Case Study: Empower
Building a Business That Gives People Greater Choice in Social Care
Following a long career in social care, Clare Emmins launched Empower (registered as Empowered Solutions Ltd) to help people navigate their care options and gain greater choice and control over their support. With guidance, peer support and a £1,000 grant from Smart Start Brentwood, she has successfully established the business and is now focused on growing its reach and services.
Meet the Business
Empower supports people to navigate the often-complex world of social care. Founded by Clare Emmins, the organisation acts as an independent guide for individuals and families who want greater choice and control over how their care and support needs are met.
Rather than receiving services commissioned by a local authority, Empower helps people understand alternative options available through direct payments, enabling them to recruit and manage their own care staff and create support arrangements tailored to their individual needs.
“We help people to navigate social care and understand what their options are. We believe you should have choice and control over how you're supported.”
Empower supports people through every stage of the process, from understanding eligibility and employment responsibilities to carrying out right-to-work checks, arranging contracts, and working with payroll providers to ensure personal assistants are paid correctly and legally.
The Journey to Starting a Business
Clare spent nearly 20 years working in health and social care, specialising in disability rights and support services. After 13 years with the same organisation, she unexpectedly found herself made redundant when the company entered administration.
This led her to explore self-employment and ultimately launch Empower, which officially began trading in March 2026. The business currently employs two members of staff and operates under a contract with London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, with ambitions to secure additional local authority partnerships in the future.
Discovering Smart Start Brentwood
While exploring the practicalities of launching a business, Clare came across the Smart Start Brentwood programme through a Facebook advertisement.
At the time, she was assessing whether her business idea was financially viable and recognised that there were aspects of business ownership she felt less confident about.
Clare initially attended two of the workshop sessions through the programme; the Start My Biz workshop and a session focused on grant funding opportunities.
She later joined the Her Biz programme, where she connected with other women at different stages of their entrepreneurial journeys.
“I found it really interesting, and I think the biggest thing I got out of it was the peer support. Everyone was in the same boat, different stages of their journey, but many of the same challenges. It was great to be able to float ideas, because it can be quite isolating starting up a business.”
One lesson in particular stayed with her:
“I think my key takeaway was just go at your own pace. You don't need to run before you can walk, don't rush the process.”
Grant Funding Support
As part of the Smart Start Brentwood programme, Clare successfully applied for and was awarded a £1,000 business grant.
Having previously worked on grant and tender applications, she found the process straightforward and accessible.
“The grant process itself was quite straightforward. I used to apply for grants and tenders as part of my previous roles. I found it straightforward and light touch - I guess I had a bit of a cheeky head start!”
The funding enabled Empower to invest in a specialist Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system designed specifically for charities and community organisations. The platform allows the business to manage customer records, track referrals, monitor activity and produce detailed reports.
For Clare, the system has become a key tool in supporting growth and measuring impact.
Looking Ahead
The next phase of growth for Empower involves developing a Personal Assistant (PA) register that will connect people seeking care support with suitable carers.
The new system will allow prospective carers to register through the organisation's website, with information feeding directly into the CRM platform. Over time, Clare hopes to integrate this functionality into a fully developed matching service.
This longer-term vision will provide a complete end-to-end support, introducing people to pre-vetted carers who match their requirements.
Alongside this development, Clare is focused on securing additional local authority contracts and identifying new funding opportunities to support future website and service enhancements.
Advice for Other Start-Ups
Having successfully made the transition from employee to business owner, Clare's advice to anyone considering starting a business is simple:
“Go for it! What's the worst that can happen?”
Impact of Smart Start Brentwood
Smart Start Brentwood provided Clare with practical business guidance, valuable peer support and access to grant funding at a critical stage in her entrepreneurial journey.
Just months after launching, Empower is already helping people gain greater choice and control over their social care, while building an ambitious and scalable model for the future.
To find out more about Empower, visit https://weareempower.org.uk/