How we helped a local tattoo studio

How Swan Saunders is helping local tattoo studio thrive through business support and mentoring

With a growing business, Amy Grant, owner of Deerheart Collective tattoo studio was looking for additional business support to help take her ambitious artistic venture to the next level.

Happy with her existing bookkeeper, Amy was introduced to Swan Saunders to help her upgrade her systems to propel her business forward. Thanks to monthly mentoring meetings and an annual business planning session with the Swan Saunders team, Amy is building plans for an exciting future.

Deerheart Collective: In demand and growing

Based in the centre of Lowestoft, Deerheart Collective is a local tattoo studio. Run by Amy Grant, a locally trained and very experienced tattoo artist, the business consists of four local tattoo artists working from an open-plan studio, together with a separate room for a local barber who caters for all ages.

As a highly talented team of in-demand artists, the waiting list for customers was close to a year. As a result, decided to recently relocate the business to bigger premises on London Road South just near the town’s famous Bascule Bridge.

Taking the business to the next level

Amy was using the services of a local bookkeeper together with using a local accountancy firm once a year to finalise her accounts. Although she was happy with her current bookkeeper, she felt she needed additional business support to help take the business into the future.

Bringing Swan Saunders on board

Amy was introduced to us by a mutual friend, and when we first met it was clear she needed help with many aspects of the business, including system and process improvements, marketing and the overall structure of the business. Over a coffee, we sat and listened to her concerns and came up with some simple solutions that would improve how the studio operated.

Process Improvements mean less time on paperwork

Amy’s first step was upgrading her accounting and record-keeping system to make her processes run smoothly. We, therefore, decided to switch from traditional desktop software to an online cloud system.

With our help, we migrated the current business data to the new system, and now Amy can track her business finances on the go and update her business expenses using mobile phone apps. As a result, Amy now spends less time on paperwork and more time on other important aspects of running her business.

Mentoring and business support to elevate Dearheart Collective

With very little business experience, Amy turned to us for ongoing mentoring and business advisory support to help her make better business decisions going forward and elevate her business.

Each month Amy has a list of topics she’d like to discuss at our monthly hour-long mentoring sessions. Together we bounce ideas around, and we help her find answers to various challenges she’s facing. We listen, ask questions and find solutions. By the end of each session, we’ll set deadlines for Amy to complete any relevant tasks.

In addition to our monthly sessions, we have also run an annual business planning session with Amy. Focusing on what she wants to achieve in the next financial year with the current business and any new ventures, we provide advice on how Amy can achieve her goals for the year. From this session, Amy has also set herself 90-day action plan tasks for us to review in our quarterly accountability meetings.

The Future for Deerheart Collective

As a result of process improvements and business support, we’ve witnessed first-hand the improvement Amy is making. Not only is her business continuing to grow, but her confidence as a businesswoman is developing beyond her expectations.

With business growth in mind and more confidence in her decision-making, Amy has also set up an additional company called Deerheart Print company which provides fabric design and bespoke hand-drawn images. We are working together on launching some exciting new projects in the near future, so watch this space.

If you’re looking for your own permanent piece of body art, get in touch with Deerheart Collective at deerheartcollective.com or call Amy on  01502 218430.

Are you looking for support to build your growing business?

Or, if, like Amy, you’re looking for mentoring and business support to take your business to the next level, get in touch today. 01603 917870