entrepreneurs about how they went about building their business empire, get more information about how to access finance to start, be taken through excercises to understand the practicalities of business, and find out more about how Enterprise Hub and InvestSefton can help local businesses to start and flourish. 

Jo Austin from the Enterprise Hub Team said:
"We have run two fantastically successful conferences in Liverpool so far, but Enterprise Hub is a Liverpool City Region service, so it's important that we take the key enterprise messages out to the other boroughs.  I'm please that our first one outside of Liverpool is in my home turf of Sefton where there is a great opportunity for new businesses to get started.  We look forward to hearing from our inspirational speakers and supporting everyone attending to assess their ideas and tap into free support."

Nick Bell,Startup Direct North West Regional Development Manager has said:
"Startup Direct Liverpool are very pleased to sponsor the Enterprise Hub conference in Sefton. As a leading delivery partner for the UK government's Start-Up Loans Scheme we have already helped more than 1,500 UK businesses access more than £12M of funding." Anyone interested in finding out more about the funding can hear a short talk on this at the conference and chat to the team. 


Business Growth Adviser Julie Swarbrick from Invest Sefton told us  “InvestSefton is delighted to participate in this event, hosted by the Enterprise Hub.  InvestSefton offers a range of funded support for businesses in Sefton, to help them flourish and grow.  We do this through a ‘one stop shop’ approach for all business enquiries, whatever your business type or sector.  Some of our friendly growth officers will be on hand at the event to chat to local businesses, and if you miss it you can call our team who will be pleased to assist you with your business enquiry.”

Book a free ticket for the event here. 

If you can't attend the conference, but want to find out more about the Enterprise Hub which is delivered thanks to European Regional Development Fund please contact our team on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk.