Posted on Thursday 28th December 2023
Anna-Louise Powell, Director of Anna-Louise Coaching in Lichfield
The owner of a new coaching company in Lichfield is benefiting from fully funded expert support to grow, despite believing it was just too good to be true.
The Get Started and Grow Scheme, part funded by the UK government, has now supported over 200 new Staffordshire businesses by offering expert help in a range of areas including social media, accountancy, HR and legal advice.
One of those businesses is Lichfield based nutritional health, fitness and wellness coaching business, Anna-Louise Coaching.
Director, Anna-Louise Powell, reached out to Staffordshire County Council after going into her coaching work full-time and taking more of her business online.
Valuable expert support for young businesses completely free of charge? Anna was initially sceptical.
She said:
“Honestly, I didn’t really believe it. As businesses, we usually find that getting something for free means that it’s just an off-the-shelf product that isn’t actually that helpful. Or it’s a veiled sales pitch so that you actually have to pay for the useful stuff.”
Anna-Louise Coaching works with women who - in their efforts to juggle their homes, careers, families and social lives – have found themselves developing a poor relationship with food, health and fitness.
She offers a holistic approach for her clients’ wellbeing from stress and dietary management to sleep support, physical activity and hormone regulation.
Anna applied for the Get Started and Grow scheme’s social media support and she was put in touch with Kathryn Hyde from Concept Communications based in Stone.
Kathryn previously also benefitted from the scheme’s social media support and found it so useful for her own business that she wanted to pass her expert knowledge onto others to help boost the local economy.
Anna found that the work they have done together has really challenged her whole marketing approach.
Anna continued:
“I had very in depth and individualised support, which I am super grateful for, and was so pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t just another hour-long marketing course.
“Kathryn really cared about my business and still does. I am confident what I do will start to grow.
“Getting in touch with Get Started and Grow is what every business owner should be doing, to be honest. It’s so worth your time.”
Deputy leader and cabinet member for economy and skills at Staffordshire County Council, Philip White, said:
“We want to support all our local entrepreneurs to achieve their full potential so that Staffordshire’s economy can thrive.
“With our strong record for start-up survival in the county and a range of professionals on hand to give free expert advice in those areas where people lack confidence, it has never been a better time to start a business in Staffordshire.
“We have supported over 200 local businesses to get started and grow. If your business is less than five-years-old, I strongly urge you to take advantage of this free help.”
Any Staffordshire business up to five years old can get personalised support from the Get Started and Grow Scheme, which is part-funded by the UK government.
The scheme’s support packages are delivered by leading industry experts and are completely free of charge.
Packages include:
- Website support
- Branding and logo design
- Social Media support
- Accountancy support
- HR advice
- Legal advice
For more information or to apply for the scheme, visit Get Started and Grow - Staffordshire County Council.
Staffordshire County Council’s Here To Help campaign focuses on sharing information, advice and support to help residents manage cost-of-living pressures.
Support for businesses ranges from help with energy bills to workplace health to reducing carbon footprints.
More information on support available for local businesses can be found on the
county council’s dedicated cost-of-living support website.