So far 270 people have launched new businesses
Adam Steggles of Refined Blinds Picture: KATE STEGGLES - Credit: Kate Steggles
Five hundred would-be entrepreneurs in Suffolk and Norfolk have completed MENTA’s `Start Right’ business training.
Jo Garden of MENTA Picture: i101DIGITAL - Credit: Archant
Since 2016 MENTA has been providing free start-up training under its Start Right programme.
This support enables people to prepare and gain business skills, knowledge and information to give their new enterprise every chance of success.
The Start Right programme of three, four hour, fun and friendly workshops cover subjects such as business planning, marketing, book keeping and self-assessment.
So far, a total of 270 people have started their businesses across the two counties as a result of Start Right support.
Jo Garden who manages Start Right said: “It’s great to see the ambition and entrepreneurial ideas delegates have and to see them become confident in their abilities to launch their business.”
“At MENTA we continue to support new start-ups as they become more established. They meet up at our monthly networking events, Coffee Means Business attend business masterclasses and seminars and tap into further business advice as they expand and grow, helping the local economy prosper.”
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One client is Adam Steggles who set up his Refined Blinds showroom near Bury St Edmunds in 2018 after 19 years’ experience in the window blind industry.
He attended MENTA’s three, four-hour sessions and said, “I found the Start Right workshops to be invaluable for my new business, despite my initial reluctance to attend ‘courses’. My scepticism was completely unfounded however, the tutors were friendly, informative and continue to be a source of knowledge and support. The workshops opened my eyes and thoughts to areas I hadn’t considered, as well as furthering and refining the ideas I had already conceived and was putting into practice.”
The Start Right programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and MENTA’s trainers hold training sessions in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Beccles in Suffolk and Norwich, Dereham and North Walsham in Norfolk.
To attend the fully funded workshops you must live in Norfolk or Suffolk, and be thinking of starting a business or have done so in the past 12 months.
