De-Cluttering Homes Was Louise's Passion. She Turned It Into A Business - Home...Sorted

When helping friends and family out with decluttering their homes, Louise discovered her passion for this. She has now developed it into her own business; Home…Sorted. Home…Sorted is an de-cluttering and organising service working across Wirral, Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. Services include de-cluttering and organising all aspects of the home, home staging ready for selling and home styling. ‘I believe everyone needs their own sanctuary where you can just kick off your shoes and chill.’

Before starting up her business, Louise worked part time as a teaching assistant in primary education. Louise has a Sociology degree from Liverpool John Moores University. Helping with decluttering, organising and styling for her family and friends is something Louise has always loved doing. ‘I adore all that embodies interiors.’ Louise wanted to set up her own business. ‘However, I then had my second daughter and focused on raising my daughters.’

Read Louise's full story here

If like Louise you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

Elizabeth Forrest Made Her Dreams Come True With New Business; Forrest Talking Therapies

Elizabeth Forrest had always dreamed of running her own therapy practice, so when her situation changed in 2015, it was the opportunity that she needed to take the leap into self-employment and set up her own business; Forrest Talking Therapies.

Forrest Talking Therapies describes itself as ‘A professional and confidential service in Crosby providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to individuals experiencing anxiety and/or depression.’ As well as this Elizabeth also offers clinical supervision for other practicing CBT therapists. 

Prior to setting up her own business Elizabeth worked for 4 years as a person-centred counsellor in various settings, including the NHS, Age Concern and Sefton Choices where Elizabeth gained experience helping people to overcome a range of problems including bereavement, relationship difficulties, depression, anxiety or sexual abuse. As well as this, from 2006-2010 Elizabeth worked as a Referral Officer for Sefton Council’s Creative Alternatives on a prescription programme, providing support for depression and anxiety. 

It was in 2015 when Elizabeth reduced her hours working within the NHS to 4 days per week that she began to think about setting up her own business; ‘I’d had a difficult time in my personal life, and things had also been difficult in my role in the NHS after the service I worked for went through a re-contracting process and my job was put at risk.’

Read Elizabeth's full story here

If like Elizabeth you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

Paws For Adventure - Jenny Donoghue Took Her Love For Dogs And Started Her Own Business

Jenny Donoghue had always loved pets and after previously attempting to start up her own business, she was not defeated. In 2016, Jenny pursued her dream career in the dog walking industry. Paws For Adventure provides dog walking, pet/house setting and pop in visits for owners who work or are away from home. ‘Every day is an adventure, and every dog deserves to enjoy their day.’ After recently focusing on her business in January 2017, things are going exceedingly well for Jenny.

Before taking the plunge into her business, Jenny previously worked in various retail jobs.  She worked within the pet retail sector for 8 years and then became employed at The Works where she was for 5 years. It was the sad loss of her dog, Molly, in May 2016 which was a ‘Kick Starter’ for Jenny to follow her dreams. In October 2016, Jenny reduced her works hours, going from 27 hours down to 10, ‘to allow more time to focus on my business.’ It was then in the new year that Jenny decided to hand in her notice at work; ‘Scariest thing ever!’

Read Jenny's full story here

If like Jenny you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

Copy Media Duo Combined Their Years Of Experience To Launch New Business

When interviewing women for our case studies, it’s not often that they tell us that interviewing others is at the very centre of the skill and craft of what they do, but that was certainly the case with Janet Tansley and Dawn Collinson, the two halves of Copy Media. So you might say that we felt slightly daunted when heading down to their offices in Liverpool’s business district one crisp morning. But we needn’t have worried because Copy Media were fantastic interviewees and have a brilliant story of their journey into self-employment that we want to share with you!

‘If it needs writing we can do it’ Janet Tansley told us when asked to describe the business Copy Media. ‘Our business, in essence, is copywriting - writing features for magazines and national newspapers, press releases for PR companies, website content, ghostwriting books - we can turn our hand to most things.’

Dawn Collinson continued: ‘We write copy for individuals as well, so if people need papers preparing, business pitches or sponsorship applications writing, then we can work with them on those too.’

Between them Dawn and Janet have more than 60 years’ professional experience. Both have journalism backgrounds and actually trained together at the University of Central Lancashire back in 1983. Janet says: ‘We’ve been in the business a very long time. I first worked on a weekly newspaper in Stockport as a crime reporter and then joined the Liverpool Echo, where for 28 years I was a news reporter, women’s editor, features editor and ultimately a features writer.’ 

Read Copy Media's full story here

If like Dawn and Janet you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

Victoria Toby Lade Gives Specialist Educational Support With Edes Educational Centre

Victoria Toby Lade’s Business; Edes Educational Centre is going from strength to strength after the support she has received from The Women’s Organisation helped her to get started. Victoria told us that; ‘The centre allows children of a primary and secondary school age the opportunity to enjoy the facilities of a supplementary educational services.’ Edes Educational Centre runs small group sessions in Maths and English during term time as well as school holidays and covers the Key Stages 1 through to 4 as well as also teaching GCSE Maths and English.

