The new year brought a new business venture for Mark Fletcher who opened his mobile catering business, J’s Fried Chicken.

Mark has spent most of his working life in sales, but his passion lay with cooking, as this brought back fond memories of spending quality time with his family testing out new and exciting recipes. Opening a restaurant was a dream he and his wife shared for many years, but with two young children to raise the dream was put on hold until recently.

It was important to Mark that he opened a business that filled a gap in the market, sparked excitement, explored new opportunities, and allowed him to share his food with a wider audience. After appearing on MasterChef, he realised just how much this meant to him, and it gave him the courage and confidence to start putting a business plan together.

Mark knew that reading a multitude of business books would only give him the bare bones, and that he would be needing additional support to help spice up his business model. This is where Rotherham Launchpad came in to provide one-to-one support, a business grant, online workshops, and more. Originally, Mark focused on securing a fixed store front to launch his business but after meetings with his mentor he decided that a mobile food truck would be the best starting point as this would provide more opportunities.

Through his own investment, Mark purchased a mobile catering van and, and secured a business grant for a new piece of equipment.

Mark said: “Going from working full time in an office filled with people to working my own hours on my own left a hole in the working day as I felt isolated. But, attending the workshops really sweetened up things back up for me as they provided structure to the day, a chance to meet likeminded people, expand my business knowledge giving me food for thought, and giving me the motivation to keep on going.

“Rotherham Launchpad has been like my own personal fairy godmother; they have really taken the time to understand me and my business and have worked with me to set out a clear path to reach my goals. Having someone from the outside look at your business model and point out potential improvements will give you the knowledge that books just won’t teach you.”

J’s Fried Chicken operates outside The Ball Inn in Thorpe Hesley on Wednesdays from 5pm to 8pm. Make sure you cluck on over to check it out!

If you would like to find out more about how we can help, contact us today.