We sat down with the latest North Tyneside Business of the Month, Helen Ross of Bright & Beautiful North Tyneside to find out a little bit more about the business
What does your business do / offer?
Professional eco-friendly cleaning, laundry and ironing services as a one off or regular service.
What made you set up on your own?
After being made redundant in 2017 and having worked for several terrible employers, I decided I didn’t want to work for anyone else and instead use the variety of skills I have developed in my career in marketing and advertising. I decided to investigate franchises and found Bright & Beautiful. The values of the business in terms of ethical employment and eco-friendly cleaning really appealed to my own values. Also the fact that they had a really strong and attractive brand sat well with my marketing background.
What have you found the biggest challenge to date?
The perception that cleaning should be a cheap service. There are too many agencies and companies being ran using unethical employment practices that allows them to keep prices low but of course results in poor quality and an unreliable service that people assume this is the norm. There is a need to educate people that cleaning, when done professionally should be paid along the same lines as any other trade.
What do you find most rewarding about running your business?
I love providing good quality jobs to local people and hearing how my staff love their jobs and think I’m a great boss. When we receive fantastic feedback from customers it is something we can all enjoy together as it is a team effort and we all know we are striving to provide a premium service to our customers.
What makes North Tyneside a good place to run a business?
North Tyneside is a great local community, the business community really wants to support each other and this is seen every month at the Business Coffee Morning. The support that the local authority gives to its local businesses in unbelievable from business coaches to free courses, it is no wonder people come from outside the area to find out more.
What one piece of advice would you offer to somebody looking to set out in business?
Network. I find networking one of the best things I can do for my business. Even though my background is in marketing, nothing compares with meeting people face to face and listening to what they do and why they do it. It results in friendships and good advice on the roller coaster journey of running a business.
You can find out more about Bright & Beautiful North Tyneside here.
Want to nominate yourself or others for North Tyneside Business of the Month? Here’s how…
In no more than 280 characters, let us know about the North Tyneside business you would like to nominate as North Tyneside Business of the Month using the hashtag #NTCBiz. Examples of great reasons a business could win are increased turnover, new employee/s, winning a new contract, taking on new premises, community support, running a successful event or delivering excellent customer service.
The winner will receive a 3 hour Marketing Strategy session, their story added to the Business Factory website to raise their profile and encourage others, a pinned Facebook post on Business Factory Facebook page, tweets about the business by Business Factory Twitter account as well as our other social media platforms.
Nominations can be tweeted to The Business Factory using the #NTCBiz, posted on its Facebook page or emailed to info@businessfactorynt.co.uk
Find out the date of the next Business of the Month right here – look for CREATING CONNECTIONS events.
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