Anna James has a natural sense on how things should be set up. She is a natural leader with her experience working in executive management.
Her business, Sohovian, helps small businesses expand by offering office space, meeting rooms, and other forms of support.
“We provide our clients with office space so they have access to a receptionist and utilities. This makes it easy for people to bring in their laptops and just work. Working from home can make it difficult to concentrate, so we cover that gap. We offer meeting rooms as well, and this gives our clients more privacy – it’s much more professional than meeting in a coffee shop.”
Anna’s ideal clients are established small businesses, either entrepreneurs or small teams, who are looking to move from a home office to having real office space.
Anna’s favourite parts about running a business:
“I love having the opportunity to help other businesses grow. We make peoples’ lives easier. We give them the opportunity to grow by putting systems and processes in place. Taking them out of the day-to-day admin type of work helps them grow their business.”
Anna’s ideal business has fully automated systems around it so she has the ability to step out at any time and know the business will still be running efficiently.
What Anna Wishes She Knew When She Started
- If you think you know it all – you don’t. There’s always more to learn.
- Stay prepared to spend money – make sure you have it, because you will need it.
- Don’t take things personally – it’s not all about you!
Anna’s Advice for Other Business Owners
- Don’t complain about your staff – you employed them, so that’s a reflection of you
- Always consider how you’re going to service a client – your automation systems can be fantastic, but you have to be prepared to service all of the clients you may get
- Don’t try to do everything yourself – outsourcing can be very helpful
A problem that has been solved for Anna through being a HerBusiness Premium Member: “I joined originally for the mentoring with PJ and I am forever grateful for that experience. I stay now for the networking and of course the learning. It is imperative that I keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone. The costs for me are not insignificant, and that is the impetus for me to keep in touch, as much as I can, with everything that HerBusiness offers. The problem it solves is the isolation that comes with running your own business. I have this support network of people who ‘get it’.”
Anna’s favourite entrepreneur is Richard Branson, she believes he is fearless.
“He isn’t afraid to take a calculated risk or support someone else to disrupt an industry that is a little too comfortable with itself. And he doesn’t take himself too seriously either.”
Check out Anna’s website here.
This post was authored by Allison Mullin. Allison is completing a journalism internship at HerBusiness. She studies editing, writing, and media at Florida State University in the United States.
