Support Local – Hope Marshall I started Support Local two and a half years ago when my son was six months old. I worked in the legal department of a finance company before having my first child. After he was born, I realised how wonderful life could be and I wasn’t prepared to settle for anything else or go back to a job I didn’t love. I really wanted to give small businesses a platform and I couldn’t see that anyone else was doing this at a price they could afford. Support Local is all about connecting small businesses with…
We asked Katie Anderson at Paddlesworth Produce to give us her top tips for anyone starting their own business.1. Don’t be afraid to fail. As long as you learn something from it, it is not a failure but a lesson! Starting your own business means you have to learn so many new things – accounting, marketing, manufacturing, delivering – the list goes on! So you are bound to make mistakes. It is easy to give up or get down when things don’t go to plan but it has really helped me to write down the lessons I have learnt from…
Paddlesworth Produce – Katie Anderson My business idea began in November 2018, the website launched in January 2019 and the first boxes were sent out this Easter. I started my business because I am really passionate about consumers buying food and drink responsibly – that means knowing where their meal has come from, how meat and eggs are farmed and acknowledging the environmental impact of packaging, waste and food miles. However I am also a realist, I understand that farmer’s markets or rural farm shops, even high streets, are often inconvenient for shoppers to get to and I am a…
Although JK Online is only a year old, both Karl and Joe have been in touch with us at The Kent Foundation for about 7 or 8 years. They first approached The Kent Foundation when they were both about 18, with an idea to sell art at local craft fairs that their friends and family had made. This business didn’t go very far, but was an amazing opportunity and insight into the business world for the both of them. Jump forward several years, and now with the idea of JK Online, they approached The Kent Foundation again, shortly after setting…
At school, Hannah Catchlove decided that she wanted to start her own business by the time she was 30. She didn’t know exactly what her business would be, she just knew she wanted to make it happen. Her opportunity arose in 2015 when she was relocating from her home in Kent to Suffolk, when her current employer asked her to continue working with the firm as a freelance graphic designer. Whilst living in Suffolk, Hannah started to grow her freelance client base and also launched a range of illustrated cards that she began selling online. In 2016, Hannah moved back…
On the 29th March 2019, the Chairman of Kent County Council, Cllr Mike Angell, and the Director of The Kent Foundation, Stuart Tanton, had a day out visiting young entrepreneurs and business owners. The visits were organised for Mike and Stuart to see the success these companies have had, as well as some time to get to know the business owners and understand some of the challenges they may of faced in their business journeys. Ruby Frances Bridal, a designer wedding dress shop located in Minster, Thanet, and owned by sisters and business partners Sophie and Katie Kember was recently…
