A business start-up grant helps an entrepreneur get a new start in life
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Every entrepreneur has a unique story to tell, and 53-year-old Arlene Scott is no different. Arlene’s inspiration was the by product of adversity.
Having previously been a victim of domestic violence, Arlene found that there was a lack of awareness for the provision of services to meet the needs of people in similar situations.
Part qualified Legal Executive, and having worked as a Legal Secretary before, Arlene was keen to set up a business that not only gave her the financial independence she needed, but also met the needs of ethnic minority women.
Arlene says: “By bridging the gap in cultural differences and language barriers, I want to empower women to lead independent lives and that is what my business –Mpensi People’s Project- is about.”
Arlene came to East London Small Business Centre in 2009, after deciding to turn her small voluntary run organisation into a viable business. At the time, Arlene has been unemployed and was on incapacity benefit.
“I found ELSBC to be one of the leaders in business and marketing advice and as it was my ambition to set up a social enterprise providing support to ethnic minority women, who are often economically and socially disadvantaged. ELSBC was the best organisation to approach in order to achieve success with the business,” explains Arlene.
As a resident of Tower Hamlets, Arlene was eligible for The London Borough of Tower Hamlets funded Worklenessness Project and delivered by East London Small Business Centre, where her dedicated business counsellor worked with her in producing a viable business plan and helped Arlene set clear business strategies to meet her long-term objectives.
Two months after first coming to ELSBC, Arlene successfully exited the benefit system, and was given a start-up grant of £1000 to help ease the transition of becoming self-employed.
“The start-up grant will enable me to look forward to a future, secure in the knowledge that my business is benefiting my community, while getting me closer to my plans of reducing the burden on economy and helping my clients over-come the trauma of domestic violence.”
