From Vision to Reality with Everpresent Care UK

After spending 15 years building a solid reputation in the domiciliary care industry, Renatta Clerice-Ologbosere decided it was time to finally take a leap of faith into self-employment. Within the space of 3 years, her business Everpresent Care UK Limited has gone from idea stage to recruiting and training qualified staff to offer vital healthcare roles across the region.

Everpresent Care UK Limited is a recruitment agency specialising in Health and Social care – the business works by recruiting and training staff to fill staff shortages in predominantly nursing homes and other care settings. The business puts a strong focus on corporate social responsibility, helping unemployed people back into work with support from their stakeholders.

Renatta Clerice-Ologbosere - Founder of Everpresent Care UK

Prior to setting up the business, Everpresent Care founder Renatta was employed by one of the biggest domiciliary care companies in Liverpool, eventually working her way up the career ladder to become a locality manager.

Building a name for herself in the private care sector, it was her husbands’ support and a love for the industry that made her consider self-employment as an option.

She told us: “I’d studied tropical disease biology at University of Liverpool and fell deeply in love with the industry knowing I was making a real difference to peoples live. My husband spent 5 years asking me to open my own business, so I decided that I should have some faith in myself and not worry about the reservation I had about failure”

Employed in a 08:00-16:00 role, she spent her time after work building a business plan to help her set goals and priorities, recruiting help from her friends via Whatsapp to brainstorm business name ideas.

Marketing can open doors for many small businesses, but sometimes for business owners this can cost more time than money.

When trying to come up with a strategy for Everpresent Care, she found herself struggling:

“The hardest part of the initial setting up process was the marketing. I spent 3 days a week doing face to face engagement and then 2 days of doing cold calling, taking me over 9 months before I got my first clients.

Sometimes I would go home and cry the entire night because I would often get rejected, but having doors shut in my face gave me even more determination to succeed”

Along with strategic business struggles, she also found that her abilities as a woman of colour running an independent business were being questioned; with some clients asking her to lower her prices, making it hard to compete with local rivals who were being paid much higher rates. 

Working to build a client base, Renatta decided it was time to seek out support, only to be told many times over that she was not eligible for any funded support in her area. It came as a lifeline when she was directed towards The Women’s Organisation’s Enterprise Hub programme.

She received 1-2-1 tailored support, helping her focus on the growth of the business.

“I was paired up with a business adviser who taught me so much – but most of all she was very attentive. Sometimes self-employment can seem like a lonely place, but my adviser was my listening ear throughout the process”

The Women’s Organisation introduced her to the Business Canvas Model, a strategic management tool used for documenting each area of the business – something that can be beneficial to analyse the full needs of the business.

She was also able to utilise the funded courses and workshop to start improving her entrepreneurial skills as well as receiving support from her business partner, Edwin. 

She told us: "Many of us women in business look up to a role model or equivalent. Edwin Narnor has played a major role in achieving results in the business."

3 years later and the business continues to evolve, offering bespoke health care services from their home in Wavertree Technology park. Like many businesses across the country, Everpresent Care has felt the effects of COVID-19 but were able to continue their work by securing a few new projects before the outbreak hit. 

So, was self-employment the right decision for Renatta?

“Running my own business has given me a level of discipline that I never knew I had. It revealed my inner strength as a person and given me a level of freedom that I did not have when I was employed.

Once you have a vision, just pursue it and eventually the doors you need will open, be patient, and remember it’s never too late to try something new”

You can contact Everpresent Care UK by contacting their office number on 01513631616 (Out of office hours the phone is diverted to a mobile number which is also available to direct calling: 07392996131)

Website: www.everpresentcarelimited.co.uk

 If you have been thinking about setting up your own business and would like to see how Enterprise Hub and The Women’s Organisation can help you grow your new business, get in touch with us on enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk