Clients can avail of FREE advice, training and mentoring as well as IT support and help to access grants and small business loans.

Under the Start a Business Programme, Cookstown Enterprise Centre Ltd. offers a business advisory service, where an expert business counsellor will work with individuals on a one-to-one confidential basis.

The short training course is designed to help the entrepreneur understand the practicalities of running their own business. In particular it will highlight sales and marketing, financial management, legal and statutory issues, and general business practices.

In addition, the programme offers a financial planning service to highlight potential sources of funds which includes access to programme grant support and small business loans. Participants can also avail of ICT mentoring and support.

Finally, individuals will be guided in the preparation of their own Business Plan and they can avail of a FREE Advisory Service to assist them during their first year of trading.

The programme is ongoing with courses running monthly.

Bella Rosa

Isobel Fischer and Roisin McGuckin recently set up a new business in Cookstown having completed the Start a Business Programme at Cookstown Enterprise Centre.

Trading as Bella Rosa, the promoters are fully qualified and experienced florists and retail a variety of floral bouquets and arrangements for a wide variety of occasions including weddings, funerals, birthdays and christenings, as well as conferences and other corporate events.

Commenting on the Start a Business Programme Roisin said ‘The support we received was invaluable in helping us to get started. We found the training and financial planning aspects of the programme particularly beneficial and we would certainly recommend the programme to others’.

Bella Rosa can be found next to Garden World on the Dungannon Road.

To hear more about the Go-For-It Start a Business Programme contact Dana McKeown at Cookstown Enterprise Centre Ltd.

The ‘basics of selling on ebay’ course offered training to Cookstown businesses on how to master the are of making money on ebay. The course was delivered by Mr Michael Hughes Managing Director of Hughes Galleries the only trained and approved ebay education specialist in Ireland.

The training which is for small and medium sized businesses within the Cookstown area, will cover amongst other things how to register on ebay, how to research , buy and sell on ebay plus how to spot scams and avoid them. Ebay is a global online marketplace with 212 million registered users spanning over 33 countries. Sales on ebay this year will top £25billion and around 1 million users make all or most of their income on it.Emma Hawthorne from course sponsor NIE added; “This is an excellent opportunity for local business owners to learn how to increase their sales and take advantage of export opportunities.”

Recent research conducted indicates that Northern Ireland companies are at the bottom of internet usage and online selling which is also true for ebay sales.

Pictured are participants from local businesses who took part in the recent E Bay course with Mr Ciaran Higgins, Manager Cookstown Enterprise Centre and Mr Michael Hughes Managing Director of Hughes Galleries Ltd.

Ciaran Higgins, Manager of Cookstown Enterprise Centre added: “Northern Ireland small businesses are missing out on significant online domestic sales and export opportunities.”

All of the business people on the course said how useful they found the course and how useful they found it and many expressed an interest in attending a more advanced course , if it is available in the future.