Simon: So if you enjoyed this episode you want to hear more conversations like this, make sure you subscribe to our podcast at all the major podcast providers. Our goal is to encourage more people to take action and turn their ideas into execution, into a startup, into project. We also run our Start Launch Grow newsletter where we share practical advice for every stage of your journey. Thanks for listening and we'll see you. Hey Verena, how's it going?
Verena: I'm joined by Sophie, founder of The Feminine Edge. Sophie works with high performing female CEOs to build sustainable leadership and resilience under pressure. Sophie. It's great to have you here.
Simon: Great interview, Vrina, with Sophie. what was the biggest learning that we got from it?
Verena: good seeing you. Looks like it's hot in the UK. You're a t-shirt. Yeah, there were a couple. I think the biggest one I got is the, you just the importance of rethinking whether funding is actually the right path for your startup. So there's absolutely nothing wrong with raising investment and for some industries it's really essential. But Sophie openly shared how bringing investors in too early can sometimes create challenges ⁓ among the team and really change the whole culture. And in her case really led to the end of the startup. So ⁓
Simon: I am wearing a t shirt, yeah. It's been crazy. Two degrees hotter than it's ever been in May. So yeah, it's finally we have summer in the UK for the next couple of days.
Sophie: Thank you so much for having me.
Verena: Does something like this exists in the UK because whenever I'm there, I'm not I would have to say. to have another motivated female founder here. ⁓ see not too in ⁓ the podcast, so great to have another one here.
Simon: Yeah, it does rain a lot, but ⁓ if you come often enough you'll find a time when when the sun's out. next episode. today we're gonna talk about how to find a start up idea. people think they just come up with start up ideas, but most of them are discovered out frustration or some kind of problem they're trying to solve. So we're gonna discuss like if you haven't got an idea, where might you go to look for for an idea and how you might kind of come up with one.
Verena: Especially now with building costs becoming significantly lower founders have more to validate. Always really rethink: is it really needed to take on an investor? ⁓ And if so, at what stage does it make sense? could you give a quick of what Feminine Edge is about how the idea came to life back then?
Sophie: the feminine edge is ⁓ a it's a methodology, ⁓ and an executive coach for female CEOs ⁓ founders. So the that I work with clients is really focusing on the subconscious. So a lot of people, a lot of coaches are very goal driven.
Verena: I think whenever I'm also speaking with friends or some of our customers, we can see that finding a big enough idea, is something that often a blocker while someone might not even get started, right? But what a good idea or big enough idea ⁓ looks like can actually be very misleading, a lot of the founders really they believe that they need to come up with the next Uber or even Airbnb, but sometimes
Sophie: And through my own experience and now hundreds of clients, I know that there is so much that we need to work on in the subconscious because our identity and you'll resonate with this as a woman who's ambitious. always pressure anyway as we get older for everyone. I think for women in particular, because there are a lot of expectations still of women.
Verena: as as something completely new But you know, in most cases you don't really change a market overnight and you don't have to.
Sophie: even motherhood as a journey, whether we choose to go on it or not. of it's easier for us to get really disconnected from ourselves. And that's why a lot of really successful women tend to ⁓ burn out. we always see these big CEOs and these really successful founders and behind the scenes, they are kind of stretched thin ⁓ on the outside, living the that
Simon: everybody w is looking for that of the big idea and they see the Mark Zuckerbergs, the Amazons and all these the world ⁓ thinking, it needs to be world changing, but it doesn't. actually guy next door that's been running the business for ten years is doing really, really well. and a great starting point because yes, it might go big, but actually you could have a very good solid business turning over one, ten, a hundred million.
Sophie: they wanted and that everyone admires, but internally they really just surviving instead of thriving. So what I do is I work with these incredible women who are creating such impact to actually be ambitious, still get those big goals, create that influence, be visible in it.
Simon: and be a you know, a really powerful player, you'd still be in the top one percent of businesses in the world. if you got to that kind of hundred millions position. So yeah, we don't have to think massive, but we you know, we need to start somewhere.
