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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Alison March
Credits@ Liz Carrington
“Be prepared to work hard and sacrifice some of your free time to your cause. Don’t think of your business as part of who you are, you need to be able to step back from it, allow others to help you to develop it and allow it to grow. I think it could be very easy for someone to suffocate their own business. By stepping back you allow others to have an opinion and ideas. Open your mind to criticism too. .” – Alison March
Today we feature Alison March, the founder at The Group Hug Ltd. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
My name is Alison March and I am the Founder and Managing Director of The Group Hug. I have two sons aged 10 and 14 and am the proud owner of a crazy cockapoo called Dougal. I live in Ascot in Berkshire with my sons and partner Phil.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
Before I got married, back in 2002, I was a Recruitment Consultant; matching people to jobs. In 2016 I started divorce proceedings and quickly realised how horrendous getting divorced could be.
I started a tongue-in-cheek facebook group for local women called “The Ascot and Sunninghill First Wives Club” – it grew quickly to around 250 women, just in the local area. We would meet up for coffee or wine and talk about what we were going through. It was really useful to talk to others who were going through similar issues and it wasn’t long before women in other areas were asking me to set up groups for them too.
I tried, but it was too much to handle and so I moved away from facebook and set up a website instead, just on Wix. The audience on that site grew and when I was done with my divorce, I decided that I wanted to do more with The First Wives Club.
I approached Claire Baker of SmithKin Baker in Devon and she persuaded me to drop the whole “First Wives” thing and to include the other 50% of the population, Men. The Group Hug was born. Having survived a gruelling divorce and my father’s death, all at the same time, I wanted others to know that they could get through too.
Rather than matching people to jobs, I am now able to connect those who are going through a tough time due to separation, divorce or bereavement, with those who can support.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
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The Group Hug Ltd is based in Ascot, Berkshire and is a community of people going through divorce, separation or bereavement. There is free advice in the form of expert blogs, a safe forum with chatrooms for the community to reach out to each other and The Hug Directory, which is a directory of experts who can help the community.
The directory includes family law firms, life coaches, divorce coaches, grief counsellors, house move experts, financial advisors and will writers. We connect with our community through the website and via our socials on instagram, facebook twitter and linkedin.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Getting divorced led to my success because by going through what I did, I am really able to connect with those who are going through challenging times. I am dedicated and hardworking and my lightbulb moment, when I knew I was onto something, was when experts wanted to advertise on my pretty awful self-built website.
I knew that I had to build a brand that people would immediately think of and come to when they needed support through the tough times. The brand was built in May 2019 and in June 2020 I decided to bring a Marketing Director into the business. I knew that I couldn’t build The Group Hug alone and he is amazing to work with. It’s great having someone to bounce ideas off. I have had amazing support from my partner too not only financially, but right down to walking the dog when it’s my turn and I have had something pressing to deal with.
This kind of support is the key to success and must be conscious of the fact that someone supporting by cooking the dinner or doing the school run really is important.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
I always have to remind myself that delegating work is vital to the success of any business. There are only so many hours in the day and I am currently looking for someone to look after our social media to enable me to concentrate on those all important sales. I can’t do everything. The Group Hug is a business, not my “baby”. If there are no sales, there is no business and I have to trust other people to take the reigns on some aspects of it.
I wish I had taken on our Marketing Director a year ago as he has made a huge difference to the business. I didn’t realise the value of having someone else onboard and I thought that I could run the whole business alone.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell my younger self to go to University. I went straight into the world of work and if I had my time again I think I would like to experience Uni life. Saying that, going straight out to work hasn’t been a bad thing for me. I am happy with my career life. I don’t really do “regrets”. I never think I should not be an entrepreneur because I love the challenges, dedication and hardwork it requires. I thrive under pressure.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Website, Quickbooks and GoCardless working together to collect payments and creative apps such as Ripl, Canva and Hootsuite scheduling tool . The business requires content to be published constantly and we have to tell people about that content via social media.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I wish I had taken on our Marketing Director a year ago as he has made a huge difference to the business. I didn’t realise the value of having someone else onboard and I thought that I could run the whole business alone.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Every time I hear that a community member has connected with an expert to get professional support I feel proud that someone who needs help has felt able to reach out using The Group Hug platform.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I want to see my two boys go into the world of work as dedicated and hardworking individuals. Part of my reason for being a Founder is to be a positive role model for them. I hope that I am showing them that you can be anything you want if you work hard and are honest and true to yourself and others. I can’t stand lying. The truth always wins.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Be prepared to work hard and sacrifice some of your free time to your cause. Don’t think of your business as part of who you are, you need to be able to step back from it, allow others to help you to develop it and allow it to grow. I think it could be very easy for someone to suffocate their own business. By stepping back you allow others to have an opinion and ideas. Open your mind to criticism too.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and The Group Hug Ltd”
To learn more about The Group Hug Ltd Visit www.thegrouphug.com
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