Unique Education

Founders

Mandy Roylance

Profile

Since graduating I've always worked with vulnerable young people. I spent five years at Barnardos as a Development Worker, working with children and young people at risk of sexual exploitation. This involved creating resources to engage children and raise their awareness of risk taking behaviour. There was also with an emphasis on raising their self esteem and confidence, because then they are more able to keep themselves safe and are more likely to reach their potential. While at Barnardos I developed an interactive CD and Booklet which is now raising funds for the charity. This is something I would like to continue to do for my business but with an emphasis on motivating and inspiring children and young people to dream and reach their full potential.

What does your company do?

Unique Education was established to help young people aged 8-19 to believe in themselves and develop a more positive future. We achieve this through motivational group work and street dance workshops that take place over a six week period, usually in schools and community settings.

What has ThinkBusiness@Bradford done to help you develop?

I have received practical guidance on how to develop the business and their belief in what I want to achieve has been a great support to me. The office space and facilities have also been great and given me a foundation to build the business from. Most importantly though, the expert advice on setting up and running a successful business has been invaluable as well as being teamed up with mentors in specific areas such as finance and marketing, all of whom have helped me grow the business.

With the help from Think Business I gained 2nd Place at the Eye for Enterprise competition and received Boost funding which has enabled me to buy resources and develop the programme further. The help I have received has been much appreciated and has helped me to develop the business over the last 12 months.

What's been your biggest success?

My first booking for a programme, which wasn't just for one school but four! I completed the programme and received some great feedback on how it had had a positive impact on the young people.

What's been the hardest thing you've had to cope with?

The day to day challenges of running a business from developing programmes through to cash flow, it all takes time and you have to learn to prioritise pretty quickly. However, I have stayed positive at all times and have never thought of giving up, even when times have got tough.

What advice would you give other new businesses?

You must believe in yourself and the product or service that you are providing. You must also be really committed to making things work and have a positive approach to building your business.

What plans do you have for the future of Unique Education?

I want to run a successful business that helps people at all levels of their life to achieve their best and to make the most of their life.

What would you like to see from ThinkBusiness@Bradford in the future?

It would be great if we could share information about our experiences with the other businesses on the programme so that we could help each other. Additional sales training would also be good, as most of us are really good at what we do, but need help promoting our products and services. Finally if we could develop networking events that showcase the success stories of the businesses on the programme, it would give other budding entrepreneurs chance to find out more about developing a business and all of us a chance to practice our networking skills.