EACH week the Evening Times will throw the spotlight on one of the dozens of new businesses determined to succeed.

They are the future for Glasgow and the west of Scotland's economy and are working hard to achieve success in the face of continuing economic hardship.

Many new businesses are struggling to take off because of the economic downturn, and this column aims to offer advice for potential start-ups.

Each company will answer the same questions about their business and their answers will appear in the Evening Times each week. This week we highlight Lorraine Maginnis of Slimtuition Scotland, pictured with daughter Lauren McLeod.

What does your business do?

Slimtuition offers high quality meal replacement products, flexible diet plans and either one-to-one or group mentoring and behavioural change sessions.

It's a bit different in that it's not a franchise. We cater for men and women and we also offer a corporate service for businesses so we can mentor employees at work.

Where are you based?

I have classes in Glasgow and we also meet in Hamilton, Wishaw and Carluke.

How did you get started?

I have a life coaching background and have worked for another diet company.

I am one of four directors of Slimtuition across Scotland.

I came across these high quality products which were being manufactured by a British company and became a distributor for them.

It's been a lot of hard work to get it to this stage but we are really happy with it.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND?

I started my career in retail with RBS, where I managed change in sales and service.

I retrained as a behavioural therapist, NLP master practitioner and life coach and then ran a successful weight loss franchise for a number of years. I think that I have found my niche.

WHAT IS YOUR TOP TIP?

Don't give up and always believe in yourself.

HOW LONG HAS YOUR BUSINESS BEEN RUNNING?

We started in the summer of 2014.

HAS ANYONE HELPED YOU GET STARTED AND HOW?

Not really, it's just our own vision. The other three directors and I did our homework.

I have brought my daughter into the business too, so it's keeping it in the family. She brings fresh ideas to the table - our customers are all ages.

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

We plan to have a presence in every major city in Scotland but at the moment, our business plan for growth is modest.

We predict a turnover of £4.6million in the first 18 months of operation, based on acquiring just 0.7% of the market.

This is realistic but hopefully we will get more than that.

WHO IS YOUR MENTOR AND WHY?

Richard Branson, because he's a trail-blazer and has the courage of his convictions.

To be truly successful in business you have to be an innovator and not someone who just follows the crowd.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

Very little, apart from going into life coaching and the diet business earlier in my career. This is my true passion.

But the experiences I had in banking have been invaluable so I do believe everything happens for a reason.

No doubt I will make mistakes but hopefully I will learn from them and emerge stronger.

Contact details:

Slimtuition Scotland 07807 813 179/0141 366 3314

www.slimtuition.com