Owner of Quickshine Valeting
Quickshine Valeting

Mark J

0.00.00 My name is Mark J and I own a mobile valeting service in Runcorn. Quickshine valeting involves me going in customers houses or places of work cleaning the cars, doing all different types of valeting from like just a wash right through to a full valet. My business has only been up and running for about, I’d say about 8 / 9 months now, but the company’s doing really well at the moment.

0.00.30 And it gives me pleasure in like doing the cars and seeing what I’ve achieved at the end and making and seeing the customer happy. I left school when I was 16 and I’ve had a few GCSE’s, not in a special or nothing like that, but then as soon as I left school I went straight into work, signed on the agencies, just to fund myself really. I’ve done all kinds of jobs, all the picker, labouring, warehouse,

0.01.00 forklift truck, basically anything that really the agency offered me really. When I was about 18 I left home and then I got a house, me and a few of my friends and I spend, like I met my Mrs., my girlfriend who I’m with, I met her and she got pregnant so I thought then, you know, I needed to buck my ideas up really. So that’s what really inspired me to do something, it was my kids like.

0.01.30 Got a full-time job doing valeting. I realised I weren’t earning enough money to live really so basically my brother-in-law got me a job working at a plumbing and heating merchant doing driving for them, which was a lot, this was steady work and steady money. Unfortunately a few years down the line that went into liquidation. I found out about the Princes Trust, sent them an email saying what my business plan was

0.02.00 so hopefully work for myself doing mobile valeting. And then everything escalated from there really. Now I’ve started my business I get a mentor and I go and see her every month and we discuss basically anything about the business and she’s very, very helpful and that’s all down to the Prince’s Trust. Even after the fund, yeah, they still, you know, help you. A few years ago I got sent to prison like. I’d done eight months in prison and it had a big impact on myself,

0.02.30 also my family. I missed my daughter being born, I was there, so you know it was, you know, really heartaching when that happened and basically I was just thought to myself it’s, you know, not something that I’d like to go back to, you know, I just want to do something now in my life that will, you know, change my life forever. And basically the Princes Trust has done that by setting me up and helping me do my own business. My mum actually works with YMCA in Hartland

0.03.00 and again my dad’s now looking after people and it was only this morning that she was saying to me that she was proud of me, obviously cos I was coming here today to, you know, do this and you know let people know that there is people out there who want to help you. I’m an ambassador for the Princes Trust. Basically just getting involved now, you know, seeing other people, hopefully give them some good information

0.03.30 on how what not to do and what to do in their lives. Hopefully not to go to prison. In five years time I see myself hopefully having, you know, a big successful business with other people working for me. It maybe years down the line, I could get my son when he’s older, so that he could take over the business or come and work with me and that’s what keeps going really now, you know, he is proud of me doing it so it’s good.

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