Fresh Air B&B

Whatever we think of online social networking, there’s no doubt that some technology throws up wonderful opportunities for making the world a better place. Tentshare is one such initiative – the brainchild of entrepreneur Rebecca Heaps, latest interviewee in this ‘experts by experience’ series.

Rebecca has created an online tent-matching marketplace that scores highly for planet, people and profit; the so-called ‘triple bottom line’ associated with social enterprise.  Like other peer-to-peer sharing platforms, Tentshare is about connecting people to make better use of the resources we already have, and which may be cluttering up lofts, cellars and garden sheds – unloved and unused… until now.

The disposability of tents after a ‘single-use stay’ is a wasteful 21^st century development. Rebecca tells me that in 2019, 250,000 tents went to landfill and many, I know, are abandoned after music festivals.  On the plus side, I learn that you can rent a pre-loved four-person tent four times for the carbon emissions equivalent of a return flight to Madrid.  

Tentshare does what it says on the, er…canvas, but it also aims to connect like-minded people, convert new campers to the delights of outdoor living, and open up new opportunities for affordable, environmental and healthy holidays. Tentshare is about creating an online camping community that shares values as much as tents.  Users of the platform can make money by hiring out their home-from-home, while would-be campers can save money by hiring someone else’s tent – increasingly important when household budgets are stretched.

I wondered when and where the Tentshare idea was born, naively imagining Rebecca had grown up sleeping under the stars. “As a child we never camped, but I did live in the country and spent a lot of time outside, doing stuff with my two brothers. I was always a tomboy – I just absolutely love being outdoors. The tent sharing idea was born in 2019 when I started renting out my own bell tent to families in the neighbourhood. Parents wanted an experience of glamping without the expense.”

Rebecca’s business skills have been developed in the family business which she joined after teaching in London for more than a decade. That business was property development, so the move into tents – also putting a roof over people’s heads – is not as much of a leap as it might at first seem.  The eco-interest also dates back to her time in bricks and mortar, trying to ensure the family’s house-building was as green as possible.

Like many entrepreneurs, Rebecca is passionate about the potential for Tentshare to grow, but she knows to temper her enthusiasm with patience. “Because the sharing economy is a relatively new idea, people need time to understand it. Airbnb started very local and niche and it took them five to seven years to get going. The success of tent-sharing is based on trust – we have a pledge which we ask users to sign, but building real trust takes time.” Her plan is to put Royston [where Rebecca lives, near Cambridge] on the map; to establish her ‘fresh air B&B’ vision locally before conquering the world of camping. “When we go national, we’d aim to set up sharing networks to minimise delivery costs and promote local connections – good for the planet and people.”

Rebecca decribes Tentshare as a ‘purpose-led’ business, but she admits this is a model not everyone understands. “People running profit-led business ask me ‘what’s the point of it?’ Their only measure of success is profit, while ours is carbon emissions reduced.” That said, Rebecca points to Charlotte Morley’s successful pitch for a £70,000 investment (she actually got £140,000!) on Dragons’ Den to develop her site for sharing children’s clothes – The Little Loop – as proof that online sharing markets are becoming mainstream.

The value of Rebecca’s green business model is not lost on others – she can add ‘PEA Award-Winner’ to her publicity! PEA is ‘People, Environment Achievement’ and Rebecca triumphed in the 2021 travel category, with the judges saying ‘We loved this concept. So many single-use tents get bought and wasted, we need to learn to upcycle and recycle.’ 

From the heady heights of award-winning we return to the problem of festival tent waste and Rebecca tells me she has partnered with Camplight, an organisation that’s pioneering ‘affordable festival camping’ by re-using tents saved from landfill. Looking ahead, such collaboration is very much at the heart of Rebecca’s vision for Tentshare, and we discuss the potential for linking up with other complementary initiatives such as Nearly Wild Camping and (for cyclists across Europe) Warm Showers.

We end our conversation on an optimistic note. Despite the pandemic’s toll on our mental and physical health, a new-found desire to re-connect with nature, along with the rapidly rising cost of living, means the time is right for the sharing economy to thrive. Like a breath of fresh air, Rebecca is taking a lead in this and invites other to follow. “Tent owners can be part of this greener future by listing their tents at https://www.tentshare.co.uk/ready-to-share right now – it’s quick and easy.”   

Related blog posts:

The cost, price and value of tents

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/where-can-I-reuse-repair-recycle-my-outdoor-climbing-hiking-gear

Other inspiring initiatives:

Camplight  https://camplight.co.uk

Nearly Wild Camping https://nearlywildcamping.org/blog

Warm Showers https://www.warmshowers.org

The Little Loop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4R6lnB9UmU

Homemade Happiness

Before taking the plunge, most of the entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed in this ‘experts by experience’ series have had a burning ambition to run a business for a long time. There’s no such history behind Caroline Smith’s decision to take on Homemade at The Barn – a treasure trove of pre-loved, vintage, and locally-crafted products for homes and gardens, 15 miles from Cambridge.

