Meet Jaclyn Bailie from Thrive Business Consulting Ltd.
Reflected in the name, business co-founder Jaclyn’s mission is to see your business thrive and offers tailored support to help you get there.
Jaclyn has experience working in the IT, wholesale, accounting, retail and recruitment industries. Her experience spans from boutique businesses to large multinational companies in New Zealand.
We asked our new Chamber Member a quick fire Q&A to get to know her and the business better.
Tell us a bit about your background:
I have 12 years’ corporate experience in recruitment, administration, office management & sales as well as over 7 year’s experience teaching English and Drama at College (secondary school) level.
My passion is helping people and becoming a Business Success Partner was the perfect way to combine all my past experience into a career I love!
When did you start this business and how long have you been operating?
We, my partner Gavin and I, started our training & working on our business early last year, before Covid lockdown, and we have been in full operation since January 2021.
Why did you start your own business?
To help businesses Thrive – the truth is that 80% of privately owned businesses close down within 10 years and we’ve made it our mission to help Kiwi families succeed in business!
Tell us about your business: What services do you offer? How can you help our business community?
We work with business owners to improve the profit, growth & value of their business. We work on the business with the owner to ensure it runs like a finely tuned machine.
What makes your business unique?
We are a complementary husband and wife team whose skills work extremely well together. We also stay with the business owner as long as they want us to, to help them implement new strategies and ensure that they move towards their ultimate business vision.
When you first got into business, what is the one thing you wish people told you?
This time, nothing – we have invested in a world-class NZ-owned and developed, business success programme (ConsultX).
We have a strong network, ongoing training, support and thanks to this we have been really well-prepared for the business world.
However, we did own our own business previously where we made all the textbook mistakes with regard to jumping in feet first. We started our business with little planning and we learned very quickly what not to do. In this case, I wish we had spoken to a business advisor or consultant early on to learn how to get the business set up properly from the start.
In your first year of business, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
We are still in our first year and our greatest challenges are time, cashflow and marketing.
We overcome time challenges by being a partnership – a team helping one another as needed. We also use our time wisely, starting each day at 5am, spending very little time watching TV and ensuring we plan our months, weeks and days in advance, as much as possible.
Cashflow hurdles we have overcome by budgeting, knowing exactly what money is coming in and going out is imperative to any business. Get a rockstar bookkeeper early on and we highly recommend Xero to keep track of finances.
Marketing is so important and in our first year, becoming a well-known business while operating on a budget is challenging, however, we have overcome this by making use of free channels on social media, joining wonderful supportive, networking organisations like The Tauranga Chamber of Commerce and BNI as well as hosting our own networking events and seminars where we give heaps of value to our audiences. The winning formula is Consistency + Visibility = Referrals!
And now, looking back, what have been your biggest learnings?
- Relationship is key! Get to know people, take a genuine caring interest in others and your business will grow organically.
What’s the one misconception people might have about your industry?
That we are not an essential service to businesses. Sadly, there are some fly-by-night, so-called “business consultants” out there who have used the title without actually knowing how to help business owners. Thus, causing people to approach the business consulting industry with apprehension.
The truth is, every single business can benefit from the services of a trustworthy, reputable & professional business consultant.
What’s the one thing you want people to know about your business?
We want people to know our 3 key values –
- Compassion -Understanding that the business owner is doing their best.
- Integrity – We are always trustworthy and reliable
- Professional Excellence – We strive to offer the best service and go the extra mile for our clients.
What are your goals (personal and professional) for the next six to 12 months?
To build our company into the best Business Consulting firm in the area. In the future we will offer training programmes to college students, young entrepreneurs and seasoned business people to empower them to build successful, thriving businesses.
When you’re not at work, how do you like to spend your time?
Enjoying family time is my passion with my two young boys and husband Gavin. Together we enjoy the outdoors, beach time and exploring this beautiful country!
If you could impart one piece of advice to fellow business owners, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help (except from family – they’re well-meaning but often not positive towards business ideas) speak to a professional business advisor, coach or consultant.
Also, don’t get caught up doing smaller tasks that can be outsourced, this will free up your time to work more on your business.
Anything else you’d like to add?
We currently offer 3 hours of free consulting to business owner’s, this includes a business diagnostic session that calculates and details the profit leakage of the business.
We then give you comprehensive reports so that you can see exactly how to increase the profit in your business!
New members can find it hard meeting people at events, so we want to take some of the pressure off that awkward small talk by shining a light on your business through our member profiles.
Our member profiles are a great way to give the business community a taste of who you are and what you do, so when they see your face at one of our events they won’t hesitate to make that all-important introduction.
If you’re a new member and would like a profile, get in touch with our marketing team today.
