Behind The Scenes Of My Business Consultancy - August 2021
I’m back with another peek behind the scenes of my business and I could not be more excited about the opportunities September and the autumn months are bringing.
If this is your first time on the CEO Secrets blog, let me introduce myself. I’m Denyse - a Strategic Business Consultant and Coach - and I’m on a mission to make it easier for female founders to start, grow and scale a business.
Welcome to my monthly look at what’s been going on behind the scenes of my business. I’d love to whether you’re excited about welcoming autumn and all its cosy goodness. Or are you solar powered like me and sad that summer, such as it was, is coming to an end? Do let me know in the comments box below.
A New Look For This Website
One of the upsides of the pretty dismal showing of sunshine this month was the additional time this gave me to makeover this website. Earlier in the year, I made three important decisions:
The first was to launch We Are Mimosa, a leadership development company with a clear purpose: to close the entrepreneurial gap for female founders. We Are Mimosa is an extension of my business consulting work.
The second was to keep this website and give it a makeover to bring it into line with my new brand, We Are Mimosa. This website contains my award-winning blog which is something of a passion project of mine, and I’ve invested a lot of effort into the SEO.
The third was to move this website from Squarespace 7.0 to Squarespace 7.1 so that I can create a private members area for my business consulting clients. Because there’s no migration path between the two versions, I had to rebuild my old website. This was not a decision I undertook lightly.
The new website will go live during the week commencing 13th September. I’ll announce this on Instagram and LinkedIn, and hope you’ll come and have a root around. The We Are Mimosa website will go live in October.
Fundraising For The Brilliant Breakfast
Together with a team of female founders, I’m really excited to be hosting a series of ‘Brilliant Breakfasts’ to raise money for The Prince's Trust Women Supporting Women Foundation, a cause which is dear to my heart.
Young women are among the hardest hit by the pandemic. 1.5 million young women have lost income since the start of the pandemic (Young Women’s Trust Nov 2020). Research from The Prince’s Trust says 57% said they were worried about their mental health (The Prince’s Trust Youth Index 2021).
From October 11th to 14th, I’ll be hosting a ticketed breakfast and digital networking event, live via Zoom alongside a team of cohosts of inspiring female founders. On October 15th, I will be co-hosting a live Brilliant Breakfast in Brighton.
I’ll be posting more details about the events in the next few days. In the meanwhile, the link to register for one of the online breakfasts is here.
This Month’s Client Success Story
This month, I thought I’d feature Clare, the founder of a Sussex-based sustainable floristry business I’ve been working with since the first lockdown. This was a lesson to me that you never know where a new client is going to come from! It’s also a reminder about the importance of building and maintaining relationships.
I met Clare a couple of years ago at a flower arranging course she was teaching at Leonardslee Gardens in Sussex. We stayed in touch via Instagram. When the pandemic hit, the bottom fell out of her sustainable floristry business which had been geared around weddings, events and in-person workshops.
Clare reached out during the first lockdown to ask for my help with pivoting her business. A natural teacher and award-winning florist, we decided - after completing a SWOT analysis - that the natural pivot was for Clare to deliver workshops and masterclasses digitally and develop a portfolio of online floristry courses in her signature style.
Clare has been able to replace the income she lost because of events being cancelled – and her business has become more profitable because she’s reduced her overheads. This improved profitability – together with a successful grant application - meant she’s been able to set up a subscription model delivering seasonal flowers to the door and start building a source of regular, monthly recurring revenue.
Related Post: You’ll find Clare’s story in my portfolio.
In August, I ...
Worked on ... my new website. Squarespace 7.1 has portfolio pages which are a perfect design feature to show off projects, photo galleries, and case studies. I’ve used this feature to create a portfolio of case studies to give you a flavour of the way I work and show the types of results my clients get.
Read … The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart, a study of all the ways in which an “authority gap” is manifested between men and women, and how the cumulative results prevent women from achieving equality.
Listened to … Eric Collins, CEO of Impact X, a venture capital fund that’s putting its money into backing under-represented entrepreneurs, in conversation with Mary Portas on The Kindness Economy podcast. Back in May, Eric Collins hosted The Money Maker, a reality show on Channel 4, where he offered his expertise and capital investment to small, struggling British businesses.
Watched ... Motel Makeover on Netflix about two besties-turned-business partners who bring their retro, boho-chic design magic to a totally rundown motel in a Canadian beach town, and do the renovations during the pandemic. Let’s just say that the process of “junifying” (taking something that isn’t so pretty and making it something special) the once-dated space was not all rosé and sunshine.
Visited ... the Witterings, a stretch of unspoilt coastline with wide golden sands and shallow waters for a reading retreat. The Witterings are a favourite place of mine to visit all-year-round. They sit against the backdrop of Chichester Harbour, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and have a laid-back sense of luxury, hip shops and excellent cafes.
Made … Agua Fresca, a fruit drink popular throughout Mexico, and Crab Linguine, inspired by the beach-hut recipes in the Sunday Times bestselling author Veronica Henry’s A Day at the Beach Hut, one of my reads during my trip to the Witterings.
In September, I’m looking forward to …
Sharing marketing ideas and inspiration for November 2021 here on CEO Secrets. You’ll find ideas and inspiration for September and October here and here.
Working on the new website for We Are Mimosa and getting ready to launch it in October.
Preparing for The Brilliant Breakfast, an initiative by The Princes Trust Women Supporting Women to raise money for young women in the UK who need our support, helping them to wake up to a more positive future.
Recording a series of interviews with my Brilliant Breakfast co-hosts about their journeys as female founders.
Giving talks on how start, grow and scale a business and succeed at life too.
Visiting the Somerset town of Wells for its annual literary festival and listening to talks by Peter Oborne, Mary Ann Sieghart and Sathnam Sanghera.
Reading The Island Of Missing Trees by the prizewinning author Elif Shafak. It’s a sweeping and romantic tale about love loss, healing, displacement, and identity played out on the island of Cyprus.
Getting over that Line Of Duty ending by watching Vigil, a brand-new six part detective drama set on board HMS Vigil, a trident nuclear submarine.
Final Thoughts
Wherever you’re taking a late summer holiday, embracing the new season feels of September or heading into a busy period of launches and events, I wish you the happiest of months. We all deserve it! I hope the articles on this website provide inspiration and encouragement and you enjoy the makeover.
Meanwhile I’d love to know how was August for you and what are your plans for September? Do let me know in the comments below! And do come back next month for another peek behind the curtain of my business.
Looking For Help With Your Business?
You’ll find examples of my work in my portfolio of case studies. If you like what you read, book a free, no-obligation consultation call and let’s talk about how we can work together to bring the vision you have for your business to life!