HH - 001 - Natalie - Welland Valley Legal

Martin [00:00:05]:

Harborough Hustle, where we dig under the surface of companies that serve Harborough District and surrounding towns and villages, to find out more about the people behind the company. Are you ready? Let the story begin!

Martin [00:00:11]:

I'm your podcast host, Martin Robson. Special thanks to our sponsors, Welland Valley Legal and Roman Britons websites. Harborough Hustle proudly sponsors local charities. Check out our website. Market Harborough is network podcast where you can find a transcript of today's podcast, all the links that are mentioned, posts that you can share on social media to spread the word and everything you need to know. If you'd like to help the local charities, find out more about our lovely sponsors. So, welcome to this episode of Harborough Hustle, where I am delighted to be chatting to Natalie from Welland Valley Legal. Hi, Natalie. How are you?

Natalie [00:00:54]:

Hello. I am very well, thank you. Thank you for having me on.

Martin [00:00:58]:

Absolute pleasure. I'm delighted that you said yes. So let's getting into it. The first question I'd like to ask really is about yourself, what you do, just a kind of nutshell thing because we're going to dive deeper into your business a bit later. So, just a bit about who you are, where do you live, what do you do when you're not working?

Natalie [00:01:18]:

Good. Well, my name is Natalie. I'm a wills, trust and probate solicitor. I'm the proud owner of Welland Valley Legal. I live in a tiny hamlet between Market Harbour and Uppingham called Blaston. And outside of work, really, since I've been able to walk, I have been riding horses and I rent horses up and down the country, so that's been most of my life.

Martin [00:01:43]:

Oh, wow. Do you own any?

Natalie [00:01:46]:

Yeah, we got four at the moment.

Martin [00:01:49]:

Four?

Natalie [00:01:50]:

Yeah.

Martin [00:01:51]:

Are they stable with you or do you use livery?

Natalie [00:01:53]:

At my parents house.

Martin [00:01:55]:

Okay.

Natalie [00:01:56]:

And is that relatively very horsey as well? So that's kind of why I was forced into it, I think.

Martin [00:02:02]:

Well, I have to admit, when I was 13, my mum had a pony, despite the fact that we lived in the middle of a town, so it used to be kept in a field outside and it was my job to hump the hay, et cetera. So, for exactly the same reason that you were brought up by a horse loving parent, I absolutely don't go anywhere near the things at all. So had the opposite.

Natalie [00:02:26]:

Very sensible.

Martin [00:02:30]:

Okay, let's have a quick chat . How did you get started in your business, Natalie?

Natalie [00:02:37]:

Yeah, I mean, I've been in the industry for eight years now, but I always knew I wanted to own my own business. And after Lockdown, I think a lot of people reevaluated their lives and I did as well. I decided to take the plunge. And the process for getting regulated under our regulatory body, which is the Solicitor Regulation Authority, began, and I started trading 18 months ago now.

Martin [00:03:03]:

Wow. Fantastic. Is that a long process to get all the regulations sorted out?

Natalie [00:03:08]:

Yeah, it took about nine months to get the authorization to be able to trade.

Martin [00:03:14]:

Wow, okay. So thinking about that, everybody knows a solicitor stories about solicitors, but maybe not specifically the area you do. Is there anything that people don't think about enough when they're starting to deal with legal companies?

Natalie [00:03:33]:

That's a really good question. I think a lot of people, when they're instructing a lawyer, probably need to think a bit more about who they're actually instructing because a lot of time these bigger firms is you end up being sort of given to the unqualified lawyer in the team, more junior person. And actually that might be okay for some people, but if you have got slightly more complicated circumstances, I would probably take a pause and think of who you're actually seeing and taking advice from. And that's something that I'm proud about my company is that you will always get a very experienced lawyer dealing with your matter directly.

Martin [00:04:14]:

That's a really good point. I know sometimes you see like, different fee structures for different levels of partner or member of the legal firm and perhaps it's not always wise to go for the cheapest one.

Natalie [00:04:28]:

No, you need to get the right level advice. Definitely.

Martin [00:04:32]:

Fantastic. Is there something that you wish you'd known earlier in your business journey that might have made things a bit easier for you subsequently?

