Mumpreneurs – Amanda Jane Textiles

Small Business 3: Design Doctor

By: Amanda Jane Textiles September 11, 2017

Business start-up, Self-employment, Small Business, SMEs, UncategorizedBusiness start ups, Design Doctor, Hannah Gibson, Michelle Rose, Mumpreneurs, Women and small business.Leave a Comment

For my third interview with women running their own small businesses, I am talking to Hannah Gibson, who – like me – did one of Michelle Rose’s marketing courses (look back to the post two weeks ago to see more).

We met at one of the monthly meetings for Michelle’s marketing course ‘graduates’ and I was able to find out the origin of her interesting business name.

What is the name of your business? Design Doctor

When did it start? January 2015

Why did you decide to start a business?

When I was a scientist I was passionate about that. It was my ‘baby’, but when I had my own babies my focus shifted. My parents and my sister are all self-employed; I had that entrepreneurship in me. I use some of the same skills, for example project management and problem-solving.

What jobs had you done before?

I had a background in scientific research (I have a PhD in molecular biology).

Tell me a bit about the business…

The name ‘Design Doctor’ resonates with me still, I love design and I love creativity. The business offers fully managed and maintained affordable websites, and also Wix support, re-design and SEO support. I offer website training. I develop content for people who build their own website. I do webinars which would benefit anyone wanting an online presence. That’s the design side. The Doctor is because I have a PhD. I enjoy training and helping people who wouldn’t get online otherwise. So ‘doctor’ talks about offering help and solutions. Sometimes this involves editing content to improve it.

What things have been difficult for you in setting up/running your business?

The hardest thing has been managing people’s expectations.

What would you say to someone in the early stages of setting up a business?

Do a business plan. It doesn’t need to be a word for word document, but you need to see that the figures line up.

What is the best thing about working for yourself?

Flexibility is the obvious one, but for me it’s the fact of not having any constraints on myself. There are no limits to what I can achieve.

http://www.design-doctor.co.uk

Small business 2

By: Amanda Jane Textiles September 4, 2017September 20, 2017

UncategorizedDigital marketing, Digital Sparkles, Mumpreneurs, NBSL, Nicola Jayne Little, Small Business, Training for Small Businesses, Women in businessLeave a Comment

During my course with Michelle Rose (look back to last week’s post to find out about that), she mentioned a forthcoming course offered by NBSL for small businesses in our area: Northumberland, Newcastle and Durham. I applied and got a place on the August course, taught by Nicola Jayne Little. The sessions included tutorials on using Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter and blogging for small business – and they were excellent. This was a free course, (with European funding), so I am enormously grateful for the opportunity and I am now busy trying to apply the principles I learnt… Outside of teaching for NBSL Nicola has her own business, ‘Digital Sparkles’ which provides training. It’s good to be taught by someone who is actually doing the activity in question! So she is the second small business owner in my interview series.

What is the name of your business? Digital Sparkles

When did it start? March 2013

Why did you decide to start a business?

I’d been running a business previously (‘Daisy Green’ magazine) for 5 years and before that I was a teacher. I wanted to work for myself rather than for anyone else.

What jobs had you done before?

Teaching, recruitment consultant, farm worker in Australia, retail sales of all kinds: burgers, shoes, jewelry and DIY products. My parents had a shop and both sets of grandparents had a shop. I think even my great-grandmother had a shop. My cousin and my brother work for themselves. Lots of people are self- employed in my family.

Tell me a bit about the business?

Digital Sparkles has changed from when I conceived it with my partner Jen. We used to provide digital content and helped other people to do digital content. Jen enjoyed doing that but I found I enjoyed empowering people to do their own digital marketing, so what I do know is mentoring and training. I teach people how to do it for themselves.

What things have been difficult for you in setting up/running your business?

One challenge is that I started the business with another person and I am now doing it on my own. Our friendship has survived and we do projects together. Another is that I am now really busy and the challenge is managing all of that.

What would you say to someone in the early stages of setting up a business?

Understand who you are and what you are doing it for. Understand that it will be the hardest but the most rewarding thing you will do. Learn to sell – it’s not a bad thing.

What is the best thing about working for yourself?

It’s mine. Every decision is mine. I am not answerable to anyone else. I am free to do what I want. The world is open when you do their own thing. I have the opportunity to show I am good at this.