In part four of Expert Insights, where we speak to experts across the business and entrepreneurship space within Leicestershire to get their thoughts on the current business landscape and the opportunities that are available, we caught up with STWLC Trustee Parmdeep Vadesha…
Firstly, please can you provide a brief overview of your career up to this point?
I have set up businesses in various sectors including investments, publishing, tech, and finance. Every day I work with a wide range of smart, hard-working people and I love it (most of the time!)
What do you feel makes a successful entrepreneur?
It depends on how you define ‘successful’! I think a successful entrepreneur is someone who deeply understands their customers’ problems and constantly figures out new and innovative ways to solve those problems, whilst earning a well-deserved profit for themselves.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to your younger self when entering the world of business/entrepreneurship?
Before I entered the world of work, I remember being constantly told that the harder something is to do, the more valuable it is. It took me a long time to realise that the most valuable things I could do in my business also turned out to be things I find fun and relatively easy. It was difficult to wrap my head around that, and sometimes still is 🙂
In the current economic climate, do you feel that now is a good time for aspiring entrepreneurs to be following their dreams and setting up a new business?
In tough economic times, many people are facing problems. Going back to my definition of a successful entrepreneur, if you can help solve those problems, you have the makings of a great business. So yes, I would say that now is a great time.
How valuable do you think The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity’s offer of interest-free business loans up to £20,000 is to new and existing businesses in Leicestershire?
I think we’re the best kept secret in Leicester! So secret in fact, that I had no idea until I became a trustee in 2022 that my father had taken a loan from Sir Thomas White to start his own business 43 years earlier!
To find out more about STWLC’s interest-free business loans, available up to the value of £20,000, please click here