So March 2010 started off with the launch of a new venture Joblink Solutions CIC.
Looking back, I guess Joblink Solutions has been nearly two years in the making, as during this time I have been fortunate enough to meet lots of organisations and individuals through my busy speaking schedule. Usually I am brought in to speak about my story - ’from council estate to entrepreneuer to enterprise’ or ‘secretly mediocre to secret millionaire’. The audiences leave fired up and enthused – well, that what they tell me. And the organisers are always appreciative as I wave them farewell….
…but that started to bug me and started me thinking. It’s great that these organisations get their candidates, students, ‘customers’ inspired but who comes in the day after and educates the organisers how to pass on these skills to the people in their ‘care’? Who teaches the teacher to pass on real skills to the students, who helps the helpers to pass on real commercial values to their candidates, who trains the trainers to keep their skills up to date in order to give their clients the best chance possible to get back into the workplace?
So I have created Joblink Solutions CIC.
Firstly, what is a CIC and why create one?
Joblink Solutions CIC is a Community Interest Company as I want its role to be significant in facilitating the development and extension of community orientated activities. Joblink Solutions is very much a Social Enterprise and a not for profit organisation. This status makes it much easier for us to work with, and support, organisations who prepare people for work. Many of these organisations are themselves social enterprises, CIC’s or charities.
What’s the proposition?
As most of you will know, I am a marketing man through and through. So what Joblink Solutions should stand for is something I thought long and hard about. I did not want to be overly creative in its execution or obtuse in its explanantion. This is a simple proposition to a busy and incredibly important and overstretched sector. Although I run a mile from Mission Statements, Joblink Solutions exists to ’Support organisations that train people for work through Education and inspiration’. This is then abbreviated for the logo.
The split between Inspiration and Education is reflected in the traffic light graphic device (not very original, I know but appropriate).
The red stands for STOP and UPDATE your skills. Either through educating the organisation/the trainer or the skills of the end client/student.
The Amber stands for INSPIRE – I want Joblink Systems to make people realise there truly is a world of possibilities out there for anyone.
The Green for GO is a call to action and a solution – Joblink Solutions is the…well, solution!
The site itself (everyone does a website don’t they?) also follows the red for Education and Amber for Inspirational rationale.
I tell small businesses that now, more than any other time due to the hard economic climate, is a great time to stop competing and start collaborating – so I practice what I preach. I have managed to gain the support of some great inspirational speakers in Deirdre Bounds, Richard McCann, Claire Young and Tracey Barraclough and hopefully I will add more as I see people in action who inspire me.
I am working with many different trainers to supply the educational angle as I am not a qualified trainer and once again I will be adding others who I feel have a relevance to the people I am hoping to work with.
Did it cost a lot to start?
Again, I meet lots of would-be entrepreneurs as I go through my hectic weeks and I try to get across the fact that it does not have to cost you thousands to get your idea of the ground. Can I tell you this in strictest confidence? Joblink Solutions cost less than £800 to set up. A simple 5 page website, 250 digitally printed business cards and a few legal bits and pieces – also supplied by other CICs which kept all the costs down. I did save money, I guess, by doing my own design work. But, as I tell people, the creative is not as crucial as you think if you have tailored your proposition correctly to your audience. Do you think if it is the right proposition and the right offer, that anyone will care I picked green or amber or a specific font or line length? No. Obviously do your best and seek advice, but do not lose sight of what’s important.
Starting up is the easy bit
We can all have ideas, not necessarily original ones either. We can all get out our crayons and create our new business and start to tell our friends and family – and lots of people I meet stop right there. The hard bit is telling ‘the world’. My approach is to tell my friends and family but to expect no real value or solid business guidance from them. I then tell people who I know are in the same sector, possibly competitors and possibly customers. It’s this group that helps me form my proposition so it’s relevant to the customer and perhaps threatening to the competitor. This group should provide you with some value in the future. If your initiative appeals to this goup, then the journey to ‘the world’ is easier. The world to me are partners and prospects I have never met, and therein lies great opportunities and great value.
I’m delighted to say that in the first four days after launch I have started to touch ‘the world’. I have enquiries and fixed meeting with schools, universities, training organisations and councils already – so it has captured people’s attention and imagination. I am very excited by the possibilities that lie ahead and being instrumental in delivering Inspiration and Education to groups who wish to get into work and enterprise in the future.
So again why did I do this? I guess this, my latest initiative, simply comes from the fact that as a kid in a council estate whose only discernable talent was the fact that I could draw a little, is that now I believe this; Every person has a talent. Every person deserves a chance.
