A bit of background: I'm an artist, working in both traditional & digital media. I specialise in portraits & animals. I've recently set up a Cafepress shop to sell my designs on T-shirts, mugs etc, and I also accept commissions - but I'm not very good at marketing so I'm not getting much by way of sales. I want to try selling my stuff at craft fairs and setting up an Etsy store, but that requires having actual physical stock and I don't have the couple hundred I'd need to pay a printer. I also need to learn how to market & sell myself effectively.
I was thinking about the government's New Enterprise scheme, and I was wondering if anyone else has been on this and how useful did you find it? Do they give you assistance with writing a business plan and advise on ow to go about advertising & marketing your business? I know you do get a loan & a weekly payment to live on whilst getting the business off the ground, but I'm unclear on what else they offer and just how helpful they are overall.
Please share with me your experiences!
Also, does anyone think there would be a niche in the market for baby portraits? Not photographs, but paintings of babies?
k2togm1
Wed 30-Jan-13 13:35:32
Is this the one you have to be referred through the job centre? So you need to be a job seeker to access it. Where I am they do give you help with writing a business plan etc. I went to a course sponsored by Barclays and there were quite a few people who were on it. Sorry I don't know more!
Well, the job centre deals with more than JSA applicants - it also deals with people on ESA. I have an appointment with my ESA adviser next Monday so I'm going to ask him about it, but I was hoping to get some feedback from people who have actual experience of this specific scheme.