I’ve known Caroline for many years as a very sensible, thoughtful person, so her opening comments surprise me. “I had no intention of taking on a business. I was quite happily doing nothing, walking my dog every day, but I’d been a Homemade at The Barn customer and I liked its quirkiness. When I heard the place was closing, my immediate thought was – if I was ten years younger… Then I went home and asked Scooby [Caroline’s dog] what he thought. That afternoon I went back to The Barn and said I’d take it over.”

In two decades of advising on business start-up and development, business plans have featured prominently (although regular readers of this blog will know I have mixed feelings about their value). Not so with Caroline, who admits “I didn’t have a business plan, but I had a gut feeling… I had the time to make it work and was confident; I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained, I’ll give it a go. Retail is a fast-moving business and having flexibility to make quick changes is important, so I’m not too worried about not having a written business plan. The important thing was my vision to provide a local outlet for talented artists and craftspeople.”

The time between deciding to take on the business and opening to the public under new ownership would have been less than a week had it not been for the arrival of, conveniently as it happens, the pandemic and lockdown. “Fortunately, the pandemic came along and delayed the re-launch by three months. The delay meant I could effectively re-open as a new shop, rather than ‘more of the same’.” I’m surprised to hear that Caroline didn’t inherit many past customers, but she thinks this may have something to do with the extended closure around the change of ownership.

“When I took over the business, I needed to learn what was working well in the shop, and what wasn’t; a break with the past. In the last year we’ve discovered the artisan-crafted items have been more popular than our pre-loved products. On the retail side, people are increasingly coming on board to rent space in the Barn [as opposed to simply paying commission on sales] which means they invest more time in how their items are displayed and promote the whole shop more actively.”

I wondered whether, resulting from the pandemic and lockdown, Caroline had noticed a change in attitude towards purchases – the quality and uniqueness of items, and possible environmental considerations – a re-evaluation of what matters. “Yes – I think the pandemic has done a lot for small businesses. People have rediscovered independent shops as an alternative to the supermarkets and garden centres which were, of course, the only physical retail open during the lockdowns. After shops were allowed to re-open, people wanted something that was individual, not mass-produced, that might also have been pre-loved. They also like the green credentials – including environmental award-winners – amongst our retailers.

Two years on, would Caroline do it all over again? She laughs, her answer is disarmingly honest. “It’s been a very positive experience – I thoroughly enjoy running the business but, no, I wouldn’t do it again, because I miss my life! My advice to others is that retail is 24/7 and unless you can commit fully, you may not have the necessary flexibility – coping with emergencies, being available to change your hours at short notice, working on the business outside of opening hours – doing paperwork and being accessible online. If family and friends can pitch in that helps, but it’s not reasonable to expect that flexibility from employees.”

I point out that Caroline lives only a five-minute walk from The Barn and ask whether this is a good or bad thing. “It’s a double-edged sword – because I’m nearby I’ll probably sort out a problem quicker, but the separation between home and work – which is important – is more blurred.

In many years working with business start-ups, I find that entrepreneurs have difficulty pricing their products and services. It’s an art rather than a science, particularly for bespoke items. Caroline’s technique combines elements of subjectivity and objectivity. “I try to think like a customer – what would I pay for that item – but then Google is also your friend. While all my pieces are individual, I can see how similar items are priced in other markets using Google Lens” [https://lens.google] Retailers are part of that decision-making process but, says Caroline, “The challenge I have is that sometimes people have unrealistic expectations about the prices they might get for their items.”

It’s a cliché, but Caroline’s business is all about helping customers turn their houses into homes and making them happy. It seems that she’s succeeding with a high 29% return rate and new customers coming through recommendations from friends and family. “We had a couple recently who invited their wedding guests to buy gift vouchers for Homemade at The Barn. It was something that, as a small business, we could personalise to meet their needs. Our customers are very loyal, they want to see us stay open.”

To find out more about Homemade at The Barn, go online to    https://www.homemadeatthebarn.co.uk  and visit (Wednesday to Sunday)

For further ‘experts by experience’ interviews with entrepreneurs, go to https://enterpriseessentials.wordpress.com/category/experts-by-experience

A shaggy dog story

Ronnie and Lindsey

Three years ago I was working with The Princes Trust – supporting young people with business ideas, helping them explore self-employment. At any one time I was working with 30 – 40 people and, of course I had my favourites. By that I mean I was more interested in some business ideas than others, rather than the individual behind them.

Two of those businesses centred on pets. I’ve already profiled one of them in this ‘experts by experience’ series. While I admit I’m a cat, rather than a dog, person I know how important pets can be to their owners – for health and wellbeing – particularly for those who live alone. The second pet business was Lindsey Warren’s mobile dog grooming business – Lush Puppy https://www.lushpuppypetgrooming.co.uk.

The grooming van

I was delighted when Lindsey contacted me out of the blue recently, which led to a chat about her not-so-new business. I soon discovered I was talking to an award-winner! During lockdown, Lindsey has won ‘Best in Show’ in a live online competition in creative dog-grooming (co-starring Ronnie – one of her dogs) involving over 50 groomers. Fingers (or should that be paws?) crossed for her success in another national grooming award.    