Verena: I think there's a lot of confusion going ⁓ confusion going on around differentiation. Yeah, sure it is important and you need to have something that is better or that makes you unique, But I think a lot of people almost like overestimate that, and in most cases we will discuss this ⁓ later on, but in most cases you can really look at an existing industry improve something people already complain about or something, you know, work in something
Sophie: but also thrive and really enjoy life because that's what ultimately success should be. But we see it as financial and impact led, which it is as well because that creates a lot of freedom and excitement and power when it's in the right hands. And, you know, you don't have to sacrifice your life, family, your body. ⁓
Verena: people are already using and just make a little bit better.
Sophie: in pursuit of those things. So it's really shifting belief systems and internal systems in order to make sure that they are able to create that kind of influence at that level, but feel good. the I into this ⁓ is through breathwork. had business before this and I completely burnt myself to the
Simon: I think it's worth noting there's almost no new ideas out there. it's very maybe going back while or maybe in the future there's things like, you know, mining asteroids for rare earth minerals. Sure. That's a fairly new idea. There's nobody doing it currently today, great. But they're really rare. Most people are starting start ups in existing business that already have a, you know, a market there, et cetera. Let's give you a bit of a framework on how to think about startup ideas and where you might look to f you know to find those. I think number and we'll talk about these individually, but number one, look at an improved monetization model. How do you make ⁓ money of the startup? Is there a different way of charging for that particular service or product that might be unique and a new way of doing that? Number two is looking at the user experience. Is there a new way of doing this? You know, with AI, when mobile came out, suddenly we could do things on a mobile phone that we couldn't do before. That was a change in technology that allowed us to have a different user experience. and number three is taking something that already exists in one industry and then moving it into another industry and applying it into that niche potentially. And I think niche is the key thing here because actually with the new technologies, and we'll probably talk about this, but the with the new technologies we can do the niche and we can do it cost effectively. Whereas before, actually, it was really too expensive to only go into a niche because it wasn't a big enough market, but that's changed.
Verena: so let's start with number one the monetization. let's start also by looking at how can you actually find how people what they really think about current models, So a good place to go is a product hunt, you almost feel ⁓ a lot of reviews there, Reddit is a good one, right? You have people really giving feedback, especially in the B2C world,
Sophie: So, I made some changes I, ⁓ I started doing breath work and it completely changed my life. And I couldn't believe that more people weren't doing it. when I looked around me at the resources, they were either incredibly spiritual, which at that time I didn't really resonate with, I definitely am more in that now, really functional, quite masculine, like whim half, very achievement And whilst definitely appealed to the ambitious side of me and the part that likes efficiency, I really saw that there was a gap.
Verena: So it's it's good for you to go there to get a good indication for what think about a product, And those conversations, they can give you a lot of market research. So for example, when we look at type form, when you just look at a page, everything and their reviews, obviously everything is great, But when you then look at some other pages, right, like review pages that I mentioned before, you can see that a lot of people are actually saying, we love the
Sophie: for women like me who wanted to thrive, who wanted to feel grounded, but didn't necessarily want to let go of the business construct and, you know, economic growth and, and in that realm. So I trained to be a trauma informed breathwork coach. So on top of everything that was going on, I managed to train in a 400 hour course, which ⁓ was, think it's testament to the fact if you
Verena: Product, but it's super expensive, So you can see that this can give you an indication for maybe you need to work on the price Now it might be that ⁓ in lot of cases, right, it is there is a reason why they charge a certain price because you know a lot of customer acquisition costs and so on, right? So it's not as simple as just changing the price.
Sophie: If you want to do something, you will find the time and energy.
Verena: But what also Simon mentioned before, right? Now with AI, you have a massive competitive edge that you can actually rethink how people build technology, especially with these bigger players out there, right? Like funded startups, how they did it before, right? Now there is an opportunity for you to look at that business model and offer an alternative. And sometimes in the type form example, there's for example a U form that actually said on their page like, Hey
Sophie: then trained and I left my last business and I started working with women in my network who similar to me, know, ⁓ ambitious, very driven, but also burning out. And I realized that with the breath work, it was really bringing a lot to the surface. So I then trained in women-centered coaching to help people really bridge that gap between rest, nervous system, feeling good in their body and how to take that through to thrive in success as well. So now I have this methodology, which is conscious and subconscious, ⁓ breath is a big part of it.
Verena: An alternative to Type 1, right? With a more affordable pricing. and find those review platforms, go and find the places where people are talking, honestly about their experience with a product and pay attention to the monetization, and think about how you does that now change in the world of AI,
Sophie: I also created a breathwork studio, an online virtual studio. ⁓ I had it on, ⁓ I think it was Squarespace or something where it very like, and I was loads of live sessions and I eventually wanted it to become an so that's why ⁓ I know you ⁓ and we the Feminine Edge app.
Simon: ⁓ when you're looking at like a a type form versus a form, and you decide, well, I think I can do this cheaper, the hidden cost that nobody really sees is this cost of acquisition. How much cost them to acquire each of their customer? So you can look at their technology and go, Well, they're using this, this and this, so therefore, why are they charging, you know, eighty bucks a month? you know, I think I can do this for twenty bucks a month. What you haven't realized is it's cost costing them fifty dollars to acquire a customer or a hundred and fifty dollars to acquire a customer. and that's where that extra bit of in their pricing model is coming from. So and that's a hidden cost to you. You can do some tests to work that out. You can do some Google Ads tests to see if you were running a similar product, how much it would cost you to acquire. So you can do a bit of that, you know, that digging around to find out, ⁓ but just be of just going, well, it sounds expensive, I can do it cheaper.
Verena: Let's go back to the early days for a bit longer. Can you remember the steps you did validate that this pain point exists obviously yourself? What did you do to make sure you can monetize business model?
Simon: What you're really looking for is a different way of doing it. If they're charging, let's say they're charging a monthly fee, could you do it as an annual fee, one off fee, or s some other w model of pricing it makes you different? So number two item that spoke about is the kind of user experience. so looking at how we can take our product or service and looking at how it's currently delivered and asking yourself, is there a different way to do this? If we look in days gone by, things like Calendly, if you haven't come across it, it's a product for booking meetings basically. they didn't invent booking meetings. Calendars and the ability to book meetings into a calendar's been around, you know, for twenty, thirty, forty years. That's not new. But what they did is they solved the problem of the bit in between, you know, those emails that used to go around saying, Can you do three o'clock on Friday? And they back and go, No, and you go, What about Monday? And and it was a you know, a 10 email chain of nightmare. Cannonly resolved that. So that was a new way of doing it, a better user experience for everybody. and you know, and it's become a sort of given now that you swap somebody your calendar link or your calendar link and they could just book straight into it because they've got your availability. So I think it's looking at those elements. And again, starting to see a technology shift in AI. Before it was kind of like typing interface, and maybe now we're gonna get a verbal voice interface So maybe that's another opportunity to change ⁓ the user experience.
Verena: and one ⁓ other example here is ⁓ mean when you look at all of the learning apps out there, one of the biggest challenges was always how can people engaged and actually come back, to the ⁓ learning platform and you want to learn English or whatever language, for example, Duolingo, like what they did, is actually they made it way more playful, So you have a mascot, you know, that gets angry when you don't come back, etc. So it's all related to, the UI or the user experience, adding something, like making it a bit more ⁓ playful that can really make a a difference at the end. know I guess the the third ⁓ category actually look at what is working in an ⁓ in one industry and applying that to another niche, one of the examples we picked for you is Klana, when you look at you know, how ⁓ instalment payments were made, we can see that actually in traditional finance for years, people actually use that, But actually in e commerce, right, when you ⁓ want to, know, basically book for online shoppers out there, there was never really a way, right? So there was basically okay, you you pay ⁓ via credit card, you pay via bank bank transfer, but now you can also pay later, right? So it's like buy now, pay later. That's what Klana is about, right? And that's what they introduced for successfully for the E commerce wealth. and another example is also right now obviously with the AI co-pilots. It's all started in coding. Now we're seeing, you know, really niche pilots for ⁓ legal services, fi ⁓ finance recruiting, etc. Right. So are tons of opportunities out here to see what's working ⁓ in one place and applying this to a field that you might know, that you might have worked over the past years. You see sort and efficiency and you can apply that. AI now gives us all of this great opportunities there.
Simon: you know, it working in one industry and you know, you're asking yourself is well, why doesn't that you know, why doesn't that exist in this industry or the industry that I am I'm in? You know, it's a perfect opportunity. You're ⁓ you have clear insight something that maybe others don't. So what have we learned?
