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“How do I find your events?”

“How do I find your events?”

Because we know business women like to access our events in many ways, after 10 years there’s a lot of ways to keep up to date on our events.

Here’s how to ensure you never miss your next fix of awesome networking and business education.

We love hearing from business women, so if you feel we can be doing more, you have feedback or suggestions, get in touch anytime and feel free to share with your business friends too.

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They quibble our fees!

Over on the Insiders (our confidential mastermind group) I had this question asked. As a Founder of The BWN and a coach with extensive experience of what makes us busy business owners succeed in business and get the results we want, I wanted to give you some ideas so you can confidently say “this is our price!” without feeling like you are being greedy or risking business. Let me know how you get on and as always you can ask questions, get feedback on what you learn over on our confidential mastermind group any time you like.

The phone rings and you do the happy dance because out of the blue someone wants what you do. Great feeling isn’t it?

(Well okay not out of the blue if you are an Insider or one of my client’s you know it’s about the branding, the vision, the mission, the marketing, the ethos and then it’s about the products and services and about the full package we put together to ensure you do get a constant supply of new customers (especially remembering the right actions and mindset -that’s another blog article on it’s own!)

The point is, this is what business is about. Getting the sales.

You then discuss their needs – ensure you utilise that information in your follow up conversations and communications (top tip!) and get a proposal sent to them for their consideration and a reply of yes please….

They say “great, lets’ do this.” And you get the purchase order arranged, a date in the diary and it’s all systems go. Except…

Then you get the message. “Just wanted to check if;

• It’s okay that our secretary sits in this too. I know we only booked for myself and my business development manager but that’s okay right?
• You could also just have a quick look at so and so, it probably doesn’t need a lot doing, but if you could just…
• It will be okay for you to give us some advice on X too, we think we are pretty much there, but if you could cast your eyes over it would be great.

The list of “Can you just’s” is long and it is often so subtle that you find yourself thinking things like;

• “Well we are there any way.”
• “What’s the big deal if other members of the team sit on in this?”
• “They are going to love us all the more if we over deliver on this!”

And that’s the point, you are so intent on doing your best, delivering to the very best of your ability that you miss that you are now working for free.

The problem is that while you may recognise these statements, there are probably subtle ones going on right now in your business that you give in to. And by doing that you could be;

• Reducing your profit margins.
• Reducing your money making hours.
• Overworking for some and neglecting other clients.
• Causing unnecessary stress.
• Not having enough hours to work on your business.
• Not the hours to take on new customers.

And that’s just a few of the issues I see arise from coaching clients because they are really nice business owners who give too much.

So we know what’s going on, but how do you fix it?

Here’s a few ideas to get you started….

With new customers and regular ones you are never going to turn into a Highway Cowboy robber and start shouting “Give us ya money!” are you? However in your head you may well be thinking, this just is not viable for us. Is this a loss leader or is this damaging our success? And ultimately what you want Is more money, however you never need to say this. Ever.

Often before I help clients find new markets and more customers I help them look at the calibre of clients they already have. And if we discover they aren’t fitting into the business model of the company then we do something about it. Ultimately what happens is the business owner either renegotiates with their current customers because their prices probably haven’t gone up in 4 to 8 years (and yet their costs have so their profit margins have suffered!) or they explain what will be tangible moving forward. Rarely have I seen a client lose business, if anything their customers are loyal, love working with my clients and are keen to ensure it’s a fair relationship so fees go up. And if they do lose clients, it’s a real relief to get rid of the customer that was sucking them dry. (This also makes room for more great customers that do pay a fair price for an awesome job. So first things, first – know your numbers;

• What is tangible?
• What is sustainable?

If  you are an Insiders check out my Profit calculator so you can ask yourself “If I was working the maximum hours with fee paying clients would I be making the profit margin I want AND have the life and business I want?”

