To Make a Thriving Living Working from Home.
Rebecca Newenham is an award-winning CEO and Founder of Get Ahead, an outsourcing agency for small businesses and entrepreneurial brands.
Growing up, Rebecca watched her mum run a successful business, and Rebecca’s dream was to open one, too.
After leaving her corporate job after having children, Rebecca was presented with the perfect opportunity to launch her own business and Get Ahead was born.
Today, she’ll share how she got started, why she chose to go into franchising and what it was like writing her first book. Enjoy!
Like this episode? Then watch a replay of our LinkedIn Live with Rebecca, where she gives even more information about what it takes to launch your own thriving franchise.
Key Highlights
[00:01:53] Introduction to today’s guest: Rebecca Newenham
[00:02:31] What is Get Ahead?
[00:02:59] Rebecca’s background
[00:06:17] Launching of Get Ahead
[00:08:28] Scariest thing about launching a business
[00:09:58] Funding the Get Ahead business
[00:10:32] Scaling up the business
[00:11:57] Why Rebecca decided to grow Get Ahead as a franchise instead of taking on employees
[00:12:39] Rebecca’s interest in buying franchises
[00:15:34] Rebecca’s book: Virtually Yours
[00:17:04] Cost of self-publishing
[00:20:05] Rebecca’s early age before launching the business
[00:21:27] How important it was for Rebecca to see her kids being independent
[00:23:51] Why are businesses so reluctant to offer flexible working?
[00:25:03] Difference between mentoring and coaching
[00:27:03] How Rebecca juggles between business and family
[00:27:55] Rebecca’s LinkedIn Local
Notable Quotes
● If you’ve got that bit of time for yourself, indulge yourself, explore some of those avenues, and make that time productive because women don’t often have that; they get submerged in the baby bit.
● The regional bit of Get Ahead was the scaling and the interest for me where I was suddenly supporting other people, empowering them to have that work-life balance I’ve always cherished since I set the business up.
● It’s not until you’re energised and doing the right thing does confidence come; that’s what I’ve realised.
● People think the greedy franchise gets the cash in, and they don’t support the team, and they’re left to their own devices, but for me, it was all about recognizing the importance of my contact with my team to grow and scale in the way that I needed it.
● I didn’t want that added complication of having employees, and I wanted to empower people. The way to empower seemed to give them opportunities to run a business independently, but with my mentoring and support, it was easier to scale my business because I wasn’t so involved.
● I always tell anyone I meet to ask the right questions if they are thinking of buying a business, and they’ll be drawn to the right opportunity for them because it’s all around the people and the processes.
● What I like about mentoring when it’s not people within my own business is I don’t feel the responsibility, and I don’t think I take things personally.
● I have that empathy for people when you walk into a room and don’t know anyone, so I’ve seen my role very much as a host of bringing people together. I get lovely feedback that people have had conversations they never had before, they meet new people, and then that leads to other things
Show Links
Investing in Women Flexible Working Recruitment Website: Investing in Women
To connect with Elizabeth:
Facebook: Facebook
LinkedIn: LinkedIn
To connect with Rebecca:
LinkedIn: LinkedIn
Twitter: Twitter
Virtually Yours Book: Virtually Yours
Websites: