SHE may now be the mother of our future Queen but to many, it’s Carole Middleton the entrepreneur who is far more intriguing.

Looking to make some pin money while pregnant with baby Catherine, she spotted a gap in the market for quality party bags and accessories and her firm, Party Pieces, was born.

With an estimated potential worth of £30million, it’s a business fairytale to rival the one that took place at Westminster Abbey last week, when her daughter married a prince.

According to business start-up guru Emma Jones, there are thousands more Carole Middletons out there – men and women with a great idea but not sure where to take it.

So she has helped devise and run a new scheme to help them.

At seven Staples stores – including the one at Fleets Lane in Poole – she has launched StartUp Saturday, a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin course to help budding entrepreneurs.

Emma, who first chronicled the phenomenon of the 5-to-9ers (people who start up a business in the evenings when they get home from work), is positively fizzing over the course, which covers topics from writing a business plan, protecting your brand, to marketing and the knotty problem of social media.

“Fifty per cent of people in the UK dream about starting a business but only five per cent are doing something about it,” she says.

“I felt it was time to assist the 45% who are considering next steps and wondering what to do and where to go.

“We want people to learn in a fun and friendly environment, so where better than a shop floor?”

Through her company, Enterprise Nation, she has a firm grip on what new entrepreneurs need.

“People tend to be very good at one thing,” she says. “But, for a business to succeed, you have to promote it and sell it and that’s the point of StartUp Saturday, to help people build what they need around that.”

The biggest issue facing new and small businesses is, says Emma, sales and marketing. “That session will be very well attended as it’s something that preoccupies all small businesses, whether they are electricians, photographers or bakers.

“How to get people to buy from you is at the heart of every small business.”

The students who have signed up so far are people who have an idea for their business. But, she says: “Where we are seeing a huge amount of activity or interest is from people who have a hobby or a skill and feel they could start selling to friends and family but aren’t sure what to do next.”

Despite the recession, she sincerely believes there has never been a better time to start-up on your own. “It’s so cheap to start a business now, especially if you can do it while you’re holding down the day job,” she says. “Even The Apprentice has changed so that the winner will receive £250,000 to start up their own enterprise.”

And as entrepreneur Carole Middleton has proved, the sky – or, indeed, the balcony of Buckingham Palace – really is the limit.