Fiona Bradley writes:-
"I never wanted to be a business advisor..."
I wanted to be a home economics teacher! I left school with 3 ‘A’ levels in Design, English and Cookery. I went on to Totley Thornbridge College of Education which specialised in Home Economics. I loved the course and teaching.
However, I married just after leaving college and worked in the family business supporting my husband with the back up role of administration and book keeper.
The business grew to over 30 employees from just three of us at the outset. The down side to this was that we employed all young women and I was traded in for a younger model in due course. So – alone with now 2 young children – it seemed sensible to start a business from home to enable me to look after the girls. I had a taste of what running a business was like and the – now honed – skills of a book-keeper. Just like you may take in washing – I took in books and made a good income for us all. Anxious to get professional qualifications to aid credibility, I undertook a BA and subsequently an MA part time.
I have held many roles as an advisor – I thoroughly enjoy the job. I recently won the Start Up Advisor Award in the IBC business advisor awards. I commented then that it’s a privilege to do a job that I so totally love to do. In 2003 I teamed up with Ron Lynch and Sandra Warzynska to create Business Initiatives and Guidance Ltd – BIG. We were lucky enough to deliver almost all the small business services for Leicestershire from 2003 until last year. In 2007/2008 we ran a highly successful scheme for the City Council where the survival rate for all the start up businesses we helped to set up was 100% a year after set up - and they were all in Objective 2 areas.
I have worked for the Small Firms Service – Business Link – EMDA – Leicestershire City and County Councils and many others on a plethora of schemes. I feel passionately that advice must be good and therefore the new qualification is an absolute must for all serious advisors. With the help of CfeX, I am currently doing my Certificate and Diploma in Business Support. Its Government money – our money – and its people’s lives we are dealing with. I am also currently working with DeMontfort University to create a new qualification in computerised accounting – my specialism.
And – the happy ending – I decided after being alone for a very long time – that I would like a partner in life. I applied my business skills to this task – being out of touch with such matters – I set out to do market research. I joined every dating, singles club and agency there was. I met cross dressers, Morris dancers, lawyers and mechanics. I had a ball. Such a colourful array of people. I re-married in 2006. Market Research is essential in any new project where you are not sure of your target market!
Fiona Bradley
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