The Company
Golden Frog was established in 2010 by Sarah Blenkinsop and is based in Ripon, North Yorkshire. They are both an in-house team, and an enormous network of tried and tested service providers, enabling them to provide a full service: PR, Marketing and Sales operation.
The EIR
Sarah chose Jonathan Turner
What were the key issues?
Scalability, staffing and growth
What mentoring advice was given?
Talking with Jonathan made me realise that actually everything was going really well. We discussed where the business had come from and where I wanted it to go, and how best to get there. We discussed my personal aspirations as well as those for the business. It also became apparent that to continue this growth I needed to be able to delegate more, and also to consider bringing someone else in that was as experienced as I was, to share the load at the top.
What was the best piece of advice you were given?
Make a ‘dross list’ of all the things I don’t need to do and form a new job description around them. Take time to smell the roses and realise that starting a business from scratch on my own to get to this level is a huge achievement on its own, and that perhaps it’s ok for everything to stay the same, as opposed to needing to grow much more.
What did you do when you returned to the business?
I made a list of things that take me a lot of time but don’t have an impact on the clients, and gave it all to a member of my team who absolutely loved having that level of structure.
What changes have you made since the mentoring session?
Let’s talk pre-Covid! I delegated most of my ‘dross’. I started the search for an equal to join the business and found the perfect person to come in alongside me. Jonathan became a client earlier this year, following the departure of his Marketing Manager. He has been an immense support during the Covid crisis and I do hope that we will return to working with him afterwards. Unfortunately my right hand woman is currently furloughed, but I hope we will return to business as usual in the near future.
What have been the benefits to your business?
Having a mentor has been an amazing benefit to me personally. Jonathan is an energetic and positive person, as well as being hugely successful himself. There isn’t a lot he doesn’t know about business and being around him is inspirational. My team now have much clearer roles and I am working on the business as opposed to in the business much more. Unfortunately this isn’t currently reflected in figures, but I do hope that post Corona we will bounce back!
September 2020
