Ongo Sparc making another dream into reality

An Ongo tenant will soon be turning her business dream into a reality.

Such a dream seemed far away only a matter of months ago. Laura, having graduated with a business degree a few years previously, was struggling to find work and trying to motivate herself proved tough. She had often thought of starting her own business before, but had never known where to begin. When Covid-19 struck, she thought it would be even harder to find a job and wondered what impact it would have on her.

Little did she know that it would give her the inspiration for the next chapter in her life.

Laura had already been receiving some support and coaching from our Employment Support team, and she was soon set up with the Sparc Enterprise team who offer personalised support on starting and maintaining your own business.  Before long she had her idea – to create boutique scented wax melts with her partner Connor.

She’d embarked on a number of courses previously but the extra support gave her help in completing relevant forms and registering the business. She also received regular phone calls to ensure any additional advice and guidance was available to her. Laura now aims to launch the business, Miss Lola’s Scents, by the end of April.

She said: “Everything has progressed so well over the last few months. I had the initial idea but lacked the drive and direction, and that’s something that Sparc have really helped me with.

“I’ve gained a lot of new skills and qualifications which will help to benefit myself and the business. Most importantly, they’ve given me the confidence to make this happen and put the starting pieces in place for it to succeed.”

Laura also has a couple of other exciting ventures. One is her gaming and lifestyle blog that hosts daily live posts and has been gaining momentum in recent months, and the other is a book of short stories that she is hoping to have self-published by the end of 2021.

She explained: “It’s a lovely feeling to have these different projects to focus on. There’ll be some days where I don’t feel 100% or aren’t motivated but, rather than worry, I just approach the next day with a fresh mind-set and with renewed optimism – I always feel better for that.

“It just shows that there’s so many opportunities out there, and I’ve not looked back once – it’s all about the bright future that I now have.”

Check out Laura’s collection of scented wax melts:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/misslolasscents

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misslolasscents/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LolasScents

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@misslolasscents?lang=en

If you would like some self-employment support, email sparc@ongo.co.uk or visit ongo.co.uk/sparc