The Company: Not Just an FD
The Member: Julie Bickerdyke and Deborah Whitaker
The Issues: Clarity around goals of the 2 directors & direction of focus for new clients
EIR: Janette Benaddi
Mentoring advice given:
Janette spent time asking questions about the business and about our personal goals and aspirations. We also talked about pricing, capacity and exit plans. We found her very easy to talk to and with a great understanding of running a business. She gave each of us advice around our exit plans (which are different as Debbie has another business). She suggested we concentrate on business development with a focus on getting in front of people, so networking and potentially speaking events.
What was the best piece of advice you were given?:
Don’t worry in advance about having too much work. Deal with that when it becomes an issue; there will be a solution.
What did you do when you returned back to your business?:
Change the focus of blogs to be more personal. Julie does the blogs and has done guest blogs for other businesses.
What changes have you made since the mentoring session?:
Put in place monthly meetings between the 2 directors. Even though we worked together every day in the same office it was important to set time aside outside of the office to discuss the business. We have updated the website to be more relevant to our target clients. Julie has been networking more and meeting and connecting with business owners.
What have been the benefits to your business of this mentoring session?:
Regular communication between the directors on a strategic level and a better understanding of each other’s long term personal goals. The feedback on the new website has been very positive. Enquiries are picking up from connections made and current clients regularly refer us. Our reputation as experts in our field is good and continues to gain respect and momentum.
November 2020
