8/14/2019 How to make your dream of home working become reality

1/1

THURSDAY MARCH 11 2010 YORKSHIRE POST 9

Is working from home theultimate dream? A growingnumber of budding entrepreneursin the region think so andBusiness Link Yorkshire is backingthem with a comprehensive rangeof new events and services,starting with a North Yorkshirecampaign from April 12-16.

Whether its a desire to workflexibly around the family, be increative control, or simply to fulfila long-held ambition, the idea of

working from home is becomingincreasingly attractive.Its also good for your health.

According to a recent BBC report,people who choose their ownworking hours enjoy lower bloodpressure and improved heart rates not to mention the joys ofavoiding delayed trains, traffic

jams and office politics.Yorkshire and the Humber is the

number two hotspot nationallyfor home businesses, second onlyto the South-East, with almost200,000 set-ups alreadycontributing nearly 19bn to theregional economy.

People working from home areone of the largest client groupsBusiness Link Yorkshire supportswithin its new enterprise team.Head of start-up services DawnWhiteley said: More and morepeople are considering startingtheir own business and in order to

keep costs low in those early days,doing it from home is an idealoption for a growing number ofthem. We value all business start-ups, whatever their size, andwant to offer relevant support atevery stage, hence ourdevelopment of this specificpackage to assist an importantand growing customer base.

Its been a good year all-roundfor home-working. The number ofpeople starting and growing abusiness from home has risen to2.8 million nationally andtogether they contribute astaggering 284bn to the annualUK economy.

Nationally, the Governmentwants to highlight the importanceof home workers economicallyand in February this yearJobcentre Plus extended itspackage of support to helppeople become self-employed orstart their own business.

Many home workers are women(71 per cent in 2009) who see themethod as a sensible, low-risk wayto start a business. They believetechnology like Skype and

e-mail means the job gets donejust as efficiently as it would fromthe office.

Etta Cohen, founder of thewomens networking and businesssupport group Forward Ladies,said: Working from homeprovides many people with theideal way of starting a businessand living their dream. BusinessLink Yorkshires campaigndemonstrates its understanding ofcurrent business trends and theneeds of the regions buddingentrepreneurs.

Home-working guru EmmaJones is founder and editor ofhome business website EnterpriseNation, which regularly attracts areadership of more than 250,000.Emma says there is no such thingas the typical home business.

The one thing uniting ourmembers is they run a businessfrom home but they are fromall age ranges and across manydifferent business sectors. Sayingthat, 65 per cent of them arefemale, and the fastest-growingsectors were seeing are businessservices such as graphic design, ITand PA services, as well as thehandmade sector, like creatingfashion, food and homewares.

Of course, not everyone is suitedto home-working. If you likechatting to colleagues every dayyoull need to think of differentways to socialise. You may need toinvest in a home office you dontwant to be stuck in a chilly gardenshed trying to run a business fromunder a mountain of PC cables.

And if you are interested inhome-working, dont think youhave to quit your job tomorrow.More than five million people inthe UK are working nights andweekends to build up their ownbusiness at the same time asholding down a nine-to-five job.

Business Link Yorkshire is theperfect place to find out moreabout home-working. Its customerinformation centre can offeressential advice and also has hintsand tips factsheets such asThinking of Working for Yourself?and guides like How to Set upand Run a Business from Home. Further advice is availableat www.businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk and bycalling 08456 048 048.

ADVERTISEMENT

How to make

your dream ofhome workingbecome reality

EVENTS HORIZON

Business Links Starting andGrowing a Business from Homecampaign runs in NorthYorkshire from April 12-16.

The highlight of the week is aBe Inspired... presentation onApril 14 at the Park Inn, York,from Emma Jones. For detailscall 08456 048 048, emailevents@businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk or visit www.businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk.

Emma has started businessesfrom home offices in London,Manchester and ruralShropshire. She said: Ourresearch shows home business isbuzzing in Yorkshire andHumber and I look forward todelivering a presentation thatwill be relevant to people,whether theyre consideringbecoming their own boss orhave an existing business theywant to grow.Other events are: Exploring Self Employment:Mon April 12, Harrogate, StRoberts Parish Centre, 1-3Robert Street, Harrogate, HG11HP, 6pm-9pm.How to set up and run abusiness from home: Tue April13, Malton Old Lodge Hotel,Old Maltongate, Malton, YO177EG, 1.30pm-4.30pm.