Sophie: ⁓ there the of talking to people and actually holding people accountable to saying that something's a great idea and say, and beyond that asking them, know, is this something you'd like to do? And I think because breathwork, when I first started, it's very clear, you know, I'm doing this as stress management. It was really easy for me to sell it actually, because people either want it or they don't. ⁓
Simon: You don't need that billion dollar idea. It doesn't need to be the world's biggest idea to start with. I mean, it can become that and it's you know, that would be great if it did become that. But you need, you know, to look at some of the best startup opportunities just come from stuff that's like right in front of you in plain sight. people complaining about pricing or or the way that the the model is priced, or the the products and services priced. Frustration with bad UX and saying, well, you know.
Sophie: And so in terms of monetizing and getting customers, it was putting myself out there. So you really have to be, yourself and whether that is just to your inner circle, and getting those ad early advocates on board or whether it's starting and doing an Instagram and, and, know, paying for ads and things. would say that the main to get right at the very beginning is
Simon: or or using the opportunity of changing technology to bring a new UX into it. That's another great opportunity. And then the last one is that industries that haven't caught on yet. There's plenty of industries that are behind the times that actually could be brought up to date. And you could bring you know that niche into that industry. So maybe a better question is what already exists that I could make better? You know, what's already out there that I could make better? And that's honestly
Sophie: getting good at having those conversations about what you do and inviting people into your world, getting those early advocates that are going to recommend you. Because my business has grown much through recommendation, really, ⁓ ⁓ And I'm at a stage of my business where I'm looking beyond that. But I'm I've got friends who are real advocates of each other. We're all really supportive of one another. And so ⁓
Simon: kind of where some of the best businesses are built in just solving that problem. What could I do better in solving a problem that they've got. So that's in summary. Do those three things to try and find your start up idea.
Sophie: I would put out messages to them and say, right guys, I wanna get some corporate clients and go and do breathwork in offices. I think it's really needed. And they would say, yes, my office actually really needs this or my office has got someone, but I know so and so. just really using your existing circles of connection and then expanding from there.
Verena: Then let's move on my chat with ⁓ Sophie Bell.
Sophie: I think also, and this is definitely as a female founder, I think that female founders it much harder to sell because they feel, you know, the kind of societal construct and identities, et cetera, that ⁓ come up this ickiness around selling and not wanting to come across as a certain person or not wanting to actually ask someone for something.
Verena: with the feminine edge, is that a bootstrap business?
Sophie: Yeah, well we didn't have a very good experience with investors in our first business. we were in industry where was food, so snacking is very competitive area of the supermarket and very competitive business. We had a great product but we always being asked for you know more money to put into things. I would always advise people to get real clarity. ⁓ on what they're doing and actually get a business working before they get investment because otherwise it's always going to be stressful and they're always going to have to answer to investors in terms why not working and if is never quite working then you're gonna always be looking back over your shoulder whereas if you've already got something that's working organically then you can invest
Verena: wrap up that chat for today, what would you say is one of things that out more easily than what you thought and what was more difficult? What was some last piece of advice you'd share with the listeners?
Sophie: Yeah, so I think that the easiest part of my business has come from me really, really true to the core my why. And I haven't let that go since I started this business. And that's what's enabled people ⁓ to get good results. I'm so focused on delivery. I think a of people are focused on sales. versus like who's already in their business. So that's something I think is so important. And it's because that's really authentic to me. Like I really care about my clients. I want them to get results. You know, I really want them to feel completely different. And I know that they can by doing what I do. And that has led to referrals you know, things landing on my lap. feels like, you know, I know it's because of the work I'm doing, but it's... It's amazing to see what comes your way and when you're really genuine and authentic, like what people are actually willing to do to help you promote your own business as well. ⁓ I think the hardest part has been organic marketing to a cold audience. it's probably something that I, because I'm so focused on working in my business, I don't have as much head space for. It interests me so much, but I think that stuff changes so quickly. definitely learned and experimented with what's worked for me. But I think when I first started this, I kind of came in with this idea that, you just market yourself on Instagram and then this happens. And instead it's been a learning curve of actually what I'm able to do consistently
Verena: I mean, as a founder, you always wear so many different hats. Well, Sophie, thank you so much for the chat for your energy. I can definitely see, know, ⁓ it's a purpose-driven business.
