Osborn Communications director Chris Leggett has shared his experience of growing a business in a first person article for Business Growth West Midlands.
Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM), which offers support programmes, funding and business growth resources to businesses across the West Midlands, invited Chris to share his story of accessing their support when he was in the process of establishing Osborn Communications.
The award-winning PR agency, which Chris founded in 2020, has produced successful digital, PR and marketing work for a range of organisations, including market-leading industrial clients, retail and logistics companies, business lenders and training firms.
In the news article entitled Don’t try to grow your start-up alone, Chris explains the key reasons why support was invaluable in the early phase of setting up Osborn, which now has its own team and works with companies across the UK. The reasons included expert advice from BGWM’s business advisers, help choosing the right business structure and advice on grants and funding solutions.
Chris writes: “Launching a new business can be an exciting but daunting experience, so accessing free support from Business Growth West Midlands will increase your chances of success.
“My own business, a public relations agency providing news and content services to enable clients to share their news with target audiences, was started during the Covid-19 pandemic and now employs three people.
“I wanted to help SMEs and brands, large and small, ensure positive updates about their work were communicated to the widest possible audience.
“With the world locked down, if Osborn Communications was to avoid being a short-lived effort, outside guidance was needed.”
The support delivered by BGWM included enabling Osborn Communications to gain the trademark to its name. Chris says tuning out the noise, albeit well-meaning, from people who offer unsolicited advice meant the expertise of trained business advisers was more valuable.
He writes: “When you are launching a new business, you will have no shortage of people offering you advice. Some will get overexcited and encourage you to prepare to become a billionaire. Others will warn that you are making a big mistake.
“Virtually none of these people will have successfully done what you are setting out to do, but you will receive their advice anyway. Add in the pressures of entrepreneur success stories posted across social media and you can feel overwhelmed.
“I found the BGWM Business Advisers included experts who had launched and run their own companies, large and small, who were able to offer firsthand insights which really helped.
“The statistics for UK start-ups vary, but many show that while around 90 per cent of new enterprises survive the first year, only around 40 per cent are still trading after four years.
“Getting tailored advice from the beginning can make all the difference as few people can do it entirely alone.”
Chris was chosen by BGWM to promote its services after Osborn Communications on the back of its ongoing support for the organisation with the production of written content for its website.
Chris’s full news article is available to read on the Business Growth West Midlands website:
https://www.businessgrowthwestmidlands.org.uk/articles/don-t-try-to-grow-your-start-up-alone/
If you’d like support with building or improving your company’s reputation, we can help. Osborn’s clients benefit from our years of experience generating positive content for different audiences. Drop us a line to book in a chat.