One Year On with Wholistic Life
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To kick-start our One Year On series for 2018, we have a very inspiring story from Susan Livingstone of Wholistic Life. Creating a business as a charity with the primary intention of helping young people come to terms with mental health issues and overcome difficulties in life to create a stable future is no easy task. But despite a few challenges along the way, Susan and her team have established a much needed resource in Scotland and have lots of great tips to share with other budding entrepreneurs.
We are a registered charity in Scotland and our aim is to help children and young people understand how their mind works and how their thoughts, feelings and actions can contribute to their daily mental health. This is an innovative approach and we were having difficulty in finding investors who would help us get it off the ground.
The traditional charity funders and local authorities clearly want new ways to deal with mental health issues, but also want evidence-based programmes. Applying for funding through these channels was too time consuming and very restrictive. We also wanted to open a wellness centre in our local community and finding funds to help with that was also very difficult. So, after many long internet searches I decided to use Start Up as the funds had to be fluid rather than restrictive.
We become incorporated in January 2017 and what a year it has been.
We have interacted with over 1000 young people who have either gone through our MindPower programme or come along to a yoga or meditation class.
It is challenging work, it can be extremely lonely, and you must make some decisions that may not please a lot of people. Friends who you thought would support you can and do disappear and this can make you doubt what you are doing. But on the positive side, finding that confidence in yourself, the drive and the passion makes it all worthwhile. Accomplishing things that you set out to do is massively rewarding.
One thing I would do differently is keep a lot of my ideas to myself, too many people have opinions on things that they do not understand, and this can lead to you doubting yourself.
I would absolutely recommend a Start Up Loan from Transmit Start-Ups, the freedom this gives you to run with your idea is amazing. The free business support especially in the beginning is brilliant and having someone to turn to when you have a question is worth its weight in gold.
Be patient, not only with yourself but with your product or service. Everything evolves and it takes time. Don’t measure yourself against anyone else, growth takes patience.
"We’re delighted to be the 2000th loan recipients!"