Tim Kent, Innovations in Technology in The Guardian

In Tuesday's edition of The Guardian Tim Kent, Director and Owner of virtual Unit business Innovations in Technology describes how The Unit helped his start-up business go from strength to strength.

'I was a successful IT dealer for years but got made redundant in August 2007.  I'd already registered my company name, but started trading once the redundancy came through.  The business supplied patient management systems to medical practices in Bradford - a touch screen used by patients to self-check in instead of going to reception.

I was working from home initially.  I've got two daughters under 10, so it was a bit of a nightmare.  I didn't have any real funding behind me, so I was looking for a way out of the home environment and into a more professional business environment without the cost implications. 

The following year I joined The Unit, a business incubator operation based at Leeds City College, which is designed to help business start-ups and increase their chances of success by providing training, professional advice and a space to work.  Because there is so much competition, businesses have to pitch for a place. 

After a successful pitch, I was there for about 15 months.  I paid a subscription, which included my rent and telephone, but once in, I had access to a lot of other facilities.  The Unit gave me a secure office environment, a PC, a network to work from and a great postcode address in the centre of Leeds.  Staff introduced me to a lot of fabulous contacts, both from a customer perspective and from a professional advisory perspective.  They provided exceptional training both for me and for my staff as they joined the organisation.  Training was offered in all sorts of different areas: accountancy training, sales training for salespeople who came on board, strategic planning - a wide variety of subjects.

I'm a salesman by trade, but they offered mentorship with experienced business people who had been through what I was going through, and they also provided accountancy and legal advice - things I didn't have a clue about.

When I joined The Unit, it was just me on my own, and although I had a good idea and sound sales knowledge, I didn't have much else.  When I left I had a profitable business, with five members of staff.  We're doing very well: this year we'll have a turnover of half a million.

Our main customer is the NHS.  We run the Wellbeing network, a community information system used in medical practices and hospital waiting areas around the UK.  Its combined with patient management, so we can manage the traffic throughout a practice or hospital, checking people in and telling them where they need to go. 

We're still invited to the college's networking events, and our registered office is still there.  Its been a way to retain our links to the college; I would be stupid not to, because its been so beneficial to us. 

I now send my staff to the college for training.  I also go and give talks to students on how to set up a business.  Its my way of saying thank you to The Unit for the help they gave me.'