The Outline
Customer: Tracy Cartwright
Company: Danum Business Solutions LTD
Industry: Health and Safety Consultancy
Introduction
Tracy set up her health and safety consultancy at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic after an extended career break and some time working as a virtual assistant.
Tracy and I were friends before working together, we had met through a mutual contact and quickly realised that we had shared visions, values and sense of humour! Tracy was working as a virtual assistant when we met, but I soon realised that this wasn’t allowing her to feel fulfilled.
Together we identified that she would feel much happier by going back to her health and safety roots and, with a bit of a gentle push, Tracy developed the confidence to make that leap.
Tracy is an accountability package client. I help Tracy to define her goals, set out her plans, and – most importantly – make sure she sticks to them so she can achieve her dreams. I’m proud to see Tracy’s client base steadily grow since we started working together, and I know that with my support, Danum BS will continue to fly.
The Story of Tracy Cartwright
Tracy Cartwright is a Health and Safety consultant, she owns Danum Business Solutions, which she set up in July 2020. All of Tracy’s career has involved safety management, in either an engineering role or as a health and safety professional.
After a career break, Tracy decided to set up as an independent health and safety consultant with the aim of building up a successful consultancy supporting local businesses in meeting their legal requirements and protecting their people.
Tracy’s clients come from all types of businesses, but are mainly in the engineering, technical and construction sectors. Tracy’s ethos is that managing health and safety needs to be simple, sensible, and straightforward. For her, looking after people is a value to be adopted by every business, and not just a ‘tick-box’ exercise that needs to be done. Her clients value the work she does because she cares about them and their employees.
The Challenges.
Tracy wanted to get her business set up but felt like she had no clear plan to get to where she wanted to be. In her words “I felt a bit rudderless”, and she wanted help with getting everything in place, without being distracted by the next shiny thing.
Tracy needed someone to help to define an action plan, set specific goals and keep her accountable and to make sure she stayed on target. Her business is important to her, and so are her clients, and by making sure that she had specific tasks in place, she could rest assured knowing that the next goal could be met.
Why Tracy chose to work with me
Tracy and I had met through a mutual contact and soon became friends. We had regular phone calls where we found ourselves chatting through various aspects of her business, putting wheels in motion without even realising it. Tracy had worked with a business coach, and while she found that valuable, she needed more practical support to help her get some clear goals and actionable steps in place.
Tracy could see the benefits of working with me on an informal basis and wanted to cement the relationship by committing to an accountability package. We had developed a great relationship, and we were already starting to see the benefits of the support, direction, and ideas I had shared with Tracy. She valued all my input and knew that for her business to skyrocket she needed some firm arrangements in place for us to continue to work together.
"Everything with Pippa is straight down the line, she's no-nonsense."
How I responded
I wanted Tracy to feel supported, so we started with an action planning workshop and then set up weekly meetings where I could ask questions, review progress, and give Tracy a gentle steer when she was going off-track or not meeting her own goals. It wasn’t just about the business though, we looked at all aspects of her life and Tracy included the things that were important to her in the plan. We started off having monthly accountability calls to keep a track of Tracy’s progress. This soon led to Tracy coming on an accountability workshop where she developed firm goals for the next quarter, with weekly check-ins to make sure she keeps on track. Through our time working together, Tracy’s goals and dreams have changed – both business and personal. By working with me so closely, we have been able to quickly adapt to those changes, altering Tracy’s existing plans to suit, and making sure she doesn’t lose sight of the big-picture when working on day-to-day stuff. This way, we know that everything Tracy does will take her one step closer to achieving her dreams.
“Shes the only person I ring to have a quick chat and end up with an action plan!"
The Results
From starting up during the pandemic, Tracy now has a thriving business which is going from strength-to-strength. She has the tools to enable her to systemise her business so that it will keep working for her when she has a much-needed holiday.
Tracy’s ultimate goal is to have a successful consultancy that can manage itself, and I believe that will happen sooner rather than later.
Tracy says some of the biggest benefits of working with me is that she can plan and use her time efficiently, and those feelings of overwhelm have been significantly reduced.
Tracy plans her calendar with time for work, personal time and she blocks off sections that can be for focusing on what she needs to get done that day or week. Together we make sure that Tracy’s short-term actions are aligned with her longer-term goals, meaning that Tracy feels in control of her business.
Running a business can be lonely and challenging, and Tracy has told me many times that she loves the feeling of having somebody by her side as she goes through this journey.
"I love working with Pippa - she's completely bonkers!"