Janine Friston launched the Female Business Network (FBN), based in South Manchester, in 2021.
The FBN provides online and in-person networking events to help women in business from across the UK to meet others, grow their audience, create goals and achieve their business plans.
She launched her first business, Promoting Trafford, in 2018 and is a mentor to start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Janine shared a recent week in her life before launching the first Female Business Festival in Trafford.
Monday
Mondays are generally a work from home and admin day. At 8.30am, I take a cup of coffee to my home office and start checking my emails, actioning anything that needs doing urgently. I have two client mentor calls later in the morning, helping them to create their start-up business plans and set goals. I work with a wide variety of clients and different types of businesses, so I must think on my feet and understand their needs and dreams.
My experience of being a business owner is essential grounding when it comes to helping others navigate their own journey into self-employment. I have some more emails to catch up on, business plans to read and feed back on, and research to get prepared for my meetings on Tuesday. I finish this at lunchtime and take my dog Arlo for a nice walk around 1pm. While it’s still OK weather-wise, I take advantage of getting some fresh air and downtime.
After lunch, I plan the rest of my week, identifying my priorities, as well as the longer-term projects that need to be worked on. I try and spend around 30 minutes a day on Instagram and then check Twitter, LinkedIn and my Facebook groups, responding to comments and messages. I have a face-to-face meeting in the afternoon, building relationships with a new contact and discussing a potential collaboration. 2023 is already shaping up to be exciting!
Tuesday
I travel into Manchester by tram to meet with start-up clients. I have three mentoring sessions scheduled today, plus a few calls, emails and prep in-between. After working home alone yesterday, the in-person interaction and involvement of others feels great! I finish the meetings mid-afternoon and then head home to pick Arlo up from doggie daycare. I always get an excited welcome from him!
Admin, emails and writing up the notes and actions from the morning’s one-to-ones come next. I also have a client almost ready to officially start their business, so some last-minute checks to their business plan, cash flow forecast and marketing ideas take place. Next, I’ll help them to register with HMRC and get them business-ready. Exciting times ahead for this client… I love this part of my mentoring!
My day doesn’t finish with dinner as, in the evening, I spend a couple of hours working on the Female Business Festival and Awards I’m part of in October. Tonight, I’m script writing and working on the intro for the daytime attendee workbooks. The festival is bringing together 80 female entrepreneurs to learn new skills, network and help grow their businesses. It’s going to be amazing, and the biggest event I’ve created to date. Luckily, I’m working with my ‘business besties’, Suzi Brown from The Smart Bear Digital and Hazel Woodward from Lift Social, as a collaboration project. I finally ‘clock off’ at 9pm and then it’s time for a bit of TV to unwind.
