Ollila Law: Making positive changes following the Aston Programme for Small Business Growth
By Fiona Cockburn, director of Ollila Law
OUR Warwickshire-based small business, Ollila Law, has made a number of positive changes to its operations after taking part in the Aston Programme for Small Business Growth, which is part funded by ERDF.
Ollila Law, which is based in Warwickshire, is an international intellectual property firm that specialises in filing patent applications at the UK Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office and together with our US office we are able to provide one solution for European and US intellectual property protection.
Following the programme I have made a number of changes to the business to support growth.
The programme has given me the confidence to implement my plan for growth.
I have removed a few obstacles that were holding us back, changed accountants, moved to new premises and we are about to launch a new business – Granite IP.
The programme provides you with the tools to grow your business. It was fantastic and I have already recommended it to other business owners.
On the programme there were a number of workshops, such as Finance for the Business Leader, Growth and Goals, and How to Pitch, that were specifically developed to support small businesses like mine.
The workshops gave me the confidence to pursue my new idea of Granite IP.
They enabled me to put together a workable, well thought-out business plan.
The finance sessions gave me a much greater understanding of how the finances of my business work, and they helped me interpret the figures.
The programme also gave us access to a business mentor and mine was great as he gave me huge amounts of support and advice.
It was also good to work closely with other participants in a peer group as we were able to discuss and work through similar business challenges and situations.
The programme gave me a great network of support, a fantastic mentor and an invaluable toolkit of strategies to apply to my business.
Following the Aston Programme for Small Business Growth, I now have a better understanding of the financial side of the business. I am also able to identify, implement and monitor key performance indicators, which is really important.
The programme has given me the confidence to grow my business.
My new company, Granite IP Ltd provides a pre-grant formalities support service to intellectual property professionals. Replacing the traditional in-house formalities team, it provides qualified intellectual property paralegals to complete the formalities function of the intellectual property protection process.
For more details on Ollila Law and Granite IP visit: http://www.olgip.com/.
