Having a social media presence without an appropriate strategy and plan can be just as damaging for your business as no plan at all. In order to determine and resolve the problematic areas related to social media, there are few exceptional leaders who, through their strategic consulting, aid individuals and organizations in setting up an impactful social media presence.
Amongst those exceptional leaders, is Sophie Slavin, the Founder and Director of SAS Creative Ltd. Sophie, an established personality in the social media consultancy industry, possesses an expertise in providing online marketing services. She expresses that her vision is to keep growing her business and seeing what level it will reach in the forthcoming years.
Lifting the curtain
Sophie began her professional life by gaining experience and training from high ranking CEOs. She worked as an Executive P.A at Simplyhealth and later, AXA PPP for 9 years, during which companies had just started to experiment with using Social Media as a business tool.
Due to Sophie’s flair for writing and communication, she was offered a position to assist the marketing team with the management of this newfound media platform. After being made redundant a few years later, she wanted to continue her passion for communication, people engagement and the social media industry, so she set out to offer these services to those who wished to outsmart, rather than outspend their competitors.
Sophie has recognized and experienced the impact of social media across the world and in 2017, she lifted the curtains with SAS Consultancy. She chose the option of leading a business because being a single mother, she strived to balance between the school runs with her daughter and having flexibility with work.
Turning adversities into a piece of cake
It isn’t easy to become successful these days. In order to be in power in a particular segment, one has to put the equivalent efforts to be on top. Sophie faced many obstacles after commencing the business as she spent most of her working life in large corporates, so it was quite an adjustment for her.
There weren’t many to help her know about what it would be like to be your own manager, accountant, administrator, salesperson, marketer, researcher, all in one. In the early stages, she suffered from imposter syndrome. However, Sophie believes this could have stemmed from the initial lack of preparation. With courage, she grabbed the required qualities and now we can evidently say that those skills and experience are now coursing through her veins.
Redefining Excellence
SAS Consultancy has consistently grown since 2017, by rendering services to individuals and businesses, and also providing training and advisory services. The company is proactive and works diligently for its clients by regularly searching for opportunities, sharing posts to relevant groups, and finding out the competitors in the market. It acts as an ambassador for their clients as they want a positive response for all. Everyone within SAS Consultancy is passionate about their role. They thrive on seeing others succeed and boast nothing less than 5-star reviews for their work. All of these actions are the end results of Sophie’s passion and hard work.
Ascending the zeniths of success
Sophie states that her ingenuity paid off when the clients that she had approached, had started to give her recommendations to other businesses as well. From that move, she added some more well-known names and brands to her client list, and since 2017 she has gone from being a sole trader to having a Limited Company with multiple subsidiaries set within it. She is blessed with a fantastic team at SAS Creative Ltd and now, she is on a path of exceptional growth with 4 awards on her shelf so far.
Sophie has shown her versatility by taking care of her daughter, different businesses, a team, and 3 horses at the same time. However, she seems to have struck a good balance. She says that whilst running a business is a tough task, as you are required at times to work long days and put in extra hours – there is a huge bonus to being an entrepreneur – flexibility. She manages her time to have playdates with her daughter, lunch with her friends – in short, she manages her work/life balance efficiently and emphasizes the importance of this by encouraging her team to do the same.
Preparing for Future Endeavors
Being an entrepreneur requires one to invest a considerable amount of time in the business, with the intent of gaining success in terms of both, revenue and growth. To accomplish the same, she recently updated a 5-year business plan in which she will be working towards a number of exciting goals. She will be further adding some more subsidiaries, opportunities to help more people and businesses, growth of her team as well as the expansion of current offerings.
Bequeathing the keys to success
When asked about what vital attributes she thinks every leader should possess, Sophie emphasizes on Positivity. She says, “No matter how bad a day it has been, how demanding a client may be, or how it may feel like some things are taking a while to gain fruition, reminding yourself of the good things go a long way. Think about the wins, the gains, and the progression that one has already made.”
In her advice to budding entrepreneurs she asserts, “Be courageous – try out new ideas, ignore those who don’t think you can do it. If you genuinely believe in what you are doing then you need to have the guts to keep pushing forward, no one is going to do it for you! There are so many opportunities available out there. Don’t be the person who spends forever waiting for tomorrow or the ’right time’ because someone else will go out and grab those chances before you do.”