Posted on Thursday 3rd October 2024
Virginia Dutton
An entrepreneur from Stafford whose business aims to boost people’s health and wellbeing through natural supplements and specialist analysis is driving growth following support from a county council programme.
Virginia Dutton, the owner and founder of the Regenerative Health Clinic and co-owner of the Regenerative Health range of supplements, wanted to tap into the free expert advice on marketing and social media offered through the Get Started and Grow initiative.
As a fully qualified naturopathic practitioner, Virginia set up her business to support people’s regenerative health through nutritional supplements, gut health and both blood and biological analysis and assessment.
She has used her own experiences in overcoming a chronic health condition to help others through her business.
Virginia said:
My business aims to empower people to improve their health and wellbeing. It’s not been easy though I’ve been determined to see it through the challenges presented by the pandemic and increased cost of living.
I discovered Staffordshire County Council’s support programmes including Get Started and Grow – which included expert advice and guidance on marketing and social media.”
Get Started and Grow is delivered by industry experts The NextGen, which provided a free day’s workshop for Virginia and her partner Martin.
Virginia added:
The workshop helped enable us to conduct a thorough analysis of our broad market and how to look for opportunities within its different segments. It was particularly helpful to understand the profiling of the target market and weigh up which would be the highest priority audience for us to interact with. We could then build a simple but effective plan.”
The NextGen’s managing director Kathryn Hyde said:
Lived experience is something Virginia has in common with many of her clients, and it was decided that storytelling was going to be the most powerful tool that they could use to educate the market. Target market needs analysis is one of the most underutilised but simple and effective tools that many small business owners bypass. It helps identify priority audiences, guide marketing messaging, and define marketing tactics.”
Staffordshire County Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for economy and skills Philip White said:
Our Get Started and Grow programme is making a difference to new businesses – providing free expert advice in areas where they have less expertise to give them added confidence. It’s great to see positive results and the experiences of new businesses like Virginia’s and we wish her all the best in the venture.
We have a strong record for start-up survival in the county. It’s hugely encouraging that Staffordshire is providing the right environment for start-up businesses to thrive, and vitally to operate successfully through the difficult first few years.
At the county council it is a priority to us to provide support to these enterprises in a targeted and relevant way, ensuring they have the guidance they need to succeed and grow.”