Starting Up Together: Fully Funded Support for Early-Stage Businesses
21 Oct 2025
So you’ve started your business, you’ve made sales and you’re doing everything you should – but if you’re honest it’s being a real slog and you’re not getting the results you hoped for.
Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck, pulled in a million directions – you’re swamped with advice and ‘this is what you need to do’ and the truth is you’re not sure what to do next.
The reality is, you’re not sure how much longer you can continue if something doesn’t change, you need to make your business sustainable with a reliable income and something that will grow to support you in the future.
If this sounds familiar you are not alone. Many business owners in their first couple of years feel exactly the same and that’s why we have created Starting Up Together.
What is it?
Starting Up Together is a peer-to-peer 6-month programme, fully funded by the Growth Hub, for those who are in the early stages of their business journey; typically you’ll have been trading for a couple of years, or part-time equivalent, but your business is your main focus and activity.
Each month you’ll join a small group of other founders (max 8) for:
- An interactive workshop on a practical topic like finding your ideal customer, getting confident with your numbers, or building resilience when things don’t go to plan. Where we will be sharing knowledge, expertise and experience in a very real and practical way.
- A peer-to-peer session, where you’ll have space to share challenges, swap ideas, and realise you’re not the only one feeling this way.
- Leave with a clear action plan of what you need to work on that month to achieve the progress you need to make.
On top of that, you’ll also get two 1:1 coaching sessions which is your opportunity to really explore your business in a confidential and safe space to enable you to achieve clarity in what you need to do next.
And you’ll be part of a supportive community, gaining confidence and knowledge amongst similarly minded business owners who understand the journey that you are on. A community that will last beyond the programme.
Why we created this programme
We have supported over 100 businesses with our peer-to-peer programmes and together coached 100s of businesses many of them early-stage business owners just like you; and we have found that there are often common issues that they come up against like:
- Struggling to find new clients or make sales
- Not knowing their clients/customers or where they are
- Being confident in themselves or their business
- Bouncing back from knock backs and curve balls
- Understanding or knowing their business numbers and why this is important
- How to get out there and finding their clients/customers
- Being clear about the right goals and taking the right action
We have found that when these issues are addressed it makes the most impact on the business, which is why we have created a specific programme to explore and address them.
Why this programme works
At it’s core YSBB is about bringing likeminded businesses together and helping them to grow in a very real and practical way. Not only have we coached 100s of small businesses, both of us are owners of small businesses – we definitely walk our talk!
Our interactive workshops are tailored to you and meet you where you are, they are rich in experience and knowledge and provide you with practical actions. As the old adage says ‘many heads are better than one!’.
Our peer-to-peer session enables you to explore challenges and opportunities in a fresh and open way, with no one telling you what to do, but with curiosity, understanding and compassion that enables you to come to your own answer.
About Philip and Andrea
Philip has over 35 years’ experience in hospitality including general and regional manager roles for major hotel groups. He now runs Mr B Hospitality supporting Hospitality businesses across the region, and is the founder of the Hospitality Junior Board, supporting new managers in Hospitality and helping change the perception of the sector.
Andrea is a Transformational Coach & Psychologist, delivering tailored coaching to business leaders and managers within SMEs at all levels for over ten years. She has been trained by some of the UK’s leading coaches, world leading psychologists and has an MSc in Psychology. She has helped hundreds of businesses grow, scale and improve their culture via training sessions and 1:1s. Andrea Morrison is a skilled group coaching and has a particular expertise in supporting women in enterprise. She is also the volunteer Regional Chair for the Federation of Small Businesses.
Event details
Each event will take place monthly, 10am to 1pm, in person on the following days:
- Tuesday 21 October – York
- Tuesday 18 November
- Tuesday 16 December
- Thursday 22 January
- Wednesday 25 February
- Wednesday 25 March
The first group session has been planned provisionally to take place in York, but future group sessions will be arranged at a time and location that suits the group of businesses who make up the cohort.