Beltin Marketing Wigan
How did you first come into contact with Flourish?
I got in contact with them on twitter, starting a twitter account was one of the first things I did when I was thinking about setting up my business. I wanted to help local social enterprises and not for profits and small businesses. I started following what people were tweeting about in regards to Social enterprises around Wigan. I got into contact with Flourish when they were recruiting for the Wigan Time to Grow programme and running some information events.
My background is in journalism and teaching. I wanted to help local organisations, I know how hard it is for businesses to successfully market themselves, there is a lot of marketing techniques out there and oftentimes, people don’t know where to start! I give not for profits a 20% discount on my fees, I’m working on offering free courses to not for profits on social media and canvas graphic training. My ethos is to help businesses who need it the most.
How has Flourish helped you?
I’ve been involved in the Wigan Time to Grow programme and also attended a few events in Manchester. Flourish has helped massively, the training online is perfect for someone starting up a business. I didn’t have any experience running a budget and setting up a company, so Flourish has helped with the practical advice. They have also helped in terms of wellbeing and support. When you set up a business, it can be a lonely place, so the sounding board is great to ask questions. Everyone has the same questions, it’s like having a team. I’ve also made a lot of contacts which is great because a lot of my first clients now are through Flourish. I’ve got a lot of business from the group!
Where has your journey taken you? Tell us about the highs and lows of the experience
It’s mainly been a positive experience, the difficulties were at the beginning where I didn’t have any clients, but this didn’t last long. When I got my first few clients, it started to spread more and word got out. I’m at the stage now where I am considering becoming a CIC and a limited company where I can take on staff. I’ve got some other work on at the moment, but hopefully in the next few months I can expand my business. There is a lot of demand for marketing services. The highs are helping people and people appreciating your work. The lows are feeling under so much pressure!
How do you keep motivated?
Its driven by my clients – I want to do things as effectively as I can. They are a massive motivation. Personally, I make sure I prioritise my health and wellbeing. Sometimes I get really tired or stressed, so I need to have a few minutes to myself where I clear my head, and do some breathing exercises – I’m a lot more aware of my mental health because of Flourish, before I started the programme I wasn’t taking care of my wellbeing and they’ve taught me how I need to prioritise myself. It makes such a big difference!
Any tips to share to other people looking to start their own projects?
I would go for it! I am helping people with the branding as well, so I’m helping people set up a logo and social media and graphics and some sort of example posts. I recommend they get training on websites and social media. Even with some basic IT skills, you can do a lot of the things by yourself. It isn’t as difficult as you think! Once it’s there on the screen, where they have a logo and a brand, it feels real for them, and they can start market themselves.
Anything your now doing differently?
Through Flourish, I’ve met a business mentor who works at the Business Growth Hub in Manchester. She is advising me on how to grow the businesses and set pricing. Also the mentor-a-thon was really useful. I used the opportunity to look at what people want and need and how I can communicate that on my website, so It’s more clear for customers.
How have you been benefiting the community of Wigan?
I’ve linked with the Social Enterprise Place network in Wigan. I’d love to see people meeting up in Wigan and bringing their products and learning some more from training. I’m really keen to get that going. Hopefully by mid-summer 2022 we can start planning this. My goal is to train people and to create peer learning opportunities where people to spread their own marketing skills to others. Locally, I feel like we are stronger together, and we should stay in close contact with local businesses, and support each other.
