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// A huge thank you to Elevation Digital Boutique for being one of our Annual Partners in 2021! Chris – for those who haven’t come across you yet, can you please introduce us to your business & who you love to worth with?

Thank you so much for having me!  It has been a pleasure being a part of this group and getting to know so many amazing SA Women!

Through setting up and running my own businesses, I have discovered what I love to do which is helping small business owners not only navigate their way around the digital world, but also showcase what they have to offer.

My new business is Elevation Digital Boutique and we are in the business of raising your revenue.  I believe it’s not just about building your business a website, creating a logo, then set and forget.  I will spend time with you to learn your business and then offer the best solutions to help you ‘Elevate’ your business.

 

// And, why have one business when you can have two!! Tell us about how you came to also be a café owner…and what’s your favourite thing on the menu?

Hmmm … yes why not!!  No rest for the wicked…  In the past I have ran small businesses related to the events industry and once part-owned a restaurant/function centre, so I kinda had an interest in running my own.  So, the opportunity came about when I was made redundant from my 20 year IT career with a global wine company and I jumped in….great timing!  Taking over in January 2020 has certainly been an interesting journey!

But … we have THE BEST coffee in Colonnades, and I must say our Bruschetta would have to be my fave dish!

 

// Websites & Apps are such a key to doing business in 2021 – what do you love most about helping your customers bring theirs to life? And, do you have any top tips for someone wanting to bolster their digital presence?

I think delighting people is the experience I strive for.  Delivering not only their ideas but also enhancing them with the many digital tools available to help streamline and grow their business, is such a rewarding feeling.  I love it!

Whether you’re a service-based, brick-and-mortar, or online business, a strong online presence is everything today.  Websites help generate business, sales, leads and also increase your brand value so they must stand out and be a good experience for visitors.  People have the internet in their hands for most times of the day and it’s the first thing they use when they want to find out something!

My biggest tip for bolstering your presence is to be seen as a legitimate business with a sleek online presence, using tools that Google loves –  lets face it, it’s only Google who matters.  A strong online presence makes it easy for ideal customers who don’t yet know you exist to discover you, both when they are and are not searching for what you have to offer.  Stay away from services such as Wix, Weebly and Squarespace as these services are very heavy with “website code” in their back-ends, which developers can’t access and Google can’t crawl through.  They can look pretty, and can be easy to use, but honestly they will cost you lost sales in the end.

I hope that’s not too geeky to understand.

 

// You’ve been in business for over 15 years now, which is a huge achievement in itself! What are some secrets you’d love to share for those in the early stages of business?

I started with very small side-gig businesses whilst being employed full time, and its taken all of those years to transition into full time business.  What I wish I knew before I jumped in full time was that being successful starts with me, not my customer.  My mindset and self-care are number one, as without me functioning at my best, there is no business, and no motivated and happy staff either.

Also I think understanding your numbers.  I ‘winged it’ for many years and only recently have learned how to deep dive into my numbers.  Learn to love dashboards, seriously!  This has shown me that with just little tweaks here and there, you can improve your business – and sometimes it’s actually easier than you think.

Another huge ‘ah-ha’ moment was understanding what my business values were.  I worked with a coach who helped me break down what’s important to me and which helped me come up with a list of values for my business.  This was mind-blowing and lead me to discover where my true passion was…being digitally creative.

 

// We love having you within our SA Woman membership – as a generous supporter and someone who’s helped many an SAWer along the way! What do you love about being part of the SA Woman community?

It is such a supportive community which is so refreshing and being in a group of like-minded people gives me the reassurance I’m not on my own.  It’s so good to know that I can reach out anytime even with the most dumb question, and there will be someone to help me out with no judgement!

I look forward to venturing out to some live events soon.