We consider Charlotte to be an invaluable support to Bushlink as we experience rapid growth of our social enterprise. Charlotte has provided individual guidance in an honest, pleasant and open manner. Our enterprise is small but has complex issues and is growing quickly. Charlotte’s skills and perspective have significantly contributed to our understanding of business development and the success of our social enterprise. I would highly recommend Charlotte and thank her for all her support.
Having opened the Talent Web Recruitment business five years ago I recently started a process of reviewing the roles and responsibilities of the senior leaders in the business and I was referred to Charlotte Rimmer at Aide de MD to assist in that process. I quickly realised that there was a lot of work in pulling apart our individual roles and repositioning our responsibilities and Charlotte was extremely effective in simplifying the process and working towards a solution. Charlotte was also great at holding us accountable to ‘homework’ and research to support what we were looking to do, this was followed up in each session with a Q&A around what had been done and Charlotte was happy to challenge anything she felt needed further clarification or more ‘homework’. The end result will be seen in the coming 12 months but for now we have a much clearer description and delineation of responsibilities, we have a better process in place for managing our time and that of our people and we have a very clear tactical and strategic plan to implement for the coming period. Charlotte’s Aide de MD program was exactly what we needed and without doubt deserves our recommendation.
I felt like I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Charlotte came with no other agenda but to help me stand back and get an overview and start planning with clarity.
In the beginning, there were 3 sole traders with complementary skills and an ethic of hard work. Their new studio, intriguing new name, edgy logo and new printer had cemented their joining. Those 3 sole traders were a ‘real business’. Or were they? Enter Aide de MD, smiling and shrewd, understanding and sharp, explaining why there was work to be done ON the business. It has seemed easy being guided through the maze of business setup, planning, people management, and internal systems. There’s been never ending tactics to manage the intricate elements of running the business, a business that we’ve wanted to mould to our own style. It’s obvious that Charlotte has a wide working knowledge of business, but what has fit us so well is her encouragement of our need to break moulds in our field. She’s guided us with true personality, innovation and human touch. Her sound advice and honest care has helped us to grow our real business well beyond our expectations, in both reputation and financial terms.
In 2010, after 20 years in business, I approached Charlotte to help us deal with some changes in our business and to gain objective advice on how to improve our staff management and develop our own skills. I wasn’t sure of the outcome as I was confident that we had systems in place. However, once the conversation started we realised where we could change to get better results. We worked on improving our internal systems; getting more out of our staff by listening and observing their skills and noticing the quiet achievers who were able to take more responsibility. This enabled us to delegate and gain more from our staff meetings and planning. I personally highly recommend Charlotte as a business consultant to help grow and develop a successful business and would love to have her permanently on my team. I realised that I was too comfortable and also how important it is to change with new staff, to continue to gain respect, and to improve communication with staff and partners. When you’re comfortable in your business is when you need a business consultant because you stop trying so hard. I’ve learnt a lot and gained better life balance so thank you Charlotte for reminding me what I wanted in the first place and showing me how to achieve it.
Charlotte came into my life via a close friend and mentor and I am so glad I took up her recommendation. As CEO of a small NFP with limited resources it is imperative that I keep my focus and Charlotte assists me in doing just that. Through her experience and expertise she steers me through my challenges, making sure I keep my focus both day to day and longer term. Charlotte challenges my thinking, makes me consider options I may not have otherwise, and reinforces my goals. She is a wonderful resource in my business for bouncing off ideas, no matter how obtuse. Thank you Charlotte, for being in my life.
Charlotte helped me to bring discipline and structure in my planning to enable me to better achieve my goals at Mission Australia and more importantly ensure that my work has high impact. She helped me build on what I had already achieved and to claim my authority. I particularly appreciated her willingness to journey with me to incorporate family, personal and other goals which has enhanced my effectiveness as a director of the not-for-profit boards on which I serve.
Lunge Yoga studio had been opened for about a year or so when I engaged Charlotte and at the time I thought things were running smoothly, but I knew there was space for improvement but not sure how to go about it or what needed improving. I always thought there was something I might not already know, that could make the business work better, earn more, etc, but beyond that also find more life balance as well – being in the Yoga and Natural Therapies business. In a relatively short time of working with Charlotte I saw a positive difference in how the business was run and also with my interactions with clients and staff. Running the business side of things felt a lot smoother and less challenging and best of all I found more time to bring back balance as a whole into my own life. This was very important to me to achieve both balances in business and personal affairs as this is the message I give to the clients at Lunge Studio; and so wanted this reflected in my own life. With Charlotte’s assistance the running of Lunge Studio business became a lot simpler and I feel that life-balance was restored as a result. Lunge Studio is about restoring a natural balance back into people lives. Once the business running became more efficient with Charlotte’s guidance I was able to restore life-balance as well.
When Charlotte first told me about her new business venture I was delighted that someone was finally offering this much needed and rare service in Australia. I have now worked on and off with Charlotte for two years plus and at all times found her able to grasp concepts quickly, offer intelligent solutions and above all, listen.