Just over a year on from launching Claire Savage Editorial, I’m delighted to announce that the next phase of my business development will be ‘hatched out’ with a little help from the Entrepreneurial Spark team. Yes, Claire Savage Editorial is moving into Belfast’s very first Hatchery, which will house up to 80 other local businesses and offer dedicated space for these entrepreneurs, or ‘Chiclets’, to grow.
So, what is a hatchery I hear you say? And a Chiclet? Well, there’s lots of great information and videos over on the Entrepreneurial Spark (E-Spark) website (linked above) which will tell you all you need to know about them and how to apply (yes, there’s still time!). However, essentially, the Hatchery is the open office space at Lombard House which will house the entrepreneurs selected to take part in the programme. 
The entrepreneurs are thus referred to as Chiclets. We will enter as Chiclets and emerge, or hatch, as fully flourishing businesses, buoyed by six months or more of business mentoring, boot camps and support which will help us into the future.
Aimed at developing entrepreneurs with a #GoDo attitude, E-Spark is offering all of this fantastic support absolutely free, but as we’ve been told repeatedly – it won’t be easy. But then, running a business never is.
My own E-Spark journey began when Ulster Bank’s Entrepreneur Development Manager, Lynsey Cunningham, spread word of the initiative and of a pitching opportunity at the launch event in Belfast via social media. (Ulster Bank is an E-Spark partner). I duly applied to do a 60-second pitch about my business, and was surprised but pleased to be chosen to do this. I didn’t win the prize on the day for the pitch, which was to attend a networking event the following day, but I was spurred on to apply for the programme after listening to E-Spark CEO, Jim Duffy, explain the ins and outs of it.
Giving my pitch at the E-Spark launch event.
Another great thing about E-Spark is that they don’t leave you hanging around. I applied the next day, Friday, and got word first-thing Monday morning that I’d been offered an interview slot… oh, and the chance to do another 60-second pitch. So, I revised my pitch to include more precise details about my business, and turned up ready to go three days later.
Unlike the previous week’s pitch, however, this one was a bit more informal, which I think actually threw me a little; the questions following prodding further into how Claire Savage Editorial operates, and my plans for the future. I left feeling very unsure of how I’d got on and suitably distracted myself by attending the Digital DNA conference in the Titanic Centre for the rest of the day! By 7.30pm that evening however, the email came through – I was a Chiclet!
As I say, these guys don’t hang around – and I like it. My E-Spark journey will subsequently begin in earnest in February 2016 and will last for six months, with the opportunity for some businesses to apply to stay on in the Hatchery. Having built up a level of success in my first year of business, I’m now ready to take it to the next stage, and I believe that E-Spark will be a real help with this. It’s also great that a fair few entrepreneurs who I already know through #BelfastHour and networking events have also been accepted onto the programme, so it will be great to share this experience with them, and to meet lots of new people.
Onwards!