An ambitious businesswoman is seeing her dreams come true thanks to a helping hand from Tim Campbell - a fellow Hackney entrepreneur who won a job with Hackney-born tycoon Alan Sugar on the hit BBC1 show The Apprentice.
Yvonne Dzikunu, who lives in Dalston, struggled to find full-time employment after graduating from the London Metropolitan University with an entrepreneurship degree in 2009.
The 29-year-old had always wanted to set up her own company one day, so decided to bite the bullet and launch her own cleaning business, Maid 4 Cleaning, last year.
She approached Tim Campbell’s charity, the Bright Ideas Trust, which helps people from disadvantaged backgrounds become entrepreneurs.
“The mentorship they gave me was the most important thing,” she said. “It was very valuable. They’re there to encourage you and give you the resources you need.”
Yvonne started the company by borrowing “a few hundred pounds” from family members to print up some leaflets to distribute around Hackney.
“We got one job and then we just grew from there,” Yvonne said, adding she now employs three cleaner and has contracts with several offices and hairdressers around the borough.
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