An entrepreneur has turned his business skills to supporting start-up companies after successfully setting up and growing several companies himself.
Dave Gardner has founded Launch Control, a ‘Business in a Box’ service and a programme that Dave, of Hilderstone, near Stone, describes as a business concierge where fledgling owners are carefully guided through all the actions needed to set up their companies.
“I guess I could be described as entrepreneurial,” said Dave. “I began earning money cleaning the stairwells of the flat blocks on our estate while at school and then bought a moped which gave me the freedom to expand that into a small business, cleaning offices and rugby clubs.”
From those humble beginnings, Dave built a specialist industrial cleaning company, with customers including BMW, Airbus and DAF Trucks.
The business developed systems to clean and maintain the spray booths of large manufacturers and its services became the industry leader. This later resulted in Dave setting up an online chemical sales company, which rapidly grew to record over £1 million in annual sales. An additional online company selling imported logs also thrived under Dave’s guidance, quickly matching the chemical sales.
“I believe that I have learned an awful lot and I now want to focus on Launch Control, passing on my knowledge to others, while building a new company,” added Dave, aged 40.
Launch Control’s Business in a Box offers a full service containing all the early actions needed for a fledgling company at a fixed price. This includes registration at Companies House and with HMRC, accountancy software, internet domain name registration and initial web set up, email addresses, an introduction to business insurance and a start-up marketing blueprint.
The concierge service is an 18-month programme, with a monthly fee, and is tailored to each participants’ needs.
Explained Dave: “It starts with an initial consultation and fact-finding mission, which leads to recommendations on what measurable business activities are needed and why. For example, a starting point is an in-depth audit of costs and systems, which will identify strengths and weaknesses. We then build the bespoke service from that point.”
To find out more about Launch Control, please go online to www.launchcontrol.ltd.
ENDS
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