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How to maintain a work/life balance as an entrepreneur


    London libraries are transforming the way ideas grow into successful businesses. By partnering with ten London boroughs, we are developing a community of new and existing business owners, which is free to join and open to everyone. Whether you are just setting out, need advice on protecting your intellectual property, or simply have a brilliant idea you want to discuss, we're here to guide you. Since April 2020, we have offered all of our Start-ups in London Libraries' services online, including our core workshops and virtual one-to-ones with our borough Business Champions, many of whom will be hosting sessions during Start-up Day. To find out more about Start-ups in London Libraries and how to join our thriving business community, visit bl.uk/SiLL.

    Running your own business can give you greater control over when you work and how you do things, but it’s not easy finding the right balance between work and personal commitments.

    Join award-winning social entrepreneur, Dr. Yuliana Topazly, to hear about her story and learn some tips about how best to manage your work/life balance.

    This session is particularly beneficial for parents with start-up businesses who are currently balancing responsibilities in multiple arenas during these challenging times.

Speakers

Dr. Yuliana Topazly

Enterprise Educator, Business Adviser, Mentor and an award winning social entrepreneur

More Events

Lunch and learn – swap skills for starting-up


Do you ever find it hard to ask for help? What if you could swap something you were good at in exchange for support in the subject you need it in most.

Just like swapping pre-loved clothes and goods, come along to swap and share your experiences and expertise. Set up in the early weeks of the initial lockdown last year, local entrepreneurs and friends, Rachel Hayward and Lee Marples, formed a not-for-profit to revive the fun and informality from the seventies show, The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. The idea is simple – register online and get to meet other people looking to progress and learn in a peer-to-peer community.

From its beginnings in Derby, then to Nottingham and Leicester, the digital marketplace is now UK-wide and sees hundreds of new swaps posted monthly.

You might be looking for someone to help set up a new Instagram account for you and can offer up a monthly cake selection box from your baking business in return? Or even swap copy-writing for accounting?

Join us for this special, interactive session over lunchtime where we invite you to listen in and consider how to work with, and help, one another.

We’re looking to seal some deals and build up your support network.

Getting started with your sales strategy

Your idea becomes a business once you have those first customers and cash flow. It sounds simple, but in reality there are many complexities to defining how you will draw in customers, retain their loyalty and continue producing profit. In this session you can get to grips with the essential early decisions needed to set out how much it will cost to deliver your products and services, how to determine what price to charge and how to keep people coming back for more. And importantly, we will discuss how you can do all of this with heart and the social impact front and centre.

You will hear from the 2020 winner of The Small Awards’ Bricks and Clicks category, MODO Creative who have experimented and evolved an impressive multi-channel sales strategy.

MODO Creative also focus on the idea that a money-making business can also be community-forging and impactful. They will discuss how you might consider independent makers, designers and services to pass on sales further down the supply chain and keep them retained within the small business community.

Karen Campbell from The Small Awards will be on hand to outline some tips and best practice as well as moderating the interview.

Though you may be starting small at the beginning, join us to learn about some clever ways to cultivate a winning customer experience for your walk-in and online audience.

The Beat Goes On: Black Voices in the British Music Industry


In celebration of the British Library’s “Beyond the Bassline” exhibition, we’ve assembled some ground-breaking Black entrepreneurs who’ve transformed the British music industry to share the secrets of their success, including the highs and lows of their entrepreneurial journeys.

At £2.5 billion, the UK is home to Europe's most valuable digital music economy (Statista, 2021, 2023). However, despite the undeniable contribution of Black music artists and entrepreneurs to these figures, 2021’s Black Lives in Music report found that among Black music professionals, 73% experienced direct or indirect racism and noted disparities in respondent’s earnings and ability to gain music funding.

As part of our Inspiring Entrepreneurs series, this event provides a unique chance to hear our panel discuss the challenges and realities of the industry and share their experiences leveraging their creative talent to drive positive change for other artists and innovators. So if you’re thinking about starting a business, or already running one, join us to gain insight into their journey – or simply be inspired!

On the day, you can expect to:

Examine how entrepreneurship has evolved in the music industry, focusing on the journey of Black music in Britain and how this has been impacted by trends and other cultural shiftsLearn how music artists and creatives are transforming wider popular culture and redefining BlacknessAnalyse diverse business models utilized in the industryDiscover new opportunities and potential pitfallsPut your specific questions to our expert panel.

In conversation with Irene Agbontaen, founder of TTYA London

In this, the second of our two Inspiring Entrepreneurs interviews on Start-up Day, we meet and hear from Irene Agbontaen, founder of fashion brand TTYA London, in conversation with Anis Qizilbash.

Irene’s company TTYA - or Taller Than Your Average - is a fashion apparel brand for taller women, supplying a market that Irene - standing at 5’11’’ - knew was underserviced. TTYA launched in Selfridge’s in 2013, becoming their first tall-specific brand. TTYA has gone on to have a home in Barneys New York and was the first pioneering tall brand to debut on ASOS.com. Irene’s designs have been worn by major celebrities.

In this discussion Irene will be speaking about how she has navigated the industry and gone on to secure contracts with major stockists whilst keeping a very strong commitment to herself, her beliefs about inclusivity and to the essence of the business. There will also be lots of practical advice about how to truly be the face and voice of your brand, and how social media, e-commerce, endorsements and collaborations are all just as much a part of modern businesses as much as planning, accounting and sales.

Whether you are starting up in fashion, or another sector, you may find yourself being expected to change and conform to fit in with the establishment. Irene talks powerfully about her inner voice to resist this and how that, ultimately, has strengthened the business. For TTYA’s first catwalk show at Lagos Fashion Week in 2018 it was a team comprised solely of women of colour that went with her.

We all face a very challenging retail landscape in the light of the pandemic and changes in consumer spending. We’ll talk to Irene about how TTYA has faced this past year and what the future holds. Having played just a small role in TTYA’s story at the beginning, as Irene accessed stats on consumers from our market research databases to help progress her business, the BIPC is so happy to work with Irene again to inspire you as you begin your business now.

How to maintain a work/life balance as an entrepreneur


London libraries are transforming the way ideas grow into successful businesses. By partnering with ten London boroughs, we are developing a community of new and existing business owners, which is free to join and open to everyone. Whether you are just setting out, need advice on protecting your intellectual property, or simply have a brilliant idea you want to discuss, we're here to guide you. Since April 2020, we have offered all of our Start-ups in London Libraries' services online, including our core workshops and virtual one-to-ones with our borough Business Champions, many of whom will be hosting sessions during Start-up Day. To find out more about Start-ups in London Libraries and how to join our thriving business community, visit bl.uk/SiLL.

Running your own business can give you greater control over when you work and how you do things, but it’s not easy finding the right balance between work and personal commitments.

Join award-winning social entrepreneur, Dr. Yuliana Topazly, to hear about her story and learn some tips about how best to manage your work/life balance.

This session is particularly beneficial for parents with start-up businesses who are currently balancing responsibilities in multiple arenas during these challenging times.

Michael Cashman

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