Business Startup

Flying Start Parenting Magazine was fist published in 2003 by a partnership which included Amanda Brown. Over five years the magazine grew in strength and readership across the North West but problems in the partnership resulted in the liquidation of the company. Despite this setback, Amanda still had great faith in the magazines potential which looked at subjects such as pregnancy, child birth, early years’ development and parenthood and decided to set up her own company. She recruited a small sales team from the aforementioned business to help re-launch the publication.

In 2008 Amanda contacted Enterprise4All who helped asses the company’s needs and to produce a series of recommendations. These addressed the development of a more structured business plan and specific issues such as cash flow, recruitment and profitability. Amanda’s previous publishing experience had enabled her to develop vital business skills but the additional support allowed her to introduce effective systems that she and her team would be able to sustain as the company developed.

The input from Enterprise 4All helped Amanda’s business become more successful than she previously thought possible. The ‘new look’ magazine was re-launched in November 2008, this time under the banner of Amanda’s Magenta Press. Amanda now employs two members of staff and as a team they deal with the artwork, editing, distribution and sales. The team had no difficulty in exceeding their initial sales forecasts and Amanda now made plans to launch two sister publications.

Flying Start Your Home will be launched later this month dealing with homes & lifestyle issues and will be distributed free via direct mail. The third publication will be launched later this year.

“This has been a very rewarding process,” notes Amanda. “I had never set up a business alone before, so being the only decision maker was new and challenging. It's been a great success, though, with the magazine showing itself to be profitable from day one. We've learnt a lot and we're confident of many years of further growth.”

For more information about Flying Start Parenting Magazine or its sister publications, please visit www.flyingstartmagazine.co.uk