What is a business advisor?

Being a business advisor is all about helping you to get the right strategy to build a successful company and supporting you to put that strategy into action. I often say that I help small business owners to make more money and have more fun while they’re doing it.

I’ve been running different companies since I was 24. That’s 33 years of solid business experience. I’ve run social enterprises, technology companies, and a training company. You can find out more about my background and experience here.

I’ve been running the Joy of Business since I moved to Brighton in 2001. I became an online business advisor 7 years ago, and now all of my work is with clients over Zoom. From my office near Brighton station I can look out to sea and talk to clients across the world.

What can a business advisor do for your company?

A good business advisor will look at your business, work out with you what the best way forward is and help you develop a clear strategy for your company.

Every small business is different. Sometimes, we focus on how to maximise profits. At other times, this is how to grow the business to sell it in a few years’ time, so you can exit and retire. And sometimes, it’s to work out how to balance making the kind of income you want with the lifestyle you want to have, the kind of work you want to do and the impact you want to make in the world.

A great small business advisor will be able to support you in how to make those changes. As well as being really clear on the strategy, the goals and the way forward, a great business advisor will help you with all the areas you need to be able to get into action to develop your business in the way you want. Once we know what your strategy needs to be, my role is to help you build momentum and get into action with the specific steps you need to take to achieve your goals.

This might be helping you to get to grips with the latest in online marketing, supporting you with developing your sales skills or how to build your pipeline. Many founders need help with managing and building a team that performs well and developing the right company culture for them.

And sometimes, you need a business advisor when your business is in a bit of trouble and you need some help to see how to get out of difficulty and turn the business around.

Help you with the emotional parts of running a business

You need someone who is completely on your side, believes in you and has the emotional intelligence and communication skills to support you. Your advisor needs to be there for when things go well and when you’re experiencing those challenges that running a small business can bring.

I’ve been on this journey of running a small business several times before. I’ve directly experienced the highs and lows of running several fast-growing small businesses, so I can empathise with what my clients are going through.

I only ever work with companies where I believe that the business has the potential to grow and develop. And that starts with an online coffee and a chat first, where we can work out if I’m the right business advisor to help you.

My style as a small business advisor

I’m not the right business advisor for everyone. I am known for my plain-speaking, no-bullshit approach. I see my role as to challenge your thinking and to push you that little bit further when you need me to to.

Some people need more gentle handling and a more life coaching approach, and some people just want a sounding board for their own ideas. In these cases, I probably wouldn’t be the right business advisor for you.

I get very excited and ambitious for my clients and have been known to jump up and down when they email me to tell me about something good happening that day. Often, because I’m not in your business every day, I can see the potential of your company more clearly than you can. My clients often say that they love coming to our sessions because they go away filled with enthusiasm and ideas for what they’re going to do next.

I’m focused on helping my clients to make good money. In fact, my first book Sweetspot Pricing, is all about how to boost your profits by getting your pricing right and marketing your business to get people to buy at the price you need to charge.

I’m very comfortable talking about finance and take pride in being able to talk about the technical side of finance and business in a way that my clients can easily understand.

In fact, one of the best compliments I ever got from a client was someone who said: “You’re pretty strange, Julia, because you get finance and marketing, both at the same time.” I didn’t realise at the time that this was unusual, but she was right.

What kind of companies do I work with?

I specialise in working with companies with less than 50 employees, where the owner wants to grow the business. Small businesses come to me for advice when the founder has decided to get serious about their ambitions. Some people call this becoming a “grown-up business.”

I love working across different sectors because I get to learn all about tofu manufacturing or adventure holidays.

I do a lot of work with software and technology companies, probably because I spent time working in tech, and I love the potential of these kinds of businesses. I’ve worked with a number of e-commerce companies, where I’ve developed a number of methodologies for boosting profits.

I find that it helps that I don’t know everything about a particular sector because my client already knows tons about what they do. My role is to share and apply my knowledge of how to make money from that kind of business model.

One of my favourite ways to scale a business is through productising, and I’ve developed a deep knowledge of different product-based business models.

Working with me as your online business advisor

We meet up online twice a month to work out the right strategy for your company. And then we continue meeting so I can be there to support you in implementing that strategy and tweaking it along the way.

That’s where all the clever tactics come in. I encourage clients to stay in touch with me between meetings by phone and email so you can get advice on any tricky situations that come up along the way. In fact, the clients who tap into my experience and expertise between meetings are the ones that move forward fastest. I’m not the cheapest small business advisor out there, so I tell clients to get their moneys worth by tapping into my experience of what works at a more tactical level.

There’s no minimum contract, but most of my clients stay with me for 6 – 12 months.

What would I get out of working with you?

Clients say they feel more confident about running their businesses. And that their business moves forward faster with my help. I’ve worked with hundreds of different companies, and I see it as my job to keep up to date with current trends, so I know what works and what doesn’t. Clients feel happier when we agree on a clear strategy, and this means that they can get into action on their business without worrying about whether they’re doing the right thing or not.

We’ll definitely focus on making your business more profitable. But we’ll also look at how we can make it more efficient. Which, of course, often means that it’s more profitable as well.

We’ll increase efficiency by cutting out the things you don’t need to do and concentrating on the actions which will make a real difference. And even in the smallest business, you can make massive steps forward by adding easy automation to your processes, bringing in modern best practices, or using the right software for the job.

How can we work together?

You can come to me for one-to-one business advice, and we’ll meet twice a month to help you move your business forward.

Here’s how to get in touch to arrange a chat about working together.

I’d like to find out more about Julia Chanteray before getting together

Sure. Before hiring a business advisor it’s definitely wise to find out more about the person themselves. I’ve put together some more background information about me, my background, qualifications and my philosophy in business.