Adrian Alderson and wife Janette first came to Five Lamps in October 2014, looking for some advice and guidance to help them set up a business delivering Martial Arts training to children and adults
Adrian had 20 years’ plus experience from running a Martial Arts club in Stockton which had outgrown the community centre base and he now had the chance to fulfil a dream and start his own business.
Adrian and Janette met Business Advisor Ian Garforth at Five Lamps. Ian gave them advice on market research, advertising and Business Plan completion and helped with the application process for a loan through the Start-up Loan Fund. They also attended some of the ‘We mean Business’ workshops at Five Lamps.
The application for the Start-up loan was approved and within two months, Adrian was in his premises delivering Martial Arts classes!
They have named their Martial Arts Business ‘Black Dragon Kickboxing and Martial Art Academy’, located in a Dojo on Preston Farm.
Advisor Ian Garforth said
“Adrian and Janette were a pleasure to work with. They were very motivated and pro-active in their preparation work and showed that preparing a business can be done properly in a fairly short timeframe if you are dogged and work hard at it. Since they started in November 2014, I have taken my boys there and they have been going at every opportunity since! The standard of Black Dragonzs tuition is very high and gives a perfect balance of quality focused training which is goal based, but it is also friendly and welcoming to people of varying abilities. My boys have made good progress already and the facilities there are excellent. It’s also great value for money”
From the help Adrian and Janette received from Five Lamps they said ‘we wanted to progress quickly as we had found ideal premises and we were assisted in presenting our application very efficiently. Ian always found the time to see us and spend time helping us plan.
About their experience running a business, they said:
“We have had to learn to put all of our ideas into practise and we are very pleased with the environment for learning this has created. We know there is ongoing support at Five Lamps if we need it and we are expanding with new ideas all the time to grow the business and develop the members”
Five Lamps is the local Delivery Partner for Start-Up Loans, a Government – backed initiative aimed at ambitious individuals aged 18 and over who want to start up their own businesses.