Client Case Study - Virtual Assistant support for One44 Complete Business Development
Posted on 9th November 2023 at 15:26
Alchemy VA Client Case Study - One44 Complete Business Development
One44 Complete Business Development is the creation of transformational change and consultancy powerhouse Liz Chilton.
Heading strongly into a third year, One44 is a business consultancy and training provider delivering five core services.
In Training, Learning and Development, One44 provides Project Management training aligned to industry standards, supporting businesses with bespoke training packages, interpersonal behavioural space and skills, and coaching 1:1 and 1:team - focusing on engagement, learning and collaboration to work smarter not harder.
Small businesses, typically with a five to fifteen headcount, benefit hugely from One44’s Business Coaching services, ranging from marketing agencies to HoBs in manufacturing, supporting those holding C-Suite posts with relatability, confidence, relinquishing control and more.
In Change Management, One44 delivers in-depth, comprehensive project work to SMEs and large corporations alike, managing the delivery of products, services or how the business is running. The challenges can be hugely varied, requiring research, development frameworks, onboarding experience, strategies and policies to overcome communication issues, consistency, and improve the quality of work.
Taking an Appreciative Inquiry approach to Business Improvement allows One44 to curate and deliver workshops on understanding what's working and what's not in areas of improvement for all kinds of businesses.
One44’s Business Consultancy offering puts businesses on the right path with guidance and advice and actively looking at understanding goals and objectives, the senior management forecast, and what success looks like. Just because a business is busy doesn't mean it's productive. So One44 aims to help clients make decisions in an informed way - eliminating firefighting and bringing clarity to the fore.
But where did it all start?
Liz’s career has been based in the corporate world - making her mark in transformational change, strategy development, change management, projects and building capability in people and organisations. But, working her way up and building on her seismic bank of knowledge through consultancy work and managing senior relationships, stakeholders, and keynote speakers, Liz’s layered and in-depth expertise was developed long before One44 came to fruition. Taking on a Masters in Organisational Development and Consultancy. Liz’s lecturer told her that students taking the course make a life-changing decision upon completion - and at first, this alone didn’t convince her. Finishing her study, she worked as a senior exec on the senior leadership team. But as an extensive programme began ramping up, redundancy phases came to fruition.
After much thought and consideration, Liz opted for voluntary redundancy, knowing she wanted to take her knowledge and experience into the world for herself. And there was the life-changing decision. She left in the summer, took the time to develop the shape of the business and launched One44 that November.
This is all about human behaviour, psychology, and philosophy for Liz. Her innate understanding of people means she knows how to manage dislike, distrust and misunderstanding to become hugely productive through culture, leadership, strategic planning, and problem-solving to mature and develop an organisation and incorporate all these most effectively.
The sky is the limit for Liz and One44. Working closely with the University of Northampton, Liz delivers a session for the SEMSUP South East Midlands Start-up Programme - a government-funded scheme including twelve hours of consultancy - for which One44 offers different topics and knowledge for participants to use some of those hours. And it was through her various speaking engagements at the University and local business networking Liz learned of the Knowledge Exchange for Better Business (KE4BB) and approached colleague and business advisor at the University, Adam Lawton, for more information.
The Challenge..
Like most new small businesses, Liz needed accountancy services and IT support from day one of launching One44. After launching and promoting in the company's initial stages, it became clear that engagement strategy and communications also needed work. Up to this point, Liz had never had to sell her services, being employed within the larger business. So, with a need to build credibility in a new business world and network in the new spaces, she needed help. Communications had to be valuable and consistent without compromising other key areas she needed to focus on. Client work was another critical area. With so much time spent in workshops, Liz needed help getting all the images, branding, information and outcomes of the workshops written up as a vital end product for herself and her clients. And then, there was all the training, participant onboarding programmes and paperwork required ahead of courses, workshops and programmes that needed doing.
The Solution...
Alchemy Virtual Assistance have been supporting One44 communications plan & execution for marketing, research, creating flyers, email & diary management, other admin tasks to ensure the smooth running of the business and finances internally and client side. Liz’s trusted and knowledgeable Virtual Assistant Gemma McMillan supports One44 with company branding out to market and also business branding for the assets Liz uses in her training. Liz benefits from Gemma's scope and expertise as they work together to curate different packages for specific One44 clients and Liz herself, including client, customer and employee surveys. And finally, onboarding is in the works, with Gemma so entrenched in the business that she will be instrumental in how the process works and what the finished result will look like.
The Outcome...
Put simply, Liz can relinquish tasks and focus on relationships and engagements - giving her time to grow and manage the business. But perhaps most importantly, Liz cites time to focus on her family, which is priceless.
When we asked Liz why working with her Alchemy Virtual Assistant works so well, her answer is what we strive for...
Her Virtual Assistant requires minimal leadership, responds to Liz’s way of working, unpicks very high-level briefs and understands what she needs and when - a Virtual Assistant who has taken the time to deeply know the business, which is so critical when outsourcing.
Liz says, ‘Growth would have been slower without a Virtual Assistant, for sure. My comms work would be slower and intermittent. And yet, I would be working a lot more, having to take on the work and with less experience and desire in those areas. Gemma has been instrumental in building packages and getting clients on board and, frankly, made it so much more enjoyable.’
Our work with Liz means she experienced everything we seek to provide and more in VA services. But does she recommend a Virtual Assistant to anyone sitting on the fence?
"Go for it! Everyone is always waiting for the perfect time to do something - there isn't a right time, as you will always have something that needs support. A Virtual Assistant can help you identify the need, and Alchemy VA are very approachable. They take the time to talk to you about your business and ambitions and help you understand what else they can do for you."
We think that sums it up perfectly.
Discover more about the remarkable impact Liz and the team at One44 Complete Business Development have.
If this client growth story has inspired you, reach out to Gemma McMillan to explore the impact and tangible benefits of plugging her specialist Virtual Assistant team directly into your organisation.
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