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BUSINESS LINK
How to make
your dream of
home working
become reality
Is working from home the
ultimate dream? A growing
number of budding entrepreneurs
in the region think so and
Business Link Yorkshire is backing
them with a comprehensive range
of new events and services,
starting with a North Yorkshire
campaign from April 12-16.
Whether it’s a desire to work
flexibly around the family, be in
creative control, or simply to fulfil
a long-held ambition, the idea of
working from home is becoming
increasingly attractive.
It’s also good for your health.
According to a recent BBC report,
people who choose their own
working hours enjoy lower blood
pressure and improved heart rates
– not to mention the joys of
avoiding delayed trains, traffic
jams and office politics.
Yorkshire and the Humber is the
number two hotspot nationally
for home businesses, second only
to the South-East, with almost
200,000 set-ups already
contributing nearly £19bn to the
regional economy.
People working from home are
one of the largest client groups
Business Link Yorkshire supports
within its new enterprise team.
Head of start-up services Dawn
Whiteley said: “More and more
people are considering starting
their own business and in order to
SUPPORT: Dawn Whiteley.
keep costs low in those early days,
doing it from home is an ideal
option for a growing number of
them. We value all business start-
ups, whatever their size, and
want to offer relevant support at
every stage, hence our
development of this specific
package to assist an important
and growing customer base.”
It’s been a good year all-round
for home-working. The number of
people starting and growing a
business from home has risen to
2.8 million nationally and
together they contribute a
staggering £284bn to the annual
UK economy.
ADVICE AT HAND: Business Link’s customer information centre.
Nationally, the Government
wants to highlight the importance
of home workers economically
and in February this year
Jobcentre Plus extended its
package of support to help
people become self-employed or
start their own business.
Many home workers are women
(71 per cent in 2009) who see the
method as a sensible, low-risk way
to start a business. They believe
technology like Skype and
e-mail means the job gets done
just as efficiently as it would from
the office.
Etta Cohen, founder of the
women’s networking and business
support group Forward Ladies,
said: “Working from home
provides many people with the
ideal way of starting a business
and living their dream. Business
Link Yorkshire’s campaign
demonstrates its understanding of
current business trends and the
needs of the region’s budding
entrepreneurs.”
Home-working guru Emma
Jones is founder and editor of
home business website Enterprise
Nation, which regularly attracts a
readership of more than 250,000.
Emma says there is no such thing
as the “typical” home business.
“The one thing uniting our
members is they run a business
from home – but they are from
all age ranges and across many
different business sectors. Saying
that, 65 per cent of them are
female, and the fastest-growing
sectors we’re seeing are business
services such as graphic design, IT
and PA services, as well as the
‘handmade’ sector, like creating
fashion, food and homewares.”
Of course, not everyone is suited
to home-working. If you like
chatting to colleagues every day
you’ll need to think of different
ways to socialise. You may need to
invest in a home office – you don’t
want to be stuck in a chilly garden
shed trying to run a business from
under a mountain of PC cables.
And if you are interested in
home-working, don’t think you
have to quit your job tomorrow.
More than five million people in
the UK are working nights and
weekends to build up their own
business at the same time as
holding down a nine-to-five job.
Business Link Yorkshire is the
perfect place to find out more
about home-working. Its customer
information centre can offer
essential advice and also has hints
and tips factsheets such as
Thinking of Working for Yourself?
and guides like How to Set up
and Run a Business from Home.
■ Further advice is available
at www.businesslink
yorkshire.co.uk and by
calling 08456 048 048.
I’ve had a great
business idea, who
can advise me on
starting-up?
THURSDAY MARCH 11 2010 YORKSHIRE POST 9
GROWING FAST: Nicola Storey with baby Emilie. Nicola runs e-commerce business www.yoghurt2you.co.uk.
Enterprising mum with a fresh approach
Nicola Storey is living proof
having a baby doesn’t have to
signal the end of a woman’s
entrepreneurial aspirations.
Since giving birth 13 months
ago, the 27-year-old from
Wetherby has swapped
hairdressing for e-commerce and
her first website, www.yoghurt2
you.co.uk, went live at the end
of January 2010.
“I’d been looking for an
e-commerce idea for a couple of
years,” Nicola explained. “I knew
if I got the product right I’d be
able to make more money than I
did hairdressing and once Emilie
was born, I wanted to be able to
make a living while spending
quality time with her. I racked my
brains and scoured the internet
for ideas and then one day the
solution just popped into my
EVENTS HORIZON
Business Link’s Starting and
Growing a Business from Home
campaign runs in North
Yorkshire from April 12-16.
The highlight of the week is a
“Be Inspired...” presentation on
April 14 at the Park Inn, York,
from Emma Jones. For details
call 08456 048 048, email
events@businesslinkyorkshire.co.
uk or visit www.businesslink
yorkshire.co.uk.