When you know you have the right customers It’s never about saying give us more money. It’s about analysing their needs, understanding their budget and working out where that can meet. It’s great to show you care and give more, however if giving more becomes you reverting to the negative observations above then you’ve given too much. Learn to communicate in a powerful way. What words do your customers love to hear, what words feel your customers with dread(sometimes they can be very powerful in your negotiations – for instance if you customers hate the costs associated with rehiring staff and that means they feel stressed out trying to find the right staff and then there’s the hassle of training them, and will they stay, etc – if you only talk about ensuring you hire the right staff can increase profit margins, you are aren’t talking about the deep down real issue to the business owner (who obviously wants to make more money) the real issue is the grief, stress and sleepless nights its going to personally cause them too. Including the positive and the negative in the right quantities really helps you communicate with power. I find coaching style questions taught to my clients can help them find these answers and really understand the needs of their customers while still ensuring your needs are met.

A great question to ask is “What is your budget?” For me I say I can cater for most budgets (you will see why in a later top tip) however this makes it clear that you are not going to give them the moon on the stick but that you still will do all you can for them. Remember these words “We are a business, not a charity”. (That works well for many of my clients!)

A big area that many business owners get themselves in a pickle is around price. The business owner is thinking “We need to make £X an hour” and the client has their own agenda. With these 2 thoughts bought together you get one price. However the interesting bit is how one photographer/coach/Copywriter/baker charges ££ and another charges £££££ – how is that possible? Because the ones charging a great rate and attracting awesome customers doesn’t use the above equation to work out their rates, they work on value. For instance, take my job. I charge £175 per hour. Do I then charge £175 to work with me for the day? No, how is that possible? Because if I’ve got 12 people working with me in a room for the day that in theory is £1400. However what is that day worth to the individual? To the company?

If you start to consider this then you can see there is a very different equation at work here. Don’t charge people according to what it costs you an hour, charge people according to the value they will tangibly get from their time with you. For instance if I work with 12 people and reduce stress in the office every day, help them to increase productivity, work smarter and increase profit, that’s worth a lot of money to that company. And while I’m not going to charge them the full value of that, I will charge a fair fee. It’s far easier to do this when you see the true value you bring. A word of caution here – don’t get wishy washy about it. Be real. Be honest. Making people happy or making something that’s pretty maybe nice but what is the tangible result of that?

Still struggling to communicate powerfully “this is our price”? Take just 4 minutes to total how much you’ve spent on your career – the training, studying, research, books, resources. Now add the cost of your office costs, commute costs, etc. Factor all of these in and you start to see that your rate is far more than just fair. Your experience, investment in training, knowledge, staying up to date and cutting edge – rarely do  I see an hourly rate that reflects this. Even if you don’t increase your rates to reflect this in its entirety knowing this information usually ensures  you’ve no issue in increasing your rates by some percentage.

Remember if you can’t value your time then why should  your customers?

If someone really doesn’t have the budget (and this is something I see) then how could you still help them? A few years ago I realised there were a lot of people I’d love to help however they just weren’t in the position to invest in my coaching (although funny, how we justify somethings but not others? If you’ve got potential clients who quibble your fees but have perfectly manicured nails, drive a new car and have perfect hair that is freshly styled at the salon, it is possible it’s not that they can’t afford it, it’s more than likely that they don’t see the value or feel it will work for them so either change your marketing or stop chasing the wrong type of potential clients.)

As a result of wanting to help more people I set up the Insiders, my online courses and books. I’ve been told I could charge quaduple for the Insiders and they’d still pay and I could charge 400% more for my courses and they’ve have still bought them. Will I put the prices up? No, because its part of my mission statement and ethos to be accessible to all that want help. So if someone doesn’t have the budget and you are tempted to give it away, how could you help them and honour your business too?

Automated courses, books, group sessions are a great way of helping more people without damaging your ability to make a profit, not kill yourself off and achieve what you want to personally and professionally.

Some people will always try and get free. They will corner you at events, ask questions on line and even phone you for advice, will they ever spend money with you? No. These people don’t even realise they are doing it, however you need to be able to spot these people and maintain your integrity but ensure they don’t sap your business dry. My saying may help;

If you want V.I.P then you need to pay, if not you can still get some in the cheap seats – VIP or Cheap seats? Their call.

