Think Enterprise September 2017

Think Enterprise Publication | September Edition

READ INSIDE

SFEDI AWARDS QUALIFICATION SHORTLISTED FOR

NATIONAL INDUSTRY AWARD MARCHES GROWTH HUB

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES

IN THE MARCHES

SAINT-GOBAIN

LAUNCHES ENTREPRENEURSHIP

FOUNDATION 2017

Vol. 12

MAGAZINE September Edition Vol. 12

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SARAH TROUTEN, IOEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Welcome to our First Birthday Edition! Twelve months of Think Enterprise – we’ve loved every one and hope you have, too.

We’ve enjoyed talking to so many interesting and inspiring IOEE members and partners so we thought we’d bring you a recap of our busy year on page 8.

This month, I’m delighted to announce the launch of the IOEE Saint-Gobain Entrepreneurship Foundation. This programme provides a fantastic opportunity for small business owners within the construction to learn new skills, develop and grow their business.

I’d like to say “Congratulations” to the team at SFEDI Awards for being shortlisted for an award this year at the FAB Conference.

The Passport to Enterprise and Employment qualification is a fantastic versatile qualification and I’m really pleased to this being recognised nationally - looking forward to the awards night, keep your fingers crossed!

More and more organisations are realising the power of intrapreneurship, enabling employees to behave in a more enterprising way. One such organisation is Darlington Borough Council who we have worked with over the last twelve months to implement a programme across their leisure services with the ultimate aim of supporting the commercialisation agenda. This programme has been a terrific success and Ruth Lowbridge MBE, Chair of SFEDI, and Lisa Soderman, Programme Leader at Darlington Borough Council, have been invited to speak at The Transforming Culture Conference being hosted by Aylesbury Vale District Council. I am very much looking forward to seeing how this work develops and evolves.

Following on from Reece Leggett’s brilliant blog last month we caught up with Reece and found out more about Reece’s role there at Grimsby Institute and his own development plans.

This month we feature Allan Collar, undertaking study with LeapFrog Mountain an IOEE Academy. Allan has a great philosophy and approach to life long learning. We also caught up with IOEE mentor, Clare Moor, who has been supporting Jen at Mia and Dom, an organic skincare company since the start of the year. This is yet another great story of the power of mentoring and how the impact on small businesses – look forward to hearing how this relationship and Jen’s business develops.

It’s great to welcome back Richard Talbot-Jones, as you know Richard and his wife Clare have contributed regularly to Think Enterprise over the last twelve months providing useful insights in to their own business along with practical tips for those thinking about or in the midst of starting a business.

I’d like to say a few “thank you”s to those who have made Think Enterprise happen – thank you to all of members who have taken the time of their very busy schedules to talk to us over the past twelve months. Thank you to all of our blog contributors, your colourful take on the enterprising world have been very appreciated and very well read. Finally a very huge thank you to Hannah and her team who find time in their already busy schedules to pull all the articles together and get Think Enterprise out to you every month.

So I really hope you enjoy this months issue and join us in a toast “to twelve months of Think Enterprise and many more to come!” x

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Content 08 A Year of Think Enterprise

10 Saint-Gobain launches Entrepreneurship Foundation 2017

12 Supporting Local Businesses in the Marches

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13

SFEDI Awards Qualification Shortlisted for National Industry Award

14 Spotlight On...

Reece Leggett

17 SFEDI Awards launches Industry Wide Research

18 Supporting the Business Support Professional Boost Business Lancashire

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20 IAB UK and International Business Skills Awards 2017 - nominations now open

21 Aylesbury Vale District Council conference to tackle culture change head-on

22 Enterprisingly Me x

24 Defining Success

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26 Spotlight On...

Adam Collar

30 Mia & Dom Skincare from Kitchen Table to High Street

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Think Enterprise Take a look back over our action-packed first year...

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Saint-Gobain launches Entrepreneurship Foundation 2017 Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland, the leader in the construction materials market, launches the third edition of its Entrepreneurship Foundation, in partnership with the IOEE, CITB and Supply Chain Sustainability School.

The Entrepreneurship Foundation 2017 has been designed in partnership with IOEE and CITB specifically for small businesses, developing vital skills such as marketing, leadership and innovation enabling the business owner to develop and grow their business.

The programme is delivered through a series of short online modules supported by online tutors and mentors as well as the opportunity to attend a residential session whereby business owners will be able to reflect upon their learning undertaken to date and share experiences with fellow business owners.

An introduction to sustainable building systems, delivered by the Supply Chain Sustainability School and Saint-Gobain’s expert technical teams is also incorporated to the programme providing a holistic development programme. Business owners will graduate from the programme with a nationally recognised Professional Diploma and more importantly a stronger more resilient business

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equipped to survive and thrive in uncertain economic times.

Saint-Gobain is present in 67 countries and employs over 170,000 people worldwide, including over 17,000 in the UK & Ireland.

Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and solutions, which can be found in buildings, transportation, infrastructure and in many industrial applications. They provide comfort, performance and safety while addressing the challenges of sustainable construction, resource efficiency and climate change.

Commenting on the initiative, Mike Chaldecott, General Delegate for Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, said: “The Entrepreneurship Foundation is the manifestation of our commitment to “support the industry”, expressed in our CSR strategy.

“We believe that it is our role to actively promote the development of businesses, so that they can attract talent and meet the demands of a developing, dynamic and innovative construction industry. It’s great to be working with some great organisations, such as CITB and IOEE to deliver the Foundation – we anticipate this will make a real difference to the companies signed up to the Foundation this year.”

Check you meet the Criteria...

This can be found on page 4 of the Entrepreneurship Foundation brochure.

Apply for the programme by visiting the Entrepreneurship Foundation page.

Be accepted and access a range of online mentoring and study support resources and materials.

Attend the 3 day residential and learn valuable new skills, build confidence and resilience, and meet fellow business owners and share experiences.

Complete online modules and ‘evidence’ how skills have been applied within own business.

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Graduate from the programme and become a part of the Saint Gobain Entrepreneurship Foundation Alumni. You’ll be awarded the IOEE Diploma in Developing and Growing a Small Business and become a Professional Member of IOEE.

Having started in 2015 with the aim of supporting over 200 growing businesses by 2020, the Entrepreneurship Foundation represents a long-term commitment from Saint-Gobain to support small businesses in the UK and Ireland and builds on the work the company has done for many years in providing skills and advice to the trade in order to promote a sustainable built environment.

IOEE’s Chief Executive, Sarah Trouten, said: “I am delighted to be working alongside Saint Gobain to provide this unique development opportunity for businesses within the construction industry. The programme addresses the key challenges small businesses face within the construction industry which will

6 enable business owners to build strong, sustainable businesses and contribute to the UK economic infrastructure.”

To find out more about the Entrepreneurship Foundation, click here.

Saint-Gobain in the UK and Ireland includes some of the bestknown and respected companies in the construction sector including: British Gypsum, Jewson, Graham, Weber, Isover, Celotex, Glassolutions, Saint-Gobain PAM, and Ecophon.

For more information about Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, visit the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.

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Supporting Local Businesses in the Marches Marches Growth Hub is a single point of access for businesses in the Hereford, Shrewsbury and Telford regions, offering financial support and advice to help local businesses achieve great things. We met its Chairman, Paul Hinkins, to talk about how helping SMEs in the early stages of start-up is helping economic growth, forming a sense of community, and creating a better quality of life for people in the Marches.

Marches Growth Hub was set up in 2014 and launched to the public the following year, and Paul has been dedicated to making it a success since its inception. He wears many professional hats, working works alongside local authorities, sitting as the Chair of Telford Business Board, the Chair of Governors for a local college, and he is also the MD of a private security company, as well as being devoted to his role with Marches Growth Hub. Paul says: “I can’t help but get involved with trying to assist with economic development. When I first moved to this area I had a romantic vision of living in the countryside and working perhaps three days per week - but that immediately went out of the window!

“So, why do I do all of those things? I’m a great believer in not having silence. And supporting SMEs needs to be out there and talked about, as it’s key to economic development. SMEs make up well more than 80% of businesses in the area, but whilst we are focused on supporting them directly, you also need to have housing, schools, FE and HE education, leisure facilities, tourism, shopping etc. in order to make them work. You need to attract people into an area, because it’s not just all about the work and the job, it’s the lifestyle and the quality of life too, so it’s important look at the bigger picture. Essentially, what we want is for the Marches to be a success.”

Marches Growth Hub offers a variety of support and services to businesses all from one place; an element that is extremely important to Paul. He says:

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“This always needed to be a ‘one stop shop’. I know from experience how complicated and stressful it can be when you’re an existing or start-up, and everything often seems over-complicated and you haven’t got a clue where to go. Therefore, it’s our job to simplify it, to make it easy, so whether someone’s looking for advice or support or funding, we are the ones who take the strain - we ask all of the questions instead of them thinking they need to come to us with all the answers first, and once we’ve figured them out together, we can point them in the right direction.”

To offer all of this advice in one place, the Marches Growth Hub operates largely through a virtual hub, where people are able to access its services online, wherever they are. However, Paul recognises the importance of face-to-face meetings too: “The internet allows us to be easily accessible, which is great, but we mustn’t lose sight of people wanting and needing that physical contact too; offices that you can go to and sit down with someone if you need help filling out an application, that sort of thing. As a result, we have three physical hubs where people can drop in or make an appointment any time they need to.”

To date, almost 6,000 businesses have sought the support of Marches Growth Hub, and they themselves are ‘scaling up’ - a term that Paul explains is central to developing businesses at the moment: “It’s the current ‘in’ term, the buzzword from the government, to ‘scale-up’, and its meaning is simple - if you’re a business with strong growth ambitions, then you want to scale-up. That’s where we come in - Marches Growth Hub is here to support you.

“To businesses out there who are wondering how they’re getting something for nothing, I’d explain that we are getting something back by investing in them - if we support an SME in its growth, we may create, say, another 10 jobs, which then helps the local economy. There is input and output, and we’re here to give that input to businesses. We have many experts working with us who do it just for the pure passion of making the Marches a success, and we’re here to help you, and to make this area of outstanding natural beauty a fantastic place to work and live.”

Visit www.marchesgrowthhub.co.uk or call 0345 6000727 to find out more about Marches Growth Hub.

SFEDI Awards Qualification Shortlisted for National Industry Award We are delighted to announce that the SFEDI Awards Passport to Enterprise and Employment qualifications have been shortlisted for the Federation of Awarding Bodies Qualification of the Year Award 2017.

The awards, run by the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) as the trade association representing over 125 organisations that award vocational qualifications in the UK and over 20 stakeholder organisations, is now in its third year recognising the contributions made by Awarding Organisations and their employees to education and skills in the UK. This announcement comes on the back of the recent guest appearance at the EU Commission’s EntreComp conference in Brussels this year where, as the only awarding and standard-setting body from the UK to be invited, SFEDI shared best practice from the UK’s perspective with over 200 educational and commercial colleagues from across Europe.

As the first set of qualifications within the UK to use both the EU Commission’s EntreComp framework and the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs National Enterprise Standards, the Passport to Enterprise and Employment, released in 2016, has already seen use within a wide array of settings both within the prison estate and to support unemployed people to get back into sustainable employment.

Nic Preston, SFEDI Awards CEO, said,’ These qualifications are the first of many that will see a collaborative approach between the IOEE and EntreComp standards, with a view to supporting the standardisation of effective enterprise education both at a UK level and internationally.

they can also bring an added benefit to the wider community.’

Stephen Wright, FAB Chief Executive, said, ‘we received more entries to the Awards than ever before and the standard was exceptionally high. We look forward to announcing the winners and to celebrating the successes within the industry at the Awards dinner on 19 October.’

Currently available as a Level 1 Award and Level 1 Certificate these qualifications will shortly be further enhanced by the release of brand new Level 2 versions following demand from our existing delivery network.

These qualifications are an important part of a wider suite supporting those wanting to explore their enterprising and entrepreneurial behaviours and skills and has helped see a jump in the influence of enterprise learning within the UK especially within the prison estate.

Recently announced, SFEDI Awards was the eighth most used Awarding Organisation within the prison estate and the most used specialist enterprise Awarding Organisation for the 2015/16 contract year out of 42 qualification providers.

Now with a comprehensive and ground breaking suite of qualifications available both within the UK and internationally, for the first-time individuals can develop their enterprise and entrepreneurial behaviours and skills regardless of where they are in their development journey.

The announcement that these qualifications have been shortlisted in these nationally recognised and well respected awards is a great achievement for both the team at SFEDI Awards and our dedicated network of delivery partners.

And to make sure they keep developing both during and after their qualification is complete, learners also have the chance to access additional learning and support opportunities through the IOEE Campus making use of their studying membership of the UKs first and only professional Institute specialising in representing learning and skills development within the enterprise and business support community.

It is also a recognition of the importance the development of enterprise and entrepreneurial skills can play in the improvement of the life chances of people at all ages and in all situations and how

Further information about SFEDI Awards and how you can get involved in supporting the development of enterprise and entrepreneurial behaviours and skills can be found here.

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Spotlight On...

Reece Leggett Reece Leggett is the Business Leader for the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education, and an Academic Member of the IOEE. He leads the programme management of Level 3 Business, and his innovative and refreshing approach to teaching entrepreneurship has changed the shape of business courses at the institute, which has been awarded Outstanding in its recent Ofsted inspection. This month we chatted with Reece about Dragon’s Den, Global Entrepreneurship Week, and his mentoring ambitions for the future.

