Kent Foundation News

Big Lottery Funding received for Edenbridge Enterprise Initiative

by digitalbeans

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded funding from Awards for All a Big Lottery Fund initiative that funds small, community based projects across the UK.

The Edenbridge Enterprise Initiative will work with young people aged between 16-25 to provide enhanced skills, knowledge, confidence and self esteem in order to become gainfully employed or start their own business. Although the majority of West Kent is fairly urban, Edenbridge has been identified as a rural area within West Kent with high youth unemployment, with no secondary school coupled with infrequent transport links to nearby Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks. With a lack of employment opportunities in the area this has a direct result on some of the local young people, increasing the likelihood of low aspirations and self worth.

We feel it is important to address these issues so Kent Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs has teamed up with social enterprise Target Your Potential who will prepare young people with the necessary skills needed to enter in to employment. This will be paired with exploratory workshops delivered by us into starting a business. To further increase the chances of success young people who participate in the training will be able to access free support from both organisations through monitored work experience or Business Mentoring.

Be a part of it:

As part of the project we will be looking for local business owners and professionals to put themselves forward and get involved. In order to build a community based project and keep the support network within easy reach of young people the involvement locally is crucial. We are on the lookout for those who would be able to offer their services in the form of work experience or becoming a Volunteer Business Mentor. Your input could make a huge life changing impact to the life of a young person and not only that but we are almost certain that you will find the experience highly rewarding. It’s your chance to be a part of their future!

Big Lottery Fund Awards for AllTarget Your Potential - Youth Employment Services

Star Business of the Month

VooServers – Kent Star Business of the Month – September 2014

by digitalbeans

About VooServers®

VooServers was founded in March 2005 by its current technical director Matt Parkinson who had a keen interest in I.T. and the way it could influence and aid businesses and day to day life. The company has been built around its key principal of customer service always putting the customers’ welfare first in any key decisions. Since 2005 our product portfolio has grown significantly to include almost all aspects of hosted and managed I.T. services as well as complete data centre solutions such as entire hosted offices including e-mails, phone systems, electronic resource planning, document collaboration etc. With our 10 year anniversary approaching we now have 3 different global points of presence serving a wide range of clients from small businesses up to multi-national PLC’s whilst still maintaining our original business ethics in everything we do.

About Me

I started the company when I was 16 and just about to start sixth form at the Howard School in Rainham. I had always been interested in the ability to make your own way in life and combined with a strong passion for I.T. the two naturally came together to form what was originally a hobby intended to make a little bit of money to see me through school.

Matt Parkinson - Voo Servers KEiBA Finalist

Having started the company when I was still at school this often became a barrier to the development in the early years not only due to time constraints but the perception of me by potential customers. In the first few years I tried to steer clear of making my age known to anyone and most business was performed purely by phone or e-mail but even now having just turned 25 customers are often surprised at how long I have been running VooServers.

Over the years the hobby grew and grew and whilst I was still living at my parents and operating out of my brothers old bedroom I realised there was no better time for me to give my own company a go as a full time operation. Later in life there were going to be mortgages, bills and other commitments I would have to keep to and not having these at the time meant I was able to grow the business at a steady rate and handle all areas of the business in an efficient and controlled manner.

The Past and the Future of VooServers

The past 18 months has seen substantial growth going from having 2 members of staff to 7 and opening 2 new locations in New York and Frankfurt alongside expanding our primary location in Maidstone, Kent. We currently serve customers in more than 70 countries around the world so setting up new locations in key markets is essential to serving those customers efficiently.

The 2 new locations have also been fundamental in us launching our new highly resilient services in the past year which use all 3 of our locations to provide an always on and always available service which is key to our success as more businesses are turning to 24/7 operations and requiring access to data whenever and wherever they want it.

The vision for VooServers in the future is to continue developing new services as new technology is released alongside starting to innovate our own products and services based on in house research and technology which is not yet available on the market.

The launch of new locations in the past 18 months has also allowed us to see the potential for VooServers to become a globally recognised brand and we are already seeing a significant growth as a result of launching these new locations. Our sights are currently set on the possibility of opening additional locations in Moscow and Singapore in the near future to further enhance our offerings and growth.

My Business Tip

My business tip actually comes from Sir Richard Branson but it is the one thing that is always in my head and I think is key to the success of a young entrepreneur.

