If you run your own business, you’ll know how exciting it can be. But it can also be isolating. That’s why we wanted to share stories from other business owners and ask them what advice they would give to others.
Here, we chat to business coach Amanda Alexander, founder of The Academy for Talented Women, who tells us about her business and offers some tips on marketing and handling competition.
Tell us a bit about your business
“I help professional women to achieve extraordinary success. I help individuals, often women, who want to take their career to the next level, or who want to start their own business or grow their own business. I also work with organisations who recognise the value of nurturing and retaining talented women, which enlightened organisations are increasingly doing.
“The newest strand of my work is as the regional director for Forward Ladies, which is one of the UK's biggest networking organisations for women. My role is to grow the corporate membership. Forward Ladies complements the ethos of my business, which is helping women to achieve more, and helping organisations to attract and retain more talented women.”
How has your business changed?
"When I started my business, it wasn’t really a business – I was “self-employed”, trading my time and expertise for money as a coach. As my business has grown, I’ve created online learning environments, courses, workshops and a membership club. I’m now two parts Coach, one part Instructional Designer! I use technology extensively and digital innovation is a key pillar of my business. I’m not “just a coach” any more.
“When I started my business, I traded as “Coaching Mums”. My niche was helping professional working mums to have the career they wanted without compromising on their personal values.
“Recently, I decided that after 12 years of being known as “the working mums’ coach” through my Coaching Mums brand, it was time for me to put my name at the forefront. In the past three years, I have been working with more organisations to help them support their female middle managers; I’ve created online learning programmes and worked with companies to implement flexible working policies. I guess I’d grown beyond my “Coaching Mums” brand.”
What challenges have you faced?
“I've had to grow my business organically because I was a mum whose husband worked on projects (meaning he had to go wherever the latest project was). Two years ago I split up from my husband, so being a single mum, based in a village in Cheshire, does often present logistical challenges when I’m working with corporate clients in London. However, the upside of being a micro business is that I can turn on a penny and make it up as I go along! Seriously though, my business is growing and with The Academy for Talented Women, I’ve created something that is getting great results for my clients and is giving me a flexible and scaleable business model.
“My biggest challenge is simply that I don’t have enough time to do everything and I find that very frustrating. I never get to the end of my “to do” list and I have to keep coaching myself so that I don’t become overwhelmed by all of the demands on my time – being there for my boys, walking my dog, maintaining a household…and running a business. I sometimes feel that I could quite easily have a full time “job” just doing all the domestic stuff!”
What challenges do your clients face?
“The biggest thing is that they get in their own way! You can basically classify obstacles (or “reasons why I can’t”) into about 9 categories. But the category that is the one that is the biggest obstacle is always “self-belief”. For my clients, whatever level they are, self-doubt is the thing that holds them back. It's prevalent with men and women, but it's a particular problem with women.
“I believe in being open and “real” because I hate it when people have impossibly glossy exteriors and feign invincibility. I still have my wobbles. I still have those times when I think, "Oh, my God. It could all stop tomorrow," or “What if they think I’m rubbish?” which is ridiculous, but I do. So I try to help other people work through this. I do a lot of workshop facilitation and coaching on self-belief and confidence. And I get such a kick when I see the relief on people’s faces when they realise they are not alone in doubting themselves.”
How do you choose your clients?
“Typically, when I work with clients one-on-one, the process that I go through is to schedule what I call a “chemistry call” with them. I always do that because, for me, it's really important for the chemistry to be right between me and the client. I won't work with anyone who I don't really click with or if I don't feel like I am the right coach for them.”
How do you work with people?
“Within The Academy for Talented Women, which is an online self development programme with live classes, I work with people in several different ways. We have masterclasses that I deliver via webinar, group coaching calls via teleconference lines, a mastermind forum and online coaching, with a new learning module that is automatically released to members on a monthly basis.
“I work with a few personal clients one-on-one . As a coach, my job is to create a safe but powerful “thinking space” to get people from A to B quicker than they would by themselves. For the one-on-one coaching work, I use Skype or phone and I work with clients from all over the world.
“I'm endlessly fascinated and sometimes frustrated by technology, but I have always embraced it. I think that any business now - whether they're a traditional bricks business, or bricks and clicks, or just a clicks business - they have to embrace technology and social media. However, I don’t think that technology will ever beat a good old fashioned face-to-face connection in business. It’s all about balance.”
How have you grown your business?
“I'm well-known in the media and they call me for expert comment. I've done all my PR myself. I've appeared in the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Times, The Independent, lots of magazines, BBC radio, all that good stuff.
“But I find that PR is not just about the print media, it’s people knowing you. I was at Chester Station the other day and a lady came up to me and said, "Are you Amanda Alexander? I'm a big fan of yours. I've been following you for years, and I e-mailed you last year and you helped me". She has now become a client. So for me, PR is not just about appearing in the papers. It’s about “being everywhere” and helping people and knowing that at some point, you’ll reap the rewards.
“One of the other ways I've built my business is on relationships. I'm not a professional marketer, obviously, but I've learned quite a bit about it. For me, connecting with people, giving value has always always been the way that I've built my business.
“Sometimes you put out newsletters and blog posts and give people value, and I can feel frustrated when I'm not getting back. But I truly believe that if you give value, the money will flow. I'm very hot on creating a niche, but I do believe in throwing spaghetti at the wall and you start seeing what sticks. That doesn't mean you have to spread yourself thin. It just means just go for it. Really take the opportunities as they come. That's been good for me.”
Any other advice?
“One thing that I think is absolutely essential in this day and age is to be yourself and be authentic. Don’t think about competition, think about collaboration.
“Years ago, I would get other coaches who'd come after me who wanted to be coaches also specialising in helping mums. I used to get worried about that, whereas now, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, because whilst I might be right for person A, I won’t be right for person B. There’s room for competition. In fact, I have mentor coached many coaches whose niche is mums – and have shared with them freely.
“Anyone who I meet, who I see doing similar work to me, I don't worry about whether the pond is only big enough for one of us. Don’t try and copy anyone else; do it your own way. I’ll use that word again – authenticity!”
What are you planning for the future?
“Growing the Academy for Talented Women is central to my future direction. I’m incredibly excited by it as it brings together all my years of knowledge and experience in one place. It’s based on the principle that “success” is only meaningful when it addresses all aspects of your life.
“It’s priced so that it’s accessible not just for the high flyers and my plan is to offer it to companies who want to support their middle to senior managers through a cost-effective and impactful platform. I have created it knowing exactly the issues that women face. And it’s designed so that they can access the learning and support they need, when they need it. I know only too well what it’s like not to have loads of time to follow a programme and to feel that you’re falling behind. I’ve designed it for the women who are busy, but who recognise they need to invest in themselves.
“In July I started my own Podcast show – “Inspiring Women Interviews” - and this is a monthly show where I interview high flying women who want to share their experiences to help other women succeed. That has got off to a great start, one thing has led to another and I am writing a book, provisionally entitled “Women with Spanners: Coaching Women into the STEM Industries”. Watch this space!”