Overcoming Overwhelm - a practical approach

I speak with Business Lifestyle Engineer and Wellbeing in Business Mentor, Siân Faire about managing overwhelm and truly loving your business and life balance.

We touch on task management, creating thinking and being space, getting clarity on what you really want and the joy of removing sources of stress.

You can connect with Siân through her website here, on LinkedIn here and through her Zokit business listing here.

Hers direct business line is: 07740 145810 and email address is: info@sianfaire.co.uk

This Podcast is a Production of:

Zokit Business Hubs - the leading network and resource for owners, directors and entrepreneurs. https://zokit.co.uk/

Lead Producers: Neil J Lloyd

Transcript

Neil 0:01

Hello, I'm your host, Neil J. Lloyd, and in this podcast, we'll be exploring the latest thinking, core principles, and time-tested strategies to help you run, grow and lead a truly successful business. One that gives you the impact and income you want on your terms. So get switched on fired up and ahead of the curve, as it all starts with you. From the inside out, you can create your version of Business Bliss. Let us help you get there faster and enjoy the adventure along the way.

Speaker 0:35 Speaker 0:35

Welcome everybody to the Business Wisdom Show podcast. I'm here today with Siân Faire, Business Lifestyle Engineer, and we're going to talk all things business, all things lifestyle. There's some little tips and tricks in there for you. Um, lots of sage advice around growing a business in the way that's right for you and dealing with overwhelm because that's a massive thing, I think for anyone in business. And Siân has got some really interesting perspectives on managing that overwhelm and actually just managing your whole business and building a business that you actually want to have and gives you the life you want. Because you know, that's what we're here for when we're running a business. We don't want a business we don't want that stresses us out. We want something that helps us. So welcome, Siân.

Siân 1:20

Thank you. Really excited to be here.

Neil 1:23

Brilliant, brilliant. Really, really pleased to have you on board. And I've known Siân for many, many, many years. Um, and it's been great to see uh working on this business that she's now operating globally from anywhere. Although I know you're based in multiple locations, uh Siân, which is really interesting because I think this really kind of speaks to why it's important to build a business, the business model, and a business that's right for you, because you are able to yourself travel where you want to travel. You can live in multiple locations, you can live location independent. Um, and maybe if that's a business that you, you know, people are listening here and that's a business style that they want, then there's a way to do it. Maybe you want something different. But having something that's right for you is really important. And this is where Sean comes in because she has a wealth of experience through years of working through business processes, through different types of businesses that can help you decide and navigate that whole process. So, Siân, tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me about what brought you here to what you do now, what you actually do, and make us jealous about the lifestyle that you're living.

Siân 2:34

Um, so yeah, I uh I I've I've ended up here after working around 30, 30 plus years, which that makes me sound really old.

Neil 2:46

Um You're looking very young. You're wear it well.

Siân 2:50

But yeah, so I started off obviously much more traditionally. Um, engineer gives you a bit of a clue. I started off um studying electronic engineering. I was uh sponsored by a manufacturing company company while I was at university and worked each of my summers doing troubleshooting on shop floors. I uh did a postgraduate course where we went around the UK looking at best practice in design, manufacturing and management. And basically from there I ended up working as a commercial graduate for British Telecom BT. Um, but I found it just wasn't really for me. I wanted, I didn't enjoy um corporate life, and I took voluntary redundancy back in 2002. That's so that is a while ago, and my first um self-employed business. But what I found over the years was I I moved after setting up my business and I had to start again. After setting up a second business, um, life happened again, and I ended up with a rather larger move than my first move. My first move was from London to Cardiff, my second move was Cardiff to Gran Canaria.

Neil 4:30

And one of my favourite places in the world.

Siân 4:33

Yeah, it's not a bad place to be. And I yeah, I just I had to start again, and I was determined that having had to start again more than like more than a couple of times, and not knowing if Gran Canaria was going to be where I ended up, and also and having all my family in um the UK, I wanted something that I could do from anywhere. And so that's that's how I ended up working remotely. I I found out a lot about digital nomads. And although I wasn't a traditional nomad because I did actually have bases, I was really doing what they were doing, living like traveling with a laptop, working from whenever, and just having that different lifestyle. And so I I've been, as say, not really a nomad because I've got homes, but I've been traveling and working from a laptop um since 2018.

