Page 8 - Start Up Special: The Star January 2019

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www.thestar.co.uk Wednesday,January23,2019
START-UP SPECIAL
In association with
Collective bargained on a brand new future
Troubleshooter clears up mess
The If Collective got off to a flying start after the quartet of founders persuaded their old employer to let them take some clients with them.
The firm creates brands, website and print materi- als and is based at Waverley Works, Effingham Street, Sheffield.
Co-founder Mike Batey said: “We'd been thinking about doing our own thing for a year or two. Our previous employer was going through a restructure and it seemed like the right opportunity to strike out on our own.
“Having ongoing projects has really helped in terms of being busy from the off. Cli- ents have been very support-
From left: Mike Batey, Craig Dall, Dan Lowthorpe and Andrew Turner
Caroline Freeman offers a troubleshooting service for small business owners who have “got themselves into a bit of a mess.”
As The Small Business Nanny she aims to turn a loss-making company into a profitable one by asking the tricky questions no-one else dares to ask.
The management con- sultant offers training for owners and staff in areas they may lack expertise in- cluding branding, systems and finance and help “those with brilliant ideas achieve their full potential.”
In a previous life she was European marketing direc- tor for Warner Bros Cinema.
Caroline said: “Maybe your business is too com- plex and you need to sim- plify it, or you just lack the ability to stand back and see the problem - I can help you make your business a lot
ive and are keen to continue working with us.
“Working with trusted freelancers means we can scale up quickly to deliver bigger projects.”
The other three co- founders are Craig Dall, Dan
Lowthorpe and Andrew Turner. Mike added: “We’re working on a website with a new client called Southern Universities Network. When we showed them the proto- type, their project lead said they’d worked on about 100
digital projects over the years and this alpha was ‘up there with the best’.
“They thought we’d con- sidered the brief carefully but also gone beyond it to de- velop a solution that works beautifully.”
Caroline Freeman helps struggling companies
more profitable with some very simple solutions.”
Her “no-nonsense busi- ness advice” is charged on an hourly basis, she added.
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