Jessica Shailes is the owner, MD & Head of Digital Marketing at The Ideal Marketing Company. Ideal Marketing is a full-service marketing company that was already an established business when Jess purchased the business in June 2019. The transition from working for the company to owning and directing it was a huge leap.
Jessica and her team love working with other owner-managed businesses that are confused by their marketing options and are not sure how to take their business forward. They enjoy talking to those businesses, reviewing what they are doing, and ultimately becoming their marketing team to help them grow and thrive. Then covid hit!
Exhausted from the previous 2 years of steadying the ship post-purchase of the business, Jessica realised she couldn’t weather the covid storm alone. She needed help.
Jessica says…
“When covid hit, businesses we worked with had to reign in their spending which meant I had to put my team on furlough. I had no idea how to navigate what was going on and needed help on what to do next. I needed an objective person who was outside of the business to talk things through.
I had seen some of the activities that Angela and Rupert were doing to support local businesses and attended one of their covid strategy webinars. I’d also previously spoken to Rupert so I felt I could trust them both.
Having had coaching before, I realised that this time I needed a more structured approach. I liked the look of the ActionCOACH methodology so having business coaching with them really appealed to me. I met Angela and soon realised she had experience in an area of business where I really struggled. She started One to One coaching with me in May 2020 and it’s gone very well.
Angela has really made me feel more confident, particularly in accounting and finance. I understand the ins and outs of it all now. Remember, I was an employee so didn’t have to think about that side of things, then suddenly I owned and ran the business it became one of the main areas of focus so I am glad I asked for help!
Another area that I’ve really benefitted from working with Angela is that I have been able to clarify and create a really clear vision. Not just for my business, but for my personal life too.
For a long time, I have had dreams of living and working by the sea but couldn’t get my head around how I was going to make it happen; especially with a business based in landlocked Market Harborough!
During my sessions with Angela, we reviewed my whole business. This was good because it helped me realise what was working well and what needed development. Angela is very adaptable; she is a good listener and really thinks things through. I got the feeling she was working hard to understand me and my business, and most importantly she was easy to get on with!
With a clear vision for my business, came fresh opportunities but also tough decisions had to be made. Being able to talk things through with Angela gave me an outside perspective, made me think about things in a different way. One big change I made was around an accountant, others around the team as well as the systems we were all using.
One thing I really liked about the coaching sessions with Angela was the accountability. It meant I got things done to make changes and drive my business forward, as well as my personal goals. I was achieving a lot in a short space of time.
When first owning Idea Marketing, it was such a big change and I wasn’t sure how to be an MD, never mind a good one! Now it’s fair to say I have earned my stripes. 14 months on from starting coaching and I am excited to say that I am in the process of moving house, ready to live and work near the sea!
Having made the big decision to make my team and I 100% mobile on a permanent basis and put robust systems into place, has given me the freedom to put what seemed like a bonkers dream into action. Coaching has helped me to achieve my goals much quicker and I can’t wait to live my new life. If you can work from anywhere why not near the sea!
I would you say to those who may want business coaching but feel it’s a lot of time investment or money to recognise that people who do well in business rarely do it alone, not many people get very far by themselves. There are people in the background who help them to have a great business and win awards and so on. To succeed you need an approachable and objective person to talk to. You need that space and time to focus on your business. Basically, if you want things to change you need to make an investment somewhere.”
A note from business coach Angela…
“Jessica has worked in digital marketing for over 10 years and has watched it evolve from an experimental marketing option to an essential tool for most businesses, then suddenly she owned an established business. Unfortunately, many of the clients dwindled when the previous owner became poorly so she had to give it her all to rebuild the sales funnel. When I first met Jessica, it was clear she had already weathered one storm and didn’t have the energy to go through another.
What I admire most about Jessica is that she had the courage to recognise she couldn’t do it alone. She understood her business needed fresh input and a unique and different perspective, and instead of dwelling on this and struggling, Jessica asked for help. It’s because of her strength and determination in facing the challenges, making the big decisions, and facilitating the big changes, her business is going from strength to strength, and she is about to embark on a new life by the sea.”
If you would like to learn more about how coaching could potentially help you and your business, feel free to book a cuppa and a chat with me here
