A New Digital Age for Lynne with Stripe Virtual Services

With an extensive professional portfolio, Lynne wanted to go it alone and become her own boss stating the work-life balance as her key motivator: “I wanted to set up my own business for a long time, especially after we had our children. I wanted to try and achieve the work-life balance for my family.”

Having worked within the digital sector for practically her whole career, taking the leap into self-employment was a big decision for Lynne with ‘self-doubts and insecurities’ as her biggest barrier. She began carrying out research on existing businesses to explore gaps in the market, as well as speaking with friends who already had their own businesses to really decide whether self-employment was for her.

Lynne said: “I then discovered The Women’s Organisation and I can honestly say that I haven’t looked back since! There’s a huge amount of value to be had in the training and business support that they provide, as well as the camaraderie you experience at each of their events.”

Working alongside a business adviser and attending The Women’s Organisation events, Lynne valued meeting like-minded women who shared the same issues and concerns as her, and this sense of solidarity ‘empowered’ Lynne to push on with her business. Once Lynne secured her first few clients, she began to believe in her ability to make a success of the business.

 Stripe Virtual Services now provides services that mirror the expertise Lynne has developed over the years in her various roles. Offering everything from digital consultancy, design, project management and business admin services, Lynne is able to support her main target audience of small businesses and entrepreneurs in streamlining their services.

And what makes Stripe Virtual Services different? Lynne prides her business on providing fast-paced services within a relaxed and calm environment. She said: “There’s none of the corporate stuffiness you can experience with larