When Ian could not get funding for his barbershop business, we set him a challenge to find a new idea that required less capital.  A year out of jail and working for a charity that helps combat substance abuse, he was very familiar with the challenges faced by reforming addicts.  We helped him set up a half-way house.  From pitching the idea to a housing company, through negotiating a partnership where the company funded the conversion costs in exchange for a share of higher future rental income to dealing with the necessary compliance and taking on an employee, we gave Ian the confidence and capability to see it through.  We showed him how to play to his own strengths, to consider his partners perspective and think through and plan for the things that might go wrong.

Gill is amazingly talented; dance coach, mountain climber, storyteller, she seemed able to turn her hand to anything until cancer stopped her in her tracks.  Unabashed, she fought through to remission helped by her own remedy made from chilli, but found herself overwhelmed with too many ideas, but not enough income.  Gill knew that she needed to focus; her difficulty was with where to start.  We helped her put a plan together to distribute her chilli sauce through as many outlets as our collective imagination allowed, setting stretching but achievable targets backed by an actionable plan.  She set to it with renewed sense of purpose, securing a stand in a local market and selling to delis.

Just 6 weeks out of prison, Chris was just starting to find his feet.  He had worked hard on his painting and decorating qualifications while inside and was now struggling through construction certification.  But he had more imagination than just to slap magnolia emulsion on the walls of new build homes, his daring designs were eye-catching; he just needed to find a customer that appreciated them.  We encouraged him to put together a Facebook page to showcase his talent and share it amongst people he knew; he was soon getting enquiries.  Our biggest gift to Chris was the confidence to live to his potential rather simply accepting what fate cast in his path.

Jane was a struggling in the world of work.  As a single mother with school age child, her working day as a carpenter was severely curtailed and most employers did not want to know – plenty of men had no such constraints.  We helped Jane sell her woodworking skills directly to customers.  We helped her identify the customers she most wanted and describe her offer to attract them.  She started advertising her services and soon found paying clients willing to offer testimonials and referrals to help her grow her business.  We have also helped her put together a free Google for Business site to further spread the word.  Jane had most of the skills, she was just struggling to deploy them.