We spent five minutes with Alice and asked her some questions about running a business.
How do you engage and motivate employees and keep them?
We put a huge focus on our culture at Fountain, not only because I want everyone in our team to be happy and fulfilled, but because in a service business, looking after our people makes an awful lot of business sense. We have a team of driven, bright, passionate people at the top of their field, so we work hard to keep them positively challenged, engaged and working with autonomy and trust.
How do you maintain and enhance margins?
We have a relentless focus on tracking marketing outcomes for our clients, so it’s relatively easy to apply the same mentality to our own targets and finances. We apply our data-driven approach to all aspects of our business, carefully monitoring our clients, team capacity and workload to ensure that we are well-resourced but not over-resourced. The biggest challenge for us is when we fall into a pattern of over-servicing some clients, but we’re working hard to prevent that from happening.
How do you put your prices up and keep your customers?
Simply put, we can offer more value! We help clients leverage their existing streams of income, beyond our immediate services, and translate leads and sales into repeat business and high life-time value customers. We offer agency services to our clients, but it’s the strategic consultancy that really sets us apart.
You have this great idea – what do you do with it?
Speak to people who have done it before! There’s a wealth of advice to be had, and by being open to learning from others, you position yourself well to take proven methods and then add your own innovation to take your idea to the next level. Then cost it out properly; identify your target market and work out your cost-per-acquisition for a new customer. Before you pour time and money into it, make sure that the pricing works and the business model is sound.
How do you protect your reputation and enhance it?
I’m a great believer in being yourself in business, holding true to your values and focusing on what really matters. By working that way, I feel that reputation follows.
How do you shut off from the business?
It can be really hard, especially in the extreme circumstances that 2020 has thrown our way. I know what I do to switch off; exercise, time with loved ones, walks with my dog in the beautiful Norfolk countryside. But I also go through times when it gets hard to follow through with these things. Let’s say it’s a work in progress!
How do you move your business to the next step?
We have exciting plans for continuing Fountain’s growth. I’m a firm believer in setting a “north star” for the entire team to work towards, so having mapped out our strategy for growth over the next three to five years, I’m working hard to make sure the whole team is on board and pulling in the same direction. We’re lucky that a lot of our growth comes from the success of our existing clients, either through recommendation or through the clients themselves expanding due to the success of our work, so that means that every single team member can impact on how we grow in the coming months and years.
For more information visit: fountainpartnership.co.uk