Remember when you attract the right customers they expect to pay for your services. They aren’t trying to get something for nothing. They will negotiate with respect and turn up with some idea of budget. And if you find yourself constantly dealing with price quibblers, maybe ask yourself how is our marketing communicating to people? And that’s an article for another day or head over to The Insiders to continue this conversation and get more ideas.

If you would like to work with me asking anything you like whenever you like, you too can join the Insiders. It’s just £10 a month and there’s no selling at you – you either benefit and stay or don’t. Most have stayed since we launched in 2018! I hope that tells you what the Insiders is really like for you and your business. Click here to join us.

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Jenny is at it again!

What we love about our business women that attend our networking events is that they don’t just care about their own success they care about other business women’s success too.

Many of our members also have very busy personal lives and yet they find the time to raise money for charity.

We love that!

Jenny has jumped out of a plane, crawled across the Maldon Mud (with Pängel wings on!) and now she is wing walking!

Yes Wing Walking!

It’s even more important to us that we shout about Jenny, because;

• Jenny is one of our members – we love to shout about those that attend every month.
• Jenny is one of our coordinators – Jenny hosts our South Essex networking and business building events and cares deeply about her own members success.
• Jenny is raising money for Farleigh’s Hospice here in Essex – We’ve created 2 nude calendars to raise funds for Farleighs, raising over £8000 so we are really pleased to see Jenny raising money for a local charity. We have discounted rates for charities and other ways we can support them because we appreciate how important their work is.
• Jenny is wing walking in memory of an Essex Business Woman who we still miss dearly. Stella Bradbrook was a big giver to her local community and worked tirelessly to support local. Stella really appreciated buying local’s importance. We miss her very much and our own Stella Women page is in dedication to her.

How can you not find a fiver for Jenny!

If you an find a fiver here’s the link to donate and learn more.

If you can we would be very grateful and you can find out how Jenny gets on because Jenny attends lots of our Essex events. We are sure Jenny will share some exciting stories with us!

Are you doing your bit for a local charity? If so we can feature you in our newsletter, social media and on our Stella Women page too!

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How to celebrate success – Spacemen, Mary Poppins, Celebrant, Cake & Magic!

Its not every day a business celebrates 10 years and possibly even more impressive when you consider that the Founder has Lupus, Fibromylgia, 2 other auto-immune diseases and 3 other permanent conditions and despite that has won international awards, visiting the House of Lords, 10 Downing Street, featured in the press and on national TV and raised thousands for charity with the help of the wonderful BWN business owners.

We wanted an event that would showcase what The BWN is really about.;

• Not just business card swapping.
• Not a glorified coffee morning.
• A room full of men and women (yes business men attend our events) actually exchanging opportunities.
• Making sales
• Learning new skills
• And growing their businesses.

To have Mary Poppins (Nicola Goodchild) A Spaceman (Lee from Spacesuit Rentals) Jack Kempton the Magician, Michelle Taylor the corporate celebrant and a cake designed by Adavista (Robyn Banks – yes, really her name! Topped off this exceptional event with 50+ people from 5 counties, including 5 men, 1 baby and Ben from BBC Essex Radio Breakfast show.

Thank you to everyone that makes The BWN as awesome, and exceptional for building confidence, raising standards, increasing sales and profit margins and be an awesome place to stay motivated, never feel alone and get the results you want from professional life.

Here’s to the next 10 years!

 

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Why Savvy Women Save

Think financial advice is not for you?

Think again!

Here Sarah Travers, Senior Financial Planner at Ajax Wealth Management Limited shares her advice and worrying trends she sees for women in business. You can talk to Sarah in person at many of our Essex events – including Colchester, Braintree and Tendring;

For women in particular it is vital we take charge of our financial security and that is why I am on a mission to get every woman engaged with their financial planning. Read on to find out why and what we can all do to help ourselves.

NB Financial planning is for everyone – not just the rich and famous!

There is a worrying level of financial inequality and this is damaging our financial futures. We are all aware of the gender pay gap, which has been well documented, and this has a knock-on effect into later life. Women tend to live longer and earn less – we are also more likely than men to take career breaks to care for children or older relatives. Put this all together and it does not create a great financial picture.

