Supporting a new business in developing skills for the future

Paoma Solutions supplies large printers for the textile industry to South and Central America and is a supplier of UV-LED printers in the UK. The business is newly established, and the focus so far has been on building relationships with agents in the 24 countries they supply products to.

Focusing and moving forward

Juan Hernández is a founding partner of Paoma Solutions and decided to join the Small Business Leadership Programme because although he had managed services, he had never managed a company before.

"I liked the fact that the programme is very broad and covers a variety of aspects of business. I have learned a lot about managing a company and the course tutors have provided extra value by offering one-to-one in depth sessions, so that I could apply the learning to my organisation. I have identified where we should focus the business right now to help move it forward.”

Picture of an industrial printer

An engaging learning experience

Juan has enjoyed all lessons within the programme and tutors have created an engaging learning environment. There were however some highlights. “I especially liked learning about different business models and how to leverage these. The information on marketing a brand was also really useful."

Juan has welcomed the flexibility of his studies, especially when he was not able to attend one of the sessions. “Managing your own business means there might be an occasion when work has to take priority. However, having access to a learning portal has meant I haven’t missed anything because I was able catch up later.” Juan found learning alongside a network of other organisations to be incredibly useful.

“I enjoyed learning about different types of businesses, and hearing about their experiences within the current climate. It was good to hear their perspective on my organisation too.”

Stepping into action

Juan is excited to implement his learning and the practical nature of the course has allowed him to identify exactly where to start. “I’m most looking forward to implementing the branding session; the course has given me some great templates to take away and use. The priority right now is sales and promoting the brand within different countries and I’ll definitely be using the branding techniques I learned within the programme to help me with this.”

If you are interested in participating in our current leadership programme, find out more about our Help to Grow: Management programme.  

To discuss working in partnership with us, please contact our Business Enquiry team on +44 (0)800 001 5500 or businessgateway@derby.ac.uk