Kelly Walsh, Pink Spaghetti Weybridge & Woking recounts her first year with Pink Spaghetti!

One year ago, I entered into the world of small businesses.  It was a giant leap.

After leaving my profession in marketing 20+ years ago to raise my 5 children I was engaged with running PTA’s over 15 years, organising/teaching Sunday School at our church for 17 years and managing fundraising events for schools and our family’s charity, Educate Ethiopia. These all equipped me with the experience and skills to run my own business.

When I decided it was time to take the plunge and take on a new challenge, I had no idea what one year of Pink Spaghetti would bring.

If you know me, when I start a project, I am all in – I was up for everything a Pink Spaghetti Franchise had to offer.  The year started with a week of training in everything from running your own business, social media, newsletters to networking. The training was one of those ‘ah ha’ moments – you don’t know what you don’t know.  But after spending a week with the amazing Pink Spaghetti Franchise Team I was ready….

I took onboard everything I was taught. I set up my home office, attended daily early morning networking groups (eating more full English breakfasts than I can count), set up Trello boards, made LinkedIn connections and began growing my business network.  At this point I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen next.

I knew networking was key. I set up one-to-one’s .

I listened.

I listened to other small business owners talk about their business, their challenges, their frustrations.

But I still had doubts about what I could offer to other small business owners.  I was still trying to figure out the value in my skills and how I could help.

This is what is wonderful about the world of small business owners.  We are one another’s support network.  It was not long before I knew what to do next.

Continue the conversations, continue listening, and offer solutions.

Pink Spaghetti solutions.

My Pink Spaghetti solutions are offering small business owners help with the tasks they don’t have time to do themselves, tasks they don’t like doing and tasks they know that take away from focusing on their business.

I offer an ‘all-you-can-eat’ Pink Spaghetti solution from business organisation to marketing implementation.

This past year I have met many wonderful people and business owners as well as finding out so much more about myself. I was surprised to win two awards during my first year of business – ‘Franchisee of the Month’ in December and ‘New Franchisee of the Year’ in March.

I have learned to focus on what I do well and to surround myself with a team that complements each other.  In just one short year, Pink Spaghetti Weybridge and Woking is a team of four.

A huge THANK YOU to Daniela, Liz and Katie – for being part of the Pink Spaghetti team.

Thank you to my clients, my family, my friends, my networking buddies and the Pink Spaghetti Franchise team who have all supported me this last year.  I have loved the challenges and thrills of running my own business and look forward to what the second year will bring.

Kelly