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In February 2016, Reece began his current role at the Grimsby Institute as a man on a mission; to implement a far more enterprising and entrepreneurial approach to business courses in order to properly prepare its students for the realities of the working world. Reece says: “I went straight in at the deep end and had a few months to make big changes, and then September 2016 saw the beginning of my first full academic year. There was this oldfashioned approach to business, where students were just studying the same old sort of units - sitting in a classroom and learning about ‘the principles of marketing’ etc., and it just wasn’t innovative. I made it my mission to change this.”

Reece’s students are 16-18 year-olds, and their two years of studying gives them the equivalent qualification to three traditional A-Levels, as well as the same number of UCAS points, and the specific business focus itself is one of the elements that informs the course syllabus: “Business is one of those subjects that is often linked to A-Levels and, unlike more ‘creative’ vocational courses, it’s quite unusual to be focusing on one academic subject at this stage of education. As a result, we’ve tried to ensure that the course is as broad as possible, so that students are still getting a comprehensive education even whilst honing in on this one subject. So, students might be studying Business, but they’re also studying Accounting, HR, Advertising etc.”

One example of Reece’s innovative approach would be how he has turned the traditional recruitment fair on its head, so that it also adds a networking component to students’ certificates: “You’ll find so many recruitment fairs with businesses behind their stands, and students wandering around a bit inhibited or intimidated, simply picking up a few business cards and a free pen, and that will be that! However, what we’re going to do is have the students being the ones behind the stands, showcasing themselves and their work.

Employers will be the ones walking around, with just a name badge and nothing that alludes to the company that they’re from, so it will be up to students to find out more and build business relationships and contacts.”

Another of the innovative ways that Reece has developed the business courses is by linking up with existing businesses in the local community, which not only gives

the students first-hand and real-life connections and experiences with the industry, but also forms part of their assessment process and final qualifications. Reece says: “We’re closing that gap between education and work, and we’ve gone out to industry and said ‘will you work with us and develop a qualification with us’, and through this we’ve been able to create a joint entrepreneurship certificate that they can study alongside their main business qualification. It’s a fully engaged industry qualification, and we’re very excited for its launch this academic year.”

“

Preparing students for the working world is what motivates me - knowing that you’re helping them to shape their futures and their lives.”

Reece says that the popularity of doing business courses is growing, and believes that the media’s portrayal of being an entrepreneur is partly responsible for its renewed credibility: “I think the idea of being entrepreneurial is shifting, and there are TV programmes out there that are raising the profile of starting a business and are influencing young people. Shows such as The Apprentice or Dragon’s Den are dressed up as ‘entertainment’, and students don’t realise that they’re actually watching a business programme - but they are thinking, ‘I want to be sat in those chairs’.

These ‘trendy’ media portrayals also inspires the course components as well as the students, by creating a space in which they can play with these familiar frameworks: “In Global Entrepreneurship Week in November, we have a Dragon’s Den Day. Students are put into groups and have to come up with a business idea and pitch their product or service to actual industry entrepreneurs in the local area, getting questioned by the ‘dragons’ to see if anyone of them will choose to invest.”

Reece says that this practical approach extends far past students’ exploratory exercises, and that this type of exercise is also used in assessment too: “It doesn’t make sense to hang onto that old-fashioned

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‘sitting down in a classroom and doing a traditional exam’ idea all the time; it doesn’t work for everything. Students are now assessed via presentations, projects, pitching and roleplay too. For example, in an HR Management assessment, students may be asked to conduct an employee interview or a disciplinary meeting.

“This course is undoubtedly intense, with about nine units per year, but you get a lot of focused and disciplined students here. I think one of the reasons people are pulled to studying business is that students know that this course will serve them afterwards - these skills will always be relevant, in any industry or walk of life. And professionally, no employer is every going to say, ‘so, why did you decide to study business?’!”

In the short space of time that Reece has been with the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education, the impact he has made through his inspirational innovation has been recognised and commended by various governing and awarding bodies, including excelling in its recent Ofsted inspection in May. Being assessed in nine different elements, the institute got Outstanding in eight out of the nine, which was not only the first time that it has been awarded Outstanding overall, but also now makes it the only Ofsted Outstanding college in the Lincolnshire and Humber regions. Reece says: “They were in for four days, which was obviously really nerve-racking, but this has been a massive achievement

and we’re all really pleased. And this status will hopefully attract more students in the future as well. The number of our course applications is already growing - which is really interesting when you consider that lots of schools are stopping GCSE Business - yet we’re seeing the numbers go up despite that. Preparing students for the working world is what motivates me - knowing that you’re helping them to shape their futures and their lives.”

It is this motivation for helping people to realise their potential that fuelled Reece to become an Academic Member of the IOEE last year, a decision that goes far beyond his own personal development. Reece says: “Of course, it’s fantastic for my own CPD. I’ve already taken part in lots of the IOEE’s online courses and it gives me the opportunity to network with people I wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to meet, and the membership also shows that I’m really serious about enterprise and entrepreneurship.

“However, what I’m really excited about is mentoring. I’ve just done the training and gained the professional IOEE qualification, so I’ll eventually be paired up with someone and be able to expand my teaching portfolio to working one-on-one, which will be an amazing experience. I’m incredibly motivated when it comes to my job. This is undoubtedly one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever done, but it’s also undoubtedly the most rewarding.”

Spotlight On...

To meet some of our fantastic members and hear how the IOEE has helped them, please visit: http://ioee.uk/category/member-spotlight/ Will we be shining the Spotlight On you next?

If you’re an IOEE Member and interested in being featured, we’d love to hear from you.

Please contact: newsletter@ioee.uk

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SFEDI Awards Launches Industry Wide Research As part of its continued support to its centre network and its responsibility as an Awarding Organisation, SFEDI Awards is launching its first thematic review, researching the subject of preparedness to deal with instances of malpractice and maladministration within education.

Nic Preston, SFEDI Awards Head of Quality, explains: “One of the challenges with delivering qualifications is that there will inevitably be some undesirable behaviour out there in the greater context of business; what we officially term as malpractice or maladministration.

This could arise in various forms, such as people producing certificates falsely, people cheating in examinations, or deliberate financial irregularities. What we must do as an Awarding Organisation, in partnership with our centres, is to try and guard against that - and, in doing that, although we hope it won’t happen, we all have a responsibility to be ready for it if and when it does.”

SFEDI Awards released the survey last week, now available to all its approved centres, so that people delivering its qualifications are able to share their experiences and thoughts on the subject at hand; information that will inform the Awarding Organisation’s thematic review. In addition to this, the survey will also be available through various online forums. Nic says: “We want to ensure that we are not limiting this survey only to people that we work with and that we also reach a wider audience of educational institutes too, so that we’re getting the broader industry’s views as well, so that this survey and subsequent review reflects the bigger picture, acting as almost a ‘best practice guide’ for industry.

detail and following up with one-to-one phone interviews and faceto-face conversations.”

