The LINIAN team were delighted to host two emerging entrepreneurs – Jennifer Watt and Kieran Andrew McDowall on a work-based placement as part of the Unlocking Young Ambition programme organised by Bridge to Business and Scottish Enterprise.

Over two busy days, the students were introduced to, and immersed in all aspects of running a family business, including a quick crash course in sales, marketing, production, packing, and finance. They also witnessed first-hand the benefits and challenges of working with your close family! Just before we finished up, the LINIAN team asked Jennifer and Kieran to prepare this blog post.

Here’s what the students had to say about their experience:

“We chose to take part in Unlocking Ambition as we believed that this was an opportunity that would allow us to gain an insight into an entrepreneurial business and the inner workings of it. We believe that gaining experience and skills for the business world cannot be fully established in the classroom environment and may be better acquired through hands-on experience.

Our involvement within LINIAN has shown us the foundations of any small business and how working within a family company can have its benefits to working efficiently. In the case of LINIAN, their motivation is maintained as not only are they working for their own personal success, but also their family members.

We feel our most beneficial moment was when we overheard a sales phone call which gave us a real understanding of how this process works and the communication skills needed to ensure the sale was a success. We learned how the portrayal of yourself and as the face of business at certain times is vital to how customers and competitors engage and view you.

LINIAN believes that customer relationships are a key part of any business, and they strive to ensure that they upkeep this fundamental part of their company. In terms of engagement, samples are used to allow LINIAN’s consumers to view their product range at no cost to them. As well as this LINIAN’s sales team will communicate regularly with customers to ensure the product meets their needs.

This has been displayed through customer relations and how it is imperative to how a company can establish good relations from the start of communication. This allows for LINIAN to gain long-lasting customer retention and loyalty which may help LINAN to be renowned for their customer service.

Overall this experience has helped us to gain an insight into how a family business is run and also allowed us to acquire skills that can be built on and will be beneficial to us in the future. This has inspired us and increased our motivation to work in the business world.” - Jennifer & Kieran

We wish both students the best of success in their future businesses and look forward to watching what they’ll do next!

Team LINIAN