Sector focus: SMEs
Learning to fly Louise Parfitt chats to business owner Jen Richley about the good times, the tough points and how to thrive when you are thrust into a leadership role
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hen your one-person business begins to take off, the emotions come flooding in: a burst of relief, a swell of pride, and an equal dose of excitement and trepidation. Now you have enough work coming in to bring someone else on board; a little while later you can afford a third person; then another role is added… suddenly you are the managing director, line manager, HR, finance, IT helpdesk and wellbeing support for your team, while also keeping on doing the day job. Sound familiar? It resonates with Jen Richley. She started CopperHouse Events in 2021 armed with an idea, some contacts and 15 years of experience in events management. “I was made redundant during lockdown from my previous role in an event agency, so I was looking
for my next opportunity. I thought, ‘why don’t I see if I can do it on my terms?’” she explains. “I set up a tiny desk in the corner of my son’s nursery, came up with a logo and went for it.”
The CopperHouse Events team (from left): Kerstyn Zeslawski, Mo Foden, Jessica Heath, Jen Richley, Lucy Brown, Lola Webster and Sophie Boulton
Scale-up at speed Richley had no financial backing, so at first she worked three jobs: as a packer in the evenings, as a receptionist at the weekends, and during the week she devoted every spare hour to setting up her business. Within three months, she had to give up her extra jobs because her business was snowballing. “I spoke to everyone I was connected with about the vision I had, focusing on relationships that were built on trust. One of the first enquiries I had was for a venue for 10 people. I danced round the nursery with sheer joy!” Eight months later, CopperHouse Events was turning a profit, and in 2022, Richley took on her first member of staff. “We started to build the business to offer full-service event management as well as venue sourcing. By 2023, I was able to take on another two people – we were flying!” Learning to lead The company’s focus expanded to include international events, which now make up 35% of its work. Richley was also becoming increasingly aware that she’d never managed a team before, so she had to go on a steep learning curve. “The business accelerated quickly and I wasn’t prepared for the leadership aspect at all,” she admits. “I’ve had to learn to toughen up a bit. I have always been assertive when it comes to dealing with challenges for a client, but internally I found it very difficult in the beginning, for example saying to someone they can’t have that day off because it didn’t work for the business needs. I wanted everyone to like me rather than face having the difficult conversations, but actually what I have found is that the team has more respect and can move forward more rapidly when I am firm and act with clarity.”
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