Although this survey has only recently been released, SFEDI Award’s attention and efforts in the subject of malpractice has been in effect from the very first day of the Awarding Organisation’s founding. Nic says: “This matter will always be one of the main functions of an Awarding Organisation and its centres, and we have been protecting against it since the beginning. What is happening right now is that we are being a bit more vocal about it, and as part of this, we’re opening up the subject for more detailed discussion.

“This is because we have found that whilst people talk about it, nobody yet provides formal training or support on how to prepare for or deal with it. We want to provide that support and information, but we want to do this based on hard evidence and feedback from industry, and the first step is finding out where people are with their readiness right now, so we can offer relevant support, as well as maintaining the public confidence in the wider qualification system.”

SFEDI Award’s survey is not looking to highlight potential instances of malpractice and maladministration, it is looking to find out how organisations delivering qualifications aim to deal with situations as they arise.

They would like to take this opportunity to present its survey to you as a ‘call to action’: If you are involved in the delivery and training of qualifications, whether through SFEDI Awards or the wider educational industry, then they would like to hear your views.

“It is incredibly important to us to actively engage with the issue, and assure people that we take the matter of malpractice and maladministration seriously, and we want to be able to help people to protect themselves and the people they support against it arising.

The survey should take no longer than 5 - 10 minutes to complete and you do not need to provide your contact details if you would prefer not to. The results of the survey will be used to produce best practice guides to make sure everyone has the necessary knowledge, skills and systems in place to help them better prepare.

The first round of our research is in the shape of this initial online survey, but in the second round we will be drilling down into more

To access and complete the survey simply click on the following link: Malpractice and Maladministration Survey.

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Supporting the Business Support Professional Boost Business Lancashire

Setting the scene Over the last five years, there have been a number of changes to business and enterprise support services at a local, regional and national level. Organisations and programmes of support have come and gone, new organisations have been introduced into the landscape, large corporates are becoming increasingly involved in the delivery of business support and priorities relating to groups of small businesses to target have changed.

There are a number of articles which have highlighted how small businesses find it difficult to keep up to date with these changes in finding appropriate sources of support. Recent research and project work undertaken by SFEDI highlights that these changes pose challenges for business support professionals in maintaining an up to date understanding of the business and enterprise support landscape. In addition, changes to business models and the types of individuals starting small businesses create a set of “need to know’s” related to analysing needs and managing the relationship with the owner-manager of a small business.

SFEDI are currently working with Lancashire County Council and Boost Business Lancashire business advisers to work through these challenges and opportunities.

Boost Business Lancashire Boost Business Lancashire is a Growth Hub which signposts the county’s high growth companies to a range of support services. They work closely in partnership with the public and private sectors to develop initiatives that complement the existing business support infrastructure.

As a programme that was launched at a time of economic recession, Boost has made a significant contribution to the growth of SMEs in Lancashire, engaged with over 5000 businesses and secured over £50 million of additional GVA for the Lancashire economy.

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Boost provides access to specialist strategic advice coaching and mentoring of new and existing firms and potential entrepreneurs with high growth potential, as they go through periods of rapid and dynamic change. The aim is to accelerate the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Lancashire, to stimulate new investment and job creation by systematically identifying and removing the barriers to growth, encouraging innovation and encouraging enterprise.

Since 2013 Boost has delivered a range of programmes supported through the European Regional Development Fund, BIS and Lancashire County Council.

Throughout the development of Boost in Lancashire, they were aware of the need to make the support offer directly relevant to the needs of business and easily understood.

The Learning Programme Lancashire County Council were looking for a dedicated Awarding Organisation for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.

They were looking to engage with a partner who could deliver a fully accredited business support training programme to help better articulate and make sense of the support environment available to growth-hungry businesses in Lancashire.

The aim was to add value to the wealth of expertise and knowledge already contained within the business advisor network, as well as lay the foundations for a consistent and recognised framework of excellence. This provides a benchmark that the business community in Lancashire can rely on, ensuring that the advice and guidance will be constant, robust and growth enabling.

This activity was designed to be driven through Boost, the Growth Hub for Lancashire, and be seen as an added value activity that chimed with the bigger aspirations of the growth hub as a single portal for advice and support for all growth hungry businesses in Lancashire.

Boost has already supported thousands of businesses, but Lancashire was keen to further develop the knowledge of their advisors, enhancing their understanding and equipping them with the tools they need to advise businesses.

The learning and skills development programme is underpinned by the Level 7 Diploma in Professional Business and Enterprise Support Services. In so doing, the the programme provides the business advisers with a series of frameworks which can be used to reflect on their own practices and experiences, access to case studies and latest thinking on understanding and supporting small business and enterprise development.

The programme consists of a number of modules or units related to: • Developing the relationship with a client • Analysing the support needs of a client • Working with a client to access other forms of business and enterprise support services • Reflecting on your own professional development as a business support professional Each module consists of a number of workshops supported by self-directed learning. Understanding and skills gained through the programme will be assessed through the completion of workbooks, professional discussions and observation.

The Diploma will provide people working in the business support sector with the skills they need to better articulate and make sense of the support available to help growthhungry businesses in Lancashire.

Pritam Pal, Boost Senior Project Officer said: “SFEDI is providing a training and development curriculum which covers the current challenges and changes within the business and political environments – here in Lancashire, regionally and nationally.

“The training programme provides a refreshed and enriched

review of business growth and innovation tools, including Access to Finance; which is being used by business support professionals and associates working for Boost Business Lancashire to expand their knowledge, experience and peerto-peer network.

“The overall aim is to provide better quality, productive interventions to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in Lancashire.”

Rona McFall, Head of Entrepreneurial Solutions for Winning Pitch, commenting on her experience said: “My team and I have participated in the course for a number of reasons, mainly to test and ensure that the quality of our business support delivery is of a high standard and consistent across all our advisors, to aid improvements in the standards of support provided to entrepreneurs and businesses, and to increase our knowledge of the latest best-practise materials and resources within enterprise learning.

“The course modules have been designed to cover all aspects of the enterprise journey from relationship development to analysing the support needs of a client.

“This training opportunity has enabled Winning Pitch as an organisation to develop new skills and ensure all our business support professionals maintain a high standard of continuous professional development.

“My team and I have thoroughly enjoyed our learning journey and have directly enhanced our own skills and knowledge to ensure an exemplar level of support is provided to businesses across Lancashire.”

More information about Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub is available online. Visit https://www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk/

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IAB UK and International Business and Skills Awards 2017 - nominations now open The IAB’s awards will be taking place on Thursday 7 December and nominations are now open.

The categories are: • Small Business Mentor of the Year – sponsored by SFEDI Group • Bookkeeper of the Year – sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group • Accountant of the Year – sponsored by F A Simms and AMLCC • Payroll Professional of the Year – sponsored by Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals • Student of the Year – sponsored by Butler Rose

If you’re dedicated to helping your clients and passionate about your career, then you could be an IAB award winner. Why not promote the awards to your clients or employer and suggest they nominate you? Alternatively, if you work alongside a deserving colleague then you could also nominate them. We are now accepting nominations online until Monday 2nd October 2017.

Winning an IAB Award is excellent recognition of your hard work and commitment and can also be a real benefit to your career.

Alison Edward MIAB, winner of the Bookkeeper of the Year Award 2016, said: “I was thrilled to win IAB Bookkeeper of the year, it was an honour and a surprise against stiff competition. It has really given me confidence to grow my business, recognition from your peers and clients makes all the hard work worthwhile. There was coverage in local press of my win and it got lots of attention on social media. I’m sure it has helped me gain clients in the last year as it gives me a little extra something over my competitors!

“The thing that makes these awards special is you can’t nominate yourself. I sent my clients an email telling them about the awards which is totally out of character for me but I thought I had nothing to lose. I was delighted that several took the time to send in nominations. I would highly recommend anyone takes the initiative and lets clients or employers know about the awards – like me, you never know what might happen.”

Natasha Penny FIAB AIAAP, winner of the Accountant of the Year Award 2016 added: “It had an amazing and positive impact on my business; we have had increased work load and are able to boast the title “Accountant of the Year” on our own website, marketing material etc which makes me very proud.

I even have it written on my business car. I would encourage anyone to enter, and to attend the prestigious awards ceremony if they are given the chance as it is such a great experience to be part of both personally and for the reputation of any business.”

For more information about the awards and nominations contact Kelly Orford at the IAB on 01732 897754 or kellyo@iab.org.uk 20 | Think Enterprise

Aylesbury Vale District Council conference to tackle culture change head-on On Thursday 19 October, Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) is bringing together culture change experts and organisations to share experiences, advice and examples of how to successfully transform your organisation. The Transforming Culture conference will have a focus on how critical it is to engage and prepare your internal audience for significant cultural change.

One Outstanding Team not only embodies the values and vision of The Dolphin Centre‘s approach to staff development, it is creating opportunities for intrapreneurship to shine, and for employees’ to be recognised through IOEE accredited qualifications. More information on the programme is available here.

Other speakers on the day include:

AVDC embarked on their own change programme just over two years ago with a clear vision of becoming an efficient, commercial organisation with the ability to generate income to support its frontline services.

• • •

Andrew Grant, Chief Executive of AVDC, commented: • “Transforming the culture of an organisation is not an easy task and, from our experience, we have found that the help and support of specialist partners is paramount. We’ve put together this conference to share our experiences and to provide access to a number of experts and other local authorities who will be telling their stories and sharing experiences during the day.”

Joining Karen Jones, Commercial Culture Lead at AVDC, will be Kevin Green CEO of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation who will provide the keynote address. Kevin will be speaking about creating value for customers, the impending talent crisis and why leadership needs to create purpose.

SFEDI Group Executive Chair, Ruth Lowbridge MBE, and Lisa Soderman, Business Development Manager at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington, have been invited to speak at the conference.

Ruth and Lisa will be conducting a workshop, sharing their experiences of launching the first IOEE Enterprise Academy within the local government sector through the creation and delivery of the Dolphin Centre’s One Outstanding Team Programme.

Judy Benson, Head of People Management Lincolnshire Serco Strategic Partnership Katie Taylor and Ed Holt from the Agile Business Consortium Grace Clarke, Senior Consultant and Simon Oswin, Senior Principal at Korn Ferry Hay Group Annie Righton from Righton Associates, currently Interim Director at Eastleigh Borough Council.

Councillor Janet Blake, Cabinet Member for Commercialisation and Business Transformation at AVDC, explains: “We recognised that with the revenue support grant consigned to the history books we really are faced with a stark choice; make cuts to frontline services or change the way we operate. There isn’t really a choice. We must all transform into modern, efficient change embracing organisations, a world away from the old council model.” Janet will be part of the panel to discuss how to assess your transformational journey.

This conference will bring culture and change expertise from a variety of fields in one place, making it an essential event for any organisation looking to be successful in their plans to change the very nature of their business.

To find out more about AVDC’s Transforming Culture conference, please visit www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/culturalchange.

Think Enterprise | 21

‘Enterprisingly Me’ is a monthly feature where you can follow my entrepreneurial adventures. Names have been changed to protect the innocent but everything you read really happened.

I hope my story inspires you to take your first steps, or if you already have, then it lets you know you’re not on your own. Starting and running a successful business isn’t about being perfect. It’s about loving what you’re doing, learning from your mistakes and keeping the faith!

Excellent news – our first exhibition was a great success and more importantly the photocopier works! I decided to get an engineer to come and look at the photocopier and thankfully it was a small problem which was easily rectified so I’m now copying for England! I’ve agreed a contract with the photocopying company, which means I pay a small amount for each copy we produce, but they guarantee to provide a same day repair service meaning we don’t have to worry if it should break down in the future.

Getting ready for the exhibition was both exciting and nerve racking… as you know we didn’t have our own stand so decided to make one cutting and sticking words and pictures onto boards. After our trip to A and E following a nasty cut to my son’s finger with a scalpel we decided it may be easier to order a pop up stand that would be easy to transport and that we could use again and again. My son and saviour worked well into the night preparing the artwork and we managed to get it produced and delivered in the nick of time.

Business at the stand was brisk with delegates clamoring to hold our pens – well maybe a slight exaggeration, but

22 | Think Enterprise

the idea of them changing colour with the heat of the hand was quite appealing to most people. As expected, we did get a few strange looks when we asked passing delegates how hot they were. Anyway, I had just popped to the bar to get us a couple of drinks (non-alcoholic honest) and Marie came to tell me that we had two very important visitors at the stand. It turns out that they are from one of the largest employers in our area and they are looking for training for their managers. Wow, if we could pull this one off then we are on our way. We have already secured a contract as a delivery partner for the local tourist board so if we could secure this work then it guarantees our income for at least the next twelve months.

Greg, the HR Manager, seems impressed (but who knows) and promises to be in touch within the week to discuss things further. I was delighted when the very next day I receive a call from Greg to arrange a meeting in our office. I suggested we meet at his office but he is adamant that he wants to come to us. OMG what will he think when he sees our office complete with far too many desks and chairs and our HUGE photocopier. There is hardly enough space for Marie and I never mind a

visitor. I tell myself that it won’t matter but realise he’s coming to check us out and see if we’re up to the job, and as I’ve already raised his expectations with our ultra professional outfits I need to think quickly about how I can make a good impression with our premises.

