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Tyneside TEDCO
Defining Moment

I suspect, deep down, I’ve always wanted my own business, even if sometimes I’ve been in denial about it! The opportunity arose unexpectedly and some might say at an inappropriate time- my children were 3 and 1 at the time- but I do think that being an… read more

Lifestyle Story

I’ll be quite honest in that the weeks running up to the opening of the new business were the most stressful of my entire life. But in retrospect that was because I was only thinking about doing, rather than actually doing. As soon as we opened for… read more

Mistake To Avoid

Luckily there’s been no major ‘gaffes’ made in the business, but largely as a consequence of expense, we have no computer database. I feel in retrospect it would have been a good idea to have some simple grouping system in from the beginning to help with… read more

Secret

If you’re thinking about starting your own business go for it, but lay down strong foundations first. Get help with your business plan from as many people as possible, and financial planning and contingency planning is vital. There has to be a ‘reserve’… read more

How I...

The biggest challenges I’ve faced have been getting new business, encouraging new patients, and competing against the big-boys. I’ve looked at the market and seen the gaps and worked all my advertising around that. I’ve also written all my own articles… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

Opportunities are everywhere, everyday. What you need is the ability to spot them, seize them and act on them, and maintain the self-belief necessary to see them through to successful fruition.… read more

Challenge

I’d been thinking of ways to be able to open my own practice for years, but in today’s climate, with big hitters in the optical industry like Specsavers, working as an independent optician is not without risks. I heard of a commercial property that was… read more

Success

What makes my business work is a dedication to customer service both from myself and my excellent staff, whilst still delivering very reasonable prices. We’re growing our patient base largely on direct recommendation; many, many people have referred their… read more

Success

The business has been more successful in the first year than I ever dared think possible. The biggest success for us has been the acquisition of the best employees possible. I chose very carefully, having coaxed two of them out of retirement! And they… read more

Aspiration

My aspiration when I started the business was basically just to get it off the ground. I’ve exceeded the estimates on the original business plan and have been cash positive from the outset by careful business and financial planning, but I couldn’t have… read more

Support Story

My husband has been a tower of strength, as have all of my family. I bought the premises with my brother and his wife who have made a successful chiropody business out of the other half of the shop. We have supported each other and gained synergy from the… read more

If we can you can challenge 10