“When I joined the EC, my business, TI Payroll and Accounting, was at a crossroads. Although my mum was working part time for the business, it was mainly dependent on me. At this point, I recognised that I was always being torn between running my business day-to-day and getting out there to meet new clients and grow.
The biggest nugget I got out of my first EC meeting was the fact that if I didn’t have an assistant, I was one! I hired Zoe within 10 days and it was the best thing I ever did for my business. With Zoe on board, my business has flourished. In fact we doubled our turnover (and gross profit) . It feels like a totally different business.
Implementing Nigel’s advice has made a huge difference…
“We’ve recently moved to bigger premises and taken on another member of staff to concentrate on the admin side of the business. Once again, this leaves me free to work more on my business than in it. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss bookkeeping, and now and again I’ve “dabbled” in it when we get a new client to understand the client’s company a little better. But implementing the advice Nigel has given me has made a huge difference personally and to my company. As we are an accountancy company, January is our busiest month of the year. Normally in January, I am pulled every which way by panicking clients, but since being with EC I am able to leave my staff in charge, knowing that they aremore than capable of taking care of everything.
“I now use tracking numbers on my website and all my marketing material. I now have direct mail campaigns on the go in recognition of the fact that ”it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it”. Previously, I had always tried to be everything to everyone, with zero results. I had thought networking was the only avenue that could bring more sales in. Now I send things out to a specific target market and although I never get my ideal return (we all want 110%, right??), but we are finding it does work.
And I’ve won an award…
“I received recognition for my work by winning an Eva Award in Financial Services. The Evas (Enterprise Vision Awards) celebrate women who are championing entrepreneurial growth in the North West. They recognise the efforts women have made to start and develop businesses, whilst facing challenges along the way. I feel that this is a massive achievement and the award has taken pride of place in our offices.
“One very important part of Nigel’s advice that I have struggled to implement is my 90 minutes. As we work in an open office, doing my 90 minutes first thing was proving to be impossible. With the commitments of dog walking and car sharing with my partner who works nights, I could never get to the office early enough. Once my staff came into work, my time was never my own. So I tried doing them in the evening once everyone else had gone home, but again personal commitments and the fact that my brain had already worked hard for nine hours meant it wasn’t always easy. But after attending a National Event, it became apparent that I needed to get serious about my 90 minutes if I wanted my business to be as successful as I wanted it to be. I now do my 90 minutes from my the tranquillity of my home office in the morning before I go into our work office while my three miniature schnauzers are sleeping under the desk.
Everything has come together…
“I started my business as a single parent and always felt pressure in the back of my mind that if I took a business risk, I wasn’t just risking the roof over my head but also the roof over my daughter’s. Being part of the EC has helped me to make decisions and implement the right things…