As you may remember we are part of an incubation centre and there are quite a few unoccupied offices. We get on really well with Betty, the cleaner here, so I asked if it was possible for us to use one of these offices for a couple of hours on the day of Greg’s visit. Customers are not the only people who make your business successful – it’s the other people involved in your business such as suppliers and your wider support network which includes your family and your cleaner! Betty agreed to give us access and we wasted no time in getting things ready for the visit. We strategically placed a desk and two chairs (see, I knew the extra furniture would come in useful for something!) along with plants, photographs and a telephone, although I hoped he wouldn’t notice that there was actually no telephone point, and we were ready to go.

Marie was ultra nervous as she showed Greg into my new office, in fact when she brought through a tray of coffee it was more like watching Mrs Overall from Acorn Antiques – I loved Julie Walters in that programme, didn’t you?

I felt the meeting went well and sure enough we have been invited to a further meeting at their offices, thankfully, to agree the plan for moving forward. Phew… thanks Betty!

The next thing I need to think about is getting my pricing right as this is probably one of the areas I feel least comfortable with. It was fine when I was working for

someone and it was their price list whereas I’m actually being asked to tell my potential customers how much I think I’m worth. I’ve done my research and now know what others offering the same type of service as we do charge and decide on a middle of the road price, which I feel is fair and gives value for money. The thing with training is that although customers usually pay a daily rate for the training delivery, there is a lot of preparation time involved as well as the cost of materials which all have to be built into to the daily rate. Then there is the time taken in meetings and telephone calls which can be costed separately, but my customers seem to expect this all to be included in the daily rate. I’ll just need to make sure that I build all of these costs in and I’m aiming to provide a very personal level of service, which is what seems to have secured business opportunities so far.

Do you notice I keep slipping between I and us and we when I talk about the business? I’m finding it easier to refer to us in plural as perception seems to be everything and as I’m no longer working entirely on my own its nice to think of the business as us rather than just me. It also allows me to refer to my ‘team’ (you realise now that I’m prone to exaggeration) and also gives me a get out of jail free card when someone asks for costs as I can always say that I need to go back and discuss it with the ‘team’.

I feel that we are now securely on our way and maybe need to think about taking a bigger office and taking on another member of staff if things keep moving as they have done over the last couple of months. Why am I always looking for bigger and better things? Why am I never satisfied with what I’ve got now? Is that a trait of a true entrepreneur or is it just me? Should probably speak to someone about it…

Me x

Think Enterprise | 23

Defining Success Written by Richard Talbot-Jones

Richard and his wife, Clare, run Talbot Jones Risk Solutions, based in Felling, Gateshead.

In this blog, Richard shares how they define success in their business and how they set out future successes to achieve.

When we’re young we have dreams of fame and fortune (or perhaps delusions of grandeur!), but often as we grow older our priorities change, our interests develop and we find ourselves chasing new dreams.

Most people would say they would like to be happy or successful, but this begs the question “What is successful?”. There are many ways in which we can define success, and yet more ways in which we can measure success (for example, the dreaded Key Performance Indicator!).

In many ways, it is up to us to define what success looks like for us, and this was how Clare and I approached our own targets when we launched Talbot Jones Risk Solutions Ltd. However, it would be pointless to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, when our clients and potential clients didn’t recognise the same success.

In this article, we aren’t looking to give the reader an exhaustive treatise on success, just trying to give an overview of our own successes, and how we categorise them and then turn how we set out future successes for us to achieve.

Broadly speaking we group successes into 3 key areas: 1.

Externally recognised business success 2.

Internally critical success factors 3.

Personal successes

Externally recognised business success Formal recognition Externally recognised business success are those achievements which people external to the enterprise can recognise. These fall into many different categories, and can range from nationally recognised standards such as awards, down to the simplest form,

24 | Think Enterprise

such as a client referral. This recognition directly impacts reputation.

It might include being voted one of the UK’s top employers, being awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, winning industry awards for excellence or simply being recognised as a major employer. The categories, and scale, of recognition vary dramatically.

Informal recognition Initially we eschewed pursuing awards as a marker of success, as I have become quite cynical of the value of such recognition. In our particular industry, with our particular client-base, we don’t feel they have much impact. What breeds trust (and more business!) for us, appears to be client referrals. One of Clare’s proudest moments to date was meeting a new contact at a networking event recently. Although we hadn’t met him before, he had heard of us and described us as ethical and professional. Our reputation precedes us, even when we are a micro-SME! It’s evidence to us that someone has recognised our success, spoken of it to another person or business, and they have approached us to work with them. Success breeds success.

Internally critical success factors Internally critical success factors are somewhat different. Often, they are not visible to those outside our enterprise but failing to achieve these critical successes can cripple a business. We’ve seen many a business launch with a big PR firm and budget, pick up new entrant or start up awards, and then fail because the business ran out of money (or cash in the bank more specifically). These successes are make or break – is there money in the bank, are client’s paying on time, can we pay our staff?

Financial targets When we launched our business, we identified several critical success factors. We worked out the minimum income that we

needed in order to survive financially. Having calculated this figure, we could then work out the revenue we needed, based on the average commissions (margin) we would receive. From that we could further extrapolate (based on average conversion rates, commission and fee income, and premiums) how many clients we needed to win, how many quotes we needed to issue and how many prospects we needed in the pipeline. These figures aren’t shared with our clients, but we know what we need to achieve. If we can’t hit these targets the business will stall, and eventually fail. These are very clear markers and signposts for our success.

Personal successes So, we have our business that clients love and is paying our salaryisn’t that enough? Well, no, not really. The question remains – What’s the Point? This is where identifying personal successes come in, what are you trying to achieve. Sometimes these objectives are aligned with reason you want to start the business, sometimes they run parallel.

We wanted a business that could support us financially (internally critical success factors) and we also want to keep growing the business with a solid reputation (externally recognised business success). We also wanted to achieve better personal health outcomes, for which we needed flexibility over working hours, we wanted to spend more quality time with our kids and we wanted to help support our local economy. These are our personal objectives,

and succeeding in achieving them will keep us motivated and happyalbeit whilst probably having some wider benefits too. When we notice that we are working such long hours in pursuit of our other success goals that it is impacting our personal goals, we take time to step back and refocus at the earliest opportunity.

If you’ve read our previous articles in Think Enterprise you’ll know that Clare and I like to plan and set measurable objectives. For us, this is the key to success- it shouldn’t always come out of the blue. If you can identify an objective and achieve it, you’ve been successful!

Sometimes these are small achievements, other times they can be huge. For us, we think it is important to note and chart success.

