Guest Blog – Sarah Shay of Shayping

Good morning all you wonderful people. Are you creating an amazing day?

Welcome to the first in our series of guest blogs where we will be introducing you to interesting and inspiring people doing business in Yorkshire.

First up is one of our good friends Sarah Shay of Shayping. Find out how Sarah is “shayping” and adding “umph” to businesses in this region. She shares some great tips for you about how to access finance and improve business relations.

Sarah, please tell us a little bit about your yourself and your consultancy Shayping.

I spent 17 years as a corporate banker working with over 400 businesses of all sorts of sizes and in all sorts of sectors. My specialisms were really business development and relationship management, as well as having the technical financial background. I now bring those skills and my networks to work with my clients on a consultancy basis through Shayping Ltd.

Is there such a thing as a typical client for your business?

Not in terms of size or sector, but usually my clients have found themselves in a stretched position. Maybe they have a particular growth project and they need some specialist resource to make it happen – they aren’t sure about hiring a senior resource and they just need some help to kick start and add a bit of ‘umph.’ So in that example, I can bring my experience. I’ve seen lots of good things, lots of bad things, and lots of things in the middle. I bring those experiences and sit down with the management team to understand how I can add that ‘umph’ and take them forward out of that stuck position.

I love that word ‘umph’! So what would be the typical challenge that an SME Yorkshire client might be facing at the time they approach you?Perhaps it’s going into a new business area, launching a new product, challenges with the sales team. At the moment I am working with a business which has a very young, enthusiastic sales team which are selling into the corporate market – but none of the team have ever worked with the corporate market. So I am helping them to empathise and ‘walk in the shoes’ of the clients they are selling to, in order to make a more authentic connection. It might be a business which has tried hiring a particular resource and not quite got the results they were expecting. They may know what impact they want that person to have but it hasn’t been realised and so as a result, too much responsibility has stayed with the CEO or MD. I can step into that space and add some immediate impact to release the pressure on a management team whilst we look for a longer term option.

You have a background in banking. Many of our Serenwood clients face challenges obtaining the right finance to grow their business. What advice would you give our Yorkshire SMEs as regards accessing finance?

Generally, there is a lack of understanding about what happens and what types of finance to look at. Nowadays, crowd funding has become quite popular. It’s not the right way to go for everyone. It’s an interesting option when you are trying to reach out and get customer engagement, but other businesses would be better with an angel investor. Or a more established business might be better to utilise its assets in the business to access a more traditional bank finance route, such as invoicing discounting or asset finance. One of the problems is that there are so many different routes to finance these days, and people are still wary and don’t necessarily trust the banks – so they don’t engage in a conversation. Yet it may well still be the best (and the cheapest) place for that business to go. The banks are aware of this and are trying to be more SME friendly. For example, Santander has launched its “Breakthrough” programme, which is not just about delivering growth capital – they hook you up with business mentors, find  internships from their programmes – so not just providing money but giving added value services. I’ve just used Santander as an example – actually, many of the banks have something similar, which SMEs can easily access.

What events or networks do you enjoy going to in Yorkshire?

I went to Buy Yorkshire this year and it had a good buzz with interesting speakers.  Bigger businesses tend to focus on the Yorkshire International Business Convention – a good day out and fun networking although the tickets to this event need to paid for. It’s important to search out the networks which are right for you, your business and your niche. For example, I’m a member of the 2percent club, which is a senior women’s networking group led by An Inspirational Journey who provide support for women at different levels of their careers. I think when you are looking at networking, it should be approached strategically, see what’s out there and what suits you. It’s important to spend time at the events which you genuinely enjoy and which have people you are interested in working with and have a good fit with your own values. This is how opportunities are created, and may include things like trade bodies, CBI, IOD. You could even look at your charitable interests too and join something like the 100 Club that Leeds Community Foundation run.

Last question. As an expert in relationship management and business development, can you give us your 3 top tips for healthy relationships within your business?

The first one has to be transparency and honesty. If you are honest with your customers, suppliers, stakeholders, you will engender trust. This means that if you ever need leeway or help with a difficult situation, then you are more likely to be able to call on them for help and understanding. Secondly, I think it’s important to build up emotional intelligence – in much the same way as you would in your personal relationships, the same applies in business.Thirdly, some good old-fashioned values around “treat others as you would like to be treated.” Be polite, be respectful, and make sure you respond in a timely manner. We’re all busy and modern life is demanding – but it’s not fine to ignore people or requests for help or information. It creates bad feelings and doesn’t build strong relationships. Have honest conversations and hope to receive the same in return.

Thank you Sarah – we at Serenwood are certainly looking forward to spending more time collaborating with Shayping in the future   Find out more about Sarah via her website www.shayping.co.uk. hello@serenwood.co.uk