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes –

then learn how to do it later!”

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KEiBA 2014 Finalist Logo

Kent Foundation News

Exploring Business as a Career Option – West Kent

by digitalbeans

Exploring Business as a Career option…

Not something young people immediately think of, but we think it should be a realistic option.

So on the 14th August we headed over to Swanley Youth and Community Centre and held a workshop for 16-19 year olds to discover, explore and find out more about what’s involved in starting a business.

It involved, effective introductions, confidence building and how to sell. The day was capped off with the group split in three teams to design/create their own business, promotional materials and exhibition space. Guests were invited in to visit the exhibition, pose questions to the ‘business owners’ providing a superb environment to practice what had been learnt throughout the day. Overall a great success with plenty of enthusiasm, creativity and thought provoking ideas! Here’s a few snaps from the day:

Post by Kent Foundation for young entrepreneurs.

Do you want to get involved?

We are in Sevenoaks on the 20th September from 11:00am – 2:00pm covering business planning, effective communication and how to market/promote your business. Visit the Sevenoaks Business Start Up Workshop event here…

Star Business of the Month

Hectic Lifestyles – Star Business of the Month – August 2014

by digitalbeans

Hectic Lifestyles

I have always been fascinated by the world of business and knew I would run my own one day.After a sporting accident in 2009, I damaged my knee requiring multiple surgical interventions including an experimental surgery. Due to this I was unable to walk for six months and couldn’t continue my job, so decided to spend my recovery period building something positive out of this unfortunate situation. I started Hectic Lifestyles after identifying a gap in the market and filling it with a product I found in Ireland.

Hectic Sports

Raising initial capital was the first hurdle I encountered as I didn’t want to borrow money from family or banks, so I saved carefully and used this to invest in stock and marketing. To reduce set up costs, I immersed myself into all aspects of business including branding, web design, online and offline sales and business strategy. As products sold, I re-invested profit into the company for further product lines and marketing to expand without debt and saw substantial year-on-year financial growth.

Bal Sandher

Today, Hectic Lifestyles Ltd is a multi-channel, online health and supplement retailer and distributor. We currently run two distinct brands, ‘Hectic Lifestyles’ and ‘Hectic Sports’, selling over 120 different nutritional products to consumers in 150 countries world-wide. We aim to cater to the ever growing demand of customers who work long hours in their jobs and have very little time to go to the gym or exercise. Our products are aimed to assist and maximise their efforts. Rather than selling the products of other companies, all of ours are produced and branded exclusively for us. This gives us incredible flexibility with innovative formulas, as well as the ability to market our brand with complete control. The ‘Hectic Lifestyles’ concept is relatable for a lot of our customers, meaning we have a lot of recurring custom.
The biggest milestone to date was moving to a new, larger warehouse and purchasing manufacturing machinery ready for the recent launch of our B2B wholesale brand, ‘Nutra Direct’. The development of the company as a whole and very swift expansion of Nutra Direct means we are already looking at an additional site to utilise for manufacturing and extra office space.

My vision for Hectic Lifestyles Ltd has always been to become a trusted and responsible leader in the supplements and sports nutrition field by providing the best quality products and realistic, useful advice to consumers no matter their health targets. I want to grow the company to provide local employment with a fun and flexible working culture – our employees are so important to us and we hope that we can nurture and grow their careers as Hectic Lifestyles evolves. We also believe in cultivating emerging talent will shortly be hiring apprentices in various areas through the Canterbury College Apprentice Scheme to offer hands-on work experience.

I’m so proud of how far Hectic Lifestyles has come and most recently won Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Kent Excellence in Business Awards. For the next generation of budding business owners my advice would be:

“Make sure you research your prospective market thoroughly. Planning and preparation is always the key, and above all, work hard – it will all be worth it.”

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KEiBA_2014_Winners_Logo[1]

Star Business of the Month

AM Marketing – Star Business of the Month – July 2014

by digitalbeans

AM Marketing Owner AmyAM Marketing, Digital Marketing, Canterbury, Kent McManus started her career in retail, managing a home and cosmetic store in Whitefriars, Canterbury. After developing a knack for marketing her store and products locally, she was headhunted by her first marketing firm at 22 years old and worked globally on health and beauty products with large clients such as Holland and Barrett, Amazon and Harrods. Her first product launch went on to win NBTY Europe’s New Product of the Year and New Innovative Product Awards.