Neil 5:45

So you can kind of design it how you want, and that's the beauty of it, isn't it? Is that you give yourself that flexibility, then it's up to you whether you want to go between several homes, whether you want to stay on the move the whole time. Um, you know, I do a similar thing that you know, I I took two or three years out and travelled um around the world, but I still ran my business. Now I kind of work between Cardiff and London and the Canaries and Greece. So it's kind of there's you know, there's a whole host of different ways of doing it. So that's um amazing that you're able to because I think a lot of people sometimes try it or they don't maybe the maybe it stops from going the full hog with it. I don't know. But you've actually done it, you've you've been there, you know, you're able to then help guide people um to design that that thing that's right for them. And in fact, we actually met, didn't we, in kind of corporate world, if you like, and we're on a project together, and that I think we both decided that this isn't where we want to go. And then a few years later, we actually bumped into each other in a business networking event. But um, yeah, yeah, so that's great. So tell so tell us a little bit about how you help people now, what's you know, in your business.

Siân 6:54

So um my business has evolved since um 2018 when we first met, and obviously part of that has been how I evolved when I while I was um working with yourself. Um, but I now work mainly with sole traders and micro business owners who are brilliant at what they do, but they're carrying far too much in their head. And it just really struggles. It makes it really difficult for them to run their business. So it's that typical thing juggling too many balls, spinning too many plates, however, you want to, um, whatever analogy you want, but they they've got their clients, they've got admin that they've got to do for their business, they've got loads of ideas about what they want to do next, where they want to take their business, they've got decisions. They also, we've got a life. So they've also got things, maybe there's things they want to do in their home, maybe they want to move, you know, maybe they want to move house, maybe they want to start a family, maybe they are caring for nieces, nephews. I know you've got it's nephew, isn't it?

Neil 8:12

You've got yes, yes. I was uh with another uh yesterday. Yes, it has lots of unboundless energy.

Siân 8:20

Yeah, so it's it's that whole thing of being able to like being pulled in lots of directions, wanting to do lots of different things. And you mentioned energy there, and it is it's like the energy that you need to do all the different things. The headspace of trying to balance that. I need, you know, like Easter weekend or any holiday is a really good example of when you're being pulled in lots of directions quite often. You've got commitments, maybe friends, maybe family, people expect you to do things. But then it could also be a time where actually I need to catch up with client work or I need to catch up with the next thing that I want to do in my business. And so there's all these different things in our head, and we need to try and get a prioritization list. We need to work out what is important, and on top of that, I work a lot with people that have got things such as ADHD or chronic pain, chronic fatigue, or just generally dealing with a lot in their life as well as their business. And what I try and what I help people do is get clarity and reduce the mental load, reduce everything that they're holding in their head to make a business that works with their life, with their capacity. And quite often it is helping people work out what they need to do tomorrow, today, this week, to move forward. So, as well as doing obviously, I've got a background in business planning, um, strategy. So that's obviously looking out, you know, like maybe three years, five years, but actually it's breaking it down into what do I actually need to do today? What do I need to do tomorrow? What do I need to do next week? And then let's look, relook again next week, see what we've done, and what's the next step. So we're trying not to overwhelm ourselves with everything and take it one day or one week at a time.

Neil 10:34

It can be overwhelming, and especially, I know you can do all the structures and processes thing and strategy stuff, which is really, really important, but that in itself can be overwhelming. It can be almost like, it's another thing I've got to think about, another thing I've got to do. And sometimes in the moment, you know, when you're looking at the next few days or um weeks or months ahead, um, to have someone that can help kind of clarify and crystallise what's the important thing to do now and what you can shelve for a bit later, or what you can work towards, or what you can perhaps even forget about forever, um is is you know is really, really powerful uh to have. You mentioned some of those things about balance, so you know, we we we bring our whole person to our business, we're not just a business owner, we're we're family members, we're friends, we're all this kind of thing. So, what are some of the things, aside from what you've uh described, that you think sold traders and business owners, what kind of causes the overwhelm? Is it the external things? Is it in internal stuff? Is it a bit of both? What are you finding?