Ronnie pretending to be a giraffe

As we talk, I can only think that dog grooming must be as therapeutic for the groomer as for the dog being pampered; Lindsey was so relaxed as we discuss her career (relatively short so far, but in doggy years…)

Work life balance

The first thing I note is the hours she now works. She doesn’t work on Fridays – by which she means she’s not out and about; using the time at home to do the paperwork associated with running a successful small business. Nor does she work evenings or weekends saying “A lot of groomers think they have to be available all hours to fit their customers commitments. But, in my experience, if they really want your services, owners will find a weekday when they can be available, particularly as more and more people are working from home these days.”

I suspect this says more about the demand for Lindsey in particular, than the flexibility of dog-owners. She tells me some regulars (who now make up most of her customers) have booked in visits for the whole year ahead! But it wasn’t always like this – Lindsey admits she worked ‘all the hours under the sun’ at the start.

Like some people were always destined to be doctors, it seems that an early love of animals set Lindsey on the path of working with animals, almost in preference to working with other people! From dog grooming work experience while studying for a Diploma in Animal Management at Capel Manor College, to holiday job offers, then full-time employment – it all sounds like a smooth ride. But maybe Lindsey just makes it sound smooth? With further qualifications and five years working in salons of different sizes (including a national chain) change was on the cards.

Going it alone and going mobile

“I learnt what it was like to be working in different salon settings and what I concluded from that was that I didn’t want to have lots of employees – I was happy working on my own. When I found out about mobile grooming that was always in my head – that was my dream. Then I saw Wet Pets mobile grooming vans at Crufts – amazing Barbie-esque vans with everything I could want!”

Self-belief, and a bad experience with a new job, was all Lindsey needed to go it alone in 2018. “I decided I didn’t want to work for someone else, and it was about having the gumption to say ‘I’m going to do it’.”  That said, she welcomes the online company of dog-grooming friends in the area. They talk daily about grooming and non-grooming topics, they even share information about aggressive dogs, as their owners don’t always disclose this to the groomers. That mutual support when self-employed is clearly important.

Once she’d decided that mobile dog grooming was her destination, Lindsey says it took around three years to get where she wanted to be. Getting started involved a problematic period while hiring a van – regular breakdowns meant lost work – and she realised getting her own van was the only reliable alternative.

Inside the mobile grooming van

Once again, I’m amazed at how cool Lindsey sounds as she talks about taking on a major loan for the van purchase and conversion. “Applying for the loan was pretty easy – I was surprised to get it straight away – I never dreamed I’d get it. They checked my finances and that was pretty much it!” I suspect that Lindsey is understating the role played by her track record in the dog grooming business and the early success in the start-up phase, but I let that pass.

We talk a bit about business plans. Regular readers of my ‘Enterprise Essentials’ blog will know I have mixed feelings about the value of business plans; that it’s more about the planning process rather than the plan produced at the end. Lindsey seems to agree “I can’t say I’ve looked back at my original business plan! I think it’s a ‘nice to have’ for backup, at the start, for getting funding, but not so necessary for running the business.”      

Lessons for other entrepreneurs

In my ‘expert by experience’ interviews I’m always keen to know what lessons the entrepreneurs have learnt to pass on to others. Lindsey has several to share.

“If I’d had more self-confidence early on, I would have applied for a loan much sooner, but I thought it would have been unaffordable and not even available to me.” I ask about pricing – a problem for many start-up entrepreneurs. “I didn’t charge enough for my services at the start. Groomers undervalue themselves – perhaps because they consider it a hobby rather than a business. I raised my prices quite quickly and I think I’m at a good rate now. Putting my prices up also meant I could work less and enjoy myself more!”  

Pandemic puppies

I conclude by asking about the impact of the pandemic naively expecting a response that increased dog ownership during lockdown has been a good thing. But Lindsey’s response shows that her business is as much about her heart as her head…

“When the first lockdown struck, I closed for around two months. But then grooming bodies said we could work in regulated ways; that leaving the dogs too long could become a welfare issue.  I then became very busy because, being mobile, owners were less worried about my visiting them and remaining outside. I’m still very busy and turning people away, but I’ve found that there are many more dogs around and they are less easy to groom because many of the lockdown puppies weren’t properly socialised. A lot of puppies were bought on impulse, encouraged by owners working from home, and many didn’t go to puppy groups, the vets, or salons.”

Flo

Since leaving The Princes Trust I’ve often wondered what happened to the start-up businesses I tried to help nurture, speculating about how many actually started trading and, more importantly, are still thriving post-lockdown. I’ve never had the courage to find out whether my support make a real difference. But my conversation with Lindsey has given me hope; maybe my support at the very least did no harm!

Related posts:

Our best friend’s best friend

With business in mind

When people are motivated to set up a business because of something very personal to them, the impact on the development of that business can be good and bad. It’s about balancing head and heart issues – how to harness that lived experience to drive business success while remaining objective enough to make hard commercial decisions.

