Having worked at the forefront of the industry for several decades, creating a business centred on music creation was a natural progression for County Antrim’s Simon Mills.
Hailing originally from Nottingham, England, Simon moved to Northern Ireland fifteen years ago in 2009 amidst a successful career as one half of electronica group Bent, which the musician still pursues currently, where his role as a sound engineer has come into its own.
After a string of solo and group musical releases, the reality of royalty cuts and contractual percentage agreements left the 50 year old Economically Inactive.
Speaking on why he undertook the Explore Enterprise Support Service, Simon said: “My income went quite low, because a lot of my royalties that I would get on Spotify ended up straight into the back pocket of Sony.
“I realised I was going to have to think of a different plan on top of just releasing new music, so I got in touch with the Ballymena Business Centre, and it kind of went from there, really.”
The Explore Enterprise Support Service was set up by Enterprise NI and the Prince’s Trust. The service aims to help people across Northern Ireland who are economically inactive to develop their entrepreneurial and employability skills through tailored mentoring and training.
The Explore Enterprise Support Service has received £1.8m from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Paired with Ballymena Business Centre mentor Lawrence Greer, the business idea that had sparked within Simon’s self-professed unorganised brain began to have substance.
Explaining how the mentorship helped him and his subsequent business, Simon said: “It helped me just sit down and work out how I’m going to sell all this and pitch it, and then who am I pitching it to.
“It allowed me to have some kind of a plan, being able to make an overview and work out who my target customers were, and even things like pricing.”
Using his skills to finesse creative output from other musicians and bands, ranging from novices to those with record deals, Simon’s business offers mixing and mastering services to enhance this output to the level where it is good enough to be released commercially.
Following his experience receiving support from Lawrence, Simon spotted an opportunity to offer his own form of mentoring in the shape of helping musicians through what can often be a minefield of available software.
The flexible structure provided by Explore Enterprise was a particularly beneficial aspect for the County Antrim resident in his entrepreneurial journey, reducing the formality often associated with such services and instead enabling time for development.
Simon said: “I didn’t feel like I was put into a rigid program. It’s organic and it fits everybody, because everybody’s got a different situation going on.
“For me, I didn’t have to change too much to get the wheels turning a little bit more, and Lawrence was great as well, because he was really detailed and focused.
“He was really good at finding my weak spots and sort of helping me there, which I still struggle with.
“I’m terrible at financial organisation, but Explore Enterprise grabbed my brain and organised me a bit.”
Lawrence’s impact was a profound one for Simon, with the relaxed approach resonating well with the music whiz, enabling him to progress at his own pace without any external, or internal, pressure.
Identifying what his favourite part of Explore Enterprise was, Simon said: “I think the main highlight for me really was something as simple as just being able to sit down with someone.
“Lawrence had this little office, which is like a shed within a shop, which was kind of quite crazy, you know, but it was just nice to go in there and just focus on something each week if there’s no specific thing that I think stood out.
“It’s just been so nice. And he’s been messaging me, actually, to keep up with me and see how things are going.”
As with many other people who involve themselves, Explore Enterprise was invaluable in taking an intangible idea into a profitable business for Simon.
He said: “I just think it’s worth doing. If you’ve got an idea and you’ve been mulling it over for a while, I think it’s a really good course to go and do because it helps you visualise the overall view of it.
“I think having all those different modules that you can experience, it’s a great thing to do because everyone’s got a blind spot and it just helps inform you of whether your ideas are realistic or not.
“It’s been a really, really positive experience overall.”
For more information on Enterprise NI go to www.enterpriseni.com