LOAN RANGER
HOW BEING TURNED DOWN BY THE BANKS BECAME A BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR A BUSINESS START-UP…
There are more stories of people whose lives were transformed by ethical loan schemes this week in A Matter Of Life And Debt. We chatted to Marion Aylott, a nurse who changed careers to set up a hydrotherapy business for dogs, about her experience…
“I was a big fan of The Apprentice, but I never ever thought I would be interested in business!” she tells us. “But my dog Bilbo needed hydrotherapy and I was getting quite frustrated at work and it all sort of coincided – I went on a course to do Bilbo’s hydrotherapy myself and thought, ‘I could do this and have a second career’. I started looking for loans, but I had no success with high-street banks at all. And then I came across South West Investment Group and thought, ‘Well, I’ll put in a business plan, I’ve got nothing to lose’.” Through her involvement with the not-for-profit organisation, Marion was assigned experienced mentors who helped her to get a more professional perspective to hone her business plan and eventually make her ideas a reality.
“I think it was fortuitous that the banks turned me down,” she shares. “I was quite green in terms of starting or running a business, and I wouldn’t have got that help otherwise.”