ONE TO ONE BUSINESS COACHING WITH DENYSE WHILLIER
Strategic Business Coaching
Business strategy coaching for female founders who want a former CEO on hand as they start, grow and scale their business
Strong, sustainable growth and a business where your values and purpose are the strategic driving force. A faraway dream?
Not when you have a former CEO by your side.
Hi, I’m Denyse Whillier, and I run We Are Mimosa, a Brighton based business consultancy specialising in helping women-led businesses achieve strong, steady, sustainable business growth.
With over 25 years of senior management and leadership experience under my belt, my purpose is to give you the strategic know-how and tools and to achieve your goals and grow your business with confidence.
What kind of business support are you looking for?
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Business is doing okay, but you're stuck at a plateau.
You feel that your business could be doing better and you want some help to make changes. Maybe you want to have more customers, increase profits and pay yourself more, expand the business or make more of an impact in the world. You want an experienced business coach with a wealth of experience who can support you in moving forward and help you grow your business.
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You want to expand.
You know your business can be so much more, but you’re not yet clear how to achieve your ideas and ambitions. Or even if it’s possible. You’re looking for a business coach with direct experience of scaling a business, coupled with the ability to give you the confidence to aim higher and turn your dreams of a bigger future into practical plans you can start implementing now.
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It's time to for a change of direction.
Maybe what you’re doing isn’t working any more, or you want to do something quite different, maybe something more in line with your purpose and values. You can use my business coaching services to work out a new strategic direction for your business and get support in making that change. Warning – sometimes this results in a complete change in what you do and who you do it for.
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It’s all going wrong and you need immediate help.
Maybe you’ve lost customers, or your profits have dropped. Either you don’t understand why what you’re doing isn’t working any more, or maybe you do but you don’t know what to do about it. Some of my business coaching clients come to me because their business is faltering and they need help. If this is you, let’s have a coffee and chat and see how we can fix the problems in your business.
Here’s how strategic business coaching can help you and your business
Having the freedom and flexibility to choose where, when and how we work is one of the great benefits of running a business. But somehow, that envisioned future is not always the reality. It's tempting to think that there’s a magic formula for growing a business. But the truth is every business every founder and team are unique. And every business goes through its own set of growing pains.
You know those moments:
You’re growing rapidly and this is putting a severe strain on your finances and cash flow.
You’re used to being hands-on in all aspects of the business. But if you want to continue growing, you must learn how to delegate and trust other people to handle important tasks.
Customers are unhappy because you’ve lost sight of what made you successful in the first place. An excellent customer experience.
You’ve lost sight of your original mission and you’re out of alignment with your purpose and values.
As you’ll have discovered by now, there’s no shortage of information and advice available online about how to start, run and grow a business, but most of it is, by nature, generic and not tailored to you and your business. The purpose of strategic business coaching is to support you with personalised advice, tailored to you and your business and help you move forward faster than you would do otherwise.
Think of a business coach as a strategic advisor, sounding board and accountability partner rolled into one.
The best business coaches have two main areas of expertise which they use to help their clients achieve their objectives.
Firstly, they understand how to run all kinds of businesses, usually from direct experience, and have the strategic know-how and expertise to help you cut down your learning curve, help you avoid mistakes which cost you time and/ or money, and of course help you to achieve business success.
Secondly, they help you to develop the soft skills necessary to navigate the ups and downs of growing your company. By soft skills, I mean resilience, confidence, optimism and calm under pressure.
Lots of people know all the business theories. But unless they have experience of running a business themselves - one that’s not a coaching company - all the great ideas and strategies in the world will only get you so far.
A former CEO, I have real-life experience and expertise of building and scaling a company meaning that I can see what’s really going on in a business where many others can’t. That experience - setting the company's strategic direction, reviewing the numbers and profitability, building a team and managing the overall operations - is a perfect fit for small business owners looking for support to overcome their growing pains.
Leveraging this strategic know-how, coupled with my natural empathy, social intelligence and communication skills is how I can help you to realise the goals and aspirations you have for your business.
These case studies will give you a flavour of the way I work and show the types of results my clients get.
How business coaching works in practice
From your first, free consultation call with me through to our first sessions together, here’s what to expect when you start business coaching with me.
