Enterprise Nation

It’s becoming increasingly common for employees to view starting their own business as being the route to financial success. Which means more employers having to deal with people leaving. This happened to Emma Warren who has turned an employee starting their own business into an entrepreneurial opportunity.

Leaving but staying on

What do you do when you want to retain an employee’s valuable skills and experience but at the same time, don’t want to squash their entrepreneurial spirit? We managed the loss of a key employee by securing them as a subcontractor rather than an employee.

Initially I was disappointed that Sarah, who was a key member of the team, wanted to leave. We talked through the process and came up with a workable plan.  We both agreed that trying to work as a Research & Administration Manager during the day and then trying to establish her Virtual Assistant business in the evenings was going to put an unnecessary strain on Sarah’s home and work life. 

Instead, we moved to a supplier relationship rather than an employee/employer relationship.  As a small business mentor I’m a passionate supporter of the entrepreneurial spirit and small business so I was glad I was able to support Sarah as well as protect my own company’s interests.

Sarah Bradley co-founded her new venture ‘Help Ahoy’ on 1st October and within 3 weeks had a bank of 3 regular clients, one being Portfolio Directors!

What does Sarah have to say about the process:

“It goes to show that by keeping the lines of communication open and by talking things through you can achieve a good outcome.  Portfolio Directors still has access to my skills and experience and I am free to offer my time to other companies who might also benefit from business growth mentoring from the team at Portfolio Directors.  We both get to refer clients to each other - it’s a Win/Win situation.  Being responsible for my own company has also opened my eyes to the reality of running a business and has made me a more effective resource for Portfolio Directors.”

Sounds like the perfect solution for all concerned!

• Emma Warren is Founder of Portfolio Directors Ltd, a Business Growth Consultancy based in Somerset
• Sarah Bradley is co-founder of Help Ahoy