For Jon Manning, founder of Arthur Ellis Mental Health Support (AEMHS), the motivation behind his business start-up could not be more personal and powerful; diagnosis of bi-polar disorder two years ago, aged 27, after first being hospitalised when six years old. The creation of the business is, Jon admits, as much about his own route to better health as helping others with their mental ill-health.

“I’d been through all the NHS services but couldn’t get a lot of support. Different diagnoses at different stages meant different places to go and new waiting lists to join – I was getting fed up.  After the bi-polar diagnosis, I went to talks to learn about my disorder, but it didn’t help and I felt others in the room wouldn’t be able to help me either. So I thought I’d come up with new training; sharing clinical techniques for ‘normal people’ to learn how to help their unwell colleagues quickly, without having to wait.”

Jon is clearly frustrated about the time it takes to get through the mental health system – up to two years from initial GP referral to diagnosis. Average diagnosis of bipolar disorder, due to its complexities, he says, is 13 years; one explanation of a rise in suicide rates.  Which is why Jon set up Arthur Ellis Mental Health Support – named after his two grandfathers one of whom, Ellis, had bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia, spending 30 years in hospital.

Luckily the development of Jon’s business has been spectacularly fast compared with the workings of the NHS. “Our first year’s income was achieved in the first four months, meaning I could bring in a team of ten clinicians – psychologists and health practitioners – to do the training.”

After the first year, 8 Award Nominations and 2 business awards followed bringing support from major companies and the ability to increase his professional fees from £200 a session to £1,000 a day. A new annual package for businesses means turnover is expected to be £300,000 in just the second year.

As if that isn’t likely to keep Jon busy enough, he has set up a schools service alongside the business – a not-for-profit arm to develop a programme of support for the 75% of children who are rejected for mental health support. Schools can refer students directly to AEMHS for a course of treatment (involving their parents) to try to keep them out of the health service system.

Keep it simple

Of course the development of the business has been nowhere near as smooth as the story this far may sound; like most entrepreneurs, Jon has to learn some hard lessons. Keep it simple is his top tip…

“If you do just one thing but do it really well, you can profit from that. You don’t necessarily have to start with a huge range of products or services. Focus on one thing at a time, once you’ve aced one, you can add another. I started out with 16 services – all the things I wanted to do. I took advice and reduced the list to 11, but was then advised even that was too much. Now I’m focusing on two – training workshops and an online coaching platform.”

Getting started with the workshops wasn’t all plain sailing either. “No one wanted to do them at first” admits Jon. “I thought about what medical conditions had most impact on people – treatment for anxiety and depression are top of the list – so I developed exercises and imagery to simulate those conditions.”

Feedback – good and bad – on those re-focused workshops was important for adapting and improving the offer. Invitations to a free event won some paid business, which meant Jon could afford to recruit mental health practitioners to develop new workshops. The annual package of quarterly workshops – on anxiety, depression, trauma and enduring illnesses – was born, including clinicians proactively reporting on issues each month to help tackle anything before is has a business impact.

Know your purpose

Jon’s stresses the importance of understanding the purpose of any new business – not just what you’re doing but, why you want to do it. For him it’s about doing a good job and working on something that’s worthwhile. Communicating this is also important. “If your purpose is clear to everyone you work with, that will pay off. People need to buy into you – what you’re doing and why – that’s the way to get clients.”

Letting go

As well as balancing head and heart, another issue for people with a deeply personal motivation for starting a business is being able to let go – trusting others to help run the business when it becomes too much for one person. Jon agrees…

“It’s hard, but if you have specific strengths in one area, you need to see the specific strengths in other people. If you bring in people who are better than you [trained and with more relevant experience – for example, clinical staff] delegation is easier because they’ll do a much better job.”

Because ‘people buy people’ – which is certainly the case at the start-up stage – bringing in other staff can be an issue, but Jon believes this is about being open and managing client expectations. This relates to another of Jon’s guiding principles – honestly – particularly if things go wrong…

 “I’ve told clients exactly what’s happened when things didn’t go as planned. I’d rather put work back a month than rush it. I’m sometimes guilty of over-sharing, but I believe honesty can really help build your reputation, as can asking your clients for advice – they appreciate being consulted; they like to help.”

Thinking long term

“The big question is… do you want to do something for now, or create a business? For a business to succeed, you need a long term view – a vision – and you need long term agreements, long term clients, and long term goals. Solving a minor problem is probably not the basis for a sustainable business. If you’re tackling a bigger problem [like mental health and wellbeing at work] it’s about chipping away and coming up with long term solutions.”

Which brings us back to the ‘why’ of the business you’re starting. For Jon Manning, that purpose became increasingly clear through dissatisfaction with his previous employment. “I realised the work I was doing was good money and quite flexible, but it was menial and without purpose – I needed to help myself.” A year later, Jon is sure he made the right move. “I haven’t had a salary for the past 12 months so I’ve left all that life behind, but I feel a lot better now than I’ve ever been.”