Women currently aged 55-64 will on average have a pension pot of just half that of a man of the same age. We also tend to have smaller State Pension income and even if we were to retire on the full amount this currently only equates to a little over £700 per month.

Why don’t women engage with financial planning?

Studies have shown that women tend to lack confidence in making financial decisions and in investing, financial jargon is off-putting, we lack time and quite frankly do not know where to go to get good, reliable financial advice. Many of us also put off saving or making financial provision until we have ‘more money’. If we save, we often to stick to the apparent safety of cash which may not be in our best interests over the longer term.

These misconceptions are damaging and limiting our financial security – let me say it again – financial planning is for everyone, not just the rich and famous!

There are steps we can all take to help ourselves and each other.

What can be done? Start by thinking about some important questions:

• What would happen financially if you were to die suddenly?
• Would your family be financially secure, would extra money be needed to pay for help with children or an older relative, for example?
• What would happen if you (or your spouse/partner if you have one) were unable to work long term due to illness or accident?

If you think this won’t happen to you (unless you have a crystal ball) just bear in mind that in 2017 UK protection insurers paid out a record £5billion in claims.

When do you want to retire and what do you want your retirement to look like? Most of us do not envisage retirement scrimping and saving living on the poverty line.

What if you need care in later life? It is estimated that 1 in 2 women will need some form of care in later life – this will not be funded by the NHS unless there is a severe medical need, and with local authority budgets being squeezed to breaking point they are only able to help those with the highest level of need and who do not have capital above £23,250.

Next look at your budget – sit down and write out your expenditure across the year – include everything from essential expenditure like food and utilities to luxury spends like holidays. Don’t forget about annual costs and little things, like getting the chimney swept or the car MOT. Once you have your household expenditure detailed you can see how much surplus income you have on average.

If you do not have a surplus you may want to consider whether all your expenditure is needed – could it be reduced? Freeing up even small amounts per month could help to pay for important life assurance, for example, or help you to start saving into a pension. Take stock of any financial arrangements you already have in place – make a list and consider whether they are still appropriate for your needs and are providing good value.

Make sure you keep track of pensions – there is an estimated 1.6 million lost pension pots valued at some £20million that could remain unclaimed. The Pensions Tracing Service may help you to find lost pensions.

Tackle your needs in order of priority – for everyone this will be different. Speaking to a qualified financial adviser can really help you to think about what is important for you and to explain your options clearly. Many financial advisers (including me of course) offer an initial meeting at no cost to discuss your circumstances and how we may be able to help. This is a fantastic opportunity to get some free guidance and I would encourage everyone to do it.

Make sure you are using your tax allowances and claiming any benefits you may be entitled to – not all are means tested. If you run your own business – which many of you reading this will do – consider appointing an accountant if you don’t already have one – they can make sure you comply with HMRC regulations and operate tax efficiently.

Finally, don’t forget about the importance of having a will and powers of attorney in place – that way you can ensure your assets are dealt with how you wish on death, and if you cannot make decisions for yourself during your lifetime (which could, for example, result from an accident or sudden illness) you will have appointed people you trust to make those decisions for you. Remember that family members do not have an automatic right to make decisions if you lack capacity and on death there are strict rules as to who will inherit if you do not leave a will.

Conclusion Financial planning is a vast topic and that in itself can seem daunting, however, it is vital that we do not leave our financial security to chance. Taking small steps can help reap great rewards in the long term.

Take action now – the sooner you act the more chance you will have of a secure financial future – and that is something I think we all aspire to.

Do get in touch if you would like to discuss how I can help.

Sarah Travers LL.B. (Hons) DipPFS

Tel (office): 01206 805901
Mobile: 07484 231768

sarah@ajaxwealth.co.uk

Suite 1, Unit 4 Lanswood Park Business Centre, Broomfield Road, Elmstead Market, Colchester CO7 7FD

Sources:

Office for National Statistics pension wealth, February 2018 (sheet 6.5) bit.ly/2JLAHAF

Based on full entitlement to the new state pension in 2018/19

Source: Association of British Insurers iv Source: Association of British Insurers v https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details Sarah

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The BWN launches in Tendring!

