Keen to pass on her business knowledge and experiences to others, Vicky offers business coaching tips and ideas to organisations, drawing on her business endeavours of the past. That final bit of money the grant would offer, is the difference between a soft launch, and a BIG BANG!
Outline your business and entrepreneurial skills, including your relative achievements to date in running a business:
I started my first business, a dog training business, 7 years ago. To remain successful I’ve had to have a flexible approach to marketing, as my target market’s behaviour changed; I’ve had to keep on top of changes in things like SEO and Social Media, ensuring I am achieving a sufficient ROI for both the time and money spent on marketing my business. As well as always providing an excellent customer experience and back up support of course. The professional reputation I’ve built up has helped, and I was recently approached to appear on The Only Way Is Essex. I declined, as I suspected it wouldn’t allow me to retain the professional integrity I have worked hard to build up over the years. Starting my own business involved a lot of soul searching and breaking down of my unconscious limiting beliefs which could have held me back. I found the process fascinating and I realised that I wanted to be able to help others to achieve their goals and overcome any obstacles for success too, so I decided to also train to offer Personal Development Coaching and Business Coaching alongside my dog training business. I started my coaching business 5 years ago and have grown it year on year for these 5 years. This business has also had to adapt to changes in the economy and in people’s buying behaviour. I have learnt to adapt my skills and my approach to ensure that I am always fulfilling the needs of the people I am in front of. As a business coach I’m aware of the equal importance of all the areas of the business, not just the ones that interest me. I have the challenge of convincing many business owners, who would rather stick within their comfort zones, that they need to move with the market, and look at doing things differently, so that they can make more of the opportunities available to them. I have coached a range of people from job seekers to OBE winners… from small, innovative start-ups, to larger companies turning over a couple of million pounds, to those who have been established for 30 years or more. I have also been Chapter Director of Southend BNI, where I lead our chapter to being the number 1 in Essex.
Why do you have the ability to be an inspiring role model? Provide examples to illustrate:
Since the day I read the title of the book “I could do anything if only I knew what it was” I realised that so many people aren’t doing what they want with their lives. They are probably unhappy or dissatisfied. They have accepted their life situation as it is, and live for the weekend, or their next holiday (I knew this because I was one of them 8 years ago!). Now I know people CAN achieve more, they just need a little help. Help that I love to give. It’s my personable nature, belief in each individual, and my can-do attitude which makes me an inspiring role model for others. Friends tell me I have helped them think more positively and accept themselves. Friends have started businesses since they’ve seen me do it; they’ve asked for my help to get promotions, improve relationships, and overcome their own personal barriers. One client was very settled in his role in the transport industry, but after we spent some time together he realised he was selling himself short, and has since achieved 2 promotions and now runs an enormous department of train drivers, driver managers and other operations staff. I also try to inspire by trying new things. From meditation and yoga, to surfing, wake boarding and snowboarding. I am also a regular netball player, and I have completed a South American charity bike ride (300miles), which required training for whilst doing a full time job, running a business part time, studying for my coaching qualifications and holding down a social life. All it took was a bit of determination and discipline! The type of role model that I cannot wait to be is a mother. Many of my efforts in life have been with it in mind that one day, I will be setting an example for some little humans, to believe in themselves and go and make things happen. I am a strong believe that you can be a successful entrepreneur and an excellent mother. It doesn’t have to be a choice between the two. I look forward to the day when I get to prove this. If I am not lucky enough to become a mother in my own right, then I will seek an alternative way of bringing the power of healthy self-belief to the next generation.
What is your business / idea and what would you use the £5,000 towards if you were to win
My business idea came from my feeling that everyone is capable of achieving more, with an awareness that life gets in the way of these plans for ‘more’! I am always writing down my idea and goals, asking other’s advice and coaching myself through ways that I could do better. One day I realised that it would be great if I had an app that I could use to log my ideas and goals, and plan what I would need to do to achieve them, when it was convenient for me to do so. But more than that… I also wanted it to interact with me, like a person might. To remind me what I’d planned, and what I need to do to achieve that. And if I haven’t done it, ask me why not, and get me back on track… And so the idea for www.Yolsk.com was born. The Yolsk web app is currently in development. The name originated from “Your OnLine SideKick” – it had to be unique and memorable. So far we have a budget for phase one development, some marketing and sales conversion. I now have 2 other shareholders. We have received support from Essex County Council and an EU grant for a low carbon business. Personally I have already invested £20,000 of my life savings into the project. The business will be ready to launch in the next quarter, and the £5000 prize money would enable us to launch with some extra oomph! I would like the use it specifically for employing a longer, cleverer PR strategy than our current budget allows. So we can generate continuous interest through the media, enabling us to get more people into our sales funnel, so that we can quickly achieve some great turnover and reinvest in the future development of the business. Initially we’re targeting the UK, but it can go further in the future. There are many opportunities within it to provide other useful services and products for our subscribers too. To build communities of people who won’t settle for an ordinary life, and want to make something of themselves. I would love to have people to meet their partners- like minded, ‘can do’ people – through Yolsk, as well as make their dreams happen!