Further information about Arthur Ellis Mental Health Service:  https://arthurellismhs.com

Jon is based at the NatWest Accelerator Hub in Milton Keynes, https://www.business.natwest.com/business/business-banking/services/entrepreneur-accelerator.html#hubs

Changing mindsets

Profiling a Prince’s Trust – supported entrepreneur

That her new app to help young people build essential mindset skills has been successfully launched is, says creator Elise Williams, a testimony to the power of the tools she shares through the app.  She explains how she faced lots of challenges, with all the self-doubt that comes from spending money on developing an unproven resource. But she’s come through it in one piece by tapping into many of the mental strength developing skills she advocates!

Elise describes her app – Make Your Mind Up – as “Everything you wish you knew but weren’t taught at school – resilience, motivation, focus, confidence, stress control – tools for building a positive mindset and mental strength.” The evidence-based videos and tools are informed by research from many disciplines including sports psychology, mindfulness and neuroscience.

Elise’s commitment to developing the app reflects her own personal experience after leaving school and university. “I came out and stepped into the big wide world and, very quickly, I realised how unprepared I was for coping with the stress of even small things. Speaking to friends I realised I wasn’t alone – which was reassuring – we’d all gone through 18 years of education but still felt unprepared without a foundation of essential skills.”

For Elise, an important element is that the app provides an urgent solution – to help users get through a challenge. She describes Make Your Mind Up as “a pocket mentor – available when people most need it” The plan is to spread understanding of the tools and mindset thinking through workshops with schools, teachers and parent groups; schools are invited to get in touch about trialling the materials for free. A growing Facebook community also offers valuable peer-to-peer support to users and is a useful source of feedback on content and ideas for new resources.

Despite their value in emergency situations, Elise stresses the need for regular use of the mindset tools. “There’s a danger you don’t keep the tools in your kit sharpened – it can help prevent serious development of unhealthy responses if you practice and keep your skills updated. It’s all about building up healthy habits – reminding yourself, for example, why you might be having negative thoughts.”

 As someone who knew little about app development when she started out, Elise had some useful insights for other would-be app creators. For her, finding the right developer, which wasn’t easy, is top of the list. “It took maybe six months, and I think some providers took advantage of my inexperience. When I finally found the right people I could see they really understood the concept, and they were parents of children in my target market which helped! Meeting face-to-face at the start was really important to assess whether they were genuinely interested in helping to make my idea a reality.”

As with many other businesses buying-in professional services, assessing financial estimates from would-be providers is not easy. Again, Elise took the common-sense approach. “I went to as many people as possible and got lots of quotes which I assessed against each specification for the work involved. In the end it was a matter of balancing what was on offer with what I needed and, ultimately, what I could afford. Elise urges patience in finding the right person “It’s important you don’t feel pressured into going with the first quote you get.”

Wider business lessons Elise has learnt along the way include “Not putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on yourself to make things happen instantly; they’re not going to. Trust the process – Rome wasn’t built in a day!” That said, Elise does advise others to have confidence in their ability – to be assertive with suppliers from the start, and keeping them to deadlines. Advance research can help entrepreneurs speak with more authority and Elise looked at lots of other apps (on a range of topics) to decide what feel and functionality she wanted for her own.

Which all sounds like appropriately good advice from someone who has just launched a practical advice-giving app to help us cope with whatever life throws at us.

For more about the Make Your Mind Up app go to www.makeyourmindup.co.uk, join the Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/283258582152043/?ref=bookmarks, contact Elise direct elise@makeyourmindup.co.uk

Elise is supported through the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme, details at https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/support-starting-business

 

Our best friend’s best friend

Profiling a Prince’s Trust – supported entrepreneur

Lisa Sinnott has made it her job to understand man’s best friend (her service users) and their relationship with her paying customers. “Dogs and cats are members of the family, so you want someone you can trust” she says.

Lisa launched her business – Albany Pet Services – two years ago offering a solo dog walking service, reinforcement of existing training such as loose lead walking, and personal animal visits tailored to the particular needs of both the animals and their owners. But it was a blind colleague, not one of her four-legged friends, who inspired her to start her own business. As Lisa recalls…

“I got a maternity cover contract with the Guide Dogs charity and worked with this amazing lady called Sue who had been blind since she was 19. She also had cancer and had such a resilient spirit. I was with her in Chelmsford at a Scout and Guide event. My contract was coming to an end and I thought – she can do anything she wants – she’s not letting her disability stop her. It was then I realised I needed to be more confident and go for stuff I really wanted to do – which is when I decided to set up my business.”

It was at this stage that Lisa contacted The Prince’s Trust and was accepted on to the Enterprise Programme – with support that she describes as “amazing”. The business planning helped her structure the ideas whirring around in her head and, she says, “Got me thinking about things people often don’t consider, such as competitor research.”

Acknowledging that starting and running a business can be lonely, Lisa says “Meeting other people wanting to set up their own business – in the same position as me – was really good; to hear their ideas and knowing I wasn’t alone. Monthly meetings with my business mentor are really helpful – for bouncing ideas around and coming up with new ideas I hadn’t thought about.”

