lan Tolfrey turned his passion for making models into a business. The Enterprise Nation member shares the story behind 

http://www.mossleymodelmaker.com/

, his company providing models of factories, homes, pubs, schools, and tourist attractions from all around the world.

What was your motivation to start your own business?

Mossley Modelmaker 1

It was a chance to retire from work early and I had always wanted to carry on and expand my then hobby.

Whilst you were starting up how did you balance home life with work?

It was a simple switch to become public with my hobby and I tried lots of different angles to see what brought more interest. That was around seven years ago.

What's your top tip for effective sales and marketing?

I am a sole trader so part of my success is very much based on ME and my attitude and eagerness to experiment with different approaches, especially because my work when I started was so unusual.

Which tools could you not live without in your business?

Camera, powerful mobile, PC with simple software. My car! Keeping an open and inquisitive mind and approach to life.

What movie, song or book offers you the most business inspiration and why?

Desert Song. Yep, I am old but the whole film is about keeping on top of things!

Mossley Modelmaker 2

What has been your biggest business success to date?

I was commissioned to make a 6' wide model of the Grand Canal in Venice to slot under glass in the floor of an Italian restaurant.

If you had to live on a desert island with one entrepreneur who would it be and why?

I'd have to be the 'entrepreneur' and my advisors would be those who find and enjoy my website as being simple, basic and different.

What are your ambitions for the next five years?

To keep my health and optimism. To be able to sit well back and take breaks. Oh, and a must is to take at least one flight in a helicopter. I always try to take a 'helicopter view' whenever I'm awake!

How does being a member of Enterprise Nation help your business grow?

It's great to feel the passion that comes from the website. Sadly, being based in the hills north of Manchester, communications and mixing are difficult as such.

http://www.mossleymodelmaker.com

http://twitter.com/mossleymodel

If you'd like to join Alan and become an Enterprise Nation member to access exclusive benefits, 

http://www.enterprisenation.com/join

 and we'd be happy to profile your business.

You can meet lots more Enterprise Nation members 

https://www.enterprisenation.com/blog/categories/meet-the-member

Member stories

Enterprise Nation has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder, Emma Jones CBE, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.

Meet the member: Alan Tolfrey, Mossley Modelmaker

&lt;p&gt;Hi. We’re 24 fingers, an award-winning digital marketing agency.&amp;nbsp;We help small business owners&amp;nbsp;who are all fingers &amp;amp;&amp;nbsp;thumbs with their&amp;nbsp;marketing to grow their brand. Founder Emma Goode is the&amp;nbsp;proud Local Leader for Enterprise Nation in Essex.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Whether it’s getting more leads from social, increasing brand awareness or engaging with your customers, our fingers can help add extra digits to your bottom line.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We work with start-ups and companies both big and small, as well as individuals who need a helping hand navigating the ever-changing world of social media. We know how difficult it can be for businesses to keep up with all the algorithm updates.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Coming from a copywriting and publishing background, our expert team of content creators also know just how powerful great content can be. Just ask the 26 million people who saw our ‘Nostalgia’ campaign for one of our clients. That was achieved without spending a penny on paid advertising too. Powerful stuff, eh?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Whether you need an SEO strategy,&amp;nbsp;help with social media management, advice on what to blog about,&amp;nbsp;how to get more sales from social, or you fancy coming along to one of our practical social media training workshops, our hands are here to support you and your business, whatever stage you’re at.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Click here to book your&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://calendly.com/24fingers"&gt;free Strategy Session&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

Managing Director

business.connected: Create highly effective landing pages

Watch back: Insight into creating highly effective landing pages for your business

Lucy is a jargon free, social media trainer and consultant. Lucy is a #SheMeansBusiness accredited trainer and founder of SocialDayUK the UK’s biggest social media marketing festival. Lucy is also a Director at Avviso Media, a digital marketing agency that specialises in content and social media marketing for B2B and events brands. Lucy’s passion is to up-skill women and so set up DigitalWomen with Natwest, a community created to empower 1 Million plus women through digital skills which holds regular events and highlights the great work women are doing in digital and entrepreneurship.

Director

Social media marketing for small Business

A group to learn and share social media advice and tactics

Creative Director

Bringing Your Brand to Life

&lt;p&gt;What will you get?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Your business will have&amp;nbsp;a fabulous looking and fully functional website along with other assets you need to bring your brand to life*.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;What you cover&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;What are the critical elements your website must have?&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;How to implement your foundations, business and marketing plan, and brand identity into your site.&lt;/li&gt;
	&lt;li&gt;Functionality - what is the user journey a

I am the Co-Founder Jampot Business support. We work with entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups supporting them with everything from EA to HR, Marketing to Finance/Accountancy, Web & Graphic Design to Legal Consultancy and all on a here-when-you-need-us basis.

Meet the member: Alan Tolfrey, Mossley Modelmaker

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