Skillssanctuary – Leading the way in soft skills training

Today we are in conversation with Jannette Brimm of Skillssanctuary.com. Skillssanctuary is in three words: Business Skills Specialists. As a boutique London based training business it provides business skills exclusively to lawyers within the UK and abroad and offer a seamless “one-stop business skills shop” for lawyers.

Thank you Jannette for agreeing to do this interview about yourself and your business. We are sure our readers will be inspired to take a plunge into the giddy world of enterprise after reading.

EOL:  Start off by telling us a little about yourself, education, working life and how you finally got into business?

I am a fabulous 50 something single business women with a basic secondary education.  The reason why I founded my business was the wake-up call of the 2008 credit crunch, the lack of job security, the seemingly unaffordability of buying a house in London and most importantly the financial ceiling being imposed on me by my then employer.

EOL: Tell us a bit about the products and services you provide?

I, (www.skillssanctuary.com) deliver business soft skills training to lawyers within the UK and abroad to help them meet their SRA regulatory criteria and law firm’s CPD needs.

EOL: Why did you start the business, what motivated you?

I started the business to future proof my family’s finances and to create job security for myself.  Having spent 27 years of my working life in the legal industry and seeing a training gap in solicitors business skills, I made the decision that by helping solicitors with my training business, then the business would help me secure my future; that motivates me 24/7, 365 days a year.

EOL: Did you face any challenges in getting the capital to start?

With a bad credit history from past business failures, nobody would give me further credit. this turned out to be a blessing as I had to think more creatively and strategically about starting this business.  Even though hard, I had to remain employed and used my salary to fund all costs for the business start-up, plus still pay my mortgage and bills – albeit challenging this actually taught me so much more.

Did you have any business background before starting up?

I do not come from a business background hence previous business failures so I had to self-learn how to run a business and simply bought thousands of books from bookstores Waterstones, Foyles and Amazon.  I bought books after books after books on how to run a business, marketing, money management, organisational strategy  – this MBA of my life took 7 years and a day.

What were the major challenges that you faced in the process of starting up your business and how did you overcome them?

The major challenges I faced was not understanding a business – you work for a business, you speak to business owners but there are so many factors to a business and you have to try understand all things business related because you just don’t know which one could benefit your business.

EOL: Which characteristics do you possess that you consider to have contributed to your business success?

The characteristics that I had to develop (not necessarily possess) is to be focused and committed to one cause (that cause is my business).  There are millions of distractions, hundreds people vying for your time and attention – and if you don’t say no and say completely focused to your business then you waste time and energy on people and projects that can’t help you.

EOL: What have been your major achievements to date?

Just recently the Law Society of England and Wales approached me and asked me to write an article for their family lawyers, this was published 24 March 2017!  Also another achievement is that my business is credit and debt free.

EOL: What are the current challenges in your sector and how are you facing them?

The current challenges are technology – for example e-learning (which means I have to create an e-learning platform soon), downsizing of lawyers due eCommerce meaning planning globally not just locally for a bigger target market  – sadly training is not an implusive purchase (like a pair of Prada pumps!) so my return on my financial investment takes much longer.

EOL: What advice would you give to a start up thinking of entering your sector?

Learn what a business is and what it is not.  Make a plan for the short term and for the long term, you will retire at some point and need passive income when you cannot run the business any longer.

EOL: What are your future plans for growth and further success?

Given my age I have had to think very carefully (and sensibly) about growth. Growth at this stage of my life is creating a global reach so all lawyers and law firms have my phone number on speed dial. And my success is not a business success but a personal success to just simply afford to buy a house in Dulwich Village mortgage free for my family (because London is not expensive when you have a financially successful business!)

For all your solicitors soft skills training contact Jannette at:
Skillssanctuary Ltd
Five Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1LG
Phone: 0207 406 7508  Email: jannette@skillssanctuary.com Web: www.skillssanctuary.com