Business Advice, Business Plans, Small Business Grants Advice for start-up businesses in Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Wigan, Lancashire and the North West.
What I can offer
Over 350,000 businesses start up every year, but over half of these go out of business within three years. That’s an awful lot of hopes and dreams shattered.
Whilst there is no secret to success, it is as true as ever that if you fail to plan, you should plan to fail. I have found that the longer you are in the planning process the more likely you are to succeed. To this end I can provide sound, no nonsense practical advice, whether you are setting up your business, experiencing difficulties or looking to expand.
- Review of your business idea and the importance of the business plan
- Assess the right financial model to take your business forward
- Review and access the various sources of funding available
- Help you access any small business grants that may be available in your area
- Assist you in producing financial forecasts to establish the viability of your business
- Help you understand the process of strategic planning as you move forward
- Introduce the concept of marketing and how best to promote yourself
- Review importance of networking and when where and how to do it effectively
- Signpost you to other providers if specialist help is required
- Provide a regular mentoring service to share issues or simply to keep your business focussed and on track
About Ross Bullock
After
graduating in 1972 I spent a short time in retailing before joining the Midland
Bank (now HSBC) enjoying many and varied roles throughout the country over a
25 year period. This included a period in the Bank’s Corporate Finance
Division in London, followed by three years as a Management Trainer, lecturing
in all aspects of management skills together with the principles of lending,
business plans and strategic planning process.
My last seven years in the Bank were spent as Business Manager in the Bolton branch with a large personal lending authority and responsibility for maintaining a large portfolio of accounts with lending in excess of £10m.
In 1998 I joined Bolton Council’s business support service. This involved counselling start-up businesses, helping with business plans and accessing small business grants. I later planned and managed the highly successful OnTrack programme aimed at assisting high growth businesses achieve their goals, running bespoke training courses, residential weekends and helping the Unit raise valuable sponsorship money. .
In 2007 the opportunity arose for me to start my own business, and am now able to share the vast experience I have gained over the years in helping pre-start, new and existing business owners in meeting the challenges in world of self-employment.