It’s ironic, but not so unusual, that people in caring businesses sometimes fail to take proper care of themselves. Lisa has learnt the hard way that it can be very difficult to separate home and work life. She warns against letting the heart rule your head.  “I’m terrible” she says “I can be up at 7am working in bed, then doing a full day’s work. You must have self-care – you can’t keep going all the time. It’s hard when you’re passionate about something. But you must make time for yourself – spending time with friends, doing things you enjoy. I love improvisation and have recently joined a girls Gaelic football team and played in Dublin which was fun! I’ve had to create business boundaries – there’s only one of you at the start so you have to look after yourself.”

That Lisa puts the welfare of her service users (as well as keeping their owners happy) at the heart of her business is reflected in comments she makes about the lack of regulation in the pet-care industry. “There’s a problem because anyone can call themselves a dog walker. Everyone should at least be qualified in first aid.”

Lisa also acknowledges that the wellbeing of her dogs can run counter to the income-generation needed to sustain the business, “In terms of group walks, some people make £100 in an hour because they take out ten dogs at a time. But that’s irresponsible – it’s not good for the dogs’ welfare, what would happen in an emergency – if one of them needed the vet? It would take a lot of time to get all the dogs all bundled in the back of the van again. And how would you protect the dog that was unwell? These are all questions to consider when choosing a pet care provider.

What advice does Lisa have for anyone starting their own business? “Value your time – remember that your time is precious. Ask questions, get advice, and if you don’t know something read and research! Become an expert in your field.”

It would seem that providing a successful pet service is as much about disciplining yourself as guiding the four-legged friends in your care.

https://www.albanypetservices.co.uk

https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/support-starting-business 

Running before you can walk

Profiling a Prince’s Trust supported entrepreneur

Ruth Simmonds has a high energy ‘go for it’ style which would seem to be at odds with her chosen business pursuits – as a Pilates instructor and, more recently, coaching other Pilates instructors.

From the little I know about Pilates, it seems to be about controlled physical exercise accompanied by mindful relaxation. This contrasts sharply with the animated exchange that is a conversation with Ruth Simmonds, founder of Therapy Through Pilates.

The apparent contradiction is explained by a serious back injury that put Ruth – a former dance teacher – in bed for sixth months and led to her discovering Pilates as part of her rehabilitation. “A full workout that aligns the body to overcome pain” is how Ruth describes the discipline.

Being bed-bound meant she had time to hatch her business idea, plan it – “a business plan is good for getting you thinking about things you wouldn’t have done otherwise” says Ruth –  researching the market, and networking. “You’ll never build a business on your own” she adds.

In a canny move that involved charging others for instruction while she herself was learning how to be a Pilates instructor, Ruth built up a small but growing core of paying customers by running two classes in a local venue. As well as generating income, she says this test trading “built my confidence and got me used to charging for my services. I find people can be funny about charging – that’s no way to run a business!”

She credits the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme with “giving me a push to turn the idea into a business.” With that gentle push – in recognition of the bad back – the business was up and running within a couple of months of Ruth’s recovery from the injury. Ruth describes herself as a “bit of a driver” and success means she now has others to do admin and instructors working for her.

This success has freed up time for her to pursue a new, but related, business venture – supporting Pilates instructors to develop themselves and their businesses through 1-2-1 coaching and group retreats at home and abroad.

Despite her personal effort, energy and determination, Ruth acknowledges the contribution of her Prince’s Trust business mentor. ”The mentoring is probably one of the best things about the programme. You’re sometimes too close to the business yourself to see the opportunities – you need someone outside to say ‘have you thought of doing it like this?’”

For marketing support and advice, Ruth went elsewhere through a family connection and has focussed on Facebook as her communication channel of choice for reaching new clients online. “I started with boosted posts, then went into Facebook groups and other social networks to explain the benefits of Pilates in everyday life. I offered free taster sessions – it worked well to go one further and get people to experience the benefits for themselves.”

But Ruth advises against trying all social media channels at once “You’ll be spreading yourself too thinly and it makes it difficult to track what’s working.”

The move from being a Pilates instructor to helping other instructors develop their businesses reflects Ruth’s interest in how mindset can help (or hinder) business development and, ultimately, success. Her own mindset has everything to do with being positive. “I’m someone who jumps in the deep end and, while I wouldn’t necessarily encourage others to do this, I give it my all and learn when things go wrong. There were times when my mentor advised me not to do something and I went ahead and did it anyway… and it worked!”

That said, Ruth admits she’s not too proud to ask for help. “If I hit a brick wall, I’ll reach out to others – for advice, information or inspiration. When you put yourself out there, there’s always an underlying fear of rejection – it can be scary.”   

Further information:      

Therapy through Pilates https://www.facebook.com/therapythroughpilates

Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme  https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/support-starting-business  

The customer is usually right

Quite often on Dragon’s Den, you hear them say ‘you’ve designed a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist’. In the wider world, if that disqualified any business that offers something we don’t need or want, we wouldn’t be surrounded by gadgets we never use, and services we thought would be useful when we first signed up for them.

The best business ideas are both needed and wanted and, unless you’ve got money to burn, this needs to be confirmed through market research. Or ‘customer validation’ as Davina Pancholi-Ifould describes it in relation to her start-up journey (we’re all on a journey these days) as founder and CEO of Rightgig Ltd.

