Clients & case studies
This is all well and good, but how can I help YOU? Well, as you can see, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty and getting stuck in to whatever it is we need to get done.
It probably helps you to see who I’ve already worked with and what we’ve achieved together.
I’ve put together some examples of how I’ve helped businesses move forward - I hope you find it helpful to see how you could benefit from a fresh pair of eyes on your own situation.
But if you’d like an outline of what I could bring to the table, please just drop me a line for a more tailored idea of what to expect.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent - many of my clients prefer our relationship to remain private and confidentiality is always, of course, assured.
The overwhelmed indie retailer
The problem: your visit to the trade fair was a great success. A lot of new contacts were made and you placed a dozen orders with new suppliers. But now the stock room is filling faster than you can cope with - every time you turn around, another order has been delivered. You can’t see out the window for boxes of stock. There’s no food in your house, you need a haircut and a day off, when was the last time you saw your sofa? HELP!
The impact: Every box of stock that sits there for another day is another day your cashflow is out of whack. You’ve spent the money on the stock, but it’s not on your till system, it’s not on your website and it’s still in the box. You know you need to process it ASAP but there’s the other 78 tasks you need to do to keep things flowing. You want to launch a wholesale arm to your business but there simply isn’t the resource to do it alone.
Call me: I can get your data sorted and on your system quicker than you can say “proforma invoice”. I’ll add lovely images, engaging descriptions and tag it so it’s correctly displayed on your website. Your stock will be availble to your customers in no time. And you can start to see the scales of your bank balance even out once more.
The CEO with no time
The problem: You’re a world-beating practioner at what you do. You’re a creative thinker who is exceptional in your field. You win awards regularly for the outstanding work you and your small team of creatives produce. But behind the scenes, it’s chaos. There’s an out of date staff handbook, a resource management spreadsheet no one uses and you’re praying no one gets ill or needs a holiday, as you’ve no idea how you’d cope. And that’s before we get to the finances - there’s money in the bank, but you’re not tracking cashflow, so it’s all feeling a bit out of control. One unexpected bill could upend your plan for the year but it’s hard to get the headspace to work out what to do first.
The impact: Efficiency is a pipe dream. You suspect you’re losing money to over-servicing your professional clients and you know you should be doing a lot more on new business but you simply have too much to do day-to-day to think about strategic planning. You’re unable to support your team with training, professional development or a structure for career progression because you simply don’t have time. As a result, your team are starting to get disillusioned - you talk a good game and you genuinely mean well, but they’re starting to look elsewhere.
Call me: I can help in two ways (or a combination of both) - practical help on organising your team and workflows to free you up for the big picture thinking and/or sitting down with you to make that strategic plan, set goals and timelines to help you achieve it. As a one-off exercise for you to take forward, or regular meetings on an ongoing basis to help keep you accountable - you choose to fit your capacity and cashflow. Free up the time and brain space to actually do the things you want and need to - no need to compromise.
The fledgling freelancer
Problem: You’ve been mulling it over for months, years even but you’ve finally taken the plunge to enter the wonderful world of freelancing. Perhaps you’re a creative working in content or film production, a videographer or a producer. You’re used to working alongside a team in-house, with the comfort and relative safety of a structured team, someone to pay the bills and handle the operational side of things. You’re used to showing up and putting on the old razzle dazzle without having to think about cashflow projections, VAT returns or invoicing. Help!
Impact: You’ve got to start hustling for every piece of work - nothing’s being handed to you on a plate in freelance world. It can be uncomfortable putting yourself out there when you're not used to it, so you’ve got to get comfortable with that quickly. Establishing your personal brand and bringing in some money is vital. But so is making sure you’re keeping accounts up to date, paying your taxes, having insurance, etc, etc, etc.
Call me: It can be quite lonely going it solo, especially at the start. Switching your mindset to business owner vs employee can be tricky to get your head around. I can help you not only start to see things through that different lens, but also practically help get you set up with simple record keeping, get a website set up and put you in touch with experts in my network to aid with things like insurance, accounting and tax advice. Need specific marketing or technical support? Let’s chat and get you what you need so you can focus on what you do best.