Sometimes, if we’ve had a frustrating week and we feel fed up, we can look back over past successes to pick up our motivation again.

Finally - mark your success! Have a posh meal out, take an afternoon off, go to the beach with your daughter for an ice cream, whatever works for you! Take stock and enjoy what you’ve achieved, whether it’s a swanky national award, a dream new client or sincere and grateful customer feedback. You’ve earned it!

For more information on Talbot Jones Risk Solutions and to read more of their blogs, please visit:

https://talbotjones.co.uk/

Think Enterprise | 25

Spotlight On...

Adam Collar

years now. When Jackie came to him as a business client, they began to discuss the work she does with Leapfrog Mountain, and as their professional relationship developed they looked at ways that they could work together with mutual benefit; Adam helping Jackie through his accountancy role, and Jackie helping Adam through her role as mentor and trainer. Adam says: “We’re a very small firm here, there’s only four of us, which makes in-house training more challenging and perhaps less effective.

However, the intimacy of the firm means that we hold very close personal relationships with all of our clients. We get to know about them, their work, their lives - which is how I got to know Jackie - and so I came up with the idea that perhaps our clients should be our ‘in-house’.”

Through Leapfrog Mountain and Karrek Accountants, Karrek employees and clients have access to a variety of bite-sized courses, getting the opportunity to learn new skills and gain extra business insights, and ensuring that they are staying relevant, up-to-date and inspired. Adam says:

Adam Collar is an Accounts Technician for Karrek Accountants, which is based in Cornwall. Through his accountancy work, Adam met Jackie Jenks of IOEE Academy Leapfrog Mountain, when she came onto his books as a new client, but learning about her business inspired him to get further into learning again. We chatted to Adam about their working relationship, and why he believes that learning should never stop.

Adam has years of accountancy experience behind him, and has been working in his current role with Karrek Accountants for six

26 | Think Enterprise

“This means we’re able to offer a very personal experience to our clients, showing them ‘here’s a free way to advertise’, or ‘here’s how you can plan for the winter months when you’re struggling to find your tax finances in January’ etc. It means we can work with them, and go the extra mile.”

The fact that these courses offer people the chance to learn throughout their working career also speaks to Adam on a more personal level too. He says: “I’m not an academic, and I don’t think I retain information like that, but I think that my employment history is an advantage in

understanding my clients and what sort of thing they will need from a course. I’m more of a hands-on person, and a lot of my clients are hands-on people too - such as electricians, plasterers, bakers - and it gives people a realistic way of learning that means they don’t need to take loads of time out of their work schedule. People can’t afford to do that. For me, bite-sized courses like these are absolutely fantastic because as soon as I’ve done it, I can then put the new skills into practice. Some people go to college or university and learn everything there in one space and then get on the career ladder. Other people need to do practically do it first, and then learn additional skills as they go. For where I am now, I think I’ve got to learn for myself, or sit on the shelf!”

Adam’s passion and determination to learn has evidently always been a part of him, right from the very beginning of his career.

Before he became an accountant, he had worked in various job roles, before deciding he was going to throw himself into accountancy. He says: “Before I became an accountant I did everything to pay the bills - literally anything and everything! I did factory work, I swept the roads, worked in catering and restaurants - even wrapped lettuces for some company for a couple of months! But one day I decided I’d had enough, so I went to the local college, picked up a prospectus and applied for the accountancy course, and the rest is history. I had to forego a day’s wages to study one day a week, but I was moving forward. And I think it helps in my industry to have had that experience of working in those sorts of roles; there’s a foundation on my behalf to understand how my clients’ businesses work.

“However, I’m still doing that learning-on-the-side now in a way - taking time away from work to keep learning. I was recently motivated by two apprentices that we had, who came into the company at the same time. They came on leaps and bounds and really stepped up the pace - and now they’re more qualified than me academically. It didn’t diminish my role at all, I’ve still got the years of experience behind me, but in some ways, going forward, they know more than me - I already go to one of them for trade systems and figures and stuff like that!”

Through working closely with Jackie, Adam began to look at ways to grow in his role in other ways, and began talking to his Directors about people development and offering clients a more comprehensive service. As a result, Adam has now taken on new areas of the business, such as Client Strategies and Marketing - an area that required him to fully embrace learning again through Leapfrog Mountain’s bite-sized courses: “Talking to Jackie, she told me that I needed to learn how to do social media, and I thought ‘well, this is an area where I already know a lot’ - then she came in and I realised that I knew nothing! But that’s why you need to do this, and I feel really confident in social media now. And part of that confidence comes from the support system - I don’t necessarily know everything there is to know about social media, for example, but I know that if I don’t know the answer to something, there is somewhere that I can go to ask for help. And Jackie is incredibly patient with me! I’m quite an energetic person when talking to people and sometimes talk out my ideas at a million miles an hour, but she listens and lets me finish and then goes, ‘so, back to original point…’!”

In the spirit of always learning, Adam has also recently become a Fellow of the IOEE, and is hoping to be on both sides of that learning experience: “It’s exciting to be opening myself up to new contacts and the courses that are available to me now, but I see this Fellowship as two-way challenge. Yes, I want to learn and develop my skills and knowledge, but I also want to see if I can help other people too.

When it comes to enterprise and entrepreneurship, that two-way relationship is what it’s all about. If everybody works together, then the circles you can move in and the opportunities available to you are endless.”

To find out more about IOEE Enterprise Academy, Leapfrog Mountain, you can visit the website: http://www.leapfrogmountain.com/

Think Enterprise | 27

Mia & Dom Skincare from Kitchen Table to High Street

Jen Feltham is the founder of Mia & Dom; an organic skincare company that specialises in products for pregnancy, babies, and sensitive skin. Not only did Jen create and design this range of skincare, but it is still handmade by herself and her small team, using unique formulas enhanced by her training in herbalism and aromatherapy. Earlier this year, the IOEE matched Jen up with mentor Clare Moor, a Lead Project Manager at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG).

This month we chatted to Jen and Clare to find out about how the experience has enriched them both professionally and personally, and how their mentoring relationship will evolve over the coming year.

Jen’s Story Jen’s entrepreneurial journey couldn’t have begun more personally - as it was inspired by her children, Mia and Dom. After Dom was born, Jen couldn’t find a steroid-free product that worked on his eczema, and so she decided that she was going to try and make something herself. Jen says: “Before this I worked in the corporate world as a Marketing Manager, but I had always had an interest in herbalism, and so I did a course where I learnt about 40 different herbs and their healing properties, and qualified as a medical herbalist on the side - as you do! I also trained as an aromatherapist and did various skincare courses, so by the time I set up Mia & Dom from my kitchen, I had a good amount of experience to help get me off the ground.”

