Enterprise Hub Start-up Conference Came to Sefton with 3 Inspirational Entrerpreneurs in Tow

Jo & Sabah from The Women's Organisation

Last week we took our FREE 'Business Start-up Conference' to Sefton. This event is offered as part of the Enterprise Hub project, a European funded programme offering expert advice and support to start in business through a consortium of delivery partners including: The Women’s Organisation, SAFE Regeneration, St Helens Chamber, Granby Toxteth Development Trust, Everton Development Trust, Alt Valley Community Trust, The Prince's Trust, Merseyside Expanding Horizons and Franchising Works.

The conference took place on Thursday 20th October at the new fantastic conference centre within the Hugh Baird campus, L20 Hub.  A huge thanks to InvestSefton who assisted us in organising a fabulous morning, and arranged the delicious refreshments served- warm crispy pastries accompanied by hot tea and coffee, perfect on a cold day!

InvestSefton is an enterprise, business support and inward investment service of Sefton Council. This aims to make Sefton an attractive and easy place for new and old business to thrive. Kris Swift and Julie Swarbrick from Invest Sefton were on hand at the event to encourage budding entrepreneurs to keep in touch with their team throughout their business journey to receive help and advice.

The morning was hosted by Jo Austin from Enterprise Hub Partner The Women’s Organisation who gave all attendees a quick introduction into Enterprise Hub and how it is a great time to access free support to get started.

Cheryl Grogan was inspirational

Our first inspirational speaker of the morning was Cheryl Grogan who has recently set up a soft play centre, AJ’s Playdays, which is due to open on Stanley Road in Bootle, later this month. Cheryl spoke about choosing self-employment to enable her to create a job for herself that fits around her children. Cheryl also emphasised that ‘market research’ was very important in the process of setting up and that she literally wouldn’t have got to the point of launch if she hadn’t tapped into advice from Yan Miao, business advisor at The Women’s Organisation.  She also said not to listen to those close to you who might worry about self-employment not being a steady income as they will soon be positive when they realise what you have achieved.

Jack & Julie offered real insight

Next, Jack Foster from Crosby Coffee was interviewed by Business Growth Adviser from Invest Sefton Julie Swarbrick, who had helped him to get his business off the ground and growing.  Jack started roasting coffee at home in a popcorn machine as a hobby, but soon found friends were asking him for his coffee and he built a demand testing the market by taking his product to a local farmers market in Sefton.  He received advice and support to build on his idea and now has a unit in Sefton with staff, and is getting help from Sefton@Work – partners of InvestSefton, to recruit more staff through a scheme they have that helps to fund initial cost of wages. Jack also highlighted the importance of market research, and advised that social media is one of the best platforms to promote business.

Kevin Murphy's practical tips were great

Our third impressive entrepreneur was Kevin Murphy from Rentaspace who spoke about how he built his storage empire from 2005 to a nationwide venture turning over £5mil+. He then sold it and started again in 2015 with Rentaspace which is a flexible storage facility on Dunningsbridge Road in Sefton.  Kevin is keen to support other entrepreneurs so has set up a hot desk space within his facility that he welcomes small businesses to use free if they want somewhere to hold meetings or just have desk space for a while. Kevin’s advice is that you only get out what you are prepared to put in and that it is essential to build a network around you to take away the loneliness of self-employment.

Our key event partners were Startup Direct, an organisation that provides government-backed funding, mentoring and support to small businesses as part of the UK governments Start Up Loans Scheme. Ali McGrath from The Women’s Organisation spoke on behalf of Startup Direct stepping through the benefits of the scheme and offering advice about getting yourself investment ready.

The programme also included activities which explored the 'Pros and Cons of Self Employment' and understanding why businesses fail so we can avoid making mistakes early on. This was highly enjoyed by attendees and gave them an insight into self employment.

Below are some comments received as part of the feedback:

“I have found this session really inspiring and don’t feel as scared of making the jump into working for myself.”

“I think it’s amazing the amount of help Invest Sefton and Enterprise Hub have to offer, I feel my knowledge and conference has grown just rom attending this workshop today.”

