PRIME business club

“Services are falling away thick and fast. There are fewer post offices, fewer bus services. Villagers were in danger of becoming isolated from one another.” This was the thought process that sparked Ann Davidson into creating My Village News, a local magazine which is attempting to bring her community back together.

After being made redundant from her job in newspaper advertising, Ann, 57, saw a need for a magazine in rural Cheshire where she lives. What started as a small idea is now well on the way to becoming a big success story. The monthly magazine My Village News has just celebrated its first anniversary, with 12 issues published.

“We started modestly in May last year with 24 pages”, says Ann, “and delivered to two-and-a-half thousand homes and businesses. Now we are averaging about 50 pages - and we deliver to over 5,200 homes”.

Ann and her husband John deliver all the issues themselves, which takes about eight days a month to do. What makes the task more arduous is that My Village News is aimed at a rural readership. In rural communities houses aren’t always easy to reach. Indeed, many free newspaper teams don’t bother to find the more difficult country addresses, but Ann and her husband feel it’s important to deliver to everybody. They laugh about the trials of finding the elusive letterboxes and the long drive-ways. “We’ve got to know the dogs - and which ones are friendly and which to avoid!”

Local advertisers fund the magazine. Ann believes one reason the magazine is doing so well is that people are moving away from buying from large chains, preferring instead to put their trust in local retailers and produce. For example Ann’s father’s freezer recently broke down - and one of the magazine’s advertisers not only delivered a new freezer and set it up, but packed up the old freezer and put it out for the council to collect. As long as people are happy to support their local advertisers, Ann is confident the magazine will be well funded.

However, My Village News isn’t all about business. It also contains free listings for local events such as fetes, proms and charity events, reviews of local pubs and eateries and editorial features. Ann and her husband write and produce the magazine entirely themselves, sending the final disk to the printers in nearby Nantwich.

Ann’s advice to others thinking of starting a business is to do plenty of research first. For example, Ann came to the conclusion that delivery had to be a high priority, to make sure enough readers were genuinely receiving copies. This would then increase the chance of advertisers getting a good response – which is what drives the long-term commercial viability of the business.

Ann turned to PRIME for encouragement after a friend suggested them. “We went to see PRIME within our first three months. I wanted some advice about the insurance I’d need to cover my business. I used PRIME to discuss ideas and thoughts, and used them as a sounding board. They are very approachable, and always returned my calls.”

Ann suggests making full use of your own experience. “After being made redundant, your first instinct might be to do something completely different. But consider the experience that you have gained in the workplace, and think about going with something you are familiar with. Selling advertising is second nature to me.”

Compared to Ann’s old office routine working on a newspaper, the hours that she works now suit her much better. She can fit magazine work around looking after her grandchild.

STOP PRESS: APPLICATIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED.

PRIME is hiring. We are looking for someone to get a new project going for us in the North West, based in Warrington.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday the 5th of December 2007 at 4pm, and interviews are scheduled for Friday the 14th of December in Warrington.

Full details and application pack on our other web site.

A new small-business award has been launched for those who live on Merseyside, backed by the Liverpool Daily Post and Dominique Faversham Group. The prize is 12 months’ mentoring and support, and a loan of up to £100,000. There are three age categories, including one for people aged 50+. The closing date is noon on the 1st of October 2007.
More details at

www.thesearchmerseyside.com

Friday 30th March 2007, from 1pm to 4pm
Halton Community Partnership Trust, The Old Police Station, Mersey Rd, Runcorn, WA7 1DF
Streetmap

If you have a business idea or would like to start up your own business, then come along to this FREE start up information session. It’s run by Halton Borough Council, in partnership with Silver Entrepreneurs, an initiative to encourage and support business start-ups, self employment and business expansion among the over 50s.

Everyone is welcome to attend the event. No booking is required and refreshments will be provided. The afternoon session includes talks from small business experts and details of where to access business advice and networking opportunities.

For further information contact Aimee at Silver Entrepreneurs on 0151 708 0875, email aimee@ideopolis.info or visit www.ideopolis.info for more details of the programme.

Elizabeth King, 51, and Vanessa Payne, 39, run a new car wash service in Cheshire. The business is based on Vanessa’s professional expertise in car valeting and Liz’s hands-on approach and willingness to learn something entirely new.

The two women were friends before deciding to run a business together. “We are both horsey and we actually met when I bought an Arab mare from Vanessa, who was then living in Cumbria,” explains Liz.

