Success Stories

Elle’s Cupcakery – Star Business of the Month – April 2014

by digitalbeans

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Hey I’m Elle and I run an allergy specific cake company based in Tonbridge.

My main inspirations for Elle’s Cupcakery came from a 7 year old boy I was a nanny to whilst living in Australia. He had NEVER had a Birthday Cake as he was allergic to Dairy, Gluten and Sugar. I did not see this as a barrier, but as an opportunity, and so I made it my goal to make a cake that he could enjoy. The look on his face made it all worth while – this is what inspired me to start my allergy specific cake company!

TWSA20120722A_005_C cakes1So upon my return to the UK with my business ideas fresh in mind I decided I had to do something about. I felt there was a real need for for my service, there must be others out there that have never enjoyed cake. Just imagine a 70 year old who has never had the pleasure of a birthday cake – TRAGIC!

My first step was to learn more about business start up so I joined The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme and successfully completed the course. In addition to this I also invested in a City and Guilds qualification.

Since launching Elle’s Cupcakery I have learnt that starting a business is not as scary as I thought. I am a huge fan of organisations such as Kent Foundation for Young entrepreneurs that offer young people business support to increase their chances of success. I am also a Young Ambassador at the Prince’s Trust and actively promote this kind of work by speaking at events and being part of a community of young people who show we can.

I love baking, enjoy listening to my customers needs and creating something to really make them feel special. I believe that every occasion is different, so therefore every cake is different. Ranging from weddings, childrens parties, receptions and special anniversaries, my motto (which most of you will probably share) is that:

Cake is always welcome…

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  Get In Touch:

 Website                        Facebook                            Twitter

Kent Foundation News

Two New Businesses in Sandwich

by digitalbeans
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Vicky a young business owner with Paul Barron Director of Kent Foundation, plus Marcie Boyer Business Mentor

We have spent the last few weeks working with students from Sandwich Technology School to help them understand business. As a direct response to the workshops we are pleased to announce that two new businesses will be launched in the local area.

Paul Barron, Director of Kent Foundation was only too pleased with the results of the programme and the efforts of the students from the school to make it happen. He had this to say about it:

“Partnership with the school commenced when I was invited by the Head Boy, Simon Malhomme, to work with the school. Simon was keen to manage a programme with us and it seemed logical to target students who were keen and entrepreneurial. We soon attracted another volunteer to work alongside Simon. Marcie Boyer a recently trained Kent Foundation Business Mentor and employee at Pfizer who will her offering ongoing support to one of the fledgling businesses to increase their chances of success. I really didn’t expect such a fantastic impact… we only worked with a dozen students and now three of them are launching two businesses”

Sandwich Enterprise Initiative Final
Students from Sandwich Technology School: Shannon, Michael and Amelia

Students attended four 1-hour workshops covering entrepreneurialism, networking, communication, business planning and presentation skills. Students joined the group because they were keen to take control of their own lives and learn the basics about business which is becoming increasingly popular as a career choice.

The Final event was held at The Bell Hotel Sandwich, and only took place thanks to support from the Samuel Butler Foundation and Revd Canon Mark Roberts, Vicar of St Clements, Sandwich who was only too happy to support the funding application.

The programme was also supported by Steve Laslett representing the Sandwich Town Chamber of Commerce, Leyland Ridings KCC Member for Sandwich and Kimberley Anderson from Discovery Park who are all avid supporters of encouraging young business.

Beth and Joanne are looking to start up J & E Furnishings an extremely resourceful business utilising pre-loved fabrics and recycling them into bespoke furnishings such as cushions. This summer after their exams the two students are planning to attend numerous craft fairs. They have expressed that this will provide them with a real insight in to what their customers want and enable them to tailor their products to suit.

Vicky who already runs a dog training business in the area has ambitious plans to set up an animal rescue service. Vicky has a real passion for animals which is reflected in the business idea. She has already completed extensive market research, providing her with a real vision of where the business will be in the future.

Both start-up businesses will receive ongoing monthly support from a fully trained Kent Foundation Business Mentor to ensure they have every possible chance of success.

“Sandwich is a great community to work in, we garnered support from all quarters and the programme was a huge success. If we can gather the same support again we would be more than happy to run another programme next year.”

For more photos head over to our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151996549221466.1073741836.322031111465&type=1&l=f179f25cfd

Beth and Joanne with products from their business start up J&E Furnishings
Beth and Joanne with products from their business start up J&E Furnishings
Kent Foundation News

Happy 10th Birthday to KAYE

by digitalbeans

On Wednesday 12th March we joined the Kent Association of Young Entrepreneurs at their 10th birthday party and celebrated in true style with a bit of speed networking at Fruitworks Coworking space in Canterbury. It is a junior branch of the IoD and primarily offers a support network to young professionals and entrepreneurs.

First up Guest Speakers…

Paul Andrews a local Kent business celebrity kicked the evening off by telling us about his journey in business as CEO of jobsinkent.com and as a keen investor in local business. He referred to the  County of Kent currently being home to over 50,000 small businesses and with figures like that you really can see why it is the lifeblood of the County. With young people realising that starting a business is a career option it is important to give them every chance of success with the appropriate business support.

Young entrepreneur Ben Bartlett of Bush Grub was up next. An extremely quirky business that sells edible insects and promotes them as a sustainable food source for the future. Ben captured the audience well, although he did have a helping hand in the form of ‘Keith the Chameleon’ see below.  Bush Grub has been fortunate enough to secure a branding licence with ITV to use the ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’ brand on their products. We were proud to recently feature Bush Grub as a Star Business on our blog and you can catch the full story here… 

Keith the Chameleon

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Let The Speed Networking Commence…

For those of you who do not know what speed networking is, it goes a little like this…

      1. First you need two rows of people seated opposite each other
      2. Set a time limit
      3. Start the timer
      4. Tell the other person as much as you can about your business
      5. Get them to tell you as much as they can about their business
      6. Swap business cards
      7. Time’s up – swap seats and start it over again with a new person
      8. Networking ends once you have spoken to every person
      9. Remember to follow up on any potential leads

It is an awesome way to get to speak to everyone in the room without having to gatecrash other people’s conversations, which can sometimes seem like the case at the more traditional networking event. It’s a great way to start a conversation and find out if there are any potential business leads in the room. The joy of it, is that it allows you to pinpoint a lead and extend the conversation further. All in all, it is a great way to boost business contacts and for any first timers it’s a great platform to be introduced to more traditional networking.

Speed Networking Kent

Happy 10th Birthday KAYE

Success Stories

Belle’s Star Business of the Month – March 2014

by digitalbeans

The Star: Leanne WoodBelle's Clothing and Acessories

Description: Belle’s sells second hand clothing and new jewellery. We have a range of both men’s and women’s clothing, some still with tags on.  Don’t forget my accesorised shoes too.

Get In Touch: Facebook

 

Leanne Wood - Belle's Sandwich

Belle’s ~ Preloved clothing and accessories is run by me – Leanne Wood. How I work it, is a little bit like a dress agency. For those of you who are not familiar with this concept, people bring me their preloved clothes and I sell them on a 50/50 basis. I find this works well, as I have no outgoings and really feel that recycling is the way forward…

Belle’s is situated in Sandwich on the premises of Delf Farm Shop which is run by my Auntie and Uncle. Having seen how their business works has always interested me and sparked my interest to start up on my own. After leaving school I just wasn’t keen on the idea of going to University due to the high costs and the uncertainty of a job after graduating. So I felt starting a business was the right option for me. Creating employment for yourself is hard work, and there is a lot to learn but I enjoy it and there is a huge amount of self satisfaction that comes with it.

As everybody knows, the economic climate at present is lacking a little confidence, so I wanted to accomplish two objectives:
1. To start my own business
2. Bring more customers to the farm shop.
I am a great believer that diversification is a key element to helping a business survive. That’s where my idea for Belle’s came in. It’s something quirky, useful and a little bit different and puts a whole new twist on why customers will want to pop in and visit the site.