Sophie: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It's been really lovely.
Verena: I'm joined by Sophie, founder of The Feminine Edge. Sophie works with high performing female CEOs to build sustainable leadership and resilience under pressure. Sophie. It's great to have you here.
Simon: Great interview, Vrina, with Sophie. what was the biggest learning that we got from it?
Verena: good seeing you. Looks like it's hot in the UK. You're a t-shirt. Yeah, there were a couple. I think the biggest one I got is the, you just the importance of rethinking whether funding is actually the right path for your startup. So there's absolutely nothing wrong with raising investment and for some industries it's really essential. But Sophie openly shared how bringing investors in too early can sometimes create challenges ⁓ among the team and really change the whole culture. And in her case really led to the end of the startup. So ⁓
Simon: I am wearing a t shirt, yeah. It's been crazy. Two degrees hotter than it's ever been in May. So yeah, it's finally we have summer in the UK for the next couple of days.
Sophie: Thank you so much for having me.
Verena: Does something like this exists in the UK because whenever I'm there, I'm not I would have to say. to have another motivated female founder here. ⁓ see not too in ⁓ the podcast, so great to have another one here.
Simon: Yeah, it does rain a lot, but ⁓ if you come often enough you'll find a time when when the sun's out. next episode. today we're gonna talk about how to find a start up idea. people think they just come up with start up ideas, but most of them are discovered out frustration or some kind of problem they're trying to solve. So we're gonna discuss like if you haven't got an idea, where might you go to look for for an idea and how you might kind of come up with one.
Verena: Especially now with building costs becoming significantly lower founders have more to validate. Always really rethink: is it really needed to take on an investor? ⁓ And if so, at what stage does it make sense? could you give a quick of what Feminine Edge is about how the idea came to life back then?
Sophie: the feminine edge is ⁓ a it's a methodology, ⁓ and an executive coach for female CEOs ⁓ founders. So the that I work with clients is really focusing on the subconscious. So a lot of people, a lot of coaches are very goal driven.
Verena: I think whenever I'm also speaking with friends or some of our customers, we can see that finding a big enough idea, is something that often a blocker while someone might not even get started, right? But what a good idea or big enough idea ⁓ looks like can actually be very misleading, a lot of the founders really they believe that they need to come up with the next Uber or even Airbnb, but sometimes
Sophie: And through my own experience and now hundreds of clients, I know that there is so much that we need to work on in the subconscious because our identity and you'll resonate with this as a woman who's ambitious. always pressure anyway as we get older for everyone. I think for women in particular, because there are a lot of expectations still of women.
Verena: as as something completely new But you know, in most cases you don't really change a market overnight and you don't have to.
Sophie: even motherhood as a journey, whether we choose to go on it or not. of it's easier for us to get really disconnected from ourselves. And that's why a lot of really successful women tend to ⁓ burn out. we always see these big CEOs and these really successful founders and behind the scenes, they are kind of stretched thin ⁓ on the outside, living the that
Simon: everybody w is looking for that of the big idea and they see the Mark Zuckerbergs, the Amazons and all these the world ⁓ thinking, it needs to be world changing, but it doesn't. actually guy next door that's been running the business for ten years is doing really, really well. and a great starting point because yes, it might go big, but actually you could have a very good solid business turning over one, ten, a hundred million.
Sophie: they wanted and that everyone admires, but internally they really just surviving instead of thriving. So what I do is I work with these incredible women who are creating such impact to actually be ambitious, still get those big goals, create that influence, be visible in it.
Simon: and be a you know, a really powerful player, you'd still be in the top one percent of businesses in the world. if you got to that kind of hundred millions position. So yeah, we don't have to think massive, but we you know, we need to start somewhere.
Verena: I think there's a lot of confusion going ⁓ confusion going on around differentiation. Yeah, sure it is important and you need to have something that is better or that makes you unique, But I think a lot of people almost like overestimate that, and in most cases we will discuss this ⁓ later on, but in most cases you can really look at an existing industry improve something people already complain about or something, you know, work in something
Sophie: but also thrive and really enjoy life because that's what ultimately success should be. But we see it as financial and impact led, which it is as well because that creates a lot of freedom and excitement and power when it's in the right hands. And, you know, you don't have to sacrifice your life, family, your body. ⁓
Verena: people are already using and just make a little bit better.
