#AskTheCommittee: Victoria Platt
Our new feature in which members of the Sutton Chamber committee answer your questions about their experiences in business continues this week with Victoria Platt, director at Henwood Court Financial Planning.
What is the one burning question most clients ask you and how do you answer?
Do I have enough money to live the life I want to live?
What's the one piece of advice you would give your clients to help them GROW their business?
Firstly, what is the purpose of growth, really need to understand this, some business owners may be very happy with the status quo, growth means more time and effort in the business and less time for them and their family, is this what they want?
If so, then we would first and foremost investigate their operational systems and processes, to ensure these are scalable and teachable, then add talent that can help deliver growth = process and people.
At the Chamber's core is Connect, Support and Grow. How have these values helped your business grow in the last 12 months?
The last 12 months we have all had to come together and live by those core values. The Chamber's approach to the pandemic was proactive and gave us the confidence of knowing we had someone to turn to.
We were given many opportunities to share help and advice during that time, given us the feeling of all being in it together. Online networking continued, giving us all a chance to stay in touch and share ideas, knowledge and sometimes, concerns.
Brexit and Covid has influenced our businesses in many ways. What steps have you taken that have created the most positive impact for your business?
Brexit hadn 't affected us directly but affected clients business which will then have a knock on effect, giving them less discretionary spend on services from businesses such as us.
Working from home and virtual meetings, largely on Zoom allowed us to keep in touch with our clients, together with hosting webinars, particularly during the eye of the storm which has paid huge dividends since.
Operationally, we are in the process of reviewing our systems and processes to accommodate these changes and whist our systems and processes are always under review, the impact of Brexit and Covid have provided opportunities to bring this forward.
Covid allowed us to forge deeper relationships with clients as we held their hands through the storm of the pandemic coupled with the wildness of the Stockmarket at the time, followed by the benefits they then gained following the upturn in the markets.
Which businessperson most inspires you and why?
I have no standout person. We gather inspiration from numerous businesspeople through reading and learning, all providing snippets of knowledge and experience to help inspire us with business growth and learning.
Become more acquainted with our committee here.