Siân 11:39

I think the thing is that when like when we start a business, obviously we do have to do everything ourselves the majority of the time, because financially, when we're starting off, we do need to. And we can like short term, we can plow a load of energy into starting up a business. And I've done it in I've done it a few different times where I've ended up putting like a part of my life on hold to focus on something else, but that only works short time. So we have to then find a way that we can incorporate or incorporate all the different parts of a jigsaw puzzle to to work alongside each other. And what so the sorts of things is the like I I've got one of my clients has got a fantastic CRM and really, really organized, got all their processes in place and creates tasks in the CRM so she they know what they need to do. When I have a meeting with them, we we start by looking at their overdue and due to day tasks, and quite often they have got more than 50 tasks that are overdue or due today.

Neil 13:07

I think a lot of us are probably guilty of that listening.

Siân 13:11

And so we start, we we we look at it and we go, right, okay. Now, some of them will be, oh, I've done that and I haven't marked it off. So obviously that's a quick win because and that also gives you that little boost, you know. Um, if you need that um like dopamine hit of I've actually achieved it. So some can get ticked off. Some will be, oh, actually, I'm still waiting for some information. Something's changed since we we put the due date, and the due date now needs to change, so we can actually like push it forward. Sometimes she she does actually have a couple of people that work with her, and so sometimes we are able to go, oh, actually that wasn't that shouldn't be allocated to me, that needs to be allocated to someone else, so we can get rid of it that way. Um sometimes it is we don't actually need to do that now. The process put it in, but things have changed and actually it's no longer relevant. And quite often we can go down from over 50 to around 10, that we sometimes we'll if it's a quick one, we'll work through it in the in the meeting, and then she'll she's only then got 10 that she needs to finish off the rest of the day.

Neil 14:35

I bet that makes her feel much better as well. Yeah, yeah. And I think that feeling is so important because if you start the day overwhelmed, um, and you're you're running like a headless chicken in a way, and you're not getting much done, whereas to have that space, that clearing, if you like, yeah, it kind of gives you it sets you up for that right mindset, and that going forward on the right path without that kind of mental clutter, um, you know, is really powerful. Just just the act of doing that is the difference between an okay or rubbish day and an amazing results day that feels great at the end as well.

Siân 15:14

I was gonna say, because that's one of the things, because obviously we've got a finite amount of time, we've got a finite amount of energy that we've got to do these things. And if you're faced with over 50 tasks and you just go from the top down, whether that's the one that's most overdue, according to the due dates that maybe were set a while ago, but we can end up using our time and energy on the wrong things.

Neil 15:44

Yeah.

Siân 15:45

So, you know, like that's that's a really important thing that we've done is by changing it from over 50 down to 10, as I talked about earlier, we are actually then focusing on 10 things that are going to move the business forward rather than, yes, I did 10 things, but they weren't the right things.

Neil 16:07

Some business owners, I feel, just keep accumulating more tasks to do because they're still doing the things they don't need to no longer do anymore. They know the rather than sort of letting those go and move into newer tasks or better tasks or a better approach, they keep adding and adding and adding and adding and adding.

Siân 16:25

Yeah, I mean, I think one of the things is like as you evolve, you you've always done things in one way. And one of the things that um when I when I um moved from doing um more sort of administration day-to-day stuff to take to doing, I did a certain certification in um online business management. And one of the key things there was making sure that you that it was the right task at the right time by the right person and in the right way. So that is really, really key because as our businesses evolve, we we've got a certain way of doing things, and and yes, they have it evolved, but we never take like an external view and go, actually, am I doing this the right way? Well, am I actually do I still need to do this? It is a bit of like, well, I've always done this, so I'm gonna keep doing it.

Neil 17:36

Yeah, you get caught up, don't we? You get caught up in the the doing, and then we kind of I think there's also sometimes a fear that if I stop doing this, then something will stop working because and if that's actually the thing that it's doing is not the thing that's making it work or not work, but unless you take that that view. And I think it's important to have that vision of where how you want it to be or how how it could be.