28 | Think Enterprise

Jen may have been armed with extensive training and knowledge, but she also has an infectious passion for the natural ingredients and skincare that she creates, fuelled by a confidence in knowing that she’s manufacturing and marketing products that really work.

She says: “A lot of products on the High Street are simply the same product manufactured by the same company, but packaged up with different labels. All of the products in my range are formulated by me, so I know that they’re completely unique, and that’s really important.”

“

It’s so nice to have someone who’s around or available to check in with, to encourage you and tell you that you’re doing great, especially when you’re working on your own for five days a week.”

After working from her kitchen since start-up, this year Jen decided to rent an office space and move the business out of her home, to both give her the space to grow the company and to help to create that work-life balance; something that she says can be more challenging to achieve when working for yourself: “I love what I do, and whilst creating Mia & Dom has been amazing, losing the social aspect of the corporate world is hard - you turn on your computer and just say hello to the plants! Now I’m in an office where other people rent spaces too, so I see people around and about day-to-day, which also means that home is now properly

‘home’ again too. This is just one of the reasons why it makes such a difference having a mentor when you’re setting up on your own, as you don’t have that regular contact with a boss to check in with about your goals and progress.”

Three months ago, Jen was matched up with Clare Moor, whose role at Lloyds Banking Group means that the two women share a corporate background, and Jen says that this connection has helped them on their mentoring journey: “Because Clare comes from a corporate background, we understand each other. She’s very professional, totally knows her stuff, and I really value her opinion. However, it extends far past the business side of things, as Clare is a real cheerleader for me too. She’s amazing at saying, ‘wow, you’ve done this, this, and this’. I’ll sit down with her and think, ‘nothing much has happened recently’, and then you start talking and she asks you questions and you realise, ‘actually, I’ve done loads!’ - it’s so nice to have someone who’s around or

available to check in with, to encourage you and tell you that you’re doing great, especially when you’re working on your own for five days a week.”

Looking forward to the future, Jen is planning to grow and develop Mia & Dom by expanding not only into the British High Street, but also the international market, with several distributors in Europe already interested in taking on her products. With so much in the pipeline, Jen says that her mentoring relationship with Clare is naturally going to develop alongside it too: “So far, the mentoring has been quite relaxed and informal - chatting in a coffee shop and talking through ideas - but we’ll be stepping it up a gear this year. It’s going to be a case of ‘last month’s goal was to get the range into six shops - where are you with that?’ I’ll need that push. It can be difficult to stay motivated, so having that support is really important. I love what I do, but it can be hard, lonely and stressful. I’m far from having made it a success yet, and Continued on the next page...

Think Enterprise | 29

we are just at the beginning of our journey, so even if I look at my bank balance and go, ‘oh my God!’, then this is the time to hold my nerve. But I will, and I’m determined to make it work.”

Clare’s Story Clare works as a Lead Project Manager at Lloyds Banking Group, and began her mentoring journey within the company, mentoring three people internally at LBG. However, she felt that the natural progression was to move into mentoring outside of the company, and Clare wanted to help and support a start-up business and put something back into the community. After contacting the IOEE’s Mentoring Manager, Paul Harper, Clare was matched up with Jen of Mia & Dom. Clare says: “I just love speaking with Jen. She’s so gung-ho, so enthusiastic, and you always come away with a really warm glow in your heart.

I remember the first time I met her in a coffee shop and she was so passionate as she was telling me everything, and I was just sitting there thinking, ‘wow’. Jen doesn’t let anything phase her.

She’s very open-minded when it comes to suggestions and always overcomes challenges. Nothing’s a barrier with Jen - she’s incredibly determined.”

“

I don’t have all the answers - if anything, it’s up to me to ask the questions. I ask, I probe, I challenge, I help Jen to weigh up options and come to her own conclusions, and help her to be confident in making the decisions for herself.”

As a Project Manager, Clare has found that whilst her professional skills have enabled her to offer advice and knowledge and experience to Jen, that she also has to put the usual day-to-day skillset for her LBG role to one side and embrace a new way of offering support and guidance:

30 | Think Enterprise

“As a Project Manager, I come up with solutions. There’s a problem, and I look at how to solve it. However, mentoring is something totally different for me. I have to remember that I’m not a business advisor.

It’s not up to me to jump in and tell her my opinions and what I think she should be doing. I don’t have all the answers - if anything, it’s up to me to ask the questions. I ask, I probe, I challenge, I help her to weigh up options and come to her own conclusions, and help her to be confident in making the decisions for herself.”

Clare and Jen meet about once a month in person, but Clare says that another part of being a good mentor means always having those lines of communication open: “You don’t know what’s going to happen with a new business, so even when we’re not meeting in person, Jen knows that she can always phone me or email me and say, ‘I’ve got this crazy idea and I need to talk it through!’ But it’s the face-to-face meetings that I look forward to so much, and as Jen’s now looking to see how many shops she can get Mia & Dom into, this is a really important time for us to be sitting down and setting goals. Of course, it’s a very exciting time too. I know it’s not easy for her, but Jen is a total inspiration to those people out there considering going for a career change she’s putting herself out there, she’s grabbing this opportunity with both hands, she’s completely determined to make this work, and I absolutely know that she will.”

To find out more about Mia & Dom, you can visit the website: http://miadomskincare.com/ If you are interested in finding a mentor for your business, please don’t hesitate to contact IOEE’s Mentor Manager, Paul Harper, paul.harper@ioee.uk or 07715 905638.

INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT HOW MENTORING COULD HELP YOUR BUSINESS? Mentoring has a strong track record of helping businesses meet their objectives. The Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) helps match businesses with mentors from the banking industry, who are able to give an hour of their time per month, across the following regions:

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North East

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Yorkshire

-

-

West Midlands

Central London

The volunteer bank mentors offer a wide variety of business experience and expertise with small and micro businesses, social enterprises and creative businesses.

Are you interested in meeting a mentor?

For more information contact Paul Harper paul.harper@ioee.uk or 07715 905638. * To be eligible to receive support you business must be established and begun trading.

Our dedicated volunteer mentors are passionate about helping their mentees.

“

The key skill I have taken from this experience is true active listening. I have applied those skills at home and at work and I am finding the results are having a lasting impact.

The reason I continue to mentor today is the positive feeling I get when I help others achieve their dreams and ambitions. It’s a great way to give something back to the local community through sharing my knowledge and experience.”

“

My mentor’s support and level of understanding has been exceptional, which was the key in identifying and overcoming issues as they arose.

With his experience I have become self sufficient working through the challenges my business faces and to identify new business partners who have exporting experience.”

Dorota Grabkowska

Founder of Fanatic House

Carl Beardon

IOEE Volunteer Mentor IAB Small Business Mentor of the Year 2016 award winner

Think Enterprise | 31

introducing THE IOEE

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP FEE Thinking of joining the IOEE or upgrading your membership level?

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