The agency with growing pains
Problem: Business is booming, you can’t keep up with your clients’ demands but things are starting to get out of hand. This is what you dreamt of and worked hard to achieve but now you’ve no real clue whether your projects are profitable or could be streamlined because there’s no time to focus on those details. All hands are to the pump to deliver the goods. It’s a good problem to have but it can only work like this for so long before the wheels start to come off. You need to get a handle on things, stat!
Impact: People will start to burn out. Profits will start to be eroded. Feathers will start to be ruffled. Questions will start to be asked.
Call me: When you can’t see the wood for the trees, or you can’t pause for breath, never mind to analyse how things are going, a seasoned pair of fresh eyes can really help. A few days observing workflows and processes from someone not bogged down in the day-to-day can be really valuable. Sometimes, it’s just little tweaks or returning to your values as a bit of a reset. We can get you back on track tout suite!
The new shop owner
Problem: Oh, god, there’s so much to do. There’s the product, premises, insurance, the finance, logistics, suppliers - the list is endless. There are a lot of plates to spin and you have to now also become a marketing expert, get your brand fixed up, present yourself to the world and find your feet with all of that at once. Eek!
Impact: Whether it’s online, bricks and mortar or both, if you build it, you still need to get the word out there or no one will come. Make sure you know your customer, who they are, what they want, where they hang out and what will catch their eye and then TALK TO THEM INCESSANTLY.
Call me: There are bits of this journey you’ll love and bits you’ll hate and bits in between that you just want to hand off to someone else. Being a sole trader can be lonely - imposter syndrome, feeling like everyone else has it sorted… Well, spoiler alert - everyone’s winging it. Let me help you navigate the early days and get you on the road to making money ASAP without feeling like you’re drowning in tasks straight away.
The scaling micro-business
Problem: You started your business a side hustle from the kitchen table but it steadily grew and now you’re thinking it’s time to take the next step - make it your main hustle. You’re ready to leave your day job, or perhaps you already have - you know you need an extra pair of hands to get through all you have in your plan. But how do you even employ someone? And do you even need to?
Impact: Opportunities come without notice and often need to be seized quickly, so you need to be able to respond and react quickly to those whilst not dropping the everyday ball. You might need an employee or two, or you might want to bring in seasonal support. Or freelance-outsource some stuff? Where to start?!
Call me: We can work through the options, pinpoint the pinch points in your processes and look at all the options. I can help you find the help you need and/or be that help! Let’s talk it through and make a plan for now and a plan to support your growth sustainably.
The accidental success
Problem: You never meant for it to happen this quickly. You started up, you were an instant hit at whatever it is you do, and suddenly it’s 18 months later and you’re just drawing breath and thinking - how did this happen?! You’ve brought one or two people on board and you’ve got the skeleton of a great business here but you know it needs flesh adding to the bones to make it scalable and sustainable.
Impact: You price work by sticking your finger in the air and making an educated guess. You have a rough mental number of what your overheads are and you’re getting the bills paid, but if a big project landed on your desk, it would be scoped and run purely on vibes. That’s gonna hurt when it unravels, unless you’re very lucky.
Call me: Setting up processes like tracking income and expenditure, overheads and making sure all your obligations as an employer are met doesn’t have to be difficult or even that time-consuming. And it definitely doesn’t need to be something you do yourself. Let’s get you an accountant, let’s make sure you’re covered for insurance and policies for your team. Looking after these details will let you close a couple of those mental tabs and allow you to forge ahead with your world domination.
The seasonal disaster zone
Problem: Retail, no matter what size your business is, is very seasonal and you’re always thinking several seasons ahead. Christmas never ends, Valentine’s happens in autumn, we’re talking about Easter with the tinsel and crackers in the background. That can be confusing and exhausting and means you’re always busy, despite your best laid plans.
Impact: You end up with bottle necks of work to do and your website is always slightly out of date. Sure, you could use AI to help add all your products to your website, but AI can’t look at physical items and piece together collections or promotions as it goes. It can’t remember when you added that matching product from a different supplier a few months ago and link them together. A human brain can. It also can’t package up products, put cards in cellos, stick labels on to boxes - I can!
Call me: You might have a backlog of products to get boxed up, or added to your till system, or even put out onto the shop floor. You might need to stocktake your whole store but don’t want to impact on customers during your busy festive season. Out of hours, remote and in person help is all possible - you only need to ask. Let’s talk!