Tyrone’s Latest Online Entrepreneur

Omagh Enterprise client, Amy Quinn of Nursing Supplies UK, spoke to the Ulster Herald about her new business and the support she recieved from us.

Local nurse swaps long shifts for a thriving business

IF you’ve ever had an idea for a product or service you think might net you your own successful business, you may well have considered selling online.

With the support of Invest Northern Ireland’s Go For It Programme, former full-time nurse Amy Quinn is now doing exactly that, after switching the long shifts for life as an online entrepreneur.

“Setting up a internet business has made a huge difference to my life,” said Amy, the power behind nursingsuppliesuk.com.

“Now I no longer have to get up at 6am on a Sunday morning to work a stressful 13-hour shift on a busy ward!”

A qualified, experienced nurse, Amy worked initially as a full-time agency nurse before taking up a permanent post at a major hospital in Cambridge.

There, she noticed other nurses were wearing easy-to-clean silicon watches that could apparently be used to help reduce the spread of infection. A popular item in her workplace, she went online to find out where to get one.

“They were sought after but very hard to source,” said Amy, who decided to take matters into her own hands by buying them in bulk from China and selling them herself online.

“It was a revelation,” said Amy. “Almost overnight, I was managing to make enough money to pay my rent. Since then, I’ve expanded the range medical and nursing products on offer and reached more customers, which I do by linking to much larger ‘merchant sellers’ sites.”

After giving up full-time nursing, Amy now sells stethoscopes, pen torches and scissors to hundreds of healthcare professionals based as far afield as Australia.

“I’m a trained, experienced nurse and I know how important it is to have high-quality, reliable tools in the workplace,” she said. “I’m meerly meeting that demand. Also, being an online business based in Northern Ireland means we can offer fast delivery to both the UK and Ireland.”

SELLING ONLINE

Amy started selling online as a hobby in October last year and developed into a fully-fledged business a few months later with from Go For It.

“The programmer really gave me the encouragement and confidence to continue with my idea and not give up on it,” said Amy.

“With their help, I got a business plan together and got my head around all the basics of running a business.

Even though I had no experiences or background in business, I realised that I could still do it.”

Amy says that while her next plan of action is to double her turnover within the year and focus more on branding the business and her products, she is still enjoying being her own boss and earning money at the same time.

“So far, I’ve managed to make a living by creating an online business without taking out loans or getting myself into debt. I can’t believe I’ve done all that with such a simple idea.”

The Go For It Programme is provided by Invest Northern Ireland and is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Amy Q