Charlotte Dalton : Charly's News Angels

After qualifying, I became a trainee journalist at The Daventry Express Newspaper, Northants. I stayed there for three years, but soon got itchy feet and found that feature writing was my strength so looked for roles specialising in this field.

I applied for a feature writer position at a national press agency in Birmingham, which I got and immediately loved what I was doing. Securing stories for national publications was a lot more exciting than life at a weekly paper, but it wasn’t long before I realised I would be able to do my job on my own and be able to offer better deals to people for their stories as well as making more money for myself in the long run. With three years experience under my belt, I had built up a great list of contacts who were keen to still work with me.
I didn’t have any savings at all when I decided to go on my own. I was confident I was more than competent at what I was doing, but had never had to deal with the monetary side of things before, so setting up on my own was a daunting thought.

I didn't know where to even start but my dad had recently started up a new business at Electric Wharf – and had heard about LEGI (Local Enterprise Growth Initiative) who operate in Coventry and suggested that I give them a call to see if there was any one I could talk to about getting some advice on starting up and they had then referred me to WBDA.

I didn’t have a clue about tax returns or any of the in’s and out’s of business, really. WBDA suggested different courses I could attend to receive for free business advice. It was a great opportunity to meet other young women who were in the same situation as me and gave me the confidence that I was doing the right thing. My business advisor, Michelle, gave me ideas on how to push my business forward. I wanted to find ways of getting people to come to me with their stories, so needed help with a marketing strategy. I had no idea any financial help was available, but was delighted to discover I could apply for a grant to help with start up costs of the business and also possibly some funding towards a website.

WBDA helped me find the confidence I needed to make my business work. My main concern was money and also I was keen to put some new ideas into fruition to make my business different to other similar businesses out there. I was given a lot of encouragement, when I discussed my ideas and received really positive feedback.

I feel a lot more confident and under less stress as I know that I have a good business support and advice on hand whenever I need it. I know I will be encouraged, even if I have a slow month or two, to keep going. I’m delighted I have the opportunity to get help with a website as this means my business will be able to go forward a lot more quickly then I ever could have wished which ahs left me feeling positive about what I can achieve.

I just had to take the plunge, but with support from my family, friends and WBDA I was able to realise my dreams!

For more information about Chary's News Angels please email on charlotte@charlysnewsangels.co.uk