How Ivy Got Confident In Her Finances During Rapid Growth

The struggle

When Ivy took over her shop, it came with a loyal customer base, but no systems, no strategy, and no support.

She added a coffee bar and rapidly expanded the offer, but behind the scenes was overwhelmed. She had no financial clarity, no operational structure, and no one to help her make big decisions.

The stress was building fast, and with a young family at home, she knew she couldn’t carry on doing everything alone.

“There was a customer base there, but there was absolutely no strategy. I didn’t adopt any sort of policies or operations… I just couldn’t run the business how I’d want to completely by myself.”

The business

Wild About Flowers

Independent florist and coffee shop

Somerset

The client

Ivy

Key result

Built strategy, confidence in finances, and long-term structure after rapid growth

Timeframe

12 months

Service used

Retail by Design

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The why

Ivy had followed Catherine’s content for a while and trusted her experience. Unlike other online experts who promised the world, she felt confident Retail by Design would deliver practical, grounded support, and knew she needed someone she could rely on to help her grow without burning out.

“I'd followed you for a really long time, and I really liked what you had to say. It always resonated with me, and I always came away with something really useful from it.”

The work

Together we looked at the business which had grown rapidly, but become more complex and unwieldy.

We looked at what was truly driving profit and how best to structure Ivy's time.

Here's what we worked on

Gained clarity on her numbers, including margins and cash flow, to better understand what was driving profit.

Identified the key business drivers and focused efforts into those sales channels

Reviewed team structure and implemented processes to streamline workflows

The results

Through Retail by Design, Ivy gained strategic clarity and operational structure, but crucially, she also experienced a profound mindset shift.

Working with both Catherine and mindset coach Annabel, Ivy tackled her self-doubt, unlocked confidence, and began prioritising consistent action over perfection.

She moved from reactive firefighting to proactively planning her week, carving out time for high-impact business development, even in the busiest weeks.

"Now I don't feel like I'm tackling a big business completely by myself, making all these decisions, trying to support a young family and it's all on my shoulders — I just don’t feel that way anymore."

Created and implemented financial systems

Built operational structure to support growth

Embedded strategic planning in day-to-day decisions

Gained confidence in financial decision-making

Feels supported and no longer alone in the business

Created a mindset of progress over perfection

Renewed clarity, energy, and resilience

The review

“Now I work on the business constantly… small changes add up to big changes. Catherine encourages me to just send that email or make that phone call, I just didn’t have that confidence before.”