Prior to setting up her business, Victoria has worked in the educational sector for many years, both in the UK and overseas and teaching children of both primary and secondary school ages in mainstream and special schools, with her subjects being Maths and Science. Victoria told us; ‘My passion is helping children of all ages and abilities to learn. This became the driving force that propelled me forward to establishing a business in the educational sector.’

When thinking about starting a business, it was very important to Victoria to consider how best she could support the children she was teaching with personalised techniques. ‘I wanted to be able to meet the needs of the individual child who found the core educational subjects challenging. Edes Educational Centre was set up in response for the need for a high quality, affordable study centre within the local community.

Read Victoria's full story here

If like Victoria you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

Knowsley Based Katie Davies Started Her Business Hello You Beauty With WO Help

Katie Davies, a single parent to 3 children from Whiston, Knowsley decided back in 2012 to begin making changes in her life. Previously Katie had worked as a barmaid and waitress and spent time raising her young family. Katie told us; ‘I never really knew what I wanted as a career, but I always knew that I wanted to be successful and I wanted a job that I enjoyed doing. I decided to start a college course as Beauty Therapist, more out of general interest at first.’

But as soon as Katie began her studies, it was clear to her that she had found her passion! She completed her Level 2 and 3 Beauty Therapy at Knowsley Community College as with as her further studies at Riverside College. ‘I knew when I started studying straightaway that this was what I wanted to do as a profession’ and Katie found that she loved the science of the course mixed with the creativity of it; ‘It was my two passions rolled into one. So I knew early on when I was starting my Level 2 Beauty Therapy course that I was planning on being a Mobile Beauty Therapist.’

Once Katie had decided that she would be setting up her own business, she began to build her kit making sure she had everything that she would need to be a freelance. ‘I then heard about The Women’s Organisation and when I was in a position to launch I got in touch with them!’ and although Katie admits that she was nervous at first she soon got the ball rolling after she was paired up with Business Adviser; Francine Taylor. ‘The support I’ve been given has been amazing, and because of that my confidence grew massively and it didn’t feel so scary. It felt exciting!’

Read Katie's full story here.

If like Katie you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

Facebook Tips: What To Include On Your Business Page.

When starting your own business, you may face the initial daunting challenge of creating social media. You may ask yourself; ‘What do I include in my Facebook Page?’

Facebook now has over 1.65 billion monthly active users. With this vast amount, it seems highly probable that you will be able to reach out to your target audience just through using Facebook. Social media is used everywhere these days; from teenagers to 60+, it caters for everyone. Ultimately, it has become a widely-populated platform for many businesses.

 Firstly, you will have to choose the type of page you intend to create. This will narrow down your audience. Once you have created this, you will have an ‘About You’ section with 155 characters, so choose wisely! This will feature near the top of your page. It is important to keep it short yet creative to entice visitors to stay on your business page.

Next is the visual side of your page; profile picture! This will feature on any of your posts or publish on your news feed. Make sure your image is aesthetically pleasing. Tip: Square dimensions work best.

The next image you should upload is your cover image. This will appear next to your profile picture as shown below. You can choose a simple image or you can get creative and design your own. There are plenty of free designing websites out there waiting for you to explore! Tip: A great website, ideal for designing Facebook headers, and for FREE is https://www.canva.com/.

 Now you have chosen your photos, lets focus on filling out your profile accurately. To access this section, click on Settings in the top menu bar on your page, then click Page Info. Your name and category will be filled in already. There are some key bits of information to add, such as a description and contact details. These details will appear on the About tab of your Facebook page, therefore it is important that this information is accurate.

You are all set up and ready to post your first post, exciting! You have the option to post a status update, a link, a photo, a video, an event, or a milestone. Tip: Visual content does exceedingly well.

Want to learn more? Enterprise Hub partner, The Women's Organisation runs a Facebook Business. Details of upcoming courses can be found here

Alicia Williams Business; Mersey Cat Nanny, Offers Her The Flexibility She Loves!

Alicia Williams business; Mersey Cat Nanny, offers a friendly and professional cat sitting service on the Wirral (But she will also catsit in Liverpool city centre on request too) She told us; ‘I have over 6 years’ experience and have 3 cats myself and to be honest I am cat crazy!’ Alicia is the woman to ring if you need help looking after your furry friends whilst you are away from home. ‘I will feed your cats, change their litter trays, play with them, groom them, let them out if you require and anything else!’ As well as this Alicia also provides home security, opening and closing curtains, and switching lights on and off to give the illusion that the owners are at home. As well as this Alicia will also take out bins, collect mail and water plants. 

Alicia and her cat Pumba

It’s been 6 months since Alicia launched Mersey Cat Nanny and prior to this she was working in childcare as a preschool teacher; ‘I went from kids to cats, so quite a change! I’d been wanting to start this business for quite a few years but I had been living in Ireland and as my husband’s job there wasn’t permanent it wasn’t the right time to start a new business’

Read Alicia's full story here

If like Alicia you would like to access expert advice to start a business, contact the Enterprise Hub team on 0151 706 8111 or email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk