Sarah Ladyman knew that her corporate job just wasn’t right for her. She had dreamed of running her own business ever since reading The E-Myth Revisited shortly after high school. She was unhappy in the corporate world, and she knew that she wanted to work with her true passion, food. “In the kitchen, I found a real love for food and a new appetite to please others through their stomachs!” says Sarah. “After sharing a few batches of home-made relish (made from a tweaked family recipe from New Zealand), I found that other people had an appetite for tasty, fresh, natural food, too.” Sarah wanted to devote her time and energy to her passion. She knew that other people enjoyed her relish, but she lacked the business contacts and confidence necessary to build on her new business. Then she discovered MentorNet, a mentor program for businesswomen which gave her the information, contacts, and impetus she needed to develop a successful business from her own kitchen. “Initially, my confidence in my product and my abilities was a huge challenge,” Sarah remembers. “Why would someone really want, let alone pay for, a little product I make in my own kitchen? Being from New Zealand, I also found that I really lacked business support and contacts here in Australia, so starting a business outside of my home country and away from my family’s contacts was difficult. I also struggled with the financial forecasting, budgeting, and planning requirements for a start-up.”
“It’s like having a personal trainer for your business.”
Now Sarah’s company relish this delivers healthy, tasty, saucy preserve products to addicted customers across Australia and New Zealand as well as the U.S. and U.K. Sarah’s passion for healthy food has developed into a thriving company with a registered brand and trademark, an ecommerce site, and a devoted following. Using local, fresh Australian products, Sarah makes natural, gluten-free, home-made quality relishes with innovative flavors such as “Beetroot Apple n Orange” and “Balsamic Red Onion ‘n’ Lime.” “The MentorNet program, my mentor, and my pod members all helped me overcome my initial challenges,” says Sarah. “I found the interactive environment to be open and nurturing, which grew my business confidence as well as my business network. The business planning and financial chapters within the course covered the main areas with which I struggled by giving real examples of cash flow forecasting, templates, and business case studies.”
“To have a mentor to hold you accountable for tasks you’ve promised to complete is highly motivational.”
“Especially for particular tasks you keep putting off. You can’t put off your mentor! It’s like having a personal trainer for your business,” Sarah continues. “Peers in your pod group also help motivate you. Like you, they are trying to learn as much as possible and improve their business. The more we put into it, the more each of us got out of it. Overall, the program provides a motivating platform for anyone in business as it promotes success, builds knowledge, and nurtures networking.” MentorNet provided Sarah with the tools she needed to set realistic goals and the newfound confidence she needed to actually achieve those goals. The program transformed Sarah’s start-up idea into a profitable business. Sarah says that the perspective provided by MentorNet “made my goals bigger, more aggressive, and in line with my business plan.” “I’m a bit of a control freak,” laughs Sarah. “So it’s no surprise that I enjoy making the decisions and being the boss of my business! I like the accountability and freedom I get from managing my own creation and ultimately the flexibility to basically do what I want. It’s very empowering.” Sarah also enjoys empowering other businesswomen. “I enjoy telling my story to others to hopefully give them the inspiration to do something for themselves too. Relish this. Relish me!” If you’re ready to get out of the rat race and ready to relish yourself and your freedom, book your free MentorNet small business consultation today.