To be fair, customer validation is not just any old market research, it’s about testing real products with real customers in real environments. For Davina, customer validation is also… “developing something because you know someone is going to pay you for it because they want and/ or need it. It’s about getting out there with a clipboard and talking to people you don’t know – so not your mum!”  That ‘something’ is Rightgig – an online marketplace to, in Davina’s words “Help companies decide who they should hire.” The online platform helps people looking for work or hiring, to match skills, motivation and personality to fit with different business cultures. As Davina observes “Some things, like skills, can be taught, but motivation and personality is also key to finding the right people.”

We’ve all probably seen the problems that can arise when people don’t fit in with the rest of the team. For Davina, the spark that ignited the flame that has become Rightgig was harnessing her love of technology to solve a problem that she and others had experienced when trying to hire. The ‘data matching’ idea was born and four weeks later, Davina was working fulltime on the business.

Lesson one – don’t hand in your notice too soon! Davina advises you do as much customer validation as you can before you leave the security of your paid job.

Lesson two – get outside support from people with a shared vision as early as possible. A lot of business success is about networking – about who you know. Gather your advisors and tribe!

I was intrigued to know what was behind the name – Rightgig – and the company’s logo. It was obvious I wasn’t the first person to ask Davina about this.

“Business names are emotive, often the embodiment of the business values, so it’s important you’re attached to the name. That said, our process for developing the name and logo was pretty random. I’m very visual so it was a matter of putting things up on the wall at home. We wanted a name that was one word and was easy to say and spell. We put ‘right’ and ‘gig’ (thinking of the gig economy, and gig as in ‘job’) on the wall and Rightgig had a resonance with the property website.”

I’m sure the process wasn’t that painless, but… I was also interested to learn that the logo started out as a doodle with a coffee mug stain on top of it!

“We aspire to become the Google of job search” jokes Davina (or maybe she isn’t joking?)

That ambition is reflected in the care with which the customer verification goes on. The technological base will only be built once a focus group has approved it – unusual in the world of technology. A broader focus group of users are testing early versions of the platform and saying which features they’d like to see first. Those features will then be tested further “Each release is an opportunity to build awareness and do further testing on the basis of real data” explains Davina.

I wonder what other lessons can be passed on to would-be entrepreneurs, and not just those of the techy variety? The fluency of Davina’s answer implies she’s also been asked that before.

“Don’t give up your day job too early. [Try to] keep your home and work life separate – turn off your phone and laptop, shut the door. Most creative solutions come when you’re not working on them – my 60 second pitch came to me in the shower! Know your strengths and weaknesses. To me finance is dull, but I know it’s important – I’ve learned to love it. Social media is my biggest challenge and my time is probably best spent on other things – I’ll outsource it as soon as I can.”

Returning to the subject of customer validation, Davina has a last bit of advice to share. “You can’t talk to enough people – you can always do more. We know our recruitment solution isn’t for everyone but we had to learn this. I have no regrets.”

More information: https://rightgig.co.uk

More than skin deep

Profiling a Prince’s Trust supported entrepreneur

Nichola Macarthur is a perfectionist. This is a good thing for someone whose business is beauty – particularly as she trains people in different beauty therapies. When Nichola was completing her business plan – an excellent document by any standards – she wasn’t happy until all the minor grammatical errors had been corrected. All businesses should aspire to the highest standards and, although many fall short, The Shire Beauty Training Group – Nichola’s business – does not appear to be one of them.

Perfectionism of the level exemplified by Nichola is a common problem for start-up entrepreneurs who are also craftspeople – how to balance perfection and productivity, and the implications for pricing. Time is money and if people won’t pay for the hours on the job, then there’s no business, however high the quality of the work. Being able to ‘let go’ and accept ‘good enough’ is essential for anyone starting and growing their own business.

But, her own admission, Nichola has not always been so ‘perfect’. “At college I was quite naughty. I was the one standing outside the classroom, believe it or not.” She soon got over this wrinkle in her career. “I went straight from college into the beauty industry, starting my own business at 19, renting a room in a tanning shop and ending up taking over the business.” But that wasn’t to be the end of her stumbling. “I was really young, blew all my money on stupid things, and it all went down the pan.”

A characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is their ability to learn from mistakes, to reflect, and bounce back after failure. Nichola returned to employment in different salons broadening her experience, while studying for a training qualification in beauty therapy. She started teaching in 2011 but it was the ‘conveyor-belt’ training environment that gave her the impetus to set up her own training academy that incorporated her own style of working.

That style and the expectation of the highest standards of herself and her staff seems to be working well.  Nichola is finding that her meticulous approach to running her new business is a real asset. Just over a year after launching in Hertfordshire – with over 300 students having taken classes and an impressive 70% return rate – the business has already stepped across the county boundary into Essex, and Nichola has long term plans for further expansion.

This initial success is not without a lot of hard work and the change from being employed to self-employed has made additional demands. “You’re in charge and responsible for everything. There’s no one to push you. You have to have a lot of passion and inner drive to get up in the morning and make things happen – everything is on your shoulders.”

