Frances Odera Matthews Chats with Ellen: All things solo business operations
How to streamline, systemise, and stay sane as a one-person business.
Welcome back to Chats with Ellen. Unedited conversations with peers in the online business, coaching and future of work space. Expect: trade secrets, advice we’re giving clients, and inspo to guide your business building.
Frances Odera Matthews Chats with Ellen
is the founder of The Notion Bar a consultancy that helps creative and impact-led businesses get organised using Notion. Frances, in her own words, is a lover of efficiency and a good time!
Frances has been running her practice since 2020, and in recent months has also started
celebrating London’s female founders. We met at a London networking event (funnily enough) and instantly got into one of our favourite shared topics: how the heck solo business owners manage everything… ideas, offers, clients, operations…. without losing their minds.Hit play to hear us discuss:
How Frances built her business brand providing Notion systems for creative founders
Why solopreneurs often overcomplicate too early (and how to avoid it)
Using Notion to create passive income from your signature ideas and frameworks
The hidden cost of hiring help and what to consider before you do it
Why lifestyle businesses are the new powerhouses
Enjoy!
Connect with Frances on LinkedIn or subscribe to one of her brilliant newsletters:
The Ellen Edit
I’ve pulled out some of insights that stuck with me from the chat with Frances…
From Frances
Notion shines for anything you need to track, store or share…. and most of your business fits in one of those buckets.
Most solo founders have niche, scrappy processes and out-of-the-box tools just don’t fit. That’s where Notion comes in.
Notion lets you turn your signature framework into a product that feels like an app — not a PDF.
I cancelled my co-working membership to afford a podcast editor. That’s how I made it sustainable but I still had to make up that income.
I don’t want an agency. I want a business that aligns with my energy, values, and lifestyle and I’m seeing more and more people say the same.
From Ellen
The mental load of solo business is so high, every new tool or hire adds weight, so it has to be worth it
Scaling your time takes a lot of time to get there!
I’ve created new business babies I love and now it’s about streamlining, tightening, and making sure they’re sustainable
Just because something can scale doesn’t mean it will. You still need sales. You still need to market. That part never disappears with ‘passive’ products
I built my membership to be accessible anytime but that means onboarding and content delivery have to work asynchronously which is the part I’m still working on
If your membership can’t deliver results asynchronously, it probably shouldn’t be always-on.
Psst, you! Yes you.
Are you craving more support in growing a profitable, Authority-led business?
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Thanks for reading as alway, and until next time!
Ellen Donnelly, Founder & Chief Coach, The Ask and host of Authority Club, where independent consultants and coaches become the go-to in their space
Get in touch to explore 1-1 coaching or joining Authority Club.
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