A new online community providing businesses in Dorset with free access to help and advice is now up and running.

Ten business coaches serving areas across the South with ActionCOACH have joined forces for No Limits.

They include Gary Hales who owns the ActionCOACH franchise for Dorset.

He said: “We looked at how we can help small businesses grow and develop and give them access to information.

“Connect, collaborate and grow is the way we’re thinking about this.

“No matter what size business you are, whether you’ve been around for years, with a multi-million turnover, or a new starter, you’ll be able to come in and be a member of this community.

“You can post on the chat section, ask questions and coaches will respond, your peers will respond and that way you can get access to live information.

“There’ll also be articles, videos and blogs uploaded onto the system.

“The beauty of it is that because there are ten of us, we are all committed to doing four articles/blogs a month.

“That means there will be 40 articles and blogs going on every single month.

“It will be a live, growing development tool.

“The great thing is that it is at different levels.

“The opening level is free so if you’re making soap on the kitchen table and can’t afford a couple of pounds a month or whatever, that’s fine.

“Go into the free membership and you have access to all sorts of information.

“Then it goes Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum starting from £99 a month up to £749.”

Gary said: “We know the stats about how many businesses fail in the first couple of years.

“This is an antidote to that because you’ll be able to access information on, say, how do you recruit people, how do you manage your cashflow, what should you be marketing, what’s your USP?

“All these sorts of questions, there’ll be answers there, so people can read about it and think ‘I can apply this to my business’.

“We know for many business owners it’s a lonely job but on No Limits you can connect,  interact and then collaborate with others.”

Gary took ownership of ActionCOACH’s Dorset franchise nine months ago but has coached for 20 years.

He has owned five businesses throughout his life, ranging from a natural health clinic to a pub restaurant.

From 2005 to 2022 he worked in the finance sector.

Gary said: “I came back from the Middle East during Covid and decided I’d had enough of banking and financial services so I’d now do coaching full-time.

“From my point of view, I walk the talk.

“I’m not just someone telling you the theory of how to grow your business.

“I’ve been there, done it in the tough times and the good times.

“Probably 15 to 20 per cent of the 10,000-plus businesses in Dorset can afford a thousand, or two or three thousand, a month for one to one coaching.

“Now we can provide something for the other 80 per cent.

“There’s nothing more disappointing then dealing with someone who’s got a great idea, but they’re just stuck, they don’t have the money, the knowledge and the knowhow.

“Now everybody I speak to I can offer them something.”

“No matter where you are, I’ve got something for you.

“All people need to do is go to nolimits.actioncoach.co.uk

“Go to the top right corner, sign-up, put in your email address and, bang, you’re a member of the community.

“It’s all free and you can see what you want.”

No Limits had a soft launch on April 3 with the full launch taking place at the end of the month.