Case Studies | The Chameleon Guide
Business Support & Mastermind Groups
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Case Studies

Case studies

The below are a selection of case studies of clients I have worked with.
IFA – 25% growth in 12 months

Pension Trustee 55% increase in revenue

Electrician – planning for growth

IFA Background

Successful IFA turning over £600kpa providing a full range of services from mortgages, pensions, insurance protections, investments to tax planning.
The team consisted of the owner (and financial planner), a mortgage adviser and a paraplanner.

Issue

Whilst the business was doing well, the owner lacked clarity on where he wanted to take his business, but was keen to grow, increase his reserves and profitability.

The solution

I worked with the owner to identify exactly what he wanted the business to look like over time. We analysed his product and service offerings to understand which were the most profitable and set targets for the next 12 months.

We had a session with the staff to get their feedback and buy-in and then put the targets on the wall in graphical format so everyone could see what progress was being made month on month.
We also looked at a recruiting an administration person to allow the paraplanner to concentrate on the more technical aspects of the role.

Website content was rewritten to be more focused on the client needs.

The outcome

Within 12 months, revenue had grown by £150k to £750k, they had a new administrator and had taken on a second mortgage adviser.

Three years later, the business is thriving and in new offices with seven staff and revenues in excess of £1m pa.

‘The main concern I had with my business is that I had knowledge of the strengths in my business but not the weaknesses.
In working with Karen, to review the business and put a business plan together, she has pointed out where we were doing well and helped me to see where more work is needed
.

I am confident that Karen has been a great asset to my business’
Owner

Pension Services Background

The company provides pension trustee and pension secretariat services to large pension schemes and at the time of starting to work with the client, they also offered an auto-enrolment service.

Issue

Whilst the business was doing well, the owner was struggling to grow his business and needed practical support, particularly with marketing.

The solution

I worked with the owner to identify exactly what the strengths of his business were, who his ideal clients were and how best to communicate his skills, experience and knowledge to the right people.
We did a number of things:

-Completely re-wrote his website to make it client centric

-Developed a marketing plan of activities including regular diarised meeting with his best referral partners

-Developed case studies for the website and to hand out as collateral

-Improved an online test

-Worked on his pitches to potential clients

-I write a monthly blog for him

-We meet quarterly with his accountant which has proved invaluable and gives us ‘joined up’ thinking and plans.

The outcome

Over the last two years, the business has gone from strength to strength. He now has a consistently strong pipeline of potential clients. The traffic to his website has dramatically increased and his revenues have increased by 55% and profitability has increased by 65%.

Karen and I have worked together as coach and client for over a year. During that time the business has developed not only in terms of clients and revenue but skills and knowledge. I strongly believe that this is not a coincidence.
Ever practical and focused on the 
business, the advice and guidance has always been high calibre. By working effectively with other advisers, Karen has made her business an integral part of our future.’
Owner

Electrician Background

The owner, Stuart, set up his own electrical business 10 years ago. His expertise is working on larger commercial projects such as carrying out all the electrical works on a new equine hospital(from design to cabling to lighting).

Issue

Whilst generating excellent revenue, the owner had been struggling with the business aspects of his company and in particular understanding the finances, costs and profitability.

The solution

I worked with the owner to do a number of things:

-Planning session to fully understand his business, his aspirations, what success looks like and to develop an action plan moving forward.

-Engaged an accountant who has helped gain an understanding of the profitability of the business and worked on using Xero to its best effect.

-Worked on some process improvements to help manage the workload more effectively and plan jobs in advance.

-Tightened up job management to ensure that all the work carried out by subcontractors is to the correct standard and what the client expects.

-Sourced an excellent VA who is helping with quotes, diary management, invoicing and other administrative tasks.

-Sourced an alternative local bookkeeper who manages VAT returns, CIS and bank reconciliations

-Engaged a lawyer to tighten up the client T&Cs and subcontractor agreements

-We will be working on a marketing plan next.

The outcome

Within six months, the owner now feels more in control of his business. He is able to see all upcoming jobs and to plan them in more effectively. The introduction of the VA has meant he has more time to spend on his business.
Most importantly, we now have a budget and targets and so far the business is ahead on revenue and profitability.
Out next steps are to work on a marketing plan to target his ideal clients and will involve a re-write of his website.

Working with Karen has given me an understanding of how to see the potential growth of the business and has given me a route plan of how to achieve it. Working with Karen allows me to express my ideas and she gives me a clear direction in how to organise those ideas into a business plan. I would happily recommend her
Stuart Ridgley – SFR Electrical