Passions into Profit! Is entrepreneurship right for you?

The aim of the event was to inspire hesitant entrepreneurs into taking the next step towards transforming their own enterprising ideas into reality.

Guest speakers, renowned illustrator, Rosie Brooks, and award winning catering entrepreneur Matt Crawford, and cake-baking Robin Campell of Cakes by Robin, inspired guests by telling their stories of how they turned their passions into profit after being made redundant. They shared some great hints and tips on starting a business. They truly encouraged and inspired.

Missed the event? Check out our Passions into Profit highlights:

If you missed out on this event, fret not; we’ve got some great ‘Passions into Profits’ events coming up. Email emmathorn@makeyourmark.org.uk to find out more.

Read Matt’s blog ‘Launching a business? You must be joking.’

More about the speakers:

Robin Campbell: Cakes by Robin

‘You get the fear; it drives you. I’m not going back to the dole queue. I am going to do something different.’

Robin turned ‘banking into baking,’ after being made redundant from her job in private banking. Robin worked in private banking for six years and was made redundant in October 2008. After discovering how much a friend paid for her wedding cake, it got Robin thinking about her own cake-baking passions. She urged people to grab hold of the fear; let it drive you towards taking the plunge, and do something different!

Rosie Brooks: Illustrator and Cartoonist

‘For me, passions into profit is about being able to say ’ this is what I do and I am proud of it.’

Rosie established herself as a truly enterprising artist (whether she’s painting a 10 foot guitar for Paul McCartney or a cow in the legendary cow parade). Her interpretation of ‘Passions into Profit’ is ‘doing something that you are proud of,’ not telling people what you do and making excuses for why you are not doing something you love. Her top tip is to start planning, even if the reality of the idea seems far away.  ‘Passions into Profit’ is all about ‘not having Sunday night blues.’

Matthew Crawford: Easy’Nuh

‘If you’re thinking of doing something like this, I urge you to do your research first.’

Matthew brought a dash of sunshine, a dollop of bravery and pinch of spice to be crowned as winner of Make Your Mark in the Markets with his Caribbean food stall, Easy’Nuh. Matt faced his imminent redundancy with great positivity. Knowing his job was coming to an end, he developed a simple compliment to his partner Natalie about her cooking into a great enterprising idea.  He pounced on a gap in the market and set about running is own Caribbean food market stall.

Inspired? We have more! Rosie Brooks shares her top entrepreneurial tips:

Next steps

Check out these websites:

Do you need to research your idea and the market further? Visit The British Library Business and IP Centre for advice.

Thinking about a change of career? Want to go back to school? Not really sure what the next step is in your career? Find out more at the Careers Advice page on direct.gov.

Want to be your own boss? See yourself running a market stall? Learn more from the National Market Traders Federation website.

Are you searching for funding but don’t know your ethical investor from your venture capitalist? Learn more about funding at the Business Link website.

What’s a business plan and what’s it for? Not sure where to start? Get some advice on writing your own plan at the Business Link website.

Do you want to follow in Rosie’s footsteps and get into graphic design or even start a production company? Learn more about planning a business in the creative sector from the CIDA website.

Check out Passions into Profit on the Make Your Mark forum: Are writers and artists entrepreneurs?

Check out our other events!

Join the Make Your Mark community to meet other like-minded entrepreneurs, get involved in enterprising discussion, and keep up-to-date with all the latest news and events.

Find out about our first exciting initiative to breathe life into an underused market hall in Hartlepool. Read all about it…

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