Hi everyone my name is Ian I am a TBI suffer that happened many years ago I am wondering to my self now.... Clearly after sitting in my chair looking at the screen an wondering what I want when I don't know what I want... Like wait get this I learned to cook well it was a catering caurse I was 16 and I would burn everything and wanted to do it with out burning or just to learn because of the fact I couldn't cook... Am now 38 and I want to be my own boss making pies and so on I don't mean like the pies you can buy from local sainsburys or other shops I mean a well meaty beef an ale pie with puff pastry I think I am dreaming a little because clearly from the age 20 I wanted to do noble catering and that was just a something that I wanted to do but clearly I have the skills and I am wasting them on nothing I can't let my skills just go like this I need to do something but if I have to open a business I have no idea what am doing clearly I what to be successful and pass something down to my children after all there future is what I am thinking off... Just how do I manage to get all this out up and running and so on... I was also looking in to running an paintball business the amount of money they take in I mean my sons 11th birthday I had spent nearly 1000 pound just on paintballs for the day a full day from 10 till 5
The thing is what do I want am I meant to be where Jamie Oliver is I could have been something like him but hey I didn't finish that catering degree pulled out last year of finals at the age of 17 an if I had finished I would have been something my name would finally mean something cooking books and merchandise with my name on them i know I would have to have a few staff but where do I find them I don't fancy some know it all show off who's just qualified I mean over the years I have pushed and pushed my self to be better an become better I showed one head chef how much better I was an then quit my job because I was been bullied an picked on because they said I was taking to long to make my mind up an so on but it felt good that the head chefs face well that look was priceless now I see he's no longer a head chef he runs his little coffee shop and I know why because he saw something in my talent as I did something that wasn't on the menu and some staff had tried it they asked chef did you do this.... Then I said him make that why don't make me giggle he makes what's all ready made like the stuff that comes in packets and the haha bar and grill fish fingers and he said well at least I can make them and on that note I said I rest make case and walked out as slow as I could mind been nicknamed the sloff.
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thrillseeker
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I have a young couple living opposite who run a thriving business ; just the two of them preparing their own produce at home each night and selling it from a catering vehicle the following day at various popular beauty spots.
They're very organised, having built the business up from scratch to the point where they're setting of each day around 8am and getting back around 6pm after selling out.
I was curious about how they manage to survive during winter months and they laughed and told me that plenty of folk continue to visit during the cold weather and are extremely grateful for hot drinks, hot soup and home-made hot pasties & pie.
They've been successful for several years now and, so long as the fare remains good and the hygiene is apparent, it looks like they're sorted for life.
These days the advice for any small start up seems to be to find your "something", keep it simple and do it really well ...so if making steak and ale pie is your thing, concentrate on becoming THE steak and ale pie man...and the rest will follow.
It could be easier than you think to give this a try. You would need to get your kitchen inspected by the local authority and you would need a food handling and hygiene certificate (if you don't already have current certification) but once that is done and you register with HMRC (they can talk you through that part and its not as scary as it sounds) you are ready to go.... and can start making and selling pies...
Couldn't agree more with the above posts! If you found your 'thing', then go for it. You'll soon find out if you're good enough or not (you clearly are) as the public will have their say.
Go for it, have a little chat with our resident photographer on the site, now running her own studio, I wrote a couple of books long ago in about 1756; but the lesson is, you CAN do it if you want it badly enough.
Having a dream is a wonderful thing as it can motivate us to transcend many of our self-imposed and actual limitations.
However, brain injury sufferers do have to take additional account of how their injury has affected them, and determine how to work round the additional limitations we have. Indeed, more than uninjured people, we have to be thoroughly honest in identifying and admitting those limitations.
Running a small business can be hard enough without an injury. If you have additional problems, such as slow cognitive processes or poor attention, then it becomes even harder. You have to recognize what you're particular problems are and try to find ways round them. In your case, you need to consider the slowness that you mention, how it manifests itself, the potential impact it could have upon what you want to do, and how you then might deal with it; for example having to employ somebody to organise and administer your business on a daily basis. Another difficulty many of us face is running out of mental "steam" very quickly, so if this is a problem you share, you need to work out how to deal with it and plan for it.
A military saying well worth remembering is "pretty poor planning precedes pretty poor performance" (except we don't say "pretty", but this is a family forum ... ). Just to make life interesting, it's just as true that overplanning and micromanaging leads to the same undesirable outcome ("no plan survives contact with the enemy" is almost certainly true of complex, detailed and inflexible plans). So plan well.
Can't add much to the above posts other than see if your local council runs a business start up programme, they will give advice on what you have to put in place to get going, but you can run it from your own home initially as long as you have been inspected and hold a food hygiene certificate as already stated.
I had a colleague who started selling cakes to friends and work colleagues as a side, also had a market stall on a Sunday, now he works solely on that and is hoping to open a small shop when he finds the right location.
Good luck, Janet xx
As the resident, brain-injured, photographer (not the one that Baron mentioned, though!) I can't emphasise enough how important it is to a/ be honest about your limitations (and then work out how to compensate for them, perhaps with getting a business partner to look after the accounting/paperwork side of things) and b/ get yourself some business training. Running a small business is around 80% doing the business things common to all businesses and 20% (or less!) doing the thing that business is known for (in your case, making pies, in my case, pressing the shutter button!). There are local (free) business advice centres and courses for those setting up plus the HMRC runs (free) courses for the tax side of things. Best of luck!
I wouldn't kick yourself over not finishing the catering course - you did what was right for you at the time. Life has a habit of changing our direction for us, I can think of numerous occasions in my past when this has happened to me. E.G. After 6 years hard work I qualified with a BSc in psychology in September last year, in April this year I had an aneurysm that wiped out most of my knowledge from my years of study!
Good luck, follow your heart but be flexible would be my advice
The others have added the thoughts I missed in my first reply. I think that the extra challenges that having a BI brings are not insurmountable but are a jolly good reason for starting small and simple.
at least if you try you won't always be wondering "what if....! a local small business course is a great idea as a starting point...
Hi thrillseeker well a least you have goal in life and thinking of doing something, your passionate about, also very productive in which interests you, Follow your heart maybe try and draw a bussiness plan up, There are certain places you can apply to for a goverment funding loan,. But be precise in what you want to do, don't make a mistake in switching from one thing to another, focus either on pies or on paintballing. but not both. Start off small keep feeding the money back in to a pot or the bank for at least two years and just take your costs out.The thing is with catering premises it's not all cut and dry, The equipment is exspensive also theres the licence, food licence ect, Bussiness tax and variouse other overheads. Maybe franchise would be your best bet work from home, but still have to have a licence, And promote your pie's ect to office's to see how it goes. Or small deli's. Remember Allan Sugar started off small, selling fruit ect. If you have dream's it.s only you that can make them happen. I am to late for that, but you go for it, have faith in yourself. goodluck xxxx One thing i can give is confidence to other's even though i lack it myself, My son get's lots of praise from me, and i would encourage him to aim for goals . xxxxx
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). Just to make life interesting, it's just as true that overplanning and micromanaging leads to the same undesirable outcome ("no plan survives contact with the enemy" is almost certainly true of complex, detailed and inflexible plans). So plan well.
I know I'm daft, but...
I don’t know what I’m doing 
How do I get through this
what do i say how do i handle
