Sarah Archer, career coach and co-founder of CareerTree, explains why the business should win the home business category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
CareerTree is a home-based coaching practice. There are two locations within the CareerTree home: upstairs is my office where I do my creative thinking, develop my coaching programmes and deliver my marketing and business development. I needed this to be a vibrant space so chose a lime green vintage wallpaper mixed with white walls and black amd white photos. Downstairs is my practice room, where I see my clients, which also doubles as the family dining room.
The feel here needs to be different as clients need a safe and relaxing space. The room has massive windows overlooking my cottage garden and is decorated in a duck egg blue with light wood furniture. I burn scented candles and have fresh flowers so clients feel it is an oasis of calm, rather than the chaotic family eating area it becomes later in the day.
I also Skype clients from this room if they live overseas or a different part of the UK. I also Skype my co-founder from the office. I love the flexibilty that my home offers in growing my business, and that it gives me a different environment to work in depending on what I am doing. This has helped me to focus creatively on different areas such as marketing which has helped the business to grow - turnover has doubled this year. I also like the fact that at the end of the day I can close my office door and switch off.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
