Side Hustles & Self Employment: How To Get Started In Business

Wednesday 22 October 2025

Whether you’re a student, have a health condition or disability that prevents you from working standard hours and shifts, are a carer, home-maker, retiree or aren’t employed and aren’t in receipt of work related benefits (eg, Job Seekers or PIP) - we want to hear from you!

Join our online Side Hustles & Self Employment: How To Get Started In Business workshop on Thursday, 23rd October from 10am to discover what valuable skills you already have that will be vital for developing your entrepreneurial idea.

From exploring, expanding and enhancing your business idea to finding out the secrets of how you can test your idea before you go to market, entrepreneur and trainer Tina Calder will show you all the essential practical tools and techniques you can use to develop your idea into a reality.

Along with local entrepreneur and mentor Katie Matthews-Furphy from the Mind Tribe UK and Inclusify Project, Tina and her team will help you identify what your business idea or self-employment journey might look like, how to identify your customers and understand what they want and need as well as looking out for the common pitfalls and risks and understanding how to prepare for them.

If you want to build your confidence in business or create your own self-employment personal development plan, we want to hear from you.

Together we will:
- Learn how to use your passion, talent or skill to be your own boss
- Understand what your customer looks like and what problem they want you to solve
- Figure out what you can sell and what your competitors are already doing
- Discover the practical tools entrepreneurs use to develop their ideas
- Create your own personal roadmap to success

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an idea you want to explore or you just like the sound of thinking about how you could take control of your own future. Come along and meet like-minded people in a relaxed, casual and informal setting.

You’ll also get to hear about the Go Succeed: Get Started In Business Programme and how you can apply for up to 10 hours mentoring and a financial assistant package.

Who is eligible to take part?
Economically inactive people are those who are not currently in work and not actively looking for a job. This can include people who are long-term sick or disabled, carers, parents without access to childcare, students, or those recovering from illness.

It can also include people who have stepped back from work due to confidence, transport, or digital barriers, as well as early retirees or those waiting for a change in circumstances before returning to employment.

The term also covers those caring for family members, managing long-term health conditions, studying full time, or taking time out for personal reasons. Many people in this group want to contribute but face barriers that make traditional employment difficult.

Typically, economically inactive people may or may not be in receipt of benefits but are considered outside the active labour market.

For more information on these sessions or the programme please contact projects@excaliburpress.co.uk, project leads Tina Calder (tina@excaliburpress.co.uk) or Alex Feher(alexandra@excaliburpress.co.uk)

This online workshop is delivered in partnership with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council as part of Go Succeed.