Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in public relations but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Fiona Scott, Managing Director of Scott Media, located in Swindon, Wiltshire, UK.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I run my own media consultancy, where I manage media outreach for small business owners, small charities, or experts. I also train people to do their own PR in the modern world and am also an expert in video production from small budget right up to full broadcast quality production and placement. My customers tend to be small to medium-sized businesses that don't have in-house PR or marketing teams and need ongoing support to be visible and relevant in the modern world. However, as a qualified and working journalist, I do offer training for marketing teams who avoid media outreach or who want to improve that part of their job role. I also offer specialist consultancy around disaster recovery strategies and implementation and crisis management strategies and, on occasion, delivery.

Tell us about yourself

I started my business 15 years ago after being made redundant from television, where I was an investigative journalist and then a series producer. I loved my job beyond words; I'd worked hard to get into television, and I would never have done anything else had my job continued to exist. However, ITV made the decision to almost stop all regional programming (I was based out of Bristol), and therefore I was one of 1,000 UK-wide who lost their jobs.

I decided to set up as a freelance journalist at a time when it was becoming more common to go freelance. Yet it's a competitive and cut-throat environment chasing down the next contract. With small children and a lovely home life, I didn't want to sacrifice that by being away all the time. Therefore I set up a small media consultancy based on more than 20 years of experience in the media alongside freelancing work which meant I could choose my freelancing gigs around a budding business. I had zero business acumen and zero support at the time. I didn't know so much. Yet I somehow did it, making many mistakes along the way.

Today my company is a successful micro business, I'm supported by a team of successful freelancers in various disciplines, and I project manage their activity. I'm very blessed, I'm always learning, and I'm still the nosey journalist I had always been. I love what I do, and I'm very lucky indeed to be able to earn a living and help others earn a living doing something I love. I've loved people's stories since 1982, and never, at the age of 16, did I think that my love of words, visuals, pictures, and people would give me my career.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Getting to ten years in business and to still be here. This may sound modest; however, only four in any 100 businesses started each year make it to a decade - which makes me one of that four percent. I'm thrilled about that. Also, when I realised I was actually a business owner and not 'just' a freelancer, that was very pivotal for me as I could actually pat myself on the back. As with all things though, you never achieve things alone, even when you don't employ people. There is always a team around you, and my team includes my very supportive family.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Everything is on your shoulders; all decisions begin and end with you, which can feel like a huge responsibility. It's scary when you have a bad month (and you will) when the money seems to be drying up, and you have to pull up your socks and move forward, albeit slowly. This happened again in 2020 when we locked down, and I lost 40 percent of my business overnight and then received no government support at all - we were not in it together in the UK. A whole section of small business owners was excluded. However, given that I'd started with a laptop and phone on my kitchen table, I knew I could survive it - as this time, I had years of experience, contacts, and knowledge behind me.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Passion. You have to love what you do. It gets you through the hard days which will come (it's easy to be passionate on the good days).
  2. Get some training. Whenever you want to do something new, get some training around it so that you know what 'good' looks like and have some knowledge yourself, even if you intend to outsource pretty quickly. This helps you avoid and walk around the BS (there's a lot of BS in the world of PR, for example.
  3. Understand your numbers. I'm not a numbers person at all; however, you need to understand your cash flow and keep on top of paying your bills, your own invoicing, and your big bills for tax, VAT, etc. Don't get to a position of 'robbing Peter to pay Paul.' I have a habit of putting aside 30 percent of all income so that my bills are covered, and I don't have to worry about big bills suddenly turning up unexpectedly.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://scottmedia.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fionascottmedia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theFionaScott
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefionascott/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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