We catch up with Sarah Filleur, owner and director of a music and production company, Sarasara Overseas.
Sarasara Overseas is a vibrant music writing and production company. More recently the company has developed in the areas of innovation, research and development using the philosophy of music to develop new immersive music experiences using AR & VR.
Sarah came to Business West through the Workforce for the Future programme. Together with her Business Skills Advisor, Lizzie Lyons, they identified that a lack of capacity was hindering her business growth as Sarah is a sole trader.
With several projects that she wanted to progress, the challenge was around managing the day to day running of the business whilst developing the project concepts needed to gain future funding and push forward the research side of the business. Lizzie offered support to develop bids for future funding of projects.
Another key challenge was improving her website content. She wanted the first face of her business to be neat and sleek, but she didn’t have the skills to write herself.
Lizzie explored working with universities and colleges and opportunities around internships. She suggested a fully funded internship programme and introduced Sarah to contacts at Bath Spa University which led to her taking on 2 interns.
“It up approximately a three-month project, and Lizzie organised all of the setup, then the university did all the paperwork, so I didn't really have to do anything. I just had to sign the contract and the interns were paid by the university as well. It was really good because it takes time and it's just me.”
It was quick and easy to set up and simple to understand. “The students worked really quickly, and we all worked well as a team. We had 7 meetings, planned milestones and the project was delivered withing the timeframe of 3 months.” It was a win-win for everyone, giving the students excellent work experience and Sarah creative web content.
The benefit of the content is that it can be re-used on website, pushed out on social media and is ‘’evergreen’ so it will have real long-term value.
“It will really improve my online image and I’d now know how to hire someone to do more creative content in the future.”
In terms of measurable impacts form the Workforce for the Future programme, Sarah says,
“The content has been good for interviews and things like that. So, you can just send people straight to your website and share info with the press. It's like a snowball effect, really. It has helped to improve my image and has led to more press coverage.”
Lizzie Lyons, Business Skills Advisor, Business West said,
“It was a pleasure working with Sarah. She has clear goals of where she wants to take her business and an abundance of talent and expertise to share with young people interested in the creative sector.
The business benefit she received from the interns that she worked with is no doubt equal to the benefit that those interns gained from working with such a great forward-thinking business.”
Sarah has big plans for 2022 – from a new R&D project to condensed reality, building a new website and using blockchain. It’s exciting times for Sarasara!
Sarah has found it so valuable working with young people and would happily recommend the Workforce for the Future Programme. If you’d like to find out about taking on an intern in your business, please contact the Skills team on 0330 124 4446 or email skills@businesswest.co.uk.
Workforce for the Future is a free support service designed to help SMEs in the West of England with their current and future skills needs. For more information, please visit the Growth Hub.
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