Be Your Own Boss

“What a chilled and relaxed environment. It was great not to feel judged and that we could all have our own ambitions for our business. Mine is on a tiny scale at the moment – with big ideas - others are going full-out, but it worked for all of us.”

Be Your Own Boss is a free, online Self-Reliant Group, for people in Leeds, to think through the personal, financial, and operational considerations of becoming self-employed/setting up your own business, and to have the key features of a business plan in place. Be Your Own Boss is designed for people who are unemployed, under-employed and/or who’d like to set up on their own. Feedback from 150 people who have done the Be Your Own Boss programme indicates that it's also really good for people who are unconfident, have had 'life wobbles' or are facing mental health challenges (this is why our enrolment questionnaire asks for details about this!)

You don’t need to have prior experience or a business plan – just an idea or ambition to be your own boss one day, and the commitment to see this through for 3 months.

· Meeting online every Tuesday (except school holidays) starting with a hello on Tuesday 16th September 2025 from 11am til 12noon and for ‘real’ from 23rd September.

· You must agree to attend all sessions and complete this course.

· All sessions will be on ZOOM (we’ll help you set this up if you don’t know how, and we might be able to lend you a tablet if you don’t have a computer).

· Each session includes a business module and a group meeting to review learning and share progress.

· For over 18s (contact Trust Leeds if you are under 18, we still might be able to help you).

The actual workshops are once a week and last 2 hours and 30 minutes (including a break!).

· And if you like, there’s weekly online business ‘Coffee Club’ for an hour or so, to go through questions you may have, chat with other people about their plans, and check-in.

· We expect you to also do a bit of your own research, thinking and writing up notes between the weekly meetings.

· We give you a Workbook with straightforward worksheets to help you get organised.

· You can make your own notes in whichever way works for you.

· Because it’s an online course, you need more than a phone… a laptop is great, and if you don’t have one then we might be able to lend you a tablet and wi-fi.

At the end of the 12 weeks, you will:

a) Have your own basic business plan.

b) Be part of your own virtual ‘Be Your Own Boss’ Self-Reliant Group.

c) Become a member of our monthly Be Your Own Boss Coffee Club network, which meets online or in the city centre for mutual business support and encouragement.

d) Be part of a Leeds and a UK-wide network of Self-Reliant Groups having ongoing access to peer support, enterprise workshops, ideas, opportunities and skills development.

e) Be eligible to apply for a small Trust Leeds loan.

Follow us on socials to find out more about what we do!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrustLeeds/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trustleeds/

TikTok: trust.leeds

This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.