In today’s podcast our presenter Fi Da Silva Adams is talking to member Danielle Holmes of Black Nova Designs, a company who provide design and host websites. Next year the business will be celebrating 10 years.

Danielle runs the business with her husband, Kyle, who she says is the brains. Kyle is the one who understands all of the IT stuff, and Danielle, over the last nine years has learned about how things work in terms of managing domains, emails, websites etc. She now sells the company so that Kyle and their team of 5 can do the work.

Before working with her husband, Danielle had several different jobs, but the last one in accounts and credit control is extremely helpful to make sure that Black Nova’s cashflow is correct and she keeps an eye on profit and loss.

When Danielle was first invited to visit Business Wise as a guest, she wasn’t that keen when she found out about the 7 am start, but after visiting she was surprised how much she enjoyed it, and how welcoming everyone in the room was.

According to Danielle, Business Wise is the reason that Black Nova has got to where we are today – partly because of the networking she now does. She found being able to communicate in person invaluable. Plus, during that time, she has made many good friends too. And she has found that there are many different businesses there that complement their business. And people genuinely do buy from other people in the room.

Danielle also talks about how she and Kyle, through the business sponsoring several events, including Event Horse of the Year for Horse and Hound. They also take stands at the Badminton Horse Trials, and are the only IT company there, which is also great for building their branding.

She also talks about the importance of having your own website, rather than just relying on social media.

If you’d like to know more about Danielle and Businesswise, visit https://businesswise.org.uk/ and if you’d like to visit email secretary@businesswise.org.uk – we do have to check first that your seat is vacant. If it’s not you will be put on a waiting list.

If you’d like to contact Danielle directly:

https://businesswise.org.uk/members/danielle-holmes/