Natalie [00:04:46]:

Yeah, I think when you start a business, you suddenly take on everything. And I think something that I learned quite quickly is that you do need to outsource some areas. So whether it's someone like yourself with SEO or social media management, it can feel like a massive outgoing to do that. But actually you need to see it as an investment because it then gives you time to be good at the things that you're good at and then someone else is dealing with the bits that are not in your strengths and they'll do a much better job at it.

Martin [00:05:17]:

That's a really good answer. I'm always telling people that I'm not so good at doing it myself, but yeah, it does make sense. At the end of the day, you doing what you're good at is the best way to make your business grow, isn't it? Rather than trying to do everything yourself.

Natalie [00:05:35]:

Definitely.

Martin [00:05:38]:

So did you have a mentor at all as part of your legal services journey? Maybe somebody took you under their wing or helped you out in some way. Can you tell us about that?

Natalie [00:05:48]:

Yeah, I've got a family friend who is a finance director at quite a big company and he completely took me under his wing, thank goodness. And he really helped me navigate right from the start, like business plans, financial forecasts, how to get the systems in place so the business can run as efficiently as possible. So he was a great help. And generally I looked up to attendees of networking events like the Market Harbor Business Network because all of those people were so courageous in their own business journeys. And I just was inspired by them and wanted to have the passion they have as saved for their business.

Martin [00:06:27]:

It's so interesting you say that, because obviously, until recently, you were kind of running the Mark Harborough Business Network. And I know going along, the first time I went along, I'm like, wow, look, she's done this and got everything together and it's the same thing. So you've ended up kind of inspiring people when that was the start of your journey as well. So it's nice to know that it's kind of coming full circle, so to speak.

Natalie [00:06:53]:

Definitely. No, there's some great people that attend.

Martin [00:06:56]:

The event talking about that. I mean, we talked about a mentor from the past. Is there anyone now that you would go, oh, that's someone I admire, that's someone I look up to aspire to whatever.

Natalie [00:07:10]:

Yeah, I mean, it's a bit corny, but it would actually be my father, because he is a business owner as well, and in his career, he turned a lot of businesses around to being very successful. And really the key thing that he taught me is that people are everything in the business and you need to look after people in the business. And that's a really strong value that I've sort of taken on board and really admire and how he's sort of become successful.

Martin [00:07:39]:

Fantastic. Sounds like we need him along at the networking meeting. Brilliant. No, what lovely answer. I hope that he gets to watch this and appreciate that. It's nice because it was a genuine question you could have answered with anybody, but that's the first one that came to mind, so really nice. Yeah. What about something that you're still hoping to learn?

Natalie [00:08:07]:

So many things. So many. But I don't know if this will ever be sorted. But you constantly worry, I think, about your business when you're a business owner, the what ifs, what's happening in the future, what if in one, two, five years time, I'd love to know how to remove that worry, but I'm not sure it'll ever go away.

Martin [00:08:28]:

Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And in every industry, things are always changing. I mean, in my particular industry, in web services and digital, the pace of change is so big that just keeping up with it is quite a challenge. Within legal services, obviously, there are some statutes and all the rest of it that go back hundreds of years, but is there much change in terms of from month to month?

Natalie [00:08:59]:

Yeah, less maybe on the sort of in my area of law, the actual law doesn't change too often, but just like you systems and processes, they're moving very much to online system and keeping up with all those changes. And you want to be ahead of the game. Yeah. It can be a lot to keep on top of.

Martin [00:09:20]:

Yeah. No, I appreciate that. Definitely. OK, confession time. Natalie, what's one of the biggest mistakes you've ever made in business and what did you learn from it?

Natalie [00:09:31]:

I've made a lot of mistakes.

Martin [00:09:34]:

Haven't we all?

Natalie [00:09:36]:

I would say figuring out what marketing strategies are right for my company, I've definitely made mistakes. I've put too much money into areas which now I realize is completely unnecessary, and I wish I hadn't done that. But I guess off the back of it, you really learn what works for your company and what doesn't, and what you want to do going forward. As a result of that.

Martin [00:10:01]:

I wonder whether I should ask you where it is you put money that you wish you had. Is that something you can say, or should we just move on?