Siân 18:02

So, yeah, I mean I've worked with um clients that various different parts. I mean, what one of one of the clients that I'm currently working with, I've been working with for I think it's about four or five years now. And I started working with her when she set up her business. So I've been with her from the start, and we've actually been through not only her starting up a completely new business, um she she retrained from working in um a corporate world to being a Pilates instructor. So not an unsimilar um story to where I was back in 2002. And we've I've worked with her right from the start. We've actually worked through her getting pregnant, her being on maternity leave, and now the extra juggling of having like a toddler at um nursery, and her business has evolved. So we've gone right from the beginning where she was just starting out, needing to get experience, um, needing to really um take any job to get experience. And now we're actually at a point where we're going, right, okay, this is why you set up the business. These are the things that align with that, these are the things that don't. Your time is like you've got a finite amount of time, energy. Um, at the moment, it's around while her child is in nursery that she can work, or when her partner is able to look after the child in the evenings to give her the flexibility of working some evenings, but as well, she set the business so that she could spend time with her daughter and her partner. So there's lots of juggling, and what we're now doing is she's got the income that she needs to survive, and we're going right okay. What now do we need to look at replacing to bring it closer to your vision of why you set up your business? What brings you joy? What do you you know? We're talking a lot about energy. So some of the places that she goes to work, she dreads it the day before. So it's draining her before she's even done it. So it's not just the it's not just the time when she's actually doing the activity, it's draining her beforehand. It affects the time afterwards. That is not a good use of her time. So we're gradually changing it. So like we're looking at the business evolving, pulling things out and replacing things that align better with her vision and where she wants to go.

Neil 21:09

I love the idea of replacement. I think that's such a good concept to work with. What are some of the other things that have you found that works for someone? Maybe they've tried all the time management stuff, they've they've read all the books, you know, they've done all the that, and they're still kind of getting stressed out uh mentally about things or or trying to juggle tasks. Um, is it is it about the the relationship that you have when you have that conversation with someone like yourself where they it creates that space, or do you find that there's some common themes that arise ...?

Siân 21:45

So I think. So one of the things is when people are struggling, um they always think I need to do something more. I need to do more, I need to like I need to do a course. So that I can learn more. But they're already struggling with the volume of tasks, the volume that they of like time, you know, they don't have any more space. Yet they're adding to it. And so what I do instead is look how we can take the stuff away. So make things simpler. So you know I I you know I I can put my hand up and go, yeah, do you know what? Well, I was actually thinking I can help more people by creating a course, and then people can learn how to do it so that they can do it themselves. But actually that doesn't help because these people are overwhelmed already. So

Neil 22:48

they don't want to do another course, they don't want to say that

Siân 22:49

they don't want to do another course, they don't have the time to do another course, and then it's another thing they failed at.

Neil 22:55

Yeah. And it's very, it's very sort of a lot of the productivity stuff is very much kind of conscious, like call conscious mind kind of practical stuff. But say, you know, we are all different, we're wired differently. I remember reading ages ago that there's at least 12 different types of ways that a human mind could be wired, you know, it's not one size fits all. Um and I think uh it's that deeper transformation that's often needed, isn't it? Or that realization sometimes. And sometimes it's a realization, I guess. People uh thinking, oh actually, yes, something's not right here in the way I'm in the way my business I'm experiencing my business, and actually, you know, I need to do something different to uh what I've been trying out in the in the past. Um and you also, I know that you do a lot of work with um clients that may have maybe have chronic fatigue and and um uh ADHD or neurodiversity in some way. And do you find that that's something that um you're you're seeing more of now in in in terms of your work?

Siân 24:08

Yeah, I mean I um what what's you know it's actually seeing I think like we're much more aware about um ADHD, autism, things like that now. Um, but actually there's a lot of traits um that other people have even if they don't have a formal diagnosis. So for example, um one of my clients used to do um, she was she she liked writing her her blogs, but actually what she really liked doing was the research. So she would go down a rabbit hole of research, and all of a sudden she could have spent four, six hours doing research, and she still doesn't have a blog at the end of it. So one of the things that we did was actually go, right, okay, we're gonna you can go and do your research, you can do two hours, and then send me what you found, and I will draft the blog, and then you can finish it off. So it was actually going, right, okay, we we need, you know, shiny object syndrome, you know, like we often get that, and it's actually having someone going, right, okay. Is this a good use of your time? Is it taking you close to is it taking you where you really want the business to go? Or are you getting distracted by somebody else? Because, you know, a lot of the time we are being told we should be doing this, we should be doing that. And there's a lot of like, oh, this seems this, you know, we're being told this is working, so we should go and do this. And then we get dragged and it's taking us in the opposite direction to what we actually really want to go, but we've been told you've got to do this. And so sometimes it's that little bit of a sanity check, a like a check-in and going, right, okay, why do you want to do this? How does it fit? You know, does it fit in with where you really want to take the business? Or are you going off a tangent and wasting your precious and not using your your time to the best outcome? So it's not necessarily, you know, wasting your time is is is a bit strong, but it's actually are you using it to you know the most effective way?