Unlike other providers, The Shire Beauty Training Group operates seven days a week, including evenings, to cater for would-be students’ daytime working and parenting commitments. This is, in Nichola’s words a ‘unique selling point’ for her business but it puts considerable demand on her time with classes keeping her busy every day and most evenings.

The excessive hours seem to be paying off in terms of student success in getting employment. Nichola’s connections in the beauty industry mean that she has had great success in helping students through the recruitment process to find them placements with salons. Her industry connections have also resulted in commercial tie-ups with beauty brands that have, in turn, extended the breadth and depth of Nichola’s professional network, essential for business success.

Like many business start-ups, finding premises was a big headache before the business launched. Perhaps reflecting her perfectionism, Nichola says “I put a lot of time into looking for the right premises. I knew where I wanted to end up, so I had to accept high start-up costs. Looking back, it was worth the investment.”

Reflecting on her first year as a new business owner, Nichola has been surprised how much developments have diverged from her original business plan – something that was developed with support from The Prince’s Trust who all provided a start-up loan and a business mentor. As Nichola explains. “My business values have remained the same but, particularly on the financial side, things have turned out quite differently from what I expected. I was probably too optimistic.”

A new development – part of the plan but something that has happened sooner than expected (in response to public demand) is the launch of an in-house salon run by four students of the academy. The salon is not only an additional source of income for the business, but it gives students practice and valuable work experience.

They say that ‘practice makes perfect’. Clearly Nichola is determined that her students should share the high standards she expects of herself. But, one year on, she admits she’s not yet ready ‘to let go’. “When people used to say ‘your business is your baby’ I didn’t believe them, but it’s true. It’s very personal and I rely on all my staff having high standard to keep clients coming back.”

To find out about The Shire Beauty Training Group, go to https://www.shirebeautytraining.com 

More information about the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/support-starting-business 

Getting hands on

Profiling a Prince’s Trust supported entrepreneur

Hannah Stobbs knows all about the stresses and strains we inflict on our bodies – she plays rugby and cricket. It was a back injury playing cricket aged 17 that first introduced her to the magic of massage that has now become the core of her business – Hannah Stobbs Holistic Health.

Putting elite athletes and overworked employees back together again is Hannah’s passion – developed through studies at Loughborough University and ‘hands on’ experience working on the bruised bodies of fellow sports enthusiasts – including friends who would go on to be World-Cup-winning cricketers.

For a job which seems to be essentially about physical manipulation, Hannah’s description of the traits of a skilled massage therapist is perhaps surprising. “They are people who can be fairly relaxed – who know how to switch off the parts of their brains that cause anxiety. You need to have a flexible mind; to be able to do your best work even if you don’t feel at your best.”  

As the name of her business suggests, Hannah’s approach is very much about getting a 360-degree understanding of her client’s situation – to look beyond the immediate injury at the bigger picture. As Hannah explains, “I aim to get a fairly extensive client history at the start. I also ask what they would like to get from the massage session and this can raise a host of other issues – often related to stress at work.”

For Hannah, the relationship between massage therapist and client is best when there’s a shared understanding of what lies behind the problems being presented. “I aim to build a rapport – to focus attention and treatment on the most pressing issues and explain what I’m planning before I begin. Most people want to know this – it’s what they’re paying for!”

It’s clear that Hannah’s approach works – she has an impressively high return rate and has built up a solid base of regular clients, with 95% first coming to her through referrals – word-of-mouth recommendations. This is the core strength of any business and one on which Hannah is keen to build. That said, she sees part of her role as educating her clients so they don’t need to return for further treatment as regularly as other therapists might advise.

Reflecting on the first eight years of a career putting broken bodies back together, Hannah sees it as a play in three acts. The first was to gain experience – for which she was well-placed at Loughborough University, renowned for its specialism in sports science.

The next act was moving from Loughborough for post-graduate study, working on sports massage alongside other jobs, and wondering whether it could ever become a fulltime occupation. This was a testing time, as Hannah explains “I’d come away from Loughborough where it was very easy to get clients. From 60 – 70 clients, I went down to three. It felt like a big step backwards, but it taught me how to re-build my client base – through networking. I’ve made great friends through playing rugby and cricket, so I never need to massage a stranger!”

It was the third stage when, with the support of The Prince’s Trust, Hannah decided to focus on developing her business as a massage therapist. She credits that support with helping her to make better use of her time – to think more entrepreneurially. “I’m now thinking more about how to reduce time-wasting – less driving and more massaging – and generally structuring my days better. It’s also about better use of the resources I already have – working on my strengths more than weaknesses. For me, that’s my networks for developing the business through word-of-mouth.”

It’s interesting how often professionals don’t practice what they preach. Hannah admits that she has had to learn to look after herself better – through mentoring and acquiring the skills to achieve a better work-life balance. For Hannah, this is a combination of playing sport, making new friends at home and abroad, and never stopping learning – three passions that should take her far, both personally and professionally.

For further information about Hannah Stobbs Holistic Health, go to  https://www.hannahstobbssportsmassage.co.uk