What is business advice?

My business advice is all about finding the right path to business success for you. Running a small business is one of the most creative rewarding things you can do in life, but it’s also confusing and challenging. Most of us don’t start with much of an idea about how to build a successful company. They don’t teach it at school – in fact, they don’t even teach it at business school.

And every business is different. Every business owner has a different idea of what success means for them.

I use my 20 odd years of experience in running small businesses, plus my obsessive reading of business books, blogs to be able to sit down with you and work out with you what kind of business you want to create. Then I can advise you how to make that happen.

How does business advice work in practice?

I don’t work as a traditional consultant, coming in to give you a report on what you need to do and then disappearing. Because I tried that approach and it just didn’t work.

I found that it’s much better to work with someone over time. That way we can go deep into what you want to achieve. And I advise and support you to implement that strategy over the next few months.

We meet up twice a month, and I encourage you to get the best value from your investment in business advice with me by talking to me by phone and email in between our sessions. Business advice clients who do this move faster towards their business goals.

Occasionally, someone has a specific query about an action they want to take, such as giving shares to an employee,  setting a new pricing strategy or getting some advice on their business plan. You can book a one-off strategy session for when you need this kind of business advice.

My approach

My business advice is grounded in business experience, backed up by evidence of what works in a particular situation. Clients describe me as a “trusted friend who knows what they’re doing”. Other clients talk about my “no bullshit approach”.

You can rely on me to support and challenge you in your business. And if I don’t know how to do something, I’ll be open about this and will often know someone I can ring up to find out the answer.

As well as getting clear on your strategy, I will encourage you to get into action from day 1, often to find the quick wins which will bring in new customers or get some fresh cash into the bank account. Often clients appreciate help with the details of how to run a successful business, such as how to write a great proposal, the micro-copy on a button on the website, or how to handle international orders.

I’m unapologetic about being here to help my clients to make more money and have more fun. Most of us could do with some more of both of those. You can read more here about my philosophy of business.

Marketing and finance advice

One of my clients gave me a strange compliment. She said

“You’re a bit weird, Julia. You can work on the marketing and the finances at the same time – most business advisors can’t do both.”

I never realised that this was weird, but she’s right.

For me, marketing and finance are just different sides of the same coin. I can help you to do great marketing to drive sales and put money in your bank account. And at the same time, we’ll set financial targets, and make sure you get to where you want to be.

Online business advice

I’m based in Brighton in the UK, by the sea. But because I work online by Zoom, I can offer business advice for clients in London, Manchester, Brussels and Slovenia. And my clients in Brighton and Sussex often opt for Zoom sessions as well, as it’s more time efficient for them