Neil 26:46

And being clear on the outcome sometimes, you know, because you're writing a blog post sometimes, you're not writing a thesis, but you know, it can be quite easy to kind of end up researching it, like you're writing a thesis. Um and it's you know, even looking at the internet, look at you know, uh Facebook, TikTok, all those different things, they're they are designed really to sort of capture your attention and then take you to the next thing and take you down a rabbit hole. They're designed that way, aren't they? That's how they're designed. And it's so easy. And I'm I I think a lot of us uh are um susceptible to it to a degree. I know certainly for me it's reels. I mean, I'm X-Gen, Zennial X-Gen. So, you know, it's Facebook reels for my generation. But you know, you can I thought, oh great, I say I've I've I won't open TikTok, I won't get involved in that short video. But then of course you get drawn in because you're checking Facebook because you want to see what your cousin's doing in Australia. Then suddenly I've clicked on a reel, and then if I'm not careful, half an hour is gone, and I'm watching cat videos and I that are AI, and I'm thinking, what am I doing? So I I think all of it.

Siân 27:56

Cat videos that are AI are yeah, I I follow one that's a ginger cat because obviously you know I've got a ginger cat and it is fabulous.

Neil 28:06

I think some of it's good and it can be entertaining and short form video uh it you know can be a nice break as well. And I and I think it's it depends how you use it. Yeah. I feel if it's if I use it as a sort of a break, a bit of entertainment, a bit of kind of like a reset, it works really well for me. If I find myself then just spending too long it, too long looking at it or browsing, I think, right? Okay, I need to step away, I need to turn it off, I need to go for a walk, I need to, you know. But it is designed, isn't it, to take you down that rabbit hole. And I think that is something that I think is a real challenge for for business owners, especially if you're a sole trader, there's no one over your shoulder necessarily, unless you've got someone like yourself that's helping you. Yeah, there's no one, you know, you're not in an office where you're being watched or monitored, thank goodness. But on the flip side, you knowt you've got to be able to do that yourself.

Siân 29:04

I think but I think as well, we've touched on the fact that actually social media is designed to be addictive, yeah. And as somebody who um has had addictions, not to anything really bad, exercise and buying crocs are two of them.

Neil 29:28

Oh, I haven't seen your crocs for a while, but I remember your uh yes, yeah, a long time ago.

Siân 29:34

Um, yeah, but yes, when Crocs first came out, I was addicted to buying crocs. That's quite a bizarre thing. Um, the exercise is still not good, but um the fact that uh social media is designed to be addictive, I think we have to be kind with ourselves if we do end up um being dragged, you know, dragged into it for longer than we want.

Neil 30:05

And it's interesting spectrum, isn't it? Because you've got the sort of you know, addiction, and of course there's different varieties of that, and then there's habits and habit forming, and there's a kind of a blurriness somehow between them, isn't there? And it's quite uh I think that stepping out and just reviewing it and having that helicopter view can be really, really essential, and I think talking it talking through it with someone, you know, even more so.

