Dawood Fard is an extremely ambitious young man with a revolutionary business idea but after struggling to secure finance from his bank to start his company, Centurus, Rosebud came to his rescue.

“Following the successful completion of my Master’s degree in 2010, I visited India where I stumbled upon my business idea. Soon after arriving in India, it struck me that students who wished to attend universities abroad had no central point to handle their admissions or to access help and support.

With this in mind, I was determined to revolutionise the industry with a complete central admissions system which eases the application process for universities and prospective students.

The benefits to universities that use the system cannot be overstated. They will immediately benefit from a streamlined application process saving them time, money and tedious task of administration. There will be fewer errors made in application offer letters and visa letters as well as full compliance with the strict Border Agency application requirements.

The system will allow students to quickly apply to their university of choice and they will also benefit from clear access to information which will prepare them for their overseas study. In addition it will provide them with a trustworthy source for flight bookings, arrival packs and other international student related services upon arrival. As we are based in the UK my plan is to initially launch this system in the UK which will give British universities a competitive advantage over their international competition.

I required funding to allow me to develop the admission system but after being told ‘not to bother’ applying for bank funding from my branch manager due to lack of security I decided to approach Orvia to enquire about the Rosebud Loan.

After meeting with my adviser at Orvia I felt full of confidence because they really believed in my business and they were very encouraging about my chances of accessing the much needed finance that I required.

Throughout the application process Orvia were a great help, my adviser was clear about what was required to submit the application and provided straight forward guidance.

The support of Orvia has given my company a great head start and allowed me to go on and develop the admissions system. Within just months of accessing the finance, I have almost completed the system development and I am now preparing for its launch. Thanks to this finance the company has a very exciting and optimistic future.

Once the system is implemented in the first 15 universities, Centurus will begin recruiting full time skilled staff based in Preston to grow and further develop the system. Once the system reaches 300 universities; the company will be turning over at least £1m per year and when you consider that there are over 2,000 universities in the UK alone then the potential of our product is enormous.

 What is more exciting is that this system is just the tip of the iceberg of what Centurus has planned. The next system is already being designed which is a student management system to be embedded as part of the admissions system.

Since qualifying as a solicitor in 2002, Aisha Hussain has worked for several solicitors firms and has a breadth of experience within Family Law, Wills & Probate and immigration work. However in 2008 Aisha was made redundant which brought her to a crossroad in her career:

"I had to make the decision of where to go next. I was faced with a few options and I undertook a PGCE course and qualified as a teacher to broaden my experience and skills. However due to my varied work experience I realised there was an opportunity to start my own practice which specialised in Family & Matrimonial Law, Wills & Probate, Immigration and General Litigation. I really wanted to assist the community and provide a valuable legal service which was efficient, professional and competitive.

Also as a parent with a young family, I did not want to compromise on my work/life balance and therefore I felt starting my own practice would give me more control.

During my research stage, I considered my finances and realised I had enough to set up as a sole practitioner. My intentions were to start on a small basis and gradually build the practice alongside my client base. However, due to external circumstances beyond my control, unnecessary delays occurred resulting in my finances being used even before the business got off the ground. As there was no revenue coming in to offset the money being paid out, I began to consider alternative avenues of support.

As I was using my personal savings to start the business my main concerns were the affordability of the premises and insurance costs. In particular, the Professional Indemnity Insurance was the main obstacle as it was very costly and difficult to obtain.

Orvia provided one to one meetings in which we discussed details of funding available to small businesses in my position. They also assisted with completing the application form for a Rosebud Micro Loan and advised upon the supporting documentation that was required, in particular, the Business Plan and Cash Flow Projections.

The Rosebud Micro loan has provided a safety net for the business in terms of working capital, particularly as there was an initial delay to get the business started which affected my finances and cash flow projections. Furthermore, the speed with which the loan application was dealt with is also to be commended as well as the competitive rates offered on the loan. The business has an opportunity to grow without concerns about cash flow, especially as these early stages are crucial in the life of a small business.

