Sarah-Jane Meeson currently lives in Australia where she runs The Digital Project Manager.
Tell us a bit about yourself, background and what you do currently
My name is Sarah-Jane Meeson, I am originally from the UK but now live in Australia. My background is in administration, investing and project management. Now I run my own digital project management agency and a fun blog for females to help empower them with the finance and business.
1. What inspired you to start a business?
All my inspiration came from a post it note that my husband left on the kitchen bench, where my husband wrote a note saying, “SJ’s Strengths – empower women” I had been wanting to start a business so I put all my skill set and knowledge together and out was born Empowering Her Business and The Digital Project Manager!
2. What is the greatest challenge and the greatest reward in being your own boss?
Greatest challenge that when things go wrong it’s on your back and conflict is not one of my strong points.
Greatest reward is doing something that helps people better their lives. If it’s creating a website that helps manage their dairy to save a business owner time or helping a women realise that she’s worth being paid the money she’s worth for a craft – it’s all rewarding.
3. What motivational tips can you give to our members about goal setting and managing both successes and failures
Running a business is like going to the gym, you have to be consistent to get any results. A marathon coach gave me the best advice I was ever told about motivation and goal setting; always set your next goal before you have completed the current one. That way you don’t lose your mojo and you keep going. After coaching many runners he noticed after their marathons his students would fall into depression and lose sense of where they were going if they didn’t set a goal, so just before they completed their current event he always sat down with them and went through what event they wanted to do next and this avoided them from losing motivation. I now apply this to all my goal setting and find it really helps.
Another piece of wisdom I was told is just because you have been successful once, doesn’t mean you will be successful again, and so always stay humble to the learning process and never assume you will be successful.
There is no such thing as a failing – only learning – it’s hard when you’re going through a learning season but forgive yourself, you’re only human. We all make mistakes.
4. What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a business owner?
Biggest challenge is always family life balance – you’ve got put family first, even though it’s really hard sometimes. They are more important than anything or any business sometimes you just have to say no to things.
5. How have you benefited from mentoring or coaching?
Yep, I surround myself with peers if I have a question about a problem I know I can call them and ask for help. I have mentors for every area in my life too not just business but spiritual, health, family.
6. What advice can you give about the benefits of networking?
Someone always knows someone, who knows someone. You never know what work might come out of networking.
7. What are your tips for scaling a business and how do you plan for and manage growth?
From the get go, write out systems and record videos of how you do stuff so then when you need to employ you already have something in place to train the new staff. Checklists are great for staff members to follow!
Never underestimate the power of a HR assistant to help you employ staff when you need it and don’t over commit without systems and support in place. If you feel like things are getting out of control, up your prices and start a wait list if needed.
8. What does the future hold for you?
I plan to stay in the digital world and help business owners with their digital projects, over time I will grow this slowly – I love seeing peoples vision come to life. I will also continue to support women and educate them on their finances and prosperity through investing and business.
