Graduate entrepreneur: Lesley Clarke, founder of Lesley Clarke Synthetic Phonics

This article is one of a series of interviews with University of Brighton graduate entrepreneurs. beepurple is the university’s entrepreneurship support service.

Name: Lesley Clarke
Subject studied: BEd (Hons)
Year of graduation: 1991
Business name: Lesley Clarke
Website: www.lesleyclarkesyntheticphonics.co.uk

Describe your business in a few sentences?

I am a literacy consultant, specialising in the teaching of phonics and guided reading. I provide training for teachers and teaching assistants and also work in schools to help develop the teaching of specific aspects of early literacy. I have a website, which provides phonics teaching resources for schools and information and activities to help parents support the development of their children’s phonics skills.

Where did your idea come from?

I worked as a local authority literacy consultant and missed this role when I went back into school as a deputy head. After 4 years, a part time teaching opportunity came up at my school and I gave up my deputy headship to take this. This gave me the opportunity to work part time as a freelance literacy consultant. I had lots of ideas for teaching phonics in school and had several books published in the early 2000s. It was a natural progression to go from this to self publishing on my own website.

How is your business unique?

I’m not aware of anyone else who is a freelance literacy consultant and still a practising class teacher.

How do you market your business?

Most of my consultancy work comes through word of mouth and I’m often booked up ½ term to a term in advance, so I don’t need to do much marketing. However, I do email details of centrally based courses I am running to all schools in the local area. I am aware that I need to market my website more – I know there are some really useful materials for teachers and parents on there, but not many people know of its existence. I have tried marketing using social media in the last year, but this is still a work in progress.

What has been your biggest business challenge and how have you overcome it?

Getting my website known. That continues to be my biggest challenge!

To what do you attribute your business success?

The fact I am still a teacher – other teachers like this. There are other consultants who talk about theory, but are not actually doing the things they are talking about. Specialising in a particular aspect of literacy has also helped and the fact that this aspect then turned out to be a government priority, which children are tested on at the end of Year 1 and Year 2. Schools have had to focus on this aspect and need to ensure staff are trained and confident to teach it – that’s where I can be of use.

What are your business plans for the future?

To continue doing what I’m doing and raise the profile of my website.

What one piece of advice would you offer to someone starting up?

If you can, keep a paid job on a part time basis to start with, until you know you can earn enough from your own business. Say yes to opportunities which come your way – you never know where they might lead.

What three skills are the most important for an entrepreneur to develop?

Be good at what you do, do what you say you’re going to do, build good relationships with customers and understand what they want.

Any tools, resources or books you recommend?

Try out some local networking groups. I have recently discovered the ‘Business Girls Network’, which has a helpful Facebook group (as well as local meet ups) – you can ask any business related question and someone will usually suggest an answer or know someone who can help.