Belle's Customised Shoes SandwichNo business start-up can run entirely smooth and I have had my fair share of hurdles to overcome. The main problem I had was a battle with the council over planning permission, which has recently been approved after nine gruelling months. It was difficult to advertise the business whilst this case was in process as I could not be certain of the future of my business.

Word of mouth advertising has been bringing in most of my customers but the next step for me is to plan and implement a large advertising campaign. I am looking to print and distribute leaflets, increase my presence on social media and to really engage with my customers I’ll hold various open days. The Mayor of Sandwich has been a huge support and even voiced his approval towards a large chain of Belle’s preloved stores… So who knows? Onwards and upwards.

Oh and don’t forget my customised shoes, these are absolutely fantastic for weddings, proms, parties or maybe just an everyday splash of bling.

My one and only business tip that I could give would be: No matter what stands in your way; Overcome it. Don’t move around the mountain, climb it. Never -ever- give up on your dreams.

Kent Foundation News

If you don’t get a Business mentor from these guys you’ve got to be absolutely mad…

by digitalbeans

_MMP0596Kevin Byrne CEO and Founder of Checkatrade.com visited Medway in order to deliver an inspiring presentation to over 50 people. Kevin attended the IGNITE event which was jointly hosted by business support charity Kent Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs and Kent Association of Young Entrepreneurs, a junior branch of the IoD.

The two organisations hosted the IGNITE event in order to promote, encourage and boost enterprise amongst Kent’s young people. And with Kevin’s support this was a roaring success.

Kevin opened up to the audience providing them with honest and sincere views on his secrets of business success. By providing many real life examples and putting them in to context really got people thinking. His business has not always been this big and he has had to go through many struggles in order to reach the successful position he is in now. Money is a secondary business objective for him with the main motivation to deliver grade A customer service.

Paul Barron, Director of Kent Foundation spoke about the success of their Business Mentoring service, which was endorsed by Kevin who said:

“If you don’t get a Business Mentor from these guys you’ve got to be absolutely mad”

Kevin took the time to network with the young audience members and gave them the chance to ask any of those niggling questions on a one to one basis.

Checkatrade.com vets and monitors trades, companies and services to help people avoid cowboy builders. It has become a monumental success in the UK and over the last 12 months has generated in excess of £1.4billion worth of work for its trade members and now employs around 120 people.

Star Business of the Month

Flowbox: Star Business of the Month – February 2014

by digitalbeans

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The Stars: Ed Cradock and Will Beeching

Description: Working with companies and individuals to build brands and relationships with their customers through digital and print design.

Get In Touch: Website       Facebook            Twitter           LinkedIn

Hello, we’re Ed and Will from Flowbox we run a creative agency based in Maidstone.

We started Flowbox in 2012 with a simple but captivating vision: to build a creative agency that transforms bold ideas in exceptional design. Our ethos is to develop a unique relationship with our clients, then handcraft a brand or idea around them. We believe in a one size fits none mentality, we approach each project differently and work with our clients to get it right for them.

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The process of starting our business wasn’t without tribulations. We had just finished our final year at school and were faced with University options. It was a leap of faith we took in the end to decline our offers and start the business off the back of a small start up loan. We moved into our office in January 2013, just above a local printing company. We never felt that working for someone else was satisfying, we wanted to build something ourselves and create a success from it. It is the best decision we have made.

At the start of 2013 we had very few clients, but plenty of enthusiasm. By the end of the year we had built up a portfolio of almost 100 clients ranging from small start-ups to international brands. In one year we have transformed from ‘new kid on the block’ to one of Maidstone’s top agencies.

2014 is an exciting year for us, we have big plans to grow and develop. Our goals for the year are to expand into larger offices and take on an employee or two. We’ve met loads of innovative new companies and are working on some really exciting projects already this year, keep an eye on our website and the App Store.

Our Business Tip: Never give up, it is the times when everything seems to be going against you that it is paramount to persevere. Even through the long hours and sleepless nights – it’s worth it in the end.