Sophie: in pursuit of those things. So it's really shifting belief systems and internal systems in order to make sure that they are able to create that kind of influence at that level, but feel good. the I into this ⁓ is through breathwork. had business before this and I completely burnt myself to the
Simon: I think it's worth noting there's almost no new ideas out there. it's very maybe going back while or maybe in the future there's things like, you know, mining asteroids for rare earth minerals. Sure. That's a fairly new idea. There's nobody doing it currently today, great. But they're really rare. Most people are starting start ups in existing business that already have a, you know, a market there, et cetera. Let's give you a bit of a framework on how to think about startup ideas and where you might look to f you know to find those. I think number and we'll talk about these individually, but number one, look at an improved monetization model. How do you make ⁓ money of the startup? Is there a different way of charging for that particular service or product that might be unique and a new way of doing that? Number two is looking at the user experience. Is there a new way of doing this? You know, with AI, when mobile came out, suddenly we could do things on a mobile phone that we couldn't do before. That was a change in technology that allowed us to have a different user experience. and number three is taking something that already exists in one industry and then moving it into another industry and applying it into that niche potentially. And I think niche is the key thing here because actually with the new technologies, and we'll probably talk about this, but the with the new technologies we can do the niche and we can do it cost effectively. Whereas before, actually, it was really too expensive to only go into a niche because it wasn't a big enough market, but that's changed.
Verena: so let's start with number one the monetization. let's start also by looking at how can you actually find how people what they really think about current models, So a good place to go is a product hunt, you almost feel ⁓ a lot of reviews there, Reddit is a good one, right? You have people really giving feedback, especially in the B2C world,
Sophie: So, I made some changes I, ⁓ I started doing breath work and it completely changed my life. And I couldn't believe that more people weren't doing it. when I looked around me at the resources, they were either incredibly spiritual, which at that time I didn't really resonate with, I definitely am more in that now, really functional, quite masculine, like whim half, very achievement And whilst definitely appealed to the ambitious side of me and the part that likes efficiency, I really saw that there was a gap.
Verena: So it's it's good for you to go there to get a good indication for what think about a product, And those conversations, they can give you a lot of market research. So for example, when we look at type form, when you just look at a page, everything and their reviews, obviously everything is great, But when you then look at some other pages, right, like review pages that I mentioned before, you can see that a lot of people are actually saying, we love the
Sophie: for women like me who wanted to thrive, who wanted to feel grounded, but didn't necessarily want to let go of the business construct and, you know, economic growth and, and in that realm. So I trained to be a trauma informed breathwork coach. So on top of everything that was going on, I managed to train in a 400 hour course, which ⁓ was, think it's testament to the fact if you
Verena: Product, but it's super expensive, So you can see that this can give you an indication for maybe you need to work on the price Now it might be that ⁓ in lot of cases, right, it is there is a reason why they charge a certain price because you know a lot of customer acquisition costs and so on, right? So it's not as simple as just changing the price.
Sophie: If you want to do something, you will find the time and energy.
Verena: But what also Simon mentioned before, right? Now with AI, you have a massive competitive edge that you can actually rethink how people build technology, especially with these bigger players out there, right? Like funded startups, how they did it before, right? Now there is an opportunity for you to look at that business model and offer an alternative. And sometimes in the type form example, there's for example a U form that actually said on their page like, Hey
Sophie: then trained and I left my last business and I started working with women in my network who similar to me, know, ⁓ ambitious, very driven, but also burning out. And I realized that with the breath work, it was really bringing a lot to the surface. So I then trained in women-centered coaching to help people really bridge that gap between rest, nervous system, feeling good in their body and how to take that through to thrive in success as well. So now I have this methodology, which is conscious and subconscious, ⁓ breath is a big part of it.
Verena: An alternative to Type 1, right? With a more affordable pricing. and find those review platforms, go and find the places where people are talking, honestly about their experience with a product and pay attention to the monetization, and think about how you does that now change in the world of AI,
Sophie: I also created a breathwork studio, an online virtual studio. ⁓ I had it on, ⁓ I think it was Squarespace or something where it very like, and I was loads of live sessions and I eventually wanted it to become an so that's why ⁓ I know you ⁓ and we the Feminine Edge app.