How to set up and run abusiness after redundancy: TueApril 13, Malton Old LodgeHotel, Old Maltongate, Malton,YO17 7EG, 6pm-9pm. ExploringSelf Employment:WedApril 14,ThirskRural Arts,The Old Courthouse, Westgate,Thirsk,YO7 1QS, 9.30am-12.30pm.Getting Ready For Business:Thu April 15, SkiptonRendezvous Hotel, KeighleyRoad, Skipton, BD23 2TA,1.30pm-4.30pm.How to set up and run abusiness when you have beenout of the job market: ThursApril 15, Skipton RendezvousHotel, Keighley Road, Skipton,BD23 2TA, 6pm-9pm. Introduction to Sageaccounts: Thurs April 15,Scarborough Stephen JosephTheatre, YO11 1JW,6pm-9pm.How to turn your websiteinto a customer magnet: FriApril 16, Stokesley SpringboardBusiness Centre, Ellerbeck Way,Stokesley Business Park,Stokesley, TS9 5JZ, 9.30am-12.30pm. Runninga BusinessFromHome:Fri April 16,York,TheBarConvent,17 BlossomStreet,York,YO241AQ, 9.30am-12.30pm.

GROWING FAST: Nicola Storey with baby Emilie. Nicola runs e-commerce business www.yoghurt2you.co.uk.

BUSINESS LINK

STORY TO TELL: Home-working expert Emma Jones.

All about Emma

SUPPORT: Dawn Whiteley.

Enterprising mum with a fresh approachNicola Storey is living proofhaving a baby doesnt have tosignal the end of a womansentrepreneurial aspirations.

Since giving birth 13 monthsago, the 27-year-old fromWetherby has swappedhairdressing for e-commerce andher first website, www.yoghurt2you.co.uk, went live at the endof January 2010.

Id been looking for ane-commerce idea for a couple ofyears, Nicola explained. I knewif I got the product right Id beable to make more money than Idid hairdressing and once Emiliewas born, I wanted to be able tomake a living while spendingquality time with her. I racked mybrains and scoured the internetfor ideas and then one day thesolution just popped into my

head. I love yoghurt, especiallythe stuff you make yourself fromfreeze-dried powder, so I got intouch with EasiYo the NewZealand-based company thatmanufactures the powder to seeif I could set myself up as a UKdistributor for them. Id neverdone anything like that beforebut Im a confident person and Imust have done a good job ofselling myself because theyagreed without too muchpersuasion!

With a product distribution dealin place, Nicola set about the taskof turning her e-commerce pipe-dream into reality. During ameeting with HSBCs businessmanager, she was turned in thedirection of Business Link adviserTony Sinfield. Nicola wasreferred to me by HSBC in

Wetherby for help with marketresearch, margins and a problemshe had with her domain name,said Tony. I helped with all thatbut my main role was acting as anobjective sounding board for herideas. She already knew whereshe wanted to get to and how shewas going to get there.

Just four months after her firstconsultation, Nicolas websitelaunched with the aim ofconvincing more people to swapsupermarket yoghurt for the DIYvariety. Our yoghurts are greatfor the environment because itmeans less plastic packaginggoing into landfill sites, saidNicola. It works out cheaper thanbuying yoghurt from thesupermarket and its muchfresher, too; by the time you getready-made yoghurt home its

probably lost most of its beneficiallive cultures, but when you do ityourself with our sachets, everyspoonful is still bursting with life.

Although the new venture isvery much in its infancy, Nicola isalready seeing glimpses of thefamily-orientated business shedhoped for taking shape.

At the moment Im able tospend my days with Emilie andlook after the website in theevenings when shes asleep,Nicola said. Im hoping if thistakes off Ill be able to launchanother site and maybe one daymy partner will be able to give uphis job and we can run thee-commerce business together.

For now, though, Im justhappy to be doing what Im doingand Business Link has played areal part in that.

Emma Jones is founder andeditor of Enterprise Nation, thehome business website.

Following a career with aninternational accountancy firm,Emma started her first business atthe age of 27 and successfullysold it just 15 months later.

She has written for EnterpriseNation since its launch and isregularly called upon by theGovernment to advise and speakabout home business.

In 2009, Emma was responsiblefor the UKs first Home EnterpriseDay, held during GlobalEntrepreneurship Week achance to celebrate the millions

of people who had turned atalent, hobby or skill into a wayof making a living.

Emma is also the author ofSpare Room Start Up how to

start a business from home andher next book, Working 5 to 9 how to start a business in your

spare timewill be publishedin May.

Join Emma at the free BusinessLink presentation in York on April14 at the Park Inn. She will shareher story and offer insights intohow to grow a business fromhome. The event concludes withthe opportunity to network overa light buffet and refreshments.ADVICE AT HAND: Business Links customer information centre.

Whether youre already running a business, thinking of starting up on

your own or know you want to be your own boss, we have hundreds of

workshops, online resources and advisers ready to help you

Ive had a greatbusiness idea, whocanadvisemeon

starting-up?