WHO ARE YOU? 

Emma Alkirwi, managing director of CV Guru. I am working married mum with two daughters: Laila who is five and just started school, and Sara who is almost two.

WHAT DOES YOUR BUSINESS DO? 

My business, www.thecvguru.co.uk, offers a professional CV, LinkedIn and Cover Writing Service to a wide range of individuals. Customers can order through the company website and will receive their documents within three working days. I offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee and we commit to continuing to work with our clients until they are completely happy.

WHERE ARE YOU BASED?

I am based at home. As my business is an e-commerce based business, I am able to work from home at hours that fit around my family, although quite a lot of evening work is required. 

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?

I started from my dining table at first with just the family laptop. I didn’t want to buy a desk, PC, printers etc and create an office area until I was sure this was a viable business option. I found out about Business Gateway locally and realised they offer free events to help increase your business knowledge and provide you support in launching and growing your business. The first event I attended was a Digital Marketing Strategy Workshop which basically allowed me to set some foundations in place and effectively utilise digital marketing techniques.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?

I graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2006 in Human Resource Management. After University I took my first job in recruitment where I recruited and managed contract staff at a major contact centre in Glasgow. I then moved to place people in permanent employment which included predominantly finance and administration staff. I then had an opportunity to move into the welfare to work industry during the ‘credit crunch’ working for a private company. 

Here I supported recently made redundant and long-term unemployed individuals to get into work. 

This involved assisting individuals with their CVs, interview skills, confidence building and also assisting them when in work with the transition of coming off benefits and waiting for their first pay. 

WHAT IS YOUR TOP TIP?

Always remember why you are doing what you are doing, whether this is personally or professionally. Take the chance, be willing to fail, learn from your mistakes and be proud of your success.

HOW LONG HAS YOUR BUSINESS BEEN RUNNING?

My business has now been running for 15 months and is growing beyond my initial expectations at this stage.

WHERE DO YOU PLAN YOUR BUSINESS TO BE IN FIVE YEARS TIME? 

At this stage, I am looking to expand my freelance writer base and continue to expand and grow in the UK and Ireland. By year five, I would like to have a thriving business.