Melissa James was an experienced and successful Estate Agent’s Business Developer and Valuer until the COVID shutdowns came and she was made redundant in 2020. Around that time she also lost her Father and the costs involved quickly used any remaining savings she had.

With a long contact list and well-developed skills the time was right to start afresh, but her bank would not support a speculative start-up and there seemed to be no chance of getting going. She did apply for a Government ‘barrier grant’ but that is paid only to refund expenditure already made.

Purple Shoots looked at her plans for a business and took note of her knowledge and her personality – important in a face-to-face business. The case she made for the equipment she needed made sense, so we agreed to cover the expenditure and advance some more to enable Melissa to make a proper start without pressure.

Melissa started and booked six house appointments straight away!