Your Management Consulting Specialist
We hope you choose AW Business Solutions as your management consulting specialist. We work with organisations at all stages of growth and across all sectors, to help increase efficiencies and improve operational performance.
Meet Anne Williams
Management Consulting Specialist
and Non Exec
The desire to drive change and to support aspiring businesses is what drove Anne to set up AW Business Solutions in 2020. Anne is a widely recognised and highly regarded business advisor and non exec, who draws on over 20 years of experience as an international business leader and strategist. Having implemented and successfully completed multiple growth and efficiency projects for numerous clients, Anne wanted to develop this offering and to help more businesses to manage change effectively.
Delivering operational excellence and navigating significant change programmes can feel overwhelming for many business owners. However, with Anne’s very hands-on approach and her innate ability to find solutions to even the most complex of business challenges, this process becomes manageable and streamlined.
Has your organisation experienced rapid growth? Are you seeking to expand into a new market place? Are you looking to improve efficiencies and in turn, overall performance? Then Anne is the management consulting specialist you need to help transform or develop your business for long-term success.
Her inclusive approach and her skills in practical implementation enable her clients to achieve very tangible and measurable results, while always ensuring the engagement and support of the wider team.
Using NLP Techniques For Business Success
Drawing on her training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Anne is able to help her clients to enhance communication, leadership skills, and overall performance. Using NLP techniques, Anne can effectively empower teams to overcome challenges and to adopt more effective strategies. Delivered successfully, this can help to improve team dynamics, boost motivation, and foster a positive culture based on both clarity and confidence.
If implemented correctly, NLP techniques can enhance elements across your business. From analysing customer reviews and competitor data to optimising your communications and automating basic, routine tasks, NLP techniques can help you to increase efficiencies and reduce waste. Working with you and your team, Anne can help you to harness the value of NLP, with a bespoke action plan, tailored to your business needs.
Board Advisory Services & Non Exec Roles
Anne is an experienced non exec, providing strategic oversight and direction to business across the globe. From delivering independent advice and ensuring compliance, to playing a key role in a business’s long-term planning, Anne’s skill set, and her proactive nature make her an invaluable member of any board.
If you are seeking to fill an existing, non exec role, Anne would be happy to meet with you and to discuss your individual requirements. Having worked across multiple sectors and numerous countries, Anne brings with her a very broad and diverse perspective. Her strategic insight, combined with her very practical approach makes her a valuable asset to any organisations undergoing significant change or growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I ensure that I’m working ON my business, not just IN it?
As a business owner, it can be difficult to juggle the day-to-day operations, alongside developing your business strategy and defining future goals. There is typically an element of ‘I will do it tomorrow’ and all too often, this pattern just continues to repeat. The key ingredient is ACCOUNTABILITY. This is one of the main reasons that business owners choose to appoint an independent business advisor or management consulting specialist. Businesses of all sizes need accountability. For many SMEs, by appointing a business advisor, you can ensure that these essential conversations around goals and strategy actually happen. Your advisor can help you to put an actionable plan in place and to ensure that this plan is reviewed, evaluated and is working effectively. If something isn’t working, then this will be identified, and your advisor can work with you to recommend and instigate any necessary changes.
How do I know when to reinvest in my business?
Business owners will typically opt to reinvest in their business for one of two reasons: to replace or upgrade existing equipment or machinery (which is necessary to allow your business to continue delivering) or to invest for growth. Regardless of your motivation, the key tool to assess the viability of this reinvestment is a cashflow forecast. The cash flow forecast will enable you to see the potential impact your investment will have on your future profit and from this, you can work out future predicted earnings. This will also help to inform your decisions around any financing options, which may be available to you, giving you greater control over how you cover and/or spread these costs. The decision to reinvest in your business is often driven by confidence in your future success, by using a cashflow forecast, you can confidently make informed decisions about the future of your business.
How can I bounce back from a major setback in business?
Being a business owner carries a vast level of risk – every day we make decisions, and the decisions we make don’t always work out as planned. So how do we deal with this? The key is to learn from any setbacks – making a mistake once can happen, but making the same mistake twice is unnecessary. Everyone’s appetite for risk appetite is different. It is important to ensure that you have people within the business to balance this out. You want people to drive change, but you also need people who will review the pros and cons and take a considered approach.
How can I handle criticism or negative feedback?
It is hard not to take criticism and negative feedback personally. It can often leave you feeling like you have failed. However, by drawing on NLP techniques, you can learn to deal with this in a different way. First, consider why the other person is criticising – as this can impact how you choose to respond. Is it caused by wrongly set expectations? Has something happened in that person’s life/business to cause them stress? Listen carefully to the words they are using and listen calmly – let the person finish and feel heard. This results in a much more positive starting point, leading to better communication and ultimately, a more likely resolution.
How can I manage stress and uncertainty within the business?
We all manage stress differently – and even that can be stressful! If you are comparing yourself to others and don’t feel that your business is performing as well, this can cause uncertainty and self-doubt. The best remedy? Have a business plan – set out your goals and how you will achieve them. Focus on the plan in times of uncertainty – if your strategy needs to change don’t let it be because it’s what you think others are doing – do it because it’s right for you and your business. Appointing a trusted business advisor can provide a valuable sounding board, they will also be able to offer an independent perspective and suggest practical solutions, to help you to successfully navigate any challenges you may face.