In April 2012 at 24, she went freelance as a marketing consultant and landed a 14 month contract with DFDS rebranding the commercial areas of their new vessels and managing onboard marketing and communications for the Channel routes.  AM Marketing was born in October 2013 and this month features as our Star Business of the Month!

So Amy why did you start AM Marketing?

Amy McManus AM MarketingSince I was a child I have always wanted my own business. My parents had jobs which they regularly expressed a dislike for. They were (and still are) hardworking, honest people who seemed constantly under-valued and stressed. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story and after entering the job market I found myself in the same position.

I wanted to make my own business choices and make sure that those who worked for me were in an open, happy environment.

AM Marketing is an absolute joy to run and I love every single day. We provide marketing consultancy and management to large and small businesses; from local pubs to global brands. This includes strategy, digital, social media, PPC (Google Adwords), branding, websites, design, videos, photography and everything in between. We are particular specialists in PPC (Pay-Per Click) Advertising with all accounts set-up by our Google Certified and Bing Accredited Specialists. Our clients come from all over the UK (with a couple in US and Europe). As every client is individual with many diverse goals and requirements, we handle each account as such. Every proposal is bespoke to that client and their objectives to create the best results.

AM Marketing is a young company and I am a young entrepreneur. This can be a disadvantage when competing in the marketplace with larger and more established agencies. However, we tend to find that our clients prefer our lack of bureaucracy which allows their accounts to be more flexible. Regardless of our size and my age, the service we provide and results we achieve for our clients speak for themselves.

My business tip comes from my Dad:

“If you want to take the steps to start your own business, run a marathon, travel the world or anything else you could possibly dream of, don’t ever tell yourself that you can’t do it. If you’re prepared to work hard you can accomplish anything.”

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Business Advice

5 tips on writing a Press Release for your business startup

by digitalbeans

A clear and concise communications campaign can play a key role in the ultimate success or failure of a business start up, writes Charlie Vavasour, Managing Director of Ashford-based public relations agency Quantum PR.

Business survival is a highly debatable subject in the UK but it is often quoted that eight out of every 10 new start ups cease trading within the first 18 months. It is clear that gaining and then retaining customers is vital for any new business venture.

After all, a business without customers – which equate to income and, hopefully, profit – is not a viable business.

Communications, the means by which a business promotes its products/services to potential customers, should therefore form a key component in any start up’s launch plans and subsequent business promotion activities.

Through a carefully-crafted PR & marketing campaign, start ups can share core messages with target customers thereby generating the sales required to enable the business to prosper.

One of the most effective ways of beginning conversations between company and consumer is through the writing and issuing of press releases to local and trade publications, which can then be quickly reworked into blog and social media posts.

For a start up, the first press release to be considered is likely to be the official launch of the business.

Here are some top tips for how to approach this press release:

1 – Unique Selling Point

The press release should focus on the USP of the business – how the working processes or products/services differ from existing providers and, most importantly, what this means to consumers.

2 – Pyramid

The information contained in a press release should be ordered so that it fits into a pyramid; with the most important piece of information – the ‘news’ – at the top. The intro should be kept to around 30 words maximum and should grab the reader’s attention. This should be followed by further relevant information (see below) and also include company details, quotations, web links and contact details.

3 – WWWWWH

Every press release must contain answers to the following questions; Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. These answers will help substantiate the news and USP contained in the intro. Keeping WWWWWH in mind will make sure the release is comprehensive while also simple and straight to the point.

4 – “Quotes”

A good quotation can add extra depth and interest to a press release. It provides businesses with an opportunity to offer a greater insight into the relevance of the release to consumers; how the news will affect them. An independent third party quotation, perhaps from a customer, will also add authenticity to your release and ensure it is seen as more than a self-promotional piece of advertorial.

5 – Call to action

Make sure to include a direct call to action so that you can fully capitalise on the coverage gained. This could include a telephone number, website link, social media links and office location. This call to action is usually the last line of the press release.

For more information on how to build and deliver a tailored communications programme to meet the needs of your company, visit www.quantumpr.co.uk