Call to Action for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

"To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, requires a lot of disciplines."
(Steve Jobs)

Isle of Man Business Incubator is issuing a call to action for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The incubator, which was established in 2008 in partnership with Isle of Man Department of Economic Development, provides a mix of space and specialised services for fledgling business.

The focus of the incubator is to help entrepreneurs develop businesses with high-growth potential that will benefit the Isle of Man by creating jobs, diversify the economy, stimulate innovation, promote local sourcing, support Manx exports and international trade.

As well as supporting experienced entrepreneurs and companies with spin out products, the incubator can help Isle of Man residents with an idea or invention they wish to test and validate in a supportive low risk environment.

Isle of Man residents can apply for free tailored support.

It is hoped that the incubator programme might support those residents considering a move from employment to entrepreneurship.

Isle of Man Business Incubator can be contacted on 647065 or at www.iombic.im where enquiries to join the incubator can be made online. 

Isle of Man Finalists in North West Women in Business Awards

Two Business Women from Isle of Man gain recognition in Forward Ladies Women In Business Awards for North West and Isle of Man.  Shelia Dean, Managing Director at Equiom for International Business Woman of the Year and Torie Kissack, founder, Imagination Station for Young Business Woman of the Year.

The success of women business leaders is being showcased at the inaugural Isle of Man and North West Women in Business Awards held by Forward Ladies, with the quality of business women on the Island being represented in two categories.   There are nine separate award categories as well as an Outstanding Business Woman of the Year award chosen from the nine category winners.  The awards will be presented at a prestigious awards ceremony in Manchester on 10^th November 2011.

Kate Lord said: “In April we were encouraging professional women to participate in these awards, which are new for us on Isle of Man, to showcase and celebrate female talent.  We had a good number of applications from Isle of Man and the quality and talent of the businesswomen on the Island is represented by us having two women in the finals, even though we are a small community and share the awards with the North West.   I am particularly pleased that the Island’s women are being recognised in the categories for International Business and Young Business Woman.” 

Forward Ladies is a women’s business support community involving more than 12,000 professional women across the north of England and the Isle of Man.  

Sheila Dean of Isle of Man global trust & corporate services business, Equiom, is shortlisted in the International Business Woman category, sponsored by UK Trade and Investment, while Victoria Kissack who runs Imagination Station – an entertainment and events company which supplies face painters, clowns, jugglers and entertainment artistes for events is shortlisted in the Young Business Woman category.

Sheila is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and has overall responsibility for Equiom's strategic direction and operational control.

In addition to her role as Managing Director, she is a relationship manager on a portfolio of international clients and is also a key contact for intermediary relationships. She plays a proactive role in driving business development and growth of the company's international business. A leading member of the Isle of Man business community, she is also a respected figure in the global trust and corporate services sector.

Victoria (Torie) originally started with children’s entertainment, but with a plan to expand the business to incorporate many more elements.

After only two days in business, she landed a corporate contract with Isle of Man radio station 3FM and has since worked with the Isle of Man Government, the Tourism Board, schools, charities and many more corporate clients. Due to customer demand she now has a team of self-employed circus performers, two more face painters, dance troupes, DJs, discos, and bouncy castles with more artistes added all the time.

Other finalists from the North West of England include care home owners, telecoms and television production managers.

Isle of Man Agricultural Advisory Service from DEFA

Today BIC learned about this great service from Isle of Man Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture  (DEFA).

The DEFA agricultural advisory service is a free service for all agricultural businesses in the Isle of Man, providing help and advice on a wide range of topics, both technical (what and how much to feed animals, crop husbandry, and so on) and business (cashflow, budgets, investment appraisals, account analysis, business planning, etc).

Through this advice provision DEFA brings together farms and related businesses who wish to diversify, either agriculturally (e.g. novel livestock such as milking goats) and non-agricultural (equine enterprises, holiday accommodation, and so on). To help facilitate some of these ideas Andrew McDonald, Senior Agricultural Advisor at DEFA has been running an action learning sets with farming groups.  Assistance had been provided on the basics of farm diversification, in terms of the planning and market research, business planning, risk analysis, etc.

For more information on DEFA and the Agricultural Advisory Service visit http://www.gov.im/daff/ .