The experts are people who've been through the business start-up process and are now running their own successful businesses. Registration gives you access to an expert, who has been assigned to help you take your idea forward.
“Don’t underestimate how hard it is and how long it will take to get yourself established. Don’t underestimate how much you can achieve by being passionate and focused in what you want to do. Enjoy the journey, don’t get too hung up on the destination.”
“Living my dream has meant, being in control of my own destiny, gaining some valuable work/life balance, and meeting other awe inspiring individuals – I would recommend the leap to anyone.”
Since a young age I’ve been very interested in starting up a business, and since my first small ventures in my college days of buying broken phones on eBay, fixing them, then selling them on, I suppose I caught the entrepreneurs bug. I love the idea of creating and growing something to work on myself, and love the huge potential involved in starting up your own business compared to working in someone else’s.
“My greatest achievements have been seeing a vision come to reality, driving to work and not being able to park because so many people work in the business you created. An enormous sense of achievement and of having really made a difference.”
“If you have an exciting idea and you truly believe in it – do something about it. Many people will doubt you, many people will support you. If you believe your product or your business can be a success – then make it a success.”
Be inventive and never stop thinking of ways to improve yourself, your business and your reputation. Take a look at www.sockson.co.uk for more information on the business I have recently created.
“We have a passion for design and challenging our aspirations of being ‘designers’. We feel that we make a difference to people’s lives and businesses through our creativity.”
My name is Richard Hall. I am the founder and Managing Director of Pd-m. We are a product design, manufacturing and project management consultancy. We work with a range of companies of all sizes including entrepreneurs and established businesses. We deliver a turnkey service taking products to market in terms of design, engineering, prototyping, sourcing, compliance, quality control and supply chain management.
Bounce Snack Foods UK was started in February 2005, it supplies healthy snacks to health food shops and juice bars around the UK and is currently expanding into Europe.
Connect Yorkshire is a not-for-profit business that helps nuture and support young technology businesses.
“My biggest challenge in setting up the company was a lack of business knowledge, funds and of course my age! It is very difficult to be taken seriously at 15 when I started out!”
“Be committed and willing to work hard. If you’re prepared to work at your business 8 days a week, 5 weeks a month and 13 months a year you’ll probably succeed, if you’d rather chill out and listen to your ipod, then you probably won’t.”
“Don’t be afraid to have a go – be sure you are passionate about what you want to do. Get a good education-one that is fit for your purpose. Listen to others and learn to network like a demon.”