Show notes
Host Jon Clayton welcomes Kathy Ennis of Little Piggy Ltd to Architecture Business Club to discuss why many solopreneurs and micro business owners struggle and what drives success. Kathy explains that talented people often rely on passion and “window dressing” marketing without learning core business skills, especially planning and cashflow forecasting. She outlines her five “Ps”: people (start with psychographics and choose who you want to buy from you), product (for services, productise offers into clear packages and entry levels), price (set targets based on business costs, salary, tax and profit, then align pricing with customer and offer), promotion (balance brand and sales marketing; go beyond social media with networking, lead magnets and email), and productivity (allocate time to run the business, build systems, and outsource).—Today’s GuestKathy Ennis is the founder of LittlePiggy and an award-winning Business Mentor who specialises in working with Solopreneurs, Freelancers and Side-Hustlers to build businesses that actually work and bring them the success they deserve.After 20 years in the corporate world, Kathy launched her own business in 2000 at 40, knowing nothing about business. It didn't all go to plan – redundancy, a financial crisis, and even pension fraud tested her resolve – but she learned, adapted and built something sustainable. Those hard-won lessons became the foundation of everything she now teaches.With over 26 years of running her own businesses, Kathy knows that talent and passion aren't enough. You need the business fundamentals. That's why she developed her 5Ps framework – People, Products, Price, Promotion and Productivity. It's a practical, proven approach that takes clients from assumptions and guesswork to clear strategy and consistent profit.Kathy works one-to-one with business owners and delivers training through organisations including Enterprise Nation and Visionnaires, where she tutors and coaches on start-up and business growth programmes. She previously tutored on the York St John University MBA programme and runs the Women Talk Business programme for the Business and IP Centre Norfolk. She's also a regular public speaker and workshop facilitator.What sets Kathy apart is her straight-talking, no-fluff approach. She doesn't coach people on their feelings about business, she teaches them what they don't know. Because running a business is a skillset, and it's one you can learn.—Episode Highlights00:00 Introduction00:49 Meet Kathy Ennis02:15 Why Solopreneurs Start03:49 Passion vs Profit Gap04:22 Planning Builds Profit05:21 Architecture Iceberg Analogy07:15 Unsexy Business Basics08:54 Five Ps Framework10:30 Know Your People11:01 Psychographics Over Demographics12:28 Choose Who Buys13:47 Productising Services19:40 Packages To Upsell & Downsell25:35 The Golden Triangle Of Pricing26:28 Turnover Not Salary27:42 Tiered Offers Math28:45 Supermarket Pricing Analogy29:36 Spreadsheet Stress Test30:17 Packages Versus Capacity31:16 Avoid Salary Replacement Trap33:26 Unemotional Numbers Mindset34:47 Reevaluate Offer And Audience35:21 Brand Versus Marketing36:10 Beyond Social Media37:52 Lead Magnets And Email39:49 Productivity For Solopreneurs41:33 Outsource To Build A Team44:14 Final Takeaways And Wrap —Key TakeawaysRunning a business is a skill you can learnJust because you are great at what you do does not mean you automatically know how to run a business. Kathy points out that most solopreneurs are brilliant at their craft but do not understand the basics of business. The good news is that business skills can be learned. Once you start learning things like pricing, planning, and knowing your customers, you put yourself on much firmer ground.Know your numbers before you set your pricesDo not just think about what you want to take home as a salary. You need to work out how much it costs to run your business, pay yourself, cover tax, and have a little left over to reinvest. Once you know that total number, you can work backwards to figure out your prices and how many clients you need. Using a simple spreadsheet to do this takes the emotion out of it and helps you make clear, sensible decisions.Plan your marketing and do not rely on social media aloneMany small business owners rely too heavily on posting on Instagram or LinkedIn and hope that their work will speak for itself. Kathy says you need a proper marketing strategy that includes email, face-to-face networking, and things that bring people to you, like a free resource or a short introductory chat. The more people know you and what you do, the more likely they are to refer others to you.—Subscribe on YouTube (for upcoming video episodes!) 📺Send a Voicemail to the show (we listen to every message!) 📢Connect with Kathy Ennis on LinkedIn 🤝Visit Kathy’s website 🖥️Curious about podcasting? Click here to book a chat with Jon 🎧Follow or Connect with Jon on LinkedIn 🤝—👇 And if you enjoyed this episode…Please leave a 5-star review or rating wherever you listen to podcasts, and don’t forget to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an episode.