1. The consultation call
We’ll meet - either in person or via Zoom - to make sure we’re a good fit to work together. I want to understand your aspirations for your business as well as the help you’re looking for. I’ll answer any questions you have. The call will last about 60 minutes and is completely free.
2. The strategy session
With the paperwork signed, we’ll kick off the business coaching process with an in-depth questionnaire which I’ll ask you to complete before our first session. We’ll begin with a half-day strategy and planning session. This is a deep dive into your business and will help us to set the framework for our work together going forward.
3. After the strategy session
I’ll write up notes capturing the key points, goals and action steps we covered during our meeting. Together, we’ll create a bespoke action plan for you and your business, identifying what actions you need to take in the short, medium and long term to realise your goals.
4. Coaching sessions
We’ll meet at a pre-agreed time each month for 2 hours to work on your business goals and the key actions you need to take to keep the momentum going. In between sessions, I’m available for advice via telephone or email to deal with any unexpected situations which may come up. I’ll also send you a weekly “accountability email.”
5. The investment
I have a sliding scale of fees starting from £375 per month. My fee structure is designed to offer an affordable pathway for early-stage businesses, while reflecting the complexity of the work involved when working with businesses which are scaling. The fee is normally offset quickly by increased revenue and profits.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Every client is different, and we work towards achieving outcomes which are aligned with your goals and aspirations. The strategy we develop is tailored to the needs of you and your business. With hard work and persistence, you can expect to:
Become more strategic and intentional in building your business.
Stay on track with your goals and highest priorities.
Make more money to fund the growth of your business and pay yourself properly.
Build a business which meets the needs of a post-pandemic world and which is aligned with your purpose and values.
Develop a crystal-clear understanding of your ideal customer’s needs and how you are uniquely positioned to help them.
Build a brand you’re proud of.
Gain clarity and confidence about the most effective ways to market your business.
Build a thriving network that supports you in your mission.
Learn how to run a flourishing business which respects that you have a life outside of work.
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Yes, I follow a similar strategic planning process to the one I used as a Chief Executive: a process which aims to answer the following four seemingly simple questions:
Where are you now?
Where are you going?
How can I support you in bridging the gap?
How will you measure progress towards that envisioned future?
Through my blended approach - using proven consulting frameworks drawn from my time as a Chief Executive combined with expert business coaching - I help my clients to create a roadmap to take their business from where it is today to their envisioned future.
We work together to understand where they are, where they want to be, and what they have in place already to get them there.
We look at available resources, capacity, assets, and existing systems and processes to identify their best opportunities for growth.
We focus on five key areas: building a brand, business growth strategy, financial health, building a successful company and making values and purpose a strategic driving force.
In true collaboration, we create and implement a strategy that works for them, their team, and their customers to ensure they get the results they really want.
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I work with women entrepreneurs in the professional services, design, education, retail, health, wellness and beauty sectors i.e. accountancy, legal, marketing, HR, tutoring, traditional brick-and-mortar, ecommerce, gifts, yoga, dance, personal training and therapies.
I’ve worked with more than 50 types of businesses, and you’ll find case studies in my portfolio.
I tend not to work with businesses in the manufacturing or SaSS industries.
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In a limited number of cases, and for very specific reasons, there are businesses I don’t work with. These reasons include:
The business isn’t financially viable.
Unethical business practices.
Poor customer care.
Not taking action on their decisions.
Not paying on time.
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Absolutely! If you do the work, I guarantee that you’ll make progress in your business much faster than if you were doing it alone. I expect my fee to be covered quickly by an increase in profits. Just one new client or a small increase in customers and you will make back your investment many, many times over.
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I work with a limited number of business coaching clients on a 1:1 basis, This tends to mean that I get booked up rather quickly. I recommend reaching out 2-3 months in advance.
From time to time, I offer small group business coaching programmes. You can use the inquiry form to get on the waiting list for my next course.
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Brilliant! Simply book in an introductory call and let’s take it from there. On the call we’ll discuss the support you’re looking for and I’ll ask you some questions about your business. Then if we both think we’re a good fit to work together, we’ll find a mutually convenient time and get started.
WHAT’S NEXT?