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Finding their niche
Starting your own business is just the career change many people choose.
Even if you start a world-first sofa business, there’s not much time to sit around.
When Patrick was made redundant, he and wife Olivia decided to start their own business.
It was a big decision for the family of five, and they wanted to do it with some security for their family.
They reached out to APM for support to build their business through the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), now called the Self-Employment Assistance program.
The program helps eligible job seekers set and run their own small business.
Participants have access to one-on-one business advice and mentoring for 12 months, along with a range of hands-on trainings.
Creating My Nook
Olivia and Patrick had support from their NEIS consultant Isaac throughout their time in the program.
For them, definitely everything has changed” Isaac said.
“There's more freedom, they can have flexibility, they're their own boss, they can spend time with their family.”
“Dealing with Isaac, he was really able to guide us on the areas of our business that were the most important for us to drill down into” Olivia said.
Their Australian-made My Nook Play Sofa is the proud winner of the prestigious Gold Accolade in the Product Design category of the 2021 Australian Good Design Awards.
“For us working, NEIS with APM gave us the structure and the security that we needed to be able to really build a successful business” Olivia said.
“I would definitely recommend the NEIS program to anyone looking at starting a small business.”