Siân 30:33

Yeah, I think one of the things is is not to beat yourself up about it either because it can be frustrating, but then if you actually do um, you know, like it can actually affect what you do for the rest of the day. You're better off like drawing a line under it and going, right, okay, you know, yes, I might have just wasted an hour looking at um cat videos on Facebook, but actually, right, okay, it did do something. It got me, you know, I I stopped thinking about this other problem like I had or this other thing, and just like draw a line and like move on instead of beating ourselves up. I know that's it is a simplification if somebody has you know a true addiction, but for somebody that's just got drawn in, sucked in,

Neil 31:28

it can be a helpful way of thinking about it. And I've definitely been there because you know, I've got a real sweet tooth, and I'm sure I've probably got some level of addiction to sugar that I've got to be careful of. And I remember this idea like years ago, if I had something like a cake or something, or two biscuits rather than one, and then I'd think, oh, I've ruined it now, I might as well have the whole packet, you know. And of course, that was just I realized then, well, actually, no, I could just stop. I've had the two bis two or three biscuits, I've had more biscuits than I wanted to, but I'll just I'll just stop now and reset. And um, and for me, that was that was quite um an approach that worked really well.

Siân 32:10

Yeah.

Neil 32:11

So it's yeah, but uh it's yeah, it's it's interesting. Uh the the the the human mind and what makes us human is to me endlessly fascinating.

Neil 32:22

When when you're running and growing a business, uh I think understanding what it is that you need or want to help your business work is really important. And sometimes people think, okay, I'm gonna put my resources into hiring admin support, for example, or marketing support, or a mentor. And I think there's different stages, and depending on what you want and what you where you are in your business, that you can bring different people in. How would you say, you know, if someone's listened to this and thinking, oh, actually, I I could do with a Siân. How do they recognize that in themselves? Is it just the feeling of overwhelm? How would you how would you suggest that you kind of approach that or perhaps think about

Siân 33:06

One of my clients did say everybody needs a Siân. Er yeah, um, that would be lovely, but I can't actually, you know, I I only duplicate yourself. I can't do no, and that's the thing, I can't duplicate myself. And I um for my own energy, time balance, I probably only work with about half a dozen people at any one time on an ongoing basis. But really, it's somebody who has like they've they're probably not at the start of their journey, although, like I say, you know, like I have worked with people from the start. Um uh the lady I worked with right from the start when she was setting up a business, she did actually have access to work support, which um because she's got ADHD. Um, and so that was how she was able to fund it right from the start, which I know not everyone is. So obviously it tends to be people a little bit along further along their journey, so that they've got a little bit of money that budget that they can actually spend on getting some sort of support. But they they know something needs to change, they know they can't keep going on as they are because they're they're they're missing things, they're whether they're missing opportunities in business, whether they're you know, like they're um, or maybe they're just working, you know, like they're working 12-hour days and that's not why they set their business up. You know, they're not getting the time with their friends and family. They're having, you know, like if they love going to the gym, they've had to stop going to the gym. You know, they wanted to, you know, they they like going away for weekends and they've had to stop doing that because they've got to work at the weekends. So there's there's something that they know they're getting to a point where this is no longer sustainable to work as they are.

Neil 35:16

Yeah, but then it's not working.

Siân 35:20

Yeah.

Neil 35:20

Yeah.

Siân 35:21

It's not it's not long-term sustainable anymore because it's just too much. And I can do it, and I can do it, and I can do it, but it's gonna suddenly, it's gonna it's gonna break.

Neil 35:38

You know, I think it's it's an some sometimes these things are an investment, and you know, having expert advice support does uh does cost some money, but as well as it actually giving you or giving people that experience they want, so they're actually living more with a business and the life they want. That's worth it in more than worth it you know, in itself. But I'd imagine that a lot of your clients also say, well, actually, I'm earning more money. Because since I've been working with you and getting clarity, I've actually brought in more clients. So it's not just about the fact you're making things better for people in terms of how they feel and how they experience their business, taking the stress away, making them enjoy life, which is really, really the the the crux of what's important, but they might also be releasing funds that they didn't know they could actually attract into their business. Do you find that as well?

Siân 36:33

Yeah, I think the thing is that what we don't realize is necessarily um like the energy that we're giving out because we're tired all like potentially if we're tired all the time, we're missing out on things that we want to do. The energy we're giving out, we're not attracting our ideal client because we, you know, underneath it all, we are really struggling.

Neil 37:00

Yeah.

Siân 37:01

Where and then by actually getting to that calm point where we know what we're doing, we're attracting the right client, the right client values what we do.

Neil 37:14

Yeah. It feels easier, but also it becomes easier, and the attraction of the client becomes easier, and then it becomes this sort of virtuous circle.

