The venture
Supporting marginalised communities to set up & grow social enterprises that address lived experience issues or issues within their communities. We support them through different challenges and struggles at every stage of their journey.
The challenge – what inspired your venture
Make an Impact was inspired by my passion to make a difference in the world. Following the birth of my son I decided I wanted to leave a positive legacy and a better world for him (and now my daughter too) as well as other children around the world. I want to encourage the start and growth of more social enterprises, with a focus on creating a positive impact for people and the planet.
The pandemic has been a challenge and has meant a lot of my work was on hold. Due to childcare and home-schooling responsibilities, I needed help to develop online services, to refocus efforts away from consultancy work and build recurring income models.
The result – how the programme helped
The programme has helped me to identify priorities for new products/services. I was able to really focus on how I would market, price and sell the product. I found the 1-1 sessions invaluable – they brought clarity and solutions to the problems I was facing.
I employed an individual via the Kickstart programme, who has since become a permanent member of staff. I’ve also recently taken on a second Kickstart employee.
The programme provided structure and focus, and we’re now seeing the results of that hard work through sales, enquiries and income. We’ve also generated income for the app development using the pitch deck that was created during the programme and are on track for further support from other corporates.
“The programme was helpful in giving me time away from the day to day of the organisation. Having structured sessions with experts helped to develop my skills further, so I could implement changes and be much clearer about the future strategy.”
Heidi Fisher, Founder of Make an Impact CIC