#lessonslearnt with Lara Sheldrake AKA Found & Flourish
Lara is on a mission to empower business owners to found & flourish in business. She does this by providing online training, workshops, events, community and a range of consulting and mentoring services.
I am part of the Found & Flourish Community. It’s where I’ve met some awesome women that I’ve partnered with, debated business books over wine and learnt a thing or two about myself along the way. Join the queue, there’s always a gaggle of female founders waiting for the next time the doors open.
1. What is the problem that your business sets out to solve?
Running a business can be lonely AF. From late nights banging your head against your desk as you try to figure out the back end of your website, to wondering how you raise investment or funds to turn your business idea into a reality. You don’t know what you don’t know and so entrepreneurship can feel like an incredibly lonely place.
2. What is the solution you offer?
The good news is, you are never alone. Especially when you are a part of a community of like-minded women who get it. You don’t need to have all the answers when you’re surrounded by other women in business because the likelihood is, someone will have the answer. That’s why Found & Flourish exists; to empower women in business. We do this by providing community, resources and events, created with the mission to eliminate feelings of loneliness and to provide support for women at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey.
3. How did you find your first five customers?
Great question! I ran the business for almost a year before I started to monetise the platform, I wanted to build a community based on “know, like and trust” and to do this I knew it was going to take time (and a lot of love and patience!). Once we had built an engaged audience I was able to start charging for events, so our first 5 customers were our event attendees, The first time we monetized any of our events was when we hosted our Hugs & brunch networking event which has since turned into an incredibly popular sell-out event. And then, of course, it was our founding members for our online membership platform which we launched in March of this year.
4. What’s your top piece of advice for fellow founders?
Never underestimate the power you have to make a difference in this world. Business is tough but so are you and with the right determination and support around you, anything is possible. Be realistic about your goals and manage expectations, both yours and those around you. You’ll be grateful for the reality check as things can take a lot longer than you think.
In the wise words of Brene Brown, vulnerability is a sign of strength, so if you don’t have the answer, ask someone who will.
5. Top lesson learnt in business?
Trust the process and know that resilience and grit pays off.
You can follow Found & Flourish using @Foundflourish across all platforms and sign up to Found & Flourish’s waitlist here.
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