Thriving entrepreneur community to be further supported by sponsorship with Lawdit Solicitors and the University of Portsmouth

New sponsors to help small businesses community in local area to thrive

StartUp Disruptors, the start-up and small business online coaching and support network, has just on-boarded two additional new sponsors to help fund the progress and growth of its 2,000 strong small businesses membership base of people; who have taken the plunge to start and scale up their own micro-businesses.

Both Lawdit Solicitors (who are specialists in digital and online law) and the University of Portsmouth Business School, have pledged help; support; advice and sponsorship to the Portsmouth based community that originally started in a pub in Southsea in 2016.

Michael Coyle Founder of Lawdit says:

“We are delighted to be able to help to build the community alongside Becky and her team. I started Lawdit Solicitors as a business in 2001 and being new and alone in business, can be very challenging. There is a lot of information that you just aren’t sure about and this can leave you open to risk as a new business owner. We are offering free law clinics as part of the StartUp Disruptors community offering, to ensure that people have access to great knowledge around legal issues and to ensure that we can try and lessen the start-up failure rates in the local and wider Solent area. This will be beneficial for everyone.

It’s great to be involved with StartUp Disruptors as it provides a safe and trustworthy place for people to get information and start to get their first customers and build their confidence and business skills.”

Peter Hooley, Director of Business Development for the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth continues:

“We have watched StartUp Disruptors grow and our students helped Becky and the team to model the business offering back in 2016. Since then, we have witnessed the barriers that new and particularly female entrepreneurs can face on their journey. It is a strategic priority for us to help fledgling and fast, high growth businesses from across Portsmouth and the wider Solent area to thrive and to grow and our work with StartUp Disruptors as a business community born and bred in Pompey. This will help us to extend our support and research offerings to better serve the business community both locally and nationally in the UK.”

Becky Lodge, Founder of Little Kanga and brand creator and owner of StartUp Disruptors continues:

“It is only by asking for help and support and taking it, that a business can truly grow. Having started alone and with only a laptop and mobile phone in 2015 at the kitchen table, to hosting pub meetings across the south, having a business is truly hard work and the hours can often harm people’s mental health. This is why we also partner with Solent Mind, to ensure that our members are fully supported as individuals on their entrepreneurial journey.

In 2020, the start-up eco-system that we spent years building at StartUp Disruptors, meant that Portsmouth was named the most entrepreneurial city in the UK. Before this, support was lacking and woeful and we saw people being exploited and ripped off. I knew this had to change and that’s why I started the community. So far we have helped over 4500 people to start a home-based business and we alongside our partners and sponsors will continue to help those people brave enough to want to start their own enterprise. I am truly indebted to both Lawdit and the University for their belief in the community of small businesses that we have helped to incubate and we will continue to help many thousands more over the coming months and years with their support.”

About the author:

Becky Lodge is the business founder of digital marketing and events agency Little Kanga Ltd and is one of Sky News ‘100 Women’ in business.

Degree and CIM qualified, she has a thirty year career history in international sales and marketing roles in STEAM based markets including engineering and software. A published five star rated author, university guest lecturer and B2B social media influencer on LinkedIn with over 13,000 followers and connections, Becky is committed to helping level the business playing field for women and is an advocate for neurodiversity; having started an online community to support first time entrepreneurs and business owners in 2016 called StartUp Disruptors.

This brand and online community is backed and sponsored by Uber, Funding Circle, Lawdit Solicitors, University of Portsmouth - Faculty of Business and Law; Solent Mind and Faster Capital - helping people to start home based businesses by providing advice, coaching, funding and support in a ‘safe space’ to build their dreams from the kitchen table.

Her vision is to help 10,000 people to start a business from home in the next 5 years, including supporting those with dyslexia, ADD/ADHD and additional barriers to market entry in business.

You can find out more and join her on LinkedIn here

To sponsor the community and download the media pack and rate card, please click here.

All media enquiries to [email protected] FAO Becky Lodge