Celebrating Welsh Start Ups: Riley Sporting Memories 

06/02/23

Business in Focus proudly recognises local Welsh start-ups and celebrates their journey to success in this series of columns. This week, we present to you,Riley Sporting Memories, Goods and Products.

Established during the lockdown by Ian Williams, Riley Sporting Memories, Goods and Products specialises in sports related framing, memorabilia, trophies, gifts, books, and cards. Ian’s store has a wide selection of books, soaps that they manufacture themselves, candles that are produced locally and other gifts that had a local sports theme to them.

Like most entrepreneurs, Ian had his doubts about starting his own business and questioned whether he would be able to do it. Having a background in construction, running a business was far from his field of knowledge.

For Ian, his biggest challenge was having an idea but not knowing where to go or who to approach. He said, “If you work in construction like I did, this is a totally different avenue to go down. How do you do it? I really didn’t know where to begin or how to get started.”

“After some research, I approached Focus Newtown Enterprise Hub and reached out to their business advisors. There were a lot of things to think about but the main focus for me was to understand how to survive, how to make money from the business and keep it going.”

Ian first learnt how to prepare a cashflow analysis and create a business plan. He then attended courses that were on offer at the Hub on marketing and social media management to learn how to market his business. Ian credits the Hub for helping him boost his confidence and his understanding of how to use social media as he believes that it has been crucial for his business.

If you have a dream to create a business, we can support you.