Simon: ⁓ when you're looking at like a a type form versus a form, and you decide, well, I think I can do this cheaper, the hidden cost that nobody really sees is this cost of acquisition. How much cost them to acquire each of their customer? So you can look at their technology and go, Well, they're using this, this and this, so therefore, why are they charging, you know, eighty bucks a month? you know, I think I can do this for twenty bucks a month. What you haven't realized is it's cost costing them fifty dollars to acquire a customer or a hundred and fifty dollars to acquire a customer. and that's where that extra bit of in their pricing model is coming from. So and that's a hidden cost to you. You can do some tests to work that out. You can do some Google Ads tests to see if you were running a similar product, how much it would cost you to acquire. So you can do a bit of that, you know, that digging around to find out, ⁓ but just be of just going, well, it sounds expensive, I can do it cheaper.
Verena: Let's go back to the early days for a bit longer. Can you remember the steps you did validate that this pain point exists obviously yourself? What did you do to make sure you can monetize business model?
Simon: What you're really looking for is a different way of doing it. If they're charging, let's say they're charging a monthly fee, could you do it as an annual fee, one off fee, or s some other w model of pricing it makes you different? So number two item that spoke about is the kind of user experience. so looking at how we can take our product or service and looking at how it's currently delivered and asking yourself, is there a different way to do this? If we look in days gone by, things like Calendly, if you haven't come across it, it's a product for booking meetings basically. they didn't invent booking meetings. Calendars and the ability to book meetings into a calendar's been around, you know, for twenty, thirty, forty years. That's not new. But what they did is they solved the problem of the bit in between, you know, those emails that used to go around saying, Can you do three o'clock on Friday? And they back and go, No, and you go, What about Monday? And and it was a you know, a 10 email chain of nightmare. Cannonly resolved that. So that was a new way of doing it, a better user experience for everybody. and you know, and it's become a sort of given now that you swap somebody your calendar link or your calendar link and they could just book straight into it because they've got your availability. So I think it's looking at those elements. And again, starting to see a technology shift in AI. Before it was kind of like typing interface, and maybe now we're gonna get a verbal voice interface So maybe that's another opportunity to change ⁓ the user experience.
Verena: and one ⁓ other example here is ⁓ mean when you look at all of the learning apps out there, one of the biggest challenges was always how can people engaged and actually come back, to the ⁓ learning platform and you want to learn English or whatever language, for example, Duolingo, like what they did, is actually they made it way more playful, So you have a mascot, you know, that gets angry when you don't come back, etc. So it's all related to, the UI or the user experience, adding something, like making it a bit more ⁓ playful that can really make a a difference at the end. know I guess the the third ⁓ category actually look at what is working in an ⁓ in one industry and applying that to another niche, one of the examples we picked for you is Klana, when you look at you know, how ⁓ instalment payments were made, we can see that actually in traditional finance for years, people actually use that, But actually in e commerce, right, when you ⁓ want to, know, basically book for online shoppers out there, there was never really a way, right? So there was basically okay, you you pay ⁓ via credit card, you pay via bank bank transfer, but now you can also pay later, right? So it's like buy now, pay later. That's what Klana is about, right? And that's what they introduced for successfully for the E commerce wealth. and another example is also right now obviously with the AI co-pilots. It's all started in coding. Now we're seeing, you know, really niche pilots for ⁓ legal services, fi ⁓ finance recruiting, etc. Right. So are tons of opportunities out here to see what's working ⁓ in one place and applying this to a field that you might know, that you might have worked over the past years. You see sort and efficiency and you can apply that. AI now gives us all of this great opportunities there.
Simon: you know, it working in one industry and you know, you're asking yourself is well, why doesn't that you know, why doesn't that exist in this industry or the industry that I am I'm in? You know, it's a perfect opportunity. You're ⁓ you have clear insight something that maybe others don't. So what have we learned?
