The Help into Mentoring programme has been designed to support 50 individuals in the old Copeland District Council area thinking about or looking to start their own business or young businesses in the early stages of trading.

Support on offer includes:

• 20 hrs of one to one mentoring support provided by one of our mentors
• Personalised client journey
• Introduction to self-employment workshop covering: Reasons to start a business; anyone can be self-employed and benefits of being your own boss; pitfalls of self-employment; key attributes required for self-employment; why write a business plan? What to include?; market research; legal status; registering with HMRC, VAT, record keeping; home working or business premises?; legislation; start-up costs and financing; forecasting; contingency planning; credit Control
• Free training on topics such as business planning, personal resilience, branding, marketing, social media channels, sales & pricing…..
• Access to a four day business start-up course covering topics including business planning, sales & pricing, marketing & social media, record-keeping, cashflow forecasting, profit & loss, sustainability, business bank accounts
• Free webinars covering relevant topics
• A network of peer support from like-minded individuals
• Free online resources
• Signposting to other business support programmes and available funding
• A year’s free membership of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce for those who start trading and provide evidence

Basic information on business idea/activity and what you expect to achieve from working with a mentor will be taken at initial enquiry. Details will then be shared with the mentor team who will decide who they are best placed to support and can offer the most value to.

All support is confidential between the mentor and the mentee – the only required submitted paperwork will be a mentor/mentee agreement, simple registration form and a personalised client journey.

To access support, enter your details below and we’ll be in touch!

Meet our mentors