J. De Vanna has had entrepreneurial blood since she was born. She used to be the low profile entrepreneur hidden behind her day to day career until one day she decided to swap a high flying six figure project management consulting career in Oil and Gas to pursue her real passion!
She established her own company to work with other entrepreneurs in small and medium businesses, together executing profitable fast-tracked projects based on launching products and services that add value to the market and create additional profit centres for the business.
We chat to Jeannette to find out more about WELL-TO-DO (UK)
How did you start your current business?
Let me tell you that I was not that clear from the beginning about what my business was going to be about but I decided to take action and I incorporated my company WELL-TO-DO (UK) Ltd in 2006. In the meantime during my transition period whilst I was figuring out what exactly I was going to be doing as an Entrepreneur, I decided to carry on with my core career and I immediately at the time self-promoted myself to the role of Project Manager on a consulting basis – this was primarily within the Oil and Gas industry.
But after my last contract that ended towards the end of 2010, I decided that I was going to embrace the opportunity of having a bit of time off for myself and would concentrate on developing my company. It wasn’t until the end of January when I was offered the opportunity with Raw TV that I decided to seriously work on officially launching my company and connecting with many other entrepreneurs like me.
Furthermore, anyone will be able to read my article: “How To Make A Killing Launching Of Your Product Or Service In 6 Weeks Or Less” on Raw Business Magazine edition 16, which comes from my own experience in launching my current business.
Were you employed prior to starting this business venture?
Yes I was employed through my own limited company, working on a contract basis.
What was your biggest fear before starting your business?
My biggest fear was about being perfect when starting my business; this is probably why I went on exploring so many business options before actually deciding on what I was going to be doing. At the end of the day, I understood that being perfect many times does not mean to be right! So, I decided to stop trying to be perfect and rather find my passion field and start from there. It is then that I realised my vision of helping and connecting with many people via projects related to business and personal development.
What has your biggest challenge since starting your business?
Making the transition from a high flying six figure project management consulting career into a business start-up all by myself (“the switch”).
How did you manage to raise the finance to start your business?
Good question Bradley! Well, I thought I had it all covered from savings and during the transition period called “the switch” something interesting happened. The safety net I was counting on was almost all taken away from me when a life threatening situation with my mum on Xmas 2010 made me divert those resources towards saving her life and I am so pleased that at the end it was a mission accomplished. That experience made me go back to my drawing board once again and rethink on my priorities and even though my last contract was concluded and I was having no cash flow, I decided to stick to my guns and continue with the realisation of my business no matter what.
What has been your biggest mistake whilst creating building or running your business?
No making a better plan to guarantee that cash flow was still flowing at times of having no contract work, rather than being on a roller coaster situation.
What has been your biggest success?
My biggest business success has been incorporating my company and keeping on with my vision of developing a business that comes from my real passion.
If you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?
Bradley I do not think I would change a single thing as all I’ve been through has been essential for who I am today and who I am becoming.
Have you ever thought about giving up and what made you continue?
No, I never thought of giving up upon realising my Vision of being a full time Entrepreneur promoting quality of life to the market place. I always felt that I had so much value to offer than being on a day to day job that nobody else was interested about.
What would you say is your biggest skill?
It has been my self-motivation and spirit to keep developing myself to the best so that I am able to provide sustainable added value to my life and the lives of many.
How would you define the role of an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is the driving force of any economy, we are the pioneers and leaders of the market place and by our vision we are able to impact positively the lives of many.
Many people are afraid to reach out and ask for help, believing that it is a weakness; I believe that it is a strength. If you had to reach out right now and ask for help, what would you ask?
I would love to have the guidance and views of a master that is already at a much more advanced level than me, so that by her/his guidance and experience I am able to perceive a clearer picture of my journey ahead and by that advice I am able to also make wiser decisions that get me where I want to be faster because that person has been where I am right now.
What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses – How will you improve you entrepreneurial ability, what action will you take right now?
My strength as an entrepreneur is about keeping focus on the higher purpose and contribution from what I do. My weaknesses were about being a perfectionist and over prepare to the point of being paralysed by the too much analysis approach.
Tell us about your business and what you offer your customers
Bearing in mind all my experience in project management, I decided to invest my energy and passion in helping small and medium businesses execute profitable fast-tracked projects in the area of launching products and services to their customers, with the aim of adding additional streams of income.
What was the first vision or dream you had about your business?
I wanted my business to be in the educational field within the area of personal growth in a holistic way, related to improving the quality of our lives in all areas. I wanted it to be a community/network of like minded people too. In fact, this first vision was my inspiration for the company name: ‘WELL-TO-DO’, which my adapted definition is: ‘well-to-do, adj. indicative of being happy and healthy and prosperous and successful’.
What was the first thing you did when you had your vision?
I immediately went on brainstorming about the name; I incorporated the company in UK and bought the domain name.
Who did you talk to about your business idea and what did they say?
I shared it with my close family and they have been always supportive of it.
What did you have to give up in order to start your business?
I gave up a high flying six figure project management consulting career in Oil and Gas to pursue my real passion within my business.
What was your inner motivation?
Being the best I could ever been so that I am able to provide sustainable added value to my life and the lives of many and years ago I started my intensive self-education and training path in many areas like: property investment, wealth creation strategies, taxation technicians programme, training for trainers, sales and leadership, stock market analysis and investment, health training and body building, millionaires mindset of wealth, mastery of the little voice insight, internet marketing, plus many other courses for business owners too.
Where did you start work on your business at home or at a new office?
I did start from home.
Do you have any employees now?
Yes, a company PA/Admin assistant.
Did you have any setbacks during the startup stage?
Yes, I decided in 2007 that I was going to take a sabbatical year to dedicate myself full time on setting everything up for the start-up of my company firstly in the field of property investment but later due to the collapse of the property market and personal issues prevented myself from continuing with that plan. However, I kept my original vision alive.
There are three character types, entrepreneur, manager and technician, which one are you?
I am definitely an entrepreneur and a manager.
Do you use a business plan and stick to it religiously?
Yes, I tend to develop the details of the concept itself into a kind of strategic plan, then I keep flexible on the approach during its implementation; from my project management career, I learned to focus more on the general outcome and look quickly for solutions when challenges arrive rather than being fixated to an original plan.
Do you believe that you can become successful on your own?
I did believe that, but fortunately changed my mind along the way. I never understood why I originally envisaged myself on my own when starting up if I have worked with project teams all my life!
Whom would you like to thank today for supporting and believing in you?
First of all, I would like to thank myself for keeping myself committed to continue despite of the odds encountered and I am also very grateful of the support I have received from my lovely family.
Do you think that high levels of commercial acumen and experience are required to become successful in business?
Not high levels per se but some fundamental knowledge would be desirable.
If 90% of businesses fail within 5 years, what are you doing to improve your chances of success?
This is an excellent question Bradley, my actions are towards establishing an effective cash flow system and robust financial foundation so that we keep growing in good times and protect ourselves from any stormy times. On the other hand, keep internal training ongoing and promote creativity so that we are able to continue adding value to the market place.
If your business offers credit what will be the impact on your business if you had to write of a £10,000 invoice?
The offering of credit is no applicable to our business, but if it was I would have included the credit offers as part of our cash flow monitoring system.
Do you feel that a good accountant can add to a business’s success rate?
Yes, indeed but has to be a good accountant in terms of being a proactive accountant rather than only those that are order takers only, providing advice only when directly being asked.
Do you believe that a business must have solid finance sin place before the business starts trading?
Solid finance in place meaning having a contingency budget in place would be very desirable.
Is customer satisfaction important? How do you test and monitor your results?
This is very important. Test and monitoring comes from asking directly to them.
If your business lost money in a month that should have cleared a profit what action would you take?
The first thing will be about debriefing on the reasons why money was lost, identify the lessons learnt and come up with a plan for rapid improvement. Regular monitoring will also be essential to avoiding any surprises down the line.
How will you deliver safe profit growth for your company?
The answer has to do with making sure that we have a systemised business that focuses on cash flow together with long term profit growth, so that we can support effectively the market as we grow i.e. we deliver massively our value in a systemised way with no quality of our service or product being compromised.
Do you believe that you are always right?
No, I don’t believe so. I am always asking for feedback and input from others as this is essential for company growth.
When someone disagrees with your ideas what do you do?
I listen to what the other person is bringing to the table and what solution to it is suggested, and then I am open to brainstorming on the viability of the solution and agree on the best way moving forward.
Is marketing and brand awareness important to your business and why?
Yes and more marketing than branding at the moment. This is to the fact that at the beginning I am more into delivering a valuable offer, branding will later come as a result of continuous delivery of great products and services.
What role does I.T play within your organisation?
I.T is very important in implementation of business systems.
At what time do you decide to grow your business and why?
Once I start receiving confirmation of positive acceptance from the customer.
Have you ever considered talking in angel investment?
Not yet, but I would consider it in very special circumstances and have to analyse first the value that the angel investment will bring to the business.
What are your companies short and long term goals?
Short term: connect with many entrepreneurs as we possibly can and look for ways of effectively team up.
Long term: build up on the list of projects we carry out at any one time and continue focus on receiving confirmation from the market that they like our product and services.
For more information visit www.well-to-do.net or email jdevanna@well-to-do.net.
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Bradley Chapman - Motivational Entrepreneur