Natalie [00:10:08]:

Move on, move on.

Martin [00:10:09]:

Okay, let's flip it around then. What about your proudest business moment?

Natalie [00:10:15]:

Gosh, I think not only surviving from year one, but also making a profit. I was really proud to do that because you just never know in your first year of business. And a lot of people say all most businesses fail in their first year. So I was pretty proud to come out in a strong position after year one. All the hard work paying off.

Martin [00:10:37]:

Yeah, that's brilliant. I know you're probably too modest, but you're not saying also that your business is growing quite nicely as well, isn't it?

Natalie [00:10:48]:

Yeah, exactly. And I've just taken on some new members of staff, so that was another massive milestone. Yeah. So pretty proud of where we've got to.

Martin [00:10:57]:

Yeah. Congratulations. Fantastic. Thank you. Just moving away from that, then, if you weren't working in legal services, what do you think you might be doing?

Natalie [00:11:09]:

That's such a good question. I love meeting people. I think this is very random. I think I'd quite like to own a little village shop. I think I really enjoy that.

Martin [00:11:22]:

Cool. Yeah. Well, we'll look out for that just in case.

Natalie [00:11:27]:

I mean, hopefully my retirement, who knows.

Martin [00:11:30]:

A few years in the future, potentially. All right. And is there anything else, like, on your bucket list.

Natalie [00:11:41]:

Non work wise? I love seeing places, so I would love to go to Japan. That would be right on top of my bucket list.

Martin [00:11:51]:

Yeah, no, I've definitely got that one as well.

Natalie [00:11:54]:

Very interesting there.

Martin [00:11:58]:

And do you have a hidden talent? Anything you can tell us about or even maybe show us?

Natalie [00:12:07]:

You know what, this is really weird, and I don't know if it's that interesting either, but I can flip my tongue upside down, and that is literally the only thing I can think of as a hidden talent.

Martin [00:12:21]:

I tell you what, that is setting the bar for the rest of the people who are going to come on this podcast series. So, Natalie, would you possibly show us how you flip your tongue upside down?

Natalie [00:12:31]:

Give it a go.

Martin [00:12:36]:

Oh, my goodness. Oh, God. I'm pretty sure people go, how did these things go viral? That's just like that. Well, there you go. I've known you for, I don't know, about a year or so and I didn't know that.

Natalie [00:12:55]:

Completely useless talent, but it's there.

Martin [00:13:00]:

I remember being in a group of teachers and we were down the pub and people talking, the same question came up and this lady said, I can lick my elbow. And one of the other guys went, no, that's anatomically impossible, it can't be done. People say they can, but they can't. To which she just right in front of us did, and we're like, wow, okay, we know that's not possible, but we've just seen it done. Yeah, there we go. Maybe there's a group somewhere for people who can do interesting things with bits of their body. We ought not to go there. OK, getting back on track yourself, well and Valley Legal, if we want to find out more about you, how can we find you online? What are the socials and do you have a preferred platform that you like to kind of meet people on?

Natalie [00:13:54]:

Yeah, so our website is wellandvalleylegal.co.uk. We are on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook again, just by searching Welland Valley Legal and we're pretty active across all of those platforms, so, yeah, if you ever need our services, just drop us a message.

Martin [00:14:13]:

Brilliant. OK. And as we kind of draw to a close, is there anything else that you'd like to tell us before we let you go?

Natalie [00:14:22]:

No, I don't think so. It's a big thank you for having me on. I'm a big advocate for the business network and supporting our local business community, so it's a privilege to be the first one on this.

Martin [00:14:34]:

Oh, thank you very much, Natalie. It's great to meet you. Dear listener, show some love for Natalie by checking out all the show notes on marketharboroughbiznetwork.com/podcast. Even better, join in, leave a comment, question, a suggestion. We really appreciate you listening to this and we'd like you to help to grow it, to make it as useful as possible for, you know, when you go to check out the show notes, you can find out more about Welland Valley Legal. Once again, thank you very much, Natalie, for coming on and for being our first guest on The Harborough Hustle. Thank you.

Natalie [00:15:17]:

Thanks very much.