My initial concerns and worries about the business have been allayed. I am able to concentrate on promoting and building the business without having to worry too much about the cash flow. Furthermore, the support provided has allowed me to gain confidence in my venture and become more determined to make it a success.

My intentions are to develop the business and grow the practice, to encompass various departments. I would like to be in a position to move to bigger premises on a high street and employ one or two members of staff. My aim is to have enough work in the various departments to justify expansion".

Orvia manages the Rosebud Micro Loan Fund on behalf of Lancashire County Council. Rosebud Micro offers loans between £2,000 and £10,000 to new and established businesses within Lancashire’s key growth sectors which have growth potential in terms of employment opportunities and/or turnover.

Stags and hens have proved to be a powerful combination for a Leyland-based business specialising in bespoke tee-shirts. In fact, soon-to-be brides and grooms have become some of Shirt Dessert’s biggest fans.

For Linda Simmons and Jeff Lester, who set up the business on Golden Hill Lane four years ago, this is no surprise, because one of their aims has always been to cater for customers who want smaller quantities of tee-shirts.

Linda, who concentrates on marketing the business, said: “It’s often the small businesses that are overlooked when it comes to getting a good deal. We wanted to offer them a quality product at an affordable price.

“We keep costs down by using transfers or vinyl, which we apply with a heat press. Screen printing is great for large quantities, but this system works well for our customers, who might only want a handful of tee shirts – or even just one!”

“We initially turned to Orvia’s business advisers for some much needed advice”.

Linda said: “One of the key things for us was learning about cash flow. It made us realise that we had to consider how much we needed to charge for each tee-shirt and how many we would have to sell. The advice was invaluable.”

“Once we had got the business up and running we turned our thoughts to expansion and thanks to our business plan, which Orvia helped us with, we managed to secure a further injection of cash of £5,000 from the Rosebud fund.”

“This paid for a web-site and allowed us to take our next big step – taking on staff. Now we have one employee, a graphic designer and aim to take on a second person as the business grows.”

“We’re doing really well with orders coming in from all over the country. Our biggest customers are people having stag and hen parties, but we also supply for fun runs, corporate events and schools.”

Fashion has long allowed people to create a personal statement about themselves and, through social media, one entrepreneur, Tony Smith, believes he can take this a step further by building an online community that allows individuals to interact and network, using fashion as the conduit.

“I graduated from the University of Central Lancashire as a graphic designer and I have worked in this field for five years creating websites, graphics and corporate identities. I decided to start Friendtrend following a previous venture into a new social network which unfortunately fell through due to a lack of funding.

I developed Friendtrend which, being a fashion driven network, is a new concept for a social network. It gives people the opportunity to share with their friends and the world their favourite trends and styles and showcase their individual fashion sense and their favourite shops and brands.

The idea is to encourage our user-base to upload pictures of themselves to our website creating a gallery on their profile; this gallery will exhibit that person’s unique sense of style and fashion. Other users can then browse through these profiles and discover new brands and shops, or gather ideas for a look, or simply browse out of sheer curiosity.

When people create their account we give them the unique ability to select their favourite clothing brands, which appear on their profile as the brand company’s logo; these act as a clickable link through to that company’s website.

By doing this we can encourage major brands and retailers to become affiliated with the site and potentially increase their reach to thousands of other customers. Revenue for the site will be created initially through advertising on the site.

However, this journey has not been without its difficulties. Despite receiving help and support with the development of the business idea, I was struggling to get the business off the ground due to a lack of suitable and affordable finance which I think stemmed from the fact that people were struggling to get their head around my idea.

I was signposted to Orvia who really liked my idea and they helped me to get a loan from the Rosebud Micro Loan Fund to continue developing my online marketing campaign and support the initial operating expenses until the business developed an income stream.

Getting this loan has now allowed me to concentrate on my future plans for the business which include the launch of the Friendtrend website and the development of a mobile phone app allowing people to update their profiles whilst on-the-go”.

Orvia manages the Rosebud Micro Loan Fund on behalf of Lancashire County Council. Rosebud Micro offers loans between £2,000 and £10,000 to new and established businesses within Lancashire’s key growth sectors which have growth potential in terms of employment opportunities and/or turnover.