Emma has started businesses
from home offices in London,
Manchester and rural
Shropshire. She said: “Our
research shows home business is
buzzing in Yorkshire and
Humber and I look forward to
delivering a presentation that
will be relevant to people,
whether they’re considering
becoming their own boss or
have an existing business they
want to grow.”
Other events are:
■ Exploring Self Employment:
Mon April 12, Harrogate, St
Robert’s Parish Centre, 1-3
Robert Street, Harrogate, HG1
1HP, 6pm-9pm.
■ How to set up and run a
business from home: Tue April
13, Malton Old Lodge Hotel,
Old Maltongate, Malton, YO17
7EG, 1.30pm-4.30pm.
head. I love yoghurt, especially
the stuff you make yourself from
freeze-dried powder, so I got in
touch with EasiYo – the New
Zealand-based company that
manufactures the powder – to see
if I could set myself up as a UK
distributor for them. I’d never
done anything like that before
but I’m a confident person and I
must have done a good job of
selling myself because they
agreed without too much
persuasion!”
With a product distribution deal
in place, Nicola set about the task
of turning her e-commerce pipe-
dream into reality. During a
meeting with HSBC’s business
manager, she was turned in the
direction of Business Link adviser
Tony Sinfield. “Nicola was
referred to me by HSBC in
■ How to set up and run a
business after redundancy: Tue
April 13, Malton Old Lodge
Hotel, Old Maltongate, Malton,
YO17 7EG, 6pm-9pm.
■ Exploring Self Employment:
Wed April 14, Thirsk Rural Arts,
The Old Courthouse, Westgate,
Thirsk, YO7 1QS, 9.30am-12.30pm.
■ Getting Ready For Business:
Thu April 15, Skipton
Rendezvous Hotel, Keighley
Road, Skipton, BD23 2TA,
1.30pm-4.30pm.
■ How to set up and run a
business when you have been
out of the job market: Thurs
April 15, Skipton Rendezvous
Hotel, Keighley Road, Skipton,
BD23 2TA, 6pm-9pm.
■ Introduction to Sage
accounts: Thurs April 15,
Scarborough Stephen Joseph
Theatre, YO11 1JW,
6pm-9pm.
■ How to turn your website
into a customer magnet: Fri
April 16, Stokesley Springboard
Business Centre, Ellerbeck Way,
Stokesley Business Park,
Stokesley, TS9 5JZ, 9.30am-
12.30pm.
■ Running a Business From
Home: Fri April 16, York, The Bar
Convent, 17 Blossom Street, York,
YO24 1AQ, 9.30am-12.30pm.
Whether you’re 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
Wetherby for help with market
research, margins and a problem
she had with her domain name,”
said Tony. “I helped with all that
but my main role was acting as an
objective sounding board for her
ideas. She already knew where
she wanted to get to and how she
was going to get there.”
Just four months after her first
consultation, Nicola’s website
launched with the aim of
convincing more people to swap
supermarket yoghurt for the DIY
variety. “Our yoghurts are great
for the environment because it
means less plastic packaging
going into landfill sites,” said
Nicola. “It works out cheaper than
buying yoghurt from the
supermarket and it’s much
fresher, too; by the time you get
ready-made yoghurt home it’s
STORY TO TELL: Home-working expert Emma Jones.
All about Emma
Emma Jones is founder and
editor of Enterprise Nation, the
home business website.
Following a career with an
international accountancy firm,
Emma started her first business at
the age of 27 and successfully
sold it just 15 months later.
She has written for Enterprise
Nation since its launch and is
regularly called upon by the
Government to advise and speak
about home business.
In 2009, Emma was responsible
for the UK’s first Home Enterprise
Day, held during Global
Entrepreneurship Week – a
chance to celebrate the millions
probably lost most of its beneficial
live cultures, but when you do it
yourself with our sachets, every
spoonful is still bursting with life.”
Although the new venture is
very much in its infancy, Nicola is
already seeing glimpses of the
family-orientated business she’d
hoped for taking shape.
“At the moment I’m able to
spend my days with Emilie and
look after the website in the
evenings when she’s asleep,”
Nicola said. “I’m hoping if this
takes off I’ll be able to launch
another site and maybe one day
my partner will be able to give up
his job and we can run the
e-commerce business together.
“For now, though, I’m just
happy to be doing what I’m doing
and Business Link has played a
real part in that.”
of people who had turned a
talent, hobby or skill into a way
of making a living.
Emma is also the author of
Spare Room Start Up – how to
start a business from home and
her next book, Working 5 to 9 –
how to start a business in your
spare time will be published
in May.
Join Emma at the free Business
Link presentation in York on April
14 at the Park Inn. She will share
her story and offer insights into
how to grow a business from
home. The event concludes with
the opportunity to network over
a light buffet and refreshments.