Ravi from DarkStar Leatherworks has used library resources to develop his business. Here he talks about his experiences and his business journey…

“We started visiting the library in 2015 because we needed a supportive atmosphere to start developing ideas: we were working towards creating a brand and restarting a manufacturing process that has been dying out in the North West of England.

The timing was brilliant and coincided with our plans to take our business to the next level. Spending hours working in the library on our business plan in a comfortable environment, with reliable WIFI connection with a lot of resources at hand has benefited our business and helped to nurture our ambitions.

The library resources, staff and business centre have been really helpful with guiding us in many different areas from intellectual property rights, conducting market research, learning about email marketing and getting in touch with the Google Digital Garage.

There were lots of workshops that helped us upgrade our skill set and with every interaction we came across new opportunities on how to take the next step. It wasn’t one aspect but a series of interactions with the Business & Intellectual Property Centre that gave us the confidence to take a leap, try something different and standout.

We started DarkStar Leatherworks to express our creative skills and make available products that are made with meticulous attention and have a beating heart. We are really proud that we can express ourselves through our products and want our customers to experience the best quality and design through our work.

Taking an idea that first took form in a garage and building it over a period of time to a fully functioning workshop has been a lot of hard work, but with the good support and guidance of the BIPC we have gained confidence and the ability to grow.