Niche in the spotlight - Supporting business owners on stress management

We love to celebrate the success of our coaches many of whom are doing great work within fascinating niches. Today we are looking at Supporting business owners on stress management  with Liz Makin.

1. What is your niche?

I have a particular specialism in supporting business owners, directors, managers and professionals on a one to one basis who are finding it difficult to cope with high levels of stress at work or in their business through my business Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management.

2. What made you decide on your niche?

I started my business in 2002 (after a 20 year management career at Price Waterhouse and Thomas Cook) to offer business coaching and business mentoring to business owners, directors, managers and professionals from small and medium sized companies to international organisations. I found that stress was often something that came up in the coaching and mentoring conversations and in reality helping people with stress is often interlinked with supporting them with their business or role. I also noticed that senior people find it very difficult to say that they are stressed as it can be seen as a sign of weakness and that they were unlikely to access the other services that are available for stress such as employee assistance programs, counselling or visiting the doctor. I therefore decided to offer a unique practical business based service to support business owners, directors, managers and professionals on a one to one basis who are finding it difficult to cope with high levels of stress at work or in their business.

3. Why are you passionate about your niche?

We all have stress and anxiety in our lives and being able to handle this better can help you to maximise the potential of your business and yourself. It can be very stressful running a business or working in a senior role, there are not many services available to help you and when you are stressed it is not a good place to be. By providing support to people, I can make a real and positive difference. I can also use my business knowledge and experience (gained through my business career and running my own businesses) together with my business coaching, business mentoring and stress management training and experience to provide this support.

4. What sorts of challenges do you help people solve?

I support people who are struggling to cope with high levels of stress at work or in their business to talk through what they are experiencing, to understand the causes of their stress and to take action to move forward and feel better quickly. Stress is the state that you experience when you perceive that you cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on you. You feel under pressure and don't have the physical and mental reserves to cope. This may be because you don't know how to cope, don't have the resources to cope or are in poor health. There are many causes of stress which I support clients with, ranging from a series of minor irritations to major upheavals. I support my clients on all areas of running a business, including both business and personal performance. We all have a lot going on in our minds which influences how well we work. I support my clients with how they manage their minds, as well as how they run their businesses.

5. What benefits do you see your clients get from coaching?

I have supported many business people who are feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work or who are going through a stressful and challenging period to feel better, take action and move forward quickly. This has resulted in real business and personal benefits as it enables the individuals to move forward quickly to focusing 100% on delivering business results, as well as to feel better personally too.

6. Where do you find your clients?

The majority of my clients come through word of mouth, referrals from clients, contacts and networking but I also get a lot of business from internet marketing including my website which promotes my stress niche. My clients come from all over the UK and I find that clients struggling with stress often prefer to work with me over the phone rather than face to face.

7. How do you market yourself?

Through word of mouth, referrals, my website, web directories, social media (including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google +), email marketing, writing business and stress management tips articles, my e-book, networking, attending business seminars and talks and telling everyone I meet what I do!!!

8. What other services do you offer?

I also offer one to one business mentoring and business coaching to business owners, directors, managers and professionals. I have also written an eBook - 50 Stress Management Tips for business owners, directors, managers and professionals.

9. What other questions would you like me to ask you?

What should I do if I am feeling stressed at work or in my business? - The first step is to tell someone how you are feeling which will usually have a positive impact on how you feel straight away. You then need to identify the causes of your stress and take action to address the causes. Sometimes the cause of your stress is self evident, but often it is not so obvious and will take some exploration. Once you start taking action on the causes you will hopefully start to feel better quickly.

It’s clear to see the positive impact that Liz makes working with such passion in this niche area. What are you passionate about? Could this be your coaching niche? Join the discussion on our Facebook page to let us know.