Rebecca Keen, a talented triple jumper, took a gap year in Australia to train after finishing her A-Levels 2 years ago. She’d always been into photography and when she wasn’t on the athletics track, she did freelance photography. While she was in Australia she had the opportunity to help a woman set up a business in mindfulness and yoga for kids, supporting her with the photography aspect. Rebecca said: “This made me think ‘why can’t I set up my own business?’” and she did just that. Photohoof, a horse box photobooth began trading in 2021 and it’s been a great success since. 

Rebecca was in line to represent Queensland at triple jump but as Covid hit and competitions were cancelled, she returned to the UK and like the rest of the country, found herself stuck unable to train and wondering what she was going to do. Rebecca said: “I didn’t want to go down the traditional freelance photography and wedding photography route. It was just by chance that I came across someone selling a horsebox photobooth on Ebay down south.”  

Rebecca travelled to pick the horsebox up and towed it back home to Barrow and began to redecorate it in February 2021. “It was originally a bit cheesy and bright but I had a vision in my head of what I wanted it to look like which was more classy and elegant for the wedding market. 

“With my dad’s help we completely transformed it during lockdown and got it ready for my first booking in July 2021.” Rebecca worked hard to offer weddings, parties, christenings, proms and broadened her horizons to see where she could take Photohoof. Her hard work is paying off with over 50 bookings secured in 2022/23. 

Rebecca is also back training for triple jump here in England, she said “I’m in the process now of building my triple jump back, while also building up my business which I think goes hand in hand. You’ve got to be really motivated for both.”

Rebecca heard about the Growth Hub when she joined LinkedIn and saw a post about the support on offer to new businesses including 1-2-1 adviser time which is what Rebecca needed. “I had no clue about starting my own business, I had this crazy idea in my head and just decided to go for it.”  

Rebecca was enrolled on the Business Start-Up Support scheme which offers free support and advice to those wanting to start a business, or those in the early years of trading. The package includes a 3-day course on starting a business, one-to-one meetings with a business adviser, training and help with a business plan. 

Rebecca was soon allocated Growth Hub adviser Adrian Luckham, who supported Rebecca. Rebecca said “I needed help on how to set up being a sole trader, how to do my finances, keeping a record of receipts and things like that. 

“I had a passion for photography and a passion for starting my own business, but didn’t know how to do it. Adrian was the helping hand I needed, I could ask him questions, and nothing was ever too silly. If he didn’t know the answer straight away, he’d go and research it and come back with a solution.” 

And the support has certainly helped! Rebecca said: “I don’t just offer the horsebox now; I invested the money I made from bookings and decided to build an indoor booth also. I was getting multiple booking requests for the same dates, and I didn’t want to leave people without having anything.” The indoor booth allows for double the number of bookings and another option for those who have booked as well. 

“Adrian was absolutely great. I didn’t just get help through the meetings, I could ring or email him at any point and he was there to help.” 

Having the support through the Growth Hub was a way to keep me accountable. If I knew we were having a meeting on a certain date it made me want to make sure I had things in order before the meeting.” 

“You have so many questions when you start a business, and it was great to have someone to speak to about everything. And when I’d started speaking to Adrian, it was sparking off lots of other ideas. Having him there to go through the logistics of my ideas was brilliant.” 

Rebecca’s plans for Photohoof are just to keep pushing forward. Offering more package options and expanding as much as possible.  

“If someone has an idea to start their own business, I’d say just go for it. Do your research and see if it works!” 

If you’re interested in starting your own business, looking to become self-employed or are in your first 3 years of trading, contact Cumbria Business Growth Hub today on info@cumbriagrowthhub.co.uk or call us on 0844 257 84 50.