Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
New business launches to make managing money easy
The Business Centre –based at the ASIC within Wakefield College – is the new home of Flicker Associates Ltd and its owner Stephen Flicker. Stephen – who was the first client to move into the space in December last year - is developing a financial literacy course to help people, particularly students and housing association tenants, learn how to manage their money better.
Stephen has already developed presentations and a budgeting app to help people get to grips with managing their finances in a different way.
Stephen explained: “I spent my first 10 years of self-employment providing management accounting and consultancy services to businesses. Much of this involved preparing budgets, forecasts and financial models to help the businesses improve their financial performance.
“I thought that the same techniques could be applied to managing personal household budgets, and had the idea of developing something that would help individuals improve their financial situation. Across the country, personal debt is high and many are struggling to save for the things they need and want.”
Speaking about choosing his focus on schools and housing associations, Stephen said: “I originally developed a generic app. I then commissioned some research from MSc students, who found that university students had a need and desire to learn more about finance.
“Further research showed that schools have been urged to improve their curriculum around financial literacy and financial competence. In the social housing sector, housing associations have a social responsibility to their tenants and have an interest in them being financially secure and able to afford to pay their rent.”
Stephen has recently given presentations and demonstrations to a number of groups, including a class of 13-17 year old students and a group of young people not in education, employment or training. The reaction was positive.
He said: “We did a session on How to Make your Money Go Further: earning more money, spending less money, deferring expenditure, spending less frequently, etc. They came up with brilliant ideas. My next step is to have my money management course accredited by ASDAN – the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network - so that learners can gain credits towards their qualifications.”
Speaking about his decision to join the Wakefield Business Centre, Stephen said: “I was looking for help in the digital arena and to bolster my skills. I also needed some legal support to help with copyright and IP protection which, I was pleased to learn, was being offered free to clients of the Business Centre.
“I recognise my strengths are not in sales and marketing and I thought, by renting a desk in this modern high-tech space, I would come across others in business that could help me in this area. I’m pleased to say that this has actually happened: Lucy Brown at Rhubarb Revolution – who moved into the Business Centre in March – has helped me with social media, developing my Facebook page to reach specific audiences and I have helped Lucy with accounting systems.
Offering his advice to anyone considering starting their own business, Stephen added: “Don’t rush into things, do your research, take advice from experts, know your values and maintain your passion; and keep all these in balance. Also keep in mind the sage wisdom of Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: ‘start with the end in mind and put first things first’.”