Opportunities for the events industry from North & East Bristol Support

During the 2020 pandemic lots of industries were hit quite severely, but for the events industry, the effects were devastating. That was when Bristol Events and Project Manager, Katie Dane, found herself at a crossroads. With a lot of uncertainty ahead, she decided to take the brave steps out into the world of self-employment.

Katie explains, ‘’I worked as an Events & Project Manager for the last 15 years, specialising in working with small businesses. I quickly realised that my skills and experience were perfectly suited to business administration, plus I get to use all of my skills in one role!’’

So in January 2021, Katie launched Katie Dane Virtual Assistant. Katie said ‘’I work with sole traders, start-ups and small businesses creating time for them to focus on growing their business. My clients include personal trainers, business & life coaches, plumbers, hypnotherapists, tech companies and festivals.’’ Katie covers everything from admin tasks, through to design, finance and ‘having a good old laugh!’’

Katie enrolled onto North and East Bristol Support and was given immediate access to Outset and Outset Online, the e-learning platform for start-up businesses. It was here she started to take advantage of the wealth of learning resources. We ask Katie what in particular she used the platform for and she responded ‘’I have received help with 1:1 meetings, networking, online courses and help with marketing/business strategies.’’

Once enrolled onto NEBS, Katie also reached out to one of our specialist Advisors for a 1:1 to discuss her strategy and gain advice on how to finetune her branding and messaging to reach her target client base. Katie also attended Get Social | Bristol Women’s Network, a dedicated networking group for Bristol based women business owners to meet and openly discuss challenges and opportunities for business owners amongst peers and business advisors.

The last six months have seen Katie go from strength to strength. She says, ‘’the support I have received has been incredible. So much amazing information and courses. It has been key helping me getting my business to the next level, and is making such a positive impact on my business.’’

We’re so proud of Katie taking the leap of faith and starting up her own venture. We’ll continue to support and help her through the Outset Online platform. Starting a business can be tough but we asked Katie if it was worth it and she had this to say, ‘’I love helping businesses achieve their goals and watching them succeed, so this is my dream job!’’