A second child on the way was what gave 33 year-old Joseph Ryan from North Ayrshire in Scotland the push he needed to think about starting his own business.

Father to baby Charlotte and partner to Gayle, Joseph had been inspired by his family to join the Armed Forces when he was just 26 years old. Having had a grandparent, uncle and cousin all in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, Joseph wanted to keep the trend going and so joined the British Army as a Logistics Engineer in 2011. However, family commitments made Joseph realise that he wanted the best of both worlds – to be able to be his own boss and still have time to spend with his partner and family. He made his decision and left the Armed Forces in July 2016.

It was Joseph’s partner Gayle who found X-Forces Enterprise (XFE) and passed on the details. Joseph contacted XFE where he was mentored by a member of the team and received support with the loan application from the Start Up Loans Company. For Joseph, this support was key.

͞It was so much less stressful than I thought it would be. I was really surprised at how quickly I was able to find someone who understood the business world and this made life so much easier. No-one else would help me but X-Forces Enterprise stepped in.

Joseph is now busy getting the business off the ground. For Joseph, his big goal in 2018 is to get a second vehicle on the road and raise the awareness of JJC Logistics as a family-owned and run business. As he remarked,

“͞There’s lots of red tape when it comes to starting your own business but my top piece of advice would be to get stuck in, bear with it and soldier on!”