Last Tuesday 19th of November our team went down to Ouseburn to visit Hassan Khan and his newly opened shop called Ooze Ncl (convenience store) based in the vibrant area of Maling Street, Ouseburn, Newcastle.
Hassan Khan is the owner of Ooze Ncl (convenience store). He is a passionate entrepreneur who’s transformed his idea into a great and essential convenience store in the vibrant hub of the Ouseburn community. Ooze Ncl offers a vast range of products from your everyday essentials of eggs, breads, and milk to your locally sourced products from artisan doughnuts by Deep North to locally roasted coffees in the Northeast.
Like any other small business owner, Hassan’s journey to establishing Ooze Ncl (convenience store) has been both exciting and challenging at the same time. Before opening his shop, he had experience working in his Father’s convenience store and being around the Ouseburn area he then recognised a gap in the market and area of Ouseburn for a convenient shopping option, especially for the diverse demographic living within the area of Maling Street, which offered a unique market opportunity for his business.
The next challenge was securing his premise license which was quite challenging for him. As well as navigating through the complexities of funding, managing stock levels, working out opening hours for his shop, and at the moment balancing his personal life and his business, while also trying to look after his own body.
“Just do it honestly. If you’ve got an idea, then just do it, for example, this all started off with me having this idea, this logo, and design of what Ooze could be and now it’s kind of blown up into something which even I didn’t think it would become. We’ve got people talking about the shop from all over like Whitley Bay, North Shields, and even Manchester for example. So, it has really taken off, but yeah if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur just do it! Nothing is stopping you, What’s a few thousand pounds in debt? It’s an investment I would say.”
The guidance and funding Hassan has received through the Enterprising North programme have been invaluable in helping him navigate the early stages of his start-up journey. The constant feedback and support from his business advisor have helped him make informed decisions, which helped put Ooze Ncl in the right direction.
Looking ahead to the next year, Hassan wants to focus on successfully navigating through the busy Christmas season. He plans to organise more workshops and pop-up events in the next coming months such as wreath-making workshops with local florists, to engage the community and support his fellow local small businesses. At the moment they have a collaboration with the Collective Run club in Newcastle which happens every Thursday. Furthermore, he plans to continue to source high-quality locally sourced products, expanding his range of wines and beers. As well as building a strong social media presence for the Ooze Ncl brand.
The Enterprising North programme is funded by the UK Government as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.