Siân 37:25

Yeah. So, like, for example, like you know, going back to um the client that um was is is a pilates instructor, and that you know, like we are replacing, um, we're looking at replacing when she's not earning as much per hour with things that are earning more per hour that are more aligned with where she wants to go. So we're juggling things and using the same time but getting more money, and instead of it draining energy, it's giving her energy. So that's a really massive win. So she's getting more money, it's the same amount of time, but instead of losing energy because she doesn't actually want to do it, she loves it, and so she finishes the classes on a high, which she then takes either into more work or into a time outside business.

Neil 38:30

Yeah. And it's not you know, people sometimes have this viewpoint that oh, I can't afford to bring someone in, it's just they see it as a cost and rather than an investment. But say there's lots of different ways of flexibly working with you. So tell us a little bit about how how can people get in touch or have a conversation with you about whether it might be worth you working together.

Siân 38:57

So um when I work ongoing with people, um what we quite often do is just have an hour a week. And I've purposely designed the price point to be manageable for a sole trader or a micro business. So we're talking about an hour a week for over three months, and that's £250 a month, which compared if you compare it to like, for example, what I pay my um business coach, it's a lot cheaper.

Neil 39:48

It is, and often said to you, haven't I that your uh you're giving all this expertise away, but I know it's because you're in a space where you you know you've built this lovely lifestyle for yourself, you like giving back to people, and yeah, and I think that you're able to um provide this really sort of customized level of support for a very affordable uh level for people in that are sole traders. And I think that's you know, that is so people who can listen to this get on the phone, get in get in touch with Siân because um this is uh you know a real real steal and a great way to help your business.

Siân 40:29

Yeah, I think the thing is that what I've what I tend to do is help people work out what to do, but to keep the cost down, I don't I very rarely do much implementation myself now. So that's how it is slightly cheaper because either they do it or if they do have budget, we depending what it is and how much time it is, I how I can help them find a virtual assistant. So I can actually do, I can help create the process, I can help train someone, and then they can have somebody that supports them in the actual doing, in the implementation, rather than so there's different ways because obviously um but a virtual assistant would be slightly cheaper than myself.

Neil 41:32

But that's that's great to have someone to be able to help them manage that, especially you know, if you're a busy business owner and you don't want to add those things in, like training someone up.

Siân 41:41

Yeah, I think Yeah, I mean one of the things is, and I always I I always think about it when I when I retrained to be a personal trainer, I retrained to be a personal trainer because I wanted to be a personal trainer. Whereas a lot of the people that started as personal trainers wanted to move into management. Well, I'd already been in like middle management, I'd already been, you know, I didn't want to do that. I was doing the job because I wanted to do the job. And it's a bit like that. When you, you know, when you get a team, do you want to be a people manager? Do you want to manage a team? Or actually, do you want to do what you know, what you set up to do in your business, what you're good to do.

Neil 42:21

That's it, and I think there's a lot of this, a lot of advice out there saying, oh, you know, you need to systemise the the business, which I agree with, and then maybe become a hands-off business owner, and then you can scale, which is a way forward. And you know, we've got sort of podcasts and episodes on on the way about how to, you know, how to sort of explore that. But it's not everyone wants. Some people they they love doing the do, they love doing the thing that they've built for themselves, that they've trained to do. That's what they want to make a business of that, but they want to make it profitable, they want to make it enjoyable, they want to um all these things. And I think this is where working with someone like you can really, really help them. Uh, because it's not just as uh affordable, but it gives them, I suppose, opens up options for them. Because it may be that they don't need to hire anyone else, or it may be actually they can use AI a bit better, and that can take away some of the stuff that they don't like doing, some of the implementation. And I think that's quite an interesting that's been a bit of a shift, I think, over recent years is that some of that implementation stuff or some of the some of the low-level admin doesn't have to be done by a human anymore. No, but then you need to almost think how do you fit that in as well.

Siân 43:41

Yes, yeah. I mean, the thing, you know, AI is great. Um, but again, you can go down a rabbit hole talking to your AI, whichever AI you choose. Um we won't like not picking, you know, not choosing any particular one, but again. You can start, especially if you um you know work uh on your own, you can end up starting a conversation and it's always designed to give you more ideas, and you just get and you just end up having this conversation, and then all of a sudden two hours has gone.

