To celebrate Own Business Day, Victoria Prince talks about life behind the scenes of Touchpoints Marketing…
RISE & SHINE!
I’m not going to tell you I wake at 6am and go for a jog, that’s not me!
It’s usually between 8-9am, but as soon as I’m awake I’m multi-tasking to make up for it.
I usually eat a healthy porridge whilst checking emails, then start to focus on work that’s needed throughout the day.
Google Calendar is an absolute lifesaver, every task I need to do and event I need to be at are all neatly in order.
A TYPICAL WORKING DAY RUNNING MY OWN BUSINESS
This is what a typical day looks like for me right now:
- Up at 8am - breakfast, with a brief check of emails and our internal team Slack channel to see if anything urgent needs addressing.
- 9am - get ready and head to the office
- 10am - call with a client - running through their latest project launch
- 11am - networking zoom call
- 12 noon - following up from networking - finding people on LinkedIn and setting up 1-2-1 calls
- 1pm - drive to a meeting
- 1.30pm - lunch with a prospective client
- 2.30pm - drive back to the office
- 3pm - deep client work - report writing, or planning a campaign strategy
- 4pm - planning for next call
- 4.30pm - 'Level up with Vic' session with a client
- 5.30pm - notes from the call
- 6pm - drive home
- 6.30pm - walk the dogs (Barney and Daisy - here's their instagram)
- 7pm - make dinner
Snatching time between to check my emails, try to drink plenty of water.
WEARING LOTS OF HATS
My day as business owner of Touchpoints Marketing is sometimes shared with my role as a Mentor at the Business School of Nottingham Trent University, which is fun and rewarding.
Being able to support a Student as they make their way through University (and staying in touch beyond that) gives a lot back to me too!
WORKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE VS OWN BUSINESS
I’ve not always had my own businesses. When I finished University I worked for Thorntons Chocolates in their Marketing Dept and for BMI airline in their Diamond Club loyalty programme. I also moved to London and worked for AWIN in affiliate marketing. You can read more about that over on my About page.
Personally, I think spending time in other businesses gives you the chance to learn a lot from other people. Gain best practices, networking opportunities and also the things you don’t want to import into your own business.
After my time in London, in summer 2012, I opened a Coffee Shop and Deli in Surrey, winning 2 awards. It was my first step into the self-employed territory, and I’ve never looked back.
WALKING THE DOG
Being a beagle owner is a godsend, in that it means I have to step away from my desk and talk a walk around the block.
Being at a desk all day means that this works really well. It puts my projects in perspective, I get to clear my mind and go back to the desk refreshed.
GROWING THE TEAM
As the business has grown over 8 years, I have regularly used a lot of freelancers. I couldn’t do it all without their expertise.
From PR and Web Development through to Illustrators, Social Media, Product development and Email Marketing experts; these wonderful people were part of my team.
But these days we're building our team in-house, you can meet the Touchpoints team here.
CLOCKING OFF TIME
This is a tricky one, and I usually get in a bit of trouble with my fiancé. He sometimes imposes a 6.30pm curfew on my computer! Then, I get a chance to relax and unwind in the evenings. He works for the Police, so if he’s working on a 'late', it’s easier for me to continue into the evenings too 
Hope he’s not reading this!
IT'S NOT ALWAYS A BED OF ROSES
Running your own business can be really hard at times. During covid this was especially tricky.
I had to decide whether to fight for the future of the business. And I chose to make it a personal mission to use my marketing expertise to help other business owners for free.
In this video you can hear all about how I created a bounce back strategy, called Planning, Creating and Giving.'
Whenever I watch this back, I'm always surprised at the tenacity I had. When our back is against the wall, we have big decisions to make.
LOVE MY JOB
Thing is, I totally love my job, it’s addictive making customers happy - which is one of our core values.
We work with businesses who have big ambitions (like ourselves) and through ongoing contact with clients and all the marketing channels we’ve chosen to target, we help them to build their brands and businesses.
There’s never a dull moment!
LET'S CHAT
If you'd like to learn more about how we can support your business, you can book a call here.