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How to get the most out of networking with The BWN

If you are looking to grow your business, your confidence and your profit, we are so much more than just somewhere to network once a month. Here is how to get the most our networking with The BWN.

1.Help yourself to our social media. We actively encourage our members (and a member is someone who walks through the door once a month) to talk about what they are doing, creating, building, winning or even struggling with on our social media;

• On Facebook you can post to our page and we will like and share your content.
• On Twitter if you mention @BWNcouk we will like and retweet your content for you.
• On our LinkedIn page you are welcome to post discussions, ask questions and talk about your business.

To access all of our social media just visit the home page and click on the right social media logo.

2. A Golden Ticket means you get to network at one venue for better than the early bird rate and you get all these discounts and benefits too;

• Write for our blog for FREE (Usual fee £75).
• Guaranteed 60 seconds Promo Slot.
• Give your 60 seconds to another business woman (We only have a maximum of 25 Promo slots at each event) and you can bring your banner to the event for FREE – Great evergreen marketing for you.
• Feature on our website for FREE.
• Discounts on sponsoring the website.
• Discounts on sponsoring an event.
• Discounts on exhibiting at an event.
• Can’t make an event? Still get your opportunities and events mentioned in the Business Ops slot of that event and other relevant local events. (Please note this requires a minimum of 48 hours notice.)

3.How to make a Golden Ticket really sparkle. If you want even more out of your Golden Ticket you can purchase multiple events tickets and gain even more savings!

• 1 venue – £125 (Full price £165)
• 2 venue – £230 (Full price £330)
• 3 venue – £315 (Full price £495)

4. The Insiders is a confidential learning zone, research centre and advice mastermind group that has helped business owners;

• Increase profit
• Take on new premises
• Employ their first staff
• Overcome fears – fear of the phone, fear of asking for what you want, fear of saying No to a customer when they ask for too much, fear of going live, fear of creating video, fear of blogging and getting your opinions out there to help you sell more.
• Learn new skills that have directly led to new business, new opportunities and new sales.
• Get 1st refusal on PR and other opportunities
• Access webinars from our affiliate experts
• Access discounts from our Insiders affiliates.
  Best of all it is just £5 a month – Business women say it is the best money they spend on their business, every month!

5. Do you find yourself making notes of who you need to connect with on social media and who to email or call and a list of  ideas thanks to the speaker then find you don’t get around to taking action and doing the things you learnt. You get back to the office and the business cards, notes and ideas get added to your long list of to do’s but don’t get actioned.

Annoying isn’t it?

The BWN Success Manual is a great way of putting your ideas, notes, your calendar, who you met, what you said you would do, and even create a strategy to ensure you do it, in one place. It includes;

• A place to write who you met, what you said you would do and how you could help them, so you can build a relationship from day 1.
• 2 x 1 year calendars.
• Space to structure what you learnt from the masterclass and how to ensure you take action.
• Top tips and ideas to help you network more successfully, follow up more effectively and make networking more cost effective.
• Space to add additional thoughts and journal what you notice.
• A way of looking at your networking strategy and results to see how to improve, where you are already improving and where you could do with some assistance.
• Golden Nugget ideas.
• Goal planning sections – short term, long term and the plan to achieve.
• You can buy yours at any event for £10 or online for £16. We love seeing the BWN Success Manuals at events making life easier for you.

6. Sponsoring the BWN website is a great way to get seen by our audiences all year round. One of our sponsors has already signed up to the end of 2020 so you can see this could be very useful to you and your business.

7. Our blog is packed with ideas and solutions and some really emotional, fantastic and inspiring stories from our members. You can read it all here https://old.thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk/bwn-blog/

8. You can sponsor a BWN event. We only allow 1 sponsor per event so its a great way to stand out. You get 1 ticket, 1 exhibitors stand, your business literature on every place setting and your business promoted on all of the marketing for that event on and off line.

You can access all of these offers (and more!) via our website, and just head to the offers heading to find the offer right for you.

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Caroline Horne, over delivers in her Promo slot with an awesome story!

At our Ipswich event in September, our corporate photographer, Caroline Horne jumped up to give her 60 seconds in a far more exuberant way than we are used to. Caroline will be the first to admit that years ago Caroline would have happily hidden behind the camera! We love to see that level of confidence grow at the BWN and we love the story that followed, we hope you love Caroline’s story too….

“Most attendees at The BWN already know what I do for a living. It’s pretty obvious. That statement necklace is my camera. If it would be quite a nice piece of jewellery if it wasn’t. 

The weeks go by fairly rapidly between each monthly networking meeting and once again I haven’t prepared my sixty seconds as I still hope that I’ll just blend in to the background and not get spotted. Needless to say, that doesn’t happen so, once again I’m standing in front of a group of business woman, knees knocking together, telling them  I can do corporate head shots, family photo sessions, the odd wedding and some product photography or flashing up a local magazine with one of my pictures in it.

So, it’s a new day of the week and new location for Ipswich. Let’s dare to be a little bit different and a bit daring, well for me anyway. The journey begins….

(You can read this as if you were the older Rose in Titanic) It was 21 years ago today, the teacups had never been used, it was called the journey of dreams. Rewind… no, it was 21 years ago in September, the country was trying to come to terms with Diana’s tragic death. Her funeral was looming and there I was standing in York Minster, in front of my proud parents looking very hungover in my mortar board and gown. Shudder the thought, I was the second member of our entire family to get a degree. I was awarded a BA (hons) in Design and Technology with Art. It was a combined degree which also meant two dissertations, a lot of practical work and turning up for lectures. I had specialised in Jewellery Design and Manufacture and Printmaking. Both of which meant I had to be in the workshops and no hiding in the “library”. York at the time had 365 pubs. What a choice!

Design and Technology wasn’t technically my chosen degree of choice. I had been to art school and my love of photography started along time before this. I always had a camera on my Christmas list. A Boots brand 110, the one with the funny cassette film which went on the school trip to Italy in 1988 and took some very hazy pictures of Mount Vesuvius. Often or not the pictures had one of those lovely oval stickers Boots would carefully place slap bang in the middle of your prize photograph advising  you, you had  taken an absolutely cr*p image!

Not one for giving up, I had been finally left a decent camera. My first Canon, and it weighed just as much as a cannon too. I lugged it everywhere with me, I had won the school Photography Prize and it got me through Art School however there were 8 of us applying to Nottingham to do the same photography degree. They may well have drawn straws as to who got in! Travelling to London to interview and write about a newly qualified photographer who worked for Monsoon and later went on to win the Travel Photographer of the Year award didn’t even help. I was absolutely heartbroken. I spent the Summer of ’94 picking apples for a living and needed to do something…

Lots of paperwork later I was offered an unconditional offer to do Design and Technology with Art. This is the science bit. I actually needed Physics and Maths A-level to get onto the course, neither of which I had got because I wasn’t particularly academic at school but I could use a soldering iron and make a metal detector.Very important life skills!!

With the Uni bit done, dusted and qualified I got my first proper job, as a jeweller. Sounds glamorous doesn’t it?

I was making silver nurses belt buckles every day of the week and also resizing wedding rings. I had upgraded from a soldering iron to a blow torch. I was also working for a refrigeration design company which was pretty dull unless you wanted to know the ins and out of a supermarket refrigeration unit. But, I had lived away from home for 3 whole years but had ended up living with my mother who often shouted at the back of my head, “when will you be home?”

“Late was the usual reply, don’t wait up” Damn, that flower pot hurt as i stumbled through the door. I needed a place I could call my own. Nursers belt buckles wasn’t going to help.

Let’s quit that and work for an asset finance company. We sold a well known footballer his first Porsche Boxter, and took his old SLK on a bit of fast spin. I came clean to him only the other month whilst I was photographing for Fresh Start New Beginnings’ (The BWN Ipswich charity of the year for 2018/2019) charity tea event.

