Samira is a single parent on her own. However, this was not by choice, as her partner sadly passed away before their only child (son) was born. That was 12 years ago – in that time Samira did a degree, worked freelance for a production company and then for 5 years in a bank. She was working up until 2019 when her employer relocated and she was made redundant. She explored starting her own business with the support of Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government, however, Covid lock-downs put a stop to that! With this her financial situation was impacted negatively.

Samira hadn’t given up the idea of working for herself, wanting to be able to fit work in around her responsibilities as a single parent, so she began PRINTD Image in January 2022 on a small scale, selling bespoke printed items through an Etsy shop and social media platforms. She began with setting up a Print On Demand business model selling digital artwork and saw the potential to expand into a range of home-ware products (lamps, clocks etc). Her turnover was growing but she had started with no money behind her and could not finance the stock she needed to grow and cover the gap between Etsy sales and payments.

Due to her finances being negatively impacted by Covid-19 Samira had faced many barriers when trying to raise finance to help support/grow PRINTD Image. Purple Shoots saw the progress she had made already with her business and the potential she had, coupled with her courage and resilience, and offered her the finance she needed. She is now stocked up and ready for Christmas. You can find her on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=printdimage%20shop and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/printdimage/

Samira said: “I was frustrated that after all my years of working hard, I couldn’t get funding from anywhere just because I had struggled over the last couple of years. I am so pleased now to have my own business that is working and growing. “