JOINING THE DOTS TO BUILD A BUSINESS
UNEMPLOYED for months on end and having applied for more than 1,000 jobs in his hometown of Plymouth, Brandon Hulcoop, 22, was despairing. But now, having taken a Prince’s Trust course, which helps young unemployed people set up a business, Brandon, who is visually impaired, has his own company.
What does your business do?
All Things Dotty aims to help visually impaired people and their families in any way we can.
We provide accessible menus for restaurants, Braille and largeprint greetings cards, tactile colouring books, and a new tactile photograph service where people can experience their favourite memories through touch.
How did you come up with the idea?
From a very young age, I knew that I couldn’t read and write print, meaning that I couldn’t get hold of important information in the same way as sighted people.
My condition means that although my eyes work, the messages can’t reach my brain as my optic nerves aren’t long enough. I learned Braille, and now I’m a prolific user of it. I couldn’t live without it. But even now, there is still information that I can’t access.
I can’t read menus. I still can’t read noticeboards, official letters, even certain older books that haven’t been transcribed into Braille. I want to change that.
What do you love about it?
I really enjoy the challenges, whether it’s solving something unusual with a menu or an Excel spreadsheet with images. I enjoy trying to figure out how to make it work.
I love the fact that we provide so much for visually impaired people and have such a massive catalogue, but my favourite bit has to be the production side – packaging up the finished product for dispatch is so satisfying.
What are the challenges?
I can’t see, so I struggle with anything visual such as finding the best images, creating colouring book and menu covers, and trimming and folding the cards. Sometimes I put Braille inserts in upside down, but I’m getting better.
Possibly the biggest challenge is that I only have evenings and weekends to run the business, as I work in the local job centre during the day.
This can cause havoc when it comes to contacting new customers and posting orders that have a tight deadline.
Despite this, my financial situation is better than it was and I hope that I’ll be able to focus more on my own business in the next year or so, once it takes off.
How hard was it trying to find work?
I was constantly looking for jobs, applying every single day, spending all day at the computer.
I went to about 50-60 interviews and was turned down from every single one, either because I didn’t have the experience or because of my disability.
Many companies couldn’t get past the fact that I’m visually impaired. I began to lose hope and I ended up in a sticky situation. Sometimes I just didn’t see the point, but Mum and Dad, with the help of my dog Bentley, helped pull me round.
Despite my visual impairment, I don’t let it stop me from living my life and grabbing every opportunity life throws at me.
What turned things around for you?
I heard about The Prince’s Trust in a meeting with my work coach at the time. I was feeling frustrated because I’d been unemployed for at least nine months and still hadn’t found a job.
I was only joking when I said, “All I need is an embosser, and I can set up my own business!”
Little did I know that my work coach was already on the case and, 10 minutes later, I had a call from The Prince’s Trust, asking for some basic information.
They gave me invaluable training on how to set up a business. When I started last April, I certainly didn’t think that it would go as far as it has.
We now have so many possibilities in the pipeline and I feel that anything’s possible.
What are your ambitions?
I’d love to be able to get to the stage where All Things Dotty can support me full time. I’d like the business to continue growing until it reaches a national level.
I like to think that by 2026, I’ll be transcribing menus into Braille for big restaurant chains across the country, converting bus stop signs and timetables into Braille, and so much more.