I missed the jewellery though and ended up at a nicer high street jewellers and travelled around the East of England as an roaming manager and supervisor. Retail is hard especially at Christmas. Dad said I looked green one year as I was shattered. I wanted my weekends back. So from playing about with diamonds for fiver years, my next position was even more glamorous.

Wow! This was it! I had hit the big time. I was selling articulated lorry loads of the stuff around the whole of the UK. I had gone from diamond sales to compost. Where there’s muck there’s brass they say. I was also selling landscaping barks and supplying the likes of Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows. Ask me a question about compost and critical fall heights and I can stun you with a wealth of interesting information. 

You might have guessed by now, I had talked for more than my allocated Sixty Seconds plus I had almost worn a hole in the carpet. I can walk and talk at the same time. Mandie was also watching me. I think she was shocked!

Forward-wind 12 years. December 2015. I knew I was going to leave since returning back from maternity leave the second time. I had married a Royal Engineer who retired after 24 years of bomb disposal who was away a lot, some of the time even I don’t know where. Anyway, my director called me in  to his office. I kind of guessed what was coming judging by another colleagues face. I was up for the chop. I couldn’t progress in my role unless a director was going to leave. I had given up.

A friend that summer had said to me why had I given up photography. I hadn’t really. Just didn’t think I was good enough. What if the film didn’t load properly? What if I had stupidly processed the film with the lights on? The risk for me was too great. Digital was a game-changer. My husband thinks I’m having an affair with my camera. So when they told me I was being made redundant I was secretly quite happy as I had already got the ball in motion and I had been there for 12 years. 12 years and you know what that means!

My website went live the day after gardening leave finished, I went on training courses to refresh my technical capabilities. I hadn’t used many of the digital processing packages so had to learn about that too. And, there we have it, my 21 year roundabout journey to finally doing what I had set out to do.

Becoming The BWN Ipswich corporate photographer also came at the right time, I remember seeing the message whilst we were driving back from visiting Dad in Wales. I had a bit of signal between the mountains and said I would photograph the Ipswich event. If it wasn’t for BWN I wouldn’t have photographed Mandie’s book launch, thanks Jayne Lloyd for being busy the day before. Have my work featured in a variety of publications and met a huge amount of valuable contacts who have all helped me develop my goal further and who have become friends.

My sixty seconds would normally read like this….. 

Hi, I’m Caroline Horne from Caroline Horne Suffolk Photography. I specialise in product, commercial, lifestyle and wedding photography. Last month I was lucky enough to photograph TV presenter, Michael Perry for an new eco-conscious plant-based product concept launching in January 2019. If anyone requires a naturally posed headshot please feel free to contact me.”

As you can see we LOVE to see how even our coordinators and photographers grow and love who they are, no comprise, no change, just true confidence to turn up and be yourself to get the business results you want.

Give us a chance to see how we could help you, although maybe don’t go over your 60 seconds or we could be there a while!

Thank you Caroline for sharing such a fabulous journey into business. If you have a Golden Ticket you can write for the BWN blog and feature in our online marketing including our newsletter any time. We would love to be promoting you and hearing your interesting, relevant and useful ideas for our readers. Not got a Golden Ticket? Learn more here.

And if you hate 60 seconds we have an online course that could fix that!

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Nicky West shares why she loves networking and her business journey

What made you set up Nicky West Photography Company?

I took a career break to start my family and began to help my husband grow his business.  He is a renowned food photographer which means that I am surrounded by the photography industry at home. I increasingly enjoyed assisting him, but my real passion has always been photographing people.  I found myself being asked more and more to take photographs at friends’ weddings and of their children. Eventually I decided to take a degree in fine art photography and proudly graduated five years later. At the same time, I began building up the freelance photography business I now run full time. For me it’s the perfect career, combining creativity with people.

How many years have you been in business?

