Experiences

FM was an English language tutor at an adult education institute for over 15 years, when she risked losing her job when funding for English as a Foreign Language was cut. She came to the East London Small Business Centre for help, and they aided her in setting up her own company.

Two years on, the business had developed and she was able to offer more services, as well as employing more tutors. When the provision of languages classes changed, she sought help again and contacted counsellor Terry Jolly, from the Barking and Dagenham Small Business Centre (a part of the London Small Business Centre). She benefitted from the LDA Business London Micro Businesses support, though which she was able to rethink her promotional strategy.

When she originally started up, and expanded, her problem was finding and managing premises, but she is now working from the Mildmay Centre in Ilford. However, the main lesson she has learnt, relates to promoting her business: “I wish I would have been more discerning in some of the advertising, and not gone for some desperate measures that did not really generate anything”. She also realised that her business offers more than just language training and in fact it provides a precious opportunity for networking to people recently arrived in the country; the lessons also give students confidence to use language to a level that will allow some of them to go on to university and some into the work place.

Her business has gone through challenging times as the influx of Eastern Europeans increased and the cost of English tuitions dropped; she was supported by Barking and Dagenham Small Business Centre Business Counsellor Terry Jolly in adapting her marketing strategy to changing demographics. FM says that “Terry Jolly from BDSBC has really helped as it has been possible to discuss the ups and downs of the business; even if he doesn’t come up with a solution, by airing the problem it helps to see it from another angle”. The support of ELSBC was important, to optimize marketing spend, as advertising can be very expensive and has to be targeted effectively, considering the times it takes to make it right!