Film and media business launched in Whanganui

Keely Skinner has opened a new film and media company, Musings Media. Photo / Supplied

A local entrepreneur says she wants to inspire more women to consider working for themselves.

And Keely Skinner is walking the talk - she launched her new film and media business Musings Media on May 20.

"I want to be an example for women who are wanting to be an entrepreneur instead of relying on other external forces," she said.

"To know that we do all have the power to create the lives we want."

Although some people worked better under larger organisations, Skinner said, she hoped to inspire others who were interested in self-employment.

Skinner was funded to start Musings Media through the Ministry of Social Development's (MSD) Be Your Own Boss (BYOB) programme.

The programme provides successful applicants with start-up funding of up to $10,000 to establish a small business, and supplements living costs for six months on top of that.

BYOB was piloted last year in Whanganui through Thrive, a social enterprise that provides small businesses with business coaches.

Elise Goodge is the partnerships lead and acting programme director at Thrive, and said the funding can go towards anything from building websites to accreditations and licensing.

Skinner put the funding towards an editing computer, a camera and camera accessories, and a logo design.

She had been working with business coaches at Thrive for three months and said Thrive was the place to go for anyone local wanting to start their journey towards self-employment.

"They were really good communicators, caring and open to all of my creative ideas," she said.

"They're all about having people in the centre, not profit. And I really felt that."

Inspired by human and environmental rights, Skinner said she hopes to work with companies that share these values.

The prospect of working in line with her values and starting a small business was liberating, and Whanganui was a good place to do that, she said.

"Whanganui really does support businesses to grow, and there are so many new people coming in and new businesses starting up.

"It's one of the most supportive communities I have lived in."

Goodge said Whanganui was a great place to start up a small business for several reasons.

"Whanganui's community is large enough that you can find a client base but small enough that you can easily build meaningful relationships with your clients," Goodge said.

She also said Whanganui was small enough that new businesses could still find unexplored niches of the market.