I have been a photographer for over 10 years, I spent 3 years focusing on my husbands business and  2 years assisting another wedding photographer before setting up my own business.  I then decided to go back into education and studied a fine art photography degree at Suffolk University for over 5 years.  I graduated last year and relaunched my business in January 2018 to focus on Commercial photography.  I have also carried on working for my husbands business.

What do you love most about running your own business?

I love meeting new people, coming up with ideas and being creative.   I like to  build working relationships, knowledge share and get to know my working community.  Having a professional headshot is so important for LinkedIn, Facebook and social media.  It’s my ambition to get as many businesses possible, connected and thriving in our local community and I’d like to think that my images and networking events offered a helping hand in achieving this.

What do you hate most about running your own business?

I don’t hate anything in particular but I know where my strengths are and my limits! So I always use an accountant and where possible I get someone to check my content if I’m writing  a blog or something for my website.

What benefits do you get from networking?

You find out what’s happening in your area, get to know people where you live, find useful things out that you wouldn’t normally know about, showcase your business, give and receive the personal touch we can’t get online.  Learn from others – Share your knowledge – Listen to great speakers – build friendships.

What was the reason that you decided to be a member at The BWN?

I come from a networking background – Before Children, my career was in London working for Bluechip companies including Bankers Trust, Accenture & WorldCom.  I was responsible for the graduate programmes within the business.  My responsibility was designing and delivering some of the graduate training and making sure they were integrated into the business and their teams as quickly as possible.  When I was at Accenture there were over 40 graduates joining every fortnight, so making sure they got to know the business was crucial.

I made sure they were introduced to the key players of the business, received a week long induction with guest speakers  at every event, giving informative and important information to the graduates.  I worked hard to ensure the graduates met as many business partners as possible so they could begin to build their contact list of mentors and experts in their chosen field.  I quickly learned that if a graduate was to survive in such a big organisation they needed to know the right people.

This is just as important for small businesses and local companies.  In order for our survival, we need to have a strong network of businesses around us to call on for support, advice & build our client base.

It strengthens our reputation and brand and gives people the opportunity to get to know you as a real person behind the business.   Having human connection will always be an important part of building your business and networking is a fantastic way to achieve this!

What do you see the future holding for Nicky West Photography?

I’m building a business that offers more than photography, It offers an photographic image consultancy.  This means, looking at your images across your website, social media framework and publications and making sure they communicate your brand and ethos.  When a client enters your Instagram, website or LinkedIn account, your images need to be instantly recognisable as your company.  I would like to work with businesses and offer an ongoing imaging service using a methodology that will help to create meaningful professional pictures.    Photographing images that will complement and add value to your blogging, Facebook & LinkedIn content.  And build a stock library of images for businesses who need a high volume of pictures for Instagram and Pinterest.  I also offer a Headshot & business lifestyle photography shoot that focuses on making sure you and your employees connect with your audience, look professional, represent your brand and come across as trust worthy and approachable.

 

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All change in Suffolk

All businesses go through change and our organisation is no different. In fact we actively look to hear from every woman in business that attends our Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk events to know what you want and if we are delivering it. (And our apologies if we are not in your region yet, we would love to be in your area, so get in touch to learn about getting paid to network.)

Therefore when Linda had to step down from our stunning Ickworth House, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk  events it was a quiet moment in the BWN offices. Mandie instantly decided that we had been supporting the success of women in business in this area for over 4 years and we didn’t want to see it stop. So Mandie hosted our September event and announced “Who would like to get paid to network?”

2 offers came forward on the day so we never got to spread the opportunity to the wider community (further proof you have to be in it to win it!) and we are delighted to welcome Nicky West, a corporate Suffolk based photographer to the team. Nicky said “I’ve decided to become a BWN co-ordinator! Let me sum up why. I believe networking is a wonderful way to empower and connect local business owners to be inspired by and inspire each other, in a friendly supportive environment, and I’m so excited to be a part of that process and grow my own business along the way too!”

We are very happy to welcome you Nicky and look forward to seeing your fabulous images and hearing your 2019 plans.

We have more exciting news coming soon and if you would like to learn more about joining the growing BWN team, we would love to hear from you. Just complete the contact us form or give us a call.