Sophie: ⁓ there the of talking to people and actually holding people accountable to saying that something's a great idea and say, and beyond that asking them, know, is this something you'd like to do? And I think because breathwork, when I first started, it's very clear, you know, I'm doing this as stress management. It was really easy for me to sell it actually, because people either want it or they don't. ⁓
Simon: You don't need that billion dollar idea. It doesn't need to be the world's biggest idea to start with. I mean, it can become that and it's you know, that would be great if it did become that. But you need, you know, to look at some of the best startup opportunities just come from stuff that's like right in front of you in plain sight. people complaining about pricing or or the way that the the model is priced, or the the products and services priced. Frustration with bad UX and saying, well, you know.
Sophie: And so in terms of monetizing and getting customers, it was putting myself out there. So you really have to be, yourself and whether that is just to your inner circle, and getting those ad early advocates on board or whether it's starting and doing an Instagram and, and, know, paying for ads and things. would say that the main to get right at the very beginning is
Simon: or or using the opportunity of changing technology to bring a new UX into it. That's another great opportunity. And then the last one is that industries that haven't caught on yet. There's plenty of industries that are behind the times that actually could be brought up to date. And you could bring you know that niche into that industry. So maybe a better question is what already exists that I could make better? You know, what's already out there that I could make better? And that's honestly
Sophie: getting good at having those conversations about what you do and inviting people into your world, getting those early advocates that are going to recommend you. Because my business has grown much through recommendation, really, ⁓ ⁓ And I'm at a stage of my business where I'm looking beyond that. But I'm I've got friends who are real advocates of each other. We're all really supportive of one another. And so ⁓
Simon: kind of where some of the best businesses are built in just solving that problem. What could I do better in solving a problem that they've got. So that's in summary. Do those three things to try and find your start up idea.
Sophie: I would put out messages to them and say, right guys, I wanna get some corporate clients and go and do breathwork in offices. I think it's really needed. And they would say, yes, my office actually really needs this or my office has got someone, but I know so and so. just really using your existing circles of connection and then expanding from there.
Verena: Then let's move on my chat with ⁓ Sophie Bell.
Sophie: I think also, and this is definitely as a female founder, I think that female founders it much harder to sell because they feel, you know, the kind of societal construct and identities, et cetera, that ⁓ come up this ickiness around selling and not wanting to come across as a certain person or not wanting to actually ask someone for something.
Verena: with the feminine edge, is that a bootstrap business?
Sophie: Yeah, well we didn't have a very good experience with investors in our first business. we were in industry where was food, so snacking is very competitive area of the supermarket and very competitive business. We had a great product but we always being asked for you know more money to put into things. I would always advise people to get real clarity. ⁓ on what they're doing and actually get a business working before they get investment because otherwise it's always going to be stressful and they're always going to have to answer to investors in terms why not working and if is never quite working then you're gonna always be looking back over your shoulder whereas if you've already got something that's working organically then you can invest
Verena: wrap up that chat for today, what would you say is one of things that out more easily than what you thought and what was more difficult? What was some last piece of advice you'd share with the listeners?
Sophie: Yeah, so I think that the easiest part of my business has come from me really, really true to the core my why. And I haven't let that go since I started this business. And that's what's enabled people ⁓ to get good results. I'm so focused on delivery. I think a of people are focused on sales. versus like who's already in their business. So that's something I think is so important. And it's because that's really authentic to me. Like I really care about my clients. I want them to get results. You know, I really want them to feel completely different. And I know that they can by doing what I do. And that has led to referrals you know, things landing on my lap. feels like, you know, I know it's because of the work I'm doing, but it's... It's amazing to see what comes your way and when you're really genuine and authentic, like what people are actually willing to do to help you promote your own business as well. ⁓ I think the hardest part has been organic marketing to a cold audience. it's probably something that I, because I'm so focused on working in my business, I don't have as much head space for. It interests me so much, but I think that stuff changes so quickly. definitely learned and experimented with what's worked for me. But I think when I first started this, I kind of came in with this idea that, you just market yourself on Instagram and then this happens. And instead it's been a learning curve of actually what I'm able to do consistently
Verena: I mean, as a founder, you always wear so many different hats. Well, Sophie, thank you so much for the chat for your energy. I can definitely see, know, ⁓ it's a purpose-driven business.
Sophie: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It's been really lovely.
