Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Teresa Heath-Wareing, International Keynote Speaker & Podcaster, located in Telford, Shropshire, UK.

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

I am a Business and Mindset Coach and the director of Teresa Heath-Wareing Limited, which is an online business that serves business owners and entrepreneurs from around the world, helping them to create a business and life they love through teaching them business, marketing & mindset tools and strategies.

​​As well as inspiring members to dream big and set ambitious long-term business goals, I equip them with practical, actionable steps to get them closer to their goals. My holistic emphasis on the whole business, and the mindset of the business owner, enable my members to navigate the world of running a business with me as their biggest cheerleader.

Tell us about yourself

I have been in marketing for about 18 years now. I did a degree in it and started my career. I was always happy being an employee and never dreamed about having my own business. However, after ten years in various marketing roles, I found myself as a single parent of a four-year-old. I was head of marketing for a local agency, and after coming through a separation, I thought I needed a change. I joke I must have gone through an early midlife crisis because without getting another job, I handed my boss eight weeks' notice, thinking I was really good at my job and I was sure I would get another. One thing I overlooked was that I was on a good salary and lived in a small town and jobs like that weren't often available. Three weeks into my notice and with no job offers, I started looking at other options, including starting my own business. My boss found out this might be the case and understandably asked me to leave! Within one week, I started my new marketing business! The thing that has always kept me going and motivates me is the difference I make to business owners and watching them and their businesses grow.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

This is a tough one, as there have been so many things, but I guess doing a TEDx talk was up there as one of my biggest accomplishments. One of the things I tell my community to do all the time is to make sure they celebrate every win regardless of how small it is, and they should celebrate and high-five themselves on a regular basis just for being a business owner, as this stuff is hard!

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

One of the hardest things is not having the right people around you - when I started my business, I didn't really have anyone to who I could speak about it. Even though my husband is very supportive, he is employed and doesn't always get it. You need a supportive community that has your back and a coach; these two things have been game-changing for me, and this is what I provide for my community.

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

  1. You have to learn stuff fast - Most people go into business because they are really good at something, normally the service or product they are selling. However, I completely underestimated how much other stuff I needed to know. Things that I didn't even think about, like systems, finance, managing people, or selling! Doing my actual job was the easy bit; it was all the other stuff that was challenging.
  2. You need systems and processes - Over the first 2/3 years of my business, I must have wasted so much time and so many opportunities through being unorganized and not having the right systems in place. I know systems and processes don't feel very exciting, but honestly, I could not run my business without them. If you do something more than once in your business, it can be a system, and when you grow, someone else can do that thing. You will save so much time and money!
  3. You need to have a good mindset - You need to gather together some good tools, tactics, and strategies to use when your mind doesn't want to. So many things in business can make us stumble and block us from being successful. So mindset work is key! And as part of this, you should learn to embrace failing - My resilience has gotten better as time has gone on. The more things went wrong or didn't go as I had hoped. Or the times that it straight-up failed! In business, you turn each failure into an opportunity to learn.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://teresaheathwareing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeresaHeathWareingUK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teresa_heathwareing/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theathwareing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresaheathwareing/

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.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.