About us
Changing lives through entrepreneurship
Enterprise Junction is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) who change lives through entrepreneurship. We recognised that people with additional barriers had what it takes to start up on their own and become their own boss but were often intimidated by mainstream business support. Our research led us to run a programme that is practical, inclusive and values confidence building and self-esteem as much as the practical steps to starting up on your own. Enterprise Junction believe in and support the individual in their desire to change above and beyond societies expectations.
Enterprise Junction is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) who change lives through entrepreneurship. We recognised that people with additional barriers had what it takes to start up on their own and become their own boss but were often intimidated by mainstream business support. Our research led us to run a programme that is practical, inclusive and values confidence building and self-esteem as much as the practical steps to starting up on your own. Enterprise Junction believe in and support the individual in their desire to change above and beyond societies expectations.
The Team
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Michelle Gibbins - Chairperson Can you give us examples of some of the challenges you have experienced being self-employment, giving a real-life example? Confidence was an enormous barrier for me, and with my line of self-employed work I found this to be two-fold. Running a sports and complementary therapy business can often mean that people have expectations that you will ‘look’ a certain way – and I don’t. Which I found to be very challenging initially. Also, when you’re self-employed, there’s no-where to hide, so anything that doesn’t go according to plan can inevitably be ‘your fault’ (excluding those situations that are outside of your control of course!). So, I found I had to learn quickly to adapt, to accommodate changes and to be far more flexible than I had needed to be in employed work. This however, has not been a bad thing at all, and I discovered a new confidence and a wholly new way of working that has made me better at all challenges I’ve encountered since, despite how uncomfortable it was at the beginning! What are your top 5 passions in life? What is your most satisfying work?
What have been the best things about being self-employed? Knowing that I have been able to learn, to educate myself and to push myself out of my comfort zone to achieve things I never thought would be possible for me. And making a living out of it makes it even more worthwhile! Also, having total flexibility to be my own boss, to work when it suited my customers, me and on occasion my personal life too was an enormous perk, that again was very challenging to adjust to at the beginning, but totally worth it once I’d figured it out. What do you think would be the biggest barriers to our client groups and how do you think EJ will help them get over them? If you’ve only ever been in employed work, self-employment can be very hard to adjust to at the beginning, especially if you’ve had a knock-back or a kick to your confidence at some stage. I anticipate having the confidence in themselves to think that they are worth the investment, and that the hard work will pay off in the end would be a barrier that anyone would face. I would be encouraging anyone on the path to self-employment to lean on the resources around them, use the tolls they are given and ask a thousand questions along the way. I learnt so much from friends who were self-employed and wouldn’t be where I am today without their support and encouragement. What's the most ridiculous or embarrassing situation you have ever been in with a wild animal? There was a time, and I won’t mention where or who I was with, but after a spectacularly heavy night of cocktails, I was very sadly sick all over a dolphin the following morning. To this day I can’t stomach tequila or not feel guilty at the image of a dolphin…. |
Jim Fry - Treasurer
Can you give us examples of some of the challenges you have experienced being self-employment, giving a real life example? I guess, for me, the greatest challenge is motivation. Like any job there will be days when you really don't want to do it, that's actually OK. It's really about the whole work/life balance, remember why you're doing what you're doing. Currently my business partner is signed off work and has been for 6 months so the burden of day-to-day decision making and generally just doing all the work has fallen to me. I have had days where I'm exhausted and can't think of anything else but going home. So, I make time even if it's just a walk around the block. You can't always just say 'stuff it I'm going home' you have obligations, other people relying on you, bills to pay etc. but you can get some time to yourself. When you get home find something to take your mind off the day; friends, partner, a good book, nothing wrong with a slump in front of the television, try not to resort to drinking or other 'distractions' you'll only feel worse the next day and it'll be all the harder to get going. So basically, make sure you look after yourself, you are your most valuable asset. What are your top 5 passions in life? What is your most satisfying work?
What have been the best things about being self-employed? There are many, obvious, benefits; the fact that you get to make the decisions that affect you, the fact that you know just what's going on, the fact that you get to decide what you wear to work (important for me anyway). But the more subtle benefits come from the good that you can do for others, I get to decide if we print a poster for a charity at a massively discounted rate or advertise in a charity programme to support a particular event or, in fact, become a trustee of a charity without having to check with anyone. What do you think would be the biggest barriers to our client groups and how do you think EJ will help them get over them? As I've stated previously motivation can be a major problem when running your own business. When you don't 'have' to do something because no-one is watching over you (i.e. a boss) it becomes up to you to get up and do the thing. When you're working from home organising your sock draw looks far more attractive than producing a business plan. I believe the good people at Enterprise Junction will be able to get you so excited about your own business that you won't e ale to wait to get going. What's the most ridiculous or embarrassing situation you have ever been in with a wild animal? The Meerkat cage fighting situation is well documented and just recently removed from YouTube. |
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