Transformational Business Success Story!

November 2008

Welcome to our Transformational Business Success Story where I interview one of our very successful clients and models of business excellence, Andrea Tappe. Andrea started technicalwriter.com.au 8 years ago to help people to systemise their business and to educate their customers and staff on how to use their products and services. Three months ago, Andrea also started CCCK, a wool and yarn boutique specialising in premium wools and yarns and offering knitting and crochet classes. Andrea also enjoys music, theatre, knitting and crocheting.

How was business prior to your transformation?

Up until recently I had the one business, technicalwriter.com.au and it was going through a bit of a slump. The business had been going well mainly because we had one large client. When we lost the large client things fell into a heap. Prior to attending the NLP training, nothing that I was doing was working to get the business on track.

You have made significant changes to the way you do business Andrea, can you tell us about your transformation?

Completing the NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner trainings helped me to get into the space where I could take more control of my business. Prior to completing the trainings, the business partnership I was in had dissolved. It was very emotional as one of the partners was a friend. The techniques I learnt helped me to put that into perspective, accept it and to get past it so that I could focus on where I was going and use new strategies to get back on track.

To what extent has working with Qt helped you to grow your business?

The main thing that I noticed was that I was attracting the right sort of clients. After the partnership dissolved, I was left with a few bad debtors. The work I have done with Qt helped me to create boundaries and follow up debt, and do it in a way that doesn’t create ill feeling. I now have no bad debtors. I now attract people who pay on time and clients with interesting projects and who trust me in what I am doing. Over the past year, all the clients have fitted that mould.

Qt has also helped me with techniques and systems to work out what I want in an employee so that I could select a very strong team to begin with. I now have 2 very strong employees at CCCK and their learning curve has been pretty short. They have been with me for 6 weeks and I don’t need to be there 24/7 – they know how to get answers when I am not there. I now better understand how as a leader I can create a high performing team more consistently. CCCK is already exceeding my expectations very much. It had a good turnover in its first month, in the second month the turnover has more than tripled and I have already had 2 franchise enquiries!

What has been the biggest change for you? Has the change been a lasting one?

The change has been a lasting one. It is now a lot more pleasant to be in business. I thought of giving up the business because of the bad debts that I inherited – I questioned whether to pursue the business or to get a job. Now I have a second business that I also enjoy. I enjoy watching my businesses grow and evolve and genuinely enjoy getting a good result for my technical writing clients. I also get a buzz when people come into the shop with their finished garments!

What tips would you give to others in business wanting to grow their business through excellence?

If someone is really serious about growing their business and having a greater range of behaviours to help them with business, Qt has helped me get fantastic results. Identify and get clear in your mind what excellence is, including separating the outcome from what produces the outcome. Know what you want so you can get help to get it. My transformation has been amazing.

Andrea is happy to talk to you about her transformation so please contact Vesna on 0411 479 256 for her details.

Would you also like results like these? Be one of the first 5 people to email or call Vesna on 0411 479 256 and receive your FREE Business Excellence Assessment©(valued at $895)!