For some people redundancy can be a tremendous set-back, but for others – such as Sheila Elliott – it can mean the chance of a lifetime.
Sheila had been working in the civil service for many years, including 18 months at London Cabinet Office with the Women’s National Commission. She is also a qualified and experienced teacher of English as a Foreign Language, so was not without resources and skills upon which to draw. Sheila’s interests lay in counselling but she was very aware that she would need business acumen if she were to one day run a successful practice that was well administrated and had the potential for growth.
A friend had attended the ‘Planning Your Business’ course run by the Colchester Business Enterprise Agency (Colbea) and recommended it to Sheila enthusiastically. Sheila had already picked up a leaflet about Colbea at the local Job Centre, so she knew that the Agency provided advice for people wanting to set up in business. The courses take place on one day or evening a week, allowing delegates to work around their other commitments, and some are organised exclusively for women – as was the one that Sheila attended. This gave her further encouragement, as well as the opportunity to talk to other women who were about to start their own ventures. “It was more informative than I had expected”, says Sheila “and was good fun too! The atmosphere was relaxed and what I learnt was extremely helpful, ending with everyone putting together their own business plan – a great asset.”
Sheila’s investigations into self-employment included obtaining advice from one of the qualified business advisers at Colbea, with whom she was able to talk over her plans in confidence. She now recognises that the next step is to obtain further training and accreditation by the British Association of Counselling Practitioners, and she plans to do this through completion of a Diploma course leading to accreditation after three years of study and gaining practical counselling skills on a supervised basis. Sheila would one day like to set up her own practice and, with the knowledge she has gained from Colbea, is armed with everything she will need to manage her new business.
In Sheila’s words: What attracted me in the first place was that the course was initially geared to women with little or no business experience, and as such it gave me the self-confidence to develop my ideas, underpinned by sound business principles.
The course material on topics such as tax, marketing, how to get started, etc was very sound, comprehensive and relevant in its own right and the course facilitator was very adept at adapting the sessions to include the knowledge of all delegates, which made it even more enjoyable and stimulating.
Other members of my group were extremely diverse both as individuals and in the type of businesses they planned to set up, or indeed that they were already running. I did not expect to be able to share information as readily with fellow delegates and I feel that this first-hand experience of networking was an unexpected bonus, especially as I have made some contacts with whom I hope to be able to work in the future. I have already recommended this course to several friends, which I think speaks for itself!”