“Absolutely fantastic, didn’t know it existed will attend further workshops.”

“Really helped with my confidence in moving forward with my business.”

“Highly recommended the course for anyone with an idea.”

“Positive and good introduction for individual considering self-employment.”

It was great to see representatives from the Local Growth Hub also supporting the event and helping to raise awareness that there is support for every business no matter what stage via localgrowthhub.com. 

It was a busy morning but we are glad that it benefitted so many attendees. Don’t worry if you missed out because we are hoping to deliver similar sessions across the boroughs within Merseyside, so keep an eye on @MerseyEntHub on twitter and contact our team on 0151 706 8113 to find out how to join the programme. 

The Women's Organisation hosts first Successful Enterprise Hub Start-up Conference with Startup Direct

This week The Women's Organisation opened the doors of 54 St. James Street to local men and women who were thinking of starting a business, to celebrate the launch of the new Enterprise Hub programme for Liverpool City Region.  The Enterprise Hub Start-up conference run in partnership between The Women's Organisation and Startup Direct gave attendees opportunity to hear from business owners who have recently been through the process of starting a business themselves, and chance to reflect on the practicalities of self-employment. 

The conference starting with 20 minutes to network and get to know each other, with conference host Jo Austin encouraging the attendees "the first thing to learn is business is to take every opportunity to promote who you are and what you do". One guest said "it’s great to be able to network so easily". 

Nick Bell from event sponsors Startup Direct, told us about Startup Direct’s loan scheme for businesses. Startup Direct is a delivery partner of the Governments Start Up Loans Scheme that provides up to £25,000 in start-up funding for entrepreneurs wanting to start a business. Nick gave some great examples of how Startup loans can be used to finance big or small start up projects, and are a great option for those who may have struggled in the past to access finance through more traditional routes. 

Next we heard from Tom Rogers who left his secure teaching role-as a history teacher, to set up his own business, in his words, in the pursuit of "freedom". Tom set up Rogers History, a business which uses the internet to tutor teachers and students. Tom gave an interesting, animated speech sharing the realities of needing to adapt his business idea to suit the market place and preparing to build it slowly and methodicly. 

Nick Bell from Startup Direct pictured with Tom Rogers

Following a quick break to stretch our legs and grab another pastry we heard from another business owner, Jenn Appleton. Jenn is the owner and an instructor at Kumon Woolton, which is part of a franchise that provides study programmes for maths and English, in order to build children’s confidence and inspire a passion for learning. Jenn went on to tell us how life changing experiences forced her to take action and remember how life’s too short so she must seize the opportunity to do something she loves. Jenn received support from The Women's Organisation to start her business earlier this year and raved saying it is the best thing she has ever done. A guest said that it was good "hearing the experiences of other business start ups".

Jenn Appleton from Kumon Woolton

Once Jenn’s inspiring talk had concluded, all the guests introduced themselves to the group, showing bravery, which is needed to be self-employed. There was a range of different backgrounds, but there was an underlying theme of an education background showing through, perhaps highlighting the stress that the teaching industry is under at present and the urge many teachers feel to look for a change in career.

Those attending were led in a dicussion by Jo Austin from The Women's Organisation to think about the pros and cons of being self-employed. Some examples of cons were that you need to be self-disciplined and flexible. However on the other side of the argument there were ideas mentioned such as having higher aspiration and more freedom to experiment with ideas. There were positives thoughts on the pros and cons exercise with one attendee saying "it was a good exercise to make more aware of what you’re buying into".

The conference received great feedback with attendees saying "it was very informative", "inspiring" and "useful for someone looking for a starting point". Many of the attendees are going to continue to pursue their dream of owning their own successful business with support from the Enterprise Hub programme following the event.

If you have an idea for a business then contact Enterprise Hub to find out about the free advice and support available to men and women in the Liverpool City Region on 0151 706 8113 or enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk

We'd like to say a massive thank you to Nick and Startup Direct for sponsoring the event and helping to make it possible.