A group of entrepreneurs from Northamptonshire have graduated from the first cohort of an incubation programme facilitated by the team at Vulcan Works.
The inaugural Vulcan Creatives, a six-month programme funded by West Northamptonshire Council and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), commenced in January and saw 10 businesses work with business growth manager Darren Smith to either turn an idea into a viable business or grow their fledgling enterprise.
The entrepreneurs who took part in the programme were selected from tens of applications with a preference given to those working in the creative or digital sector – emerging industries in the county that Vulcan Works was created to support.
Those who completed the programme attended a Vulcan Creatives Showcase event to mark their graduation. During the event, each participant gave a presentation about their journey to the specially invited guests.
Nabil Abbas, who has developed a decentralised instant messaging app, found the programme “really helpful and really useful,” saying that the sales training provided helped him to find developers in the same way he would find customers and Darren introduced him to people in his own network. He was also able to work on his networking and presenting skills, with Vulcan Works loaning him space to hold his own networking events too.
He said: “I would really recommend this programme, regardless of the industry you are in. The biggest challenge I had was finding the right people. The technology I am developing is really new and that limits my talent pool in terms of other developers I can work with and my options in moving the business forward.
“I’m happy to report that I now have a small team of developers and we are working together on some really exciting projects that are going to be integral to what I want to build. Being surrounded by other like-minded entrepreneurs gave me the chance to bounce ideas off people who weren’t in my tech bubble and Darren really has gone above and beyond to help me.”
Emma Colton, a brand photographer who works with female business owners, had never done networking or presenting before and has now delivered workshops, including a branding workshop for her fellow Vulcan Creatives. In doing this, she realised her background in graphic design was of huge added value to potential clients and has added this to her service offering and developed logos and branding for some of her Vulcan Creatives counterparts.
She said: “I didn’t expect there to be so much camaraderie and for us to build such a strong network between us. I have come away from this with friends, which I didn’t expect to happen.”
Chelsea Henry joined Vulcan Creatives as an experienced interior designer who had been made redundant from a role working in show homes. She didn’t have a business when she started the programme in January and launched Knook Interiors in May.
She said: “I joined Vulcan Creatives with nothing. I didn’t have a name, logo or business plan, just a vision to empower people through interior design and make it attainable for all. Through Vulcan Creatives, I have been able to collaborate with some amazing people. Emma did my branding, I have designed a space for Vulcan Works and Roddy has done my photography. Having Darren to go to – a person I can trust for business advice – has been invaluable.”
Musician Matt Lewis wanted to develop his band, Party Beats, into a collective, ‘Pick and Mix’ option that enables clients to create their own band from a group of musicians for events.
He said: “I had been operating as a business for six months and got to a point where I was getting frustrated and didn’t know what the next step was. Then, through luck or the universe, I found Vulcan Creatives. I have learned a lot and had tons of breakthrough moments. Our four-piece band is now a collective with more musicians on board and we can do more than one event on the same night under the band name.
“The workshops have been fantastic and the help from Darren has been mindblowing. I started thinking about my cash flow after a workshop with Natwest and realised I had made a fatal mistake of not planning ahead in what, it turns out, is a seasonal business. I had a breakthrough in the sales workshop too and realised I had been approaching it all wrong. I feel I know so much more about sales funnels, branding and marketing, which is great.”
Roddy-Lloyd Jones, a retired teacher who created a portable photography studio in a decommissioned ambulance, had a similar experience. He said: “I was a teacher for 37 years and it has been amazing to collaborate and work with other people that help you to learn continually. I launched LJPhotostop in October.
“Workshops from Barclays and Natwest have provided me with so many insights that, coming from the world of education, I just had no experience of. Like Matt, I noticed the seasonal element to my business and have started doing property photography and weddings. Rather than a jack-of-all-trades photographer, I now own a business in photography.”
Gary Morgan created Enable AI, an artificial intelligence assistant, weeks before being accepted onto Vulcan Creatives. He said: “I arrived at Vulcan Creatives with an idea. Emma has helped with my branding. I have a website about to be launched and I just want to say thank you to Vulcan Creatives.”
Gavin Prior runs Pixli, a business that produces virtual reality and augmented reality apps. He said: “Pixli was essentially an idea in my head in January and I came to Vulcan Creatives to see how I could turn that into a business. I’ve met a really good network of people and everyone has just helped each other, which I didn’t realise I also needed.”
Tamara Holland, founder of Dot & Stripe, already had a successful marketing consultancy but wanted to niche down and specifically work with children’s activities providers. She said: “Vulcan Creatives gave me the confidence to push the imposter syndrome to one side and go ‘all-in’ with targeting my niche of children’s activities providers.
“This year I have had a huge boost in revenue and some incredible opportunities to host training and workshops to my ideal customers. With the support of my fellow cohorts, Darren and the additional training and support, I have been able to smash my goals.”
Hairdresser Aprille Russell and make-up artist Aveline Rust run Glam-Start, a hair and beauty academy. Aprille ran a hair salon from home and Aveline also ran a permanent make up and beauty clinic from home. Both felt there was a demand for a course in the industry that taught you how to run a beauty business, rather than just training in the various beauty and hairdressing qualifications.
Since joining Vulcan Creatives, the duo have run taster days of their courses, launched a website and have taken on workspace in Vulcan Works that they are in the process of moving into, ready to commence their courses in September.
Aprille said: “Since January, we have dedicated every Wednesday to coming into Vulcan Works to work on the business and meet with Darren. He has been a huge help to us – the contacts he has, the information he has given us – we just can’t thank him enough. The taster days also led to sales, which we wouldn’t have had if Vulcan Works hadn’t lent us the space to host them.”
Darren said: “Vulcan Creatives was a brand new idea and has been helped by so many individuals and businesses who have put on clinics, workshops and masterclasses which has been appreciated.
“We wanted to guide entrepreneurs with an idea through a process to create a business and make use of the great facilities at Vulcan Works and it has been great to see the success stories of those who have taken part. I’m also really proud of the fact that we have been able to help these businesses with grant applications too, resulting in all of them being awarded a £1,000 grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
“One thing that has been key and a great part of this programme has been the way that everyone has collaborated together. Some have even been each other’s first customer.”
Vulcan Creatives is now open for pre-applications for the next cohort, which begins in September.