Neil 44:20

Well, it's yeh because the AI is there to sort of uh keep the conversation going to that's part of the model, isn't it? So it kind of sometimes takes you down a route maybe you didn't want to go to, or uh yeah, yeah.

Siân 44:34

Yeah, and then it never says it never finishes a very rarely, I won't say never, because I have had it saying, right, I'll come back to you, you know, like right, we won't do any more today, we'll come back to it tomorrow. But maybe I've just that's how I've trained it now. Um but it always says, I could do this for you. Do you want me to do this for you next? And it and it's just like, well, I hadn't really thought of that. Do I need it? But then it's like, oh god, it's it says it can do it, so it implies that I need it. And so again, it's you know, it's it's like, is AI the next like social media in a different way? But it's actual time because you end up having this conversation, and you you know, you're going down, you're going off at a tangent which you didn't actually want to.

Neil 45:26

But I saw an video the other day which made me laugh, which was they had two AI uh I I'm not sure it was chat GPT or something, and they got them talking to each other and they just kept talking, not actually, not actually anything interesting or depthy or valuable, but they were just continually asking questions to continue the conversation. It was just the two two iPhones talking to each other through AI.

Siân 45:52

Oh, that's yeah, but it is, it's that whole thing, you know, it is that whole thing, isn't it? It's you know, you've got to you've got to know how to you've got to use it well. But yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, like we talked, um, you know, like I I tend to help people um, you know, work out what they should be doing. But as I say, you know, I do have, you know, I've got clients that have already got really good systems. I've got other clients where you know they may need help putting in systems. And again, if I'm not the right person to do that, I you know, like one of the benefits of having um, you know, been networking for um gosh, well, I I yeah. Well, I say no. Yeah, you know, but having network for um, I suppose really since I started um well, since we met back in um 2018 is when I really started networking um properly. But that means that I've got a whole wealth of people that I've met over the years that I can pull in when I'm you know, when I can see I'm not the right person. There's always people that I know that I can

Neil 47:20

you can tap into and you can introduce and and and manage that whole process. I think that I think that's fantastic. I think this is it's such a great service that you're that that that you offer that um helps people in the moment, but just really helps them grow and say grow in the right direction for them. So, how do people get in touch with you? What's the best way? Um so either um LinkedIn, I'm on I'm on LinkedIn, so um that's a really good place to find out a little bit more about me, and obviously um they can DM me via LinkedIn. Um, my website has got lots of information about the different ways that you can work with me because I do have a couple of one-off ways that people can work with me almost as a taster to see if it's something that they want to do or not. Um and really both LinkedIn and my website have links to my booking so that they can book a Zoom call with me and have a chat. Fantastic. Well, we'll put all that information in the show notes. And if it sounds like it's just something that'd be really useful and valuable for you, then please do reach out uh to Sean. She comes highly recommended. I've worked with Sean, I know people that have worked with Sean. Um, and like I say, it's uh everyone needs a Sean, I think was one of your clients said.

Siân 48:50

I was really chuffed with that.

Neil 48:53

Thank you so much for uh for our chat today, it was really interesting, and hopefully we'll see you again on a future episode.

Siân 49:00

Thank you.

Neil 49:01

Well, that's a wrap. Thanks everyone for tuning in. Please hit subscribe to get notified for the next episode. And please leave us a review. I'd love to hear from you. You can check out our show notes for info and links from today's episode. One of the single biggest success factors for business is networking. Done well, it speeds up your growth. Having a supportive group of peers not only helps you avoid some of the pitfalls, but also opens up your perspectives and creates real opportunities. Leading a business can be a lonely place. And it's this isolation that often stops progress. It's why most businesses fail in their first five years. At Zokit, we have a network of hubs that create a support structure of growth-minded business leaders, and we'd love to invite you to be part of this thriving community to skyrocket your business. Head over to Zokit.co.uk where you can request a free guest pass to one of our online events, accessible from anywhere you can get on Zoom. Or book a ticket to meet in person at our mixers in Cardiff and Bristol. Hey, you may even want to launch a hub in your own area. Tune in next time. This is me, your host, Neil J. Lloyd, wishing you the best in business.