When Vanessa subsequently moved to Cheshire, the two women realised there was a potential business opportunity for them in the local area. Vanessa had several years’ experience in car valeting, while Liz had noticed the growth in car traffic and realised there was a gap in the market.

It has taken Liz and Vanessa almost two years to get their business up and running. Finding the right premises was a particular challenge. But they have now launched Arclid Car Wash, based in the village of Arclid, between Sandbach and Congleton, not far from the M6 motorway.

“We have done a lot of local research on valeting and car wash services and we are in a good spot here to capture trade,” says Liz. “We did start to look for premises nearly two years ago, and at one point we were waiting for some new units that looked promising. But then these premises [in a former garage] came up and they are better because we now have a workshop, with the pits, as well as offices and a waiting room area.”

While Vanessa has a professional background in car valeting, this is a new business area for Liz, whose main experience is in design.

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Date: Thursday 8th February 2007. Venue: Fourways Inn, Chester Road, Delamere, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 2HB. Time: 6.00pm for 6.30pm start with a free buffet at 7.15 Location map

PRIME is setting up a Business Networking Club in Cheshire, with free membership for people aged 50 plus who are thinking of starting a business or already running a business of their own.

Through the club we can offer you opportunities to:

• Meet with other like-minded people to share knowledge and experience, discover new clients or sources of supply

• Hear from expert speakers on how to develop your business, by increasing sales, raising finance, using IT effectively or implementing new legislation etc

• Learn from the experience of others who have overcome barriers to set up successful businesses

• Find out about the range of help and support available for business development from PRIME and others in Cheshire

Join us at our launch event at: 6.00pm Registration for a prompt 6.30pm start with a free buffet at 7.15on Thursday 8th February, 2007 Fourways Inn, Chester Road, Delamere, Northwich CW8 2HB an informal and enjoyable few hours.

Feel free to this launch as a free networking event where you can meet with other existing and potential entrepreneurs, sources of information and even customers.

To find out more about the free advice and support available from PRIME in Cheshire for people over 50 contact

Andrew Bailey on 01270 628 621
or email prime@reaseheath.ac.uk

Being Scottish, Eleanor Dowds, 53, probably appreciates the well-known words of Burns about the best-laid schemes of mice and men “going aft agley”.

Having worked for more than 30 years as a nurse, Eleanor, who is based in Cheshire, has been planning a move into self-employment for her middle years – but her plans have had to be put on hold for the time being.

“I had planned to take early retirement, which is possible in the NHS at 55, and that would free me up to have a career diversion, into building up a business,” explains Eleanor.

The new career that Eleanor has been planning is in the home-staging business, making homes more appealing to potential buyers. Eleanor and her husband have direct experience of enhancing homes, not only through having renovated two houses in which they have lived themselves, but also through having bought and renovated two properties to rent out.

Using a combination of workmen and their own efforts, Eleanor and her husband have carried out a wide range of renovations, including installing central heating, rewiring, plastering, installing new bathroom and decorating. This has been possible, explains Eleanor, because until recently, she was working only three days a week in her job as a nurse in a local hospital operating theatre, giving her the time she needed to work on her house project.

Two years ago, the couple moved into the house in which they now live and carried out extensive renovation. “It was as we finished that work that I realised that I could probably develop this as a business,” Eleanor says.

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Harry Dennis set up his own business in October 2005, when he was 51. Based in Stockport, Harry has worked in the chemical industry his entire career and has now built on his experience by setting up an environmental consultancy, Dennis Environmental Ltd, which specialises in waste management, in particular waste minimisation and hazardous waste for the chemical industry.

“I was working for a company in Manchester that was transferring a lot of production over to India and China,” explains Harry. “Eventually, the company announced that the site where I worked would close and I decided to leave almost immediately. I had no plans to take early retirement.”

Instead, Harry decided to capitalise on the skills he had learned most recently in employment.

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Grants to ordinary businesses are relatively rare in the UK, and vary from place-to-place. Now in an unusual move Liverpool City Council has decided to offer £500 grants to help new firms on its patch get off the ground.

The grant will be available to all new businesses starting up within Liverpool City Council’s administrative area, but is particularly aimed at those excluded from mainstream sources of business finance.

The scheme is open to self-employed sole traders as well as larger businesses. Applications should be made through one of the local business start-up agencies, which can assist with a business plan.

For more information contact Nicola Gleave, Head of Enterprise at Business Liverpool, on 0151 233 5326, or email info@liverpoolchamber.org.uk. The web site is www.businessliverpool.co.uk