Lancashire couple Mark Fenwick and Carol Anne Strange, made the decision to pool their experience in freelance writing, photography and publishing to set up Red Arc Media from their home. Carol talks to Startups.co.uk about how they’re getting on.

Name: Carol Anne Strange & Mark Fenwick
Age: 40-somethings
Business: Red Arc Media
Type of Business: Freelance writing and photography for print and Internet media; newsletters, promotional materials and books for businesses.
Start Date: August 2004.

When did you first decide you wanted to start your own business?
Mark and I have been self-employed for many years previous to setting up Red Arc Media. I’ve been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years and Mark ran a cycling store before making the decision to work in the creative industries.

Tell us about your business
Red Arc Media provides content – words and images – mainly for print and internet media. We also produce newsletters for a variety of companies such as the Inspiration Club at www.inspiringlife.co.uk , taking care of every aspect from editorial through to design and production of final copy. We are also about to embark on publishing books, but this is more of a longer term project.

Was it your first business and where did it come from?
No, we’ve both been involved in various businesses before but when we got together a few years ago we decided to pool our experience and skills. Initially, we explored a variety of creative approaches but have evolved into Red Arc Media.

Was your decision to start a business inspired by other companies or individuals?
Although we are inspired by many people, particularly those who have made such a difference such as Anita Roddick, we started our business because we wanted the freedom to be creative and the flexibility to live a more balanced lifestyle. Ultimately, as clichéd as it may sound, we hope to be able to put something back into the world either simply by inspiring other people through words and pictures or by using some of our profits to set up creative initiatives or help charitable concerns.

Once you decided to start a business, what did you do first?
Hours upon hours of planning!

What research did you do?
As the industry we’re in is quite competitive, we did (and still do) lots of market research. Equally, we carefully considered our strengths, specialist areas and the type of work we wanted to get involved with.

Does the government need to provide more help to people trying to start a business?
Anyone contemplating self-employment needs all the help and support they can get. There should be more grant schemes at a local level for all types of business. Self-employed people work far longer hours than most, so any support systems would be welcome. Also self-employed people should have better access to obtaining mortgages and other financial services.

Talk us through the process of writing your business plan
As we didn’t need finance, we didn’t write an official business plan. Instead, we created a loser blueprint for ourselves with SWOT analysis and development plans.

How useful has your business plan been and do you think you’ll stick to it as your business grows?
With the nature of our business, even the best laid plans change. We have weekly meetings to discuss projects and any issues and these keep us up to date and aware of any changing needs. We regularly set goals and targets as a motivational tool.

How much did it cost to start the business?
About £5,000 – computers, printers, software, digital camera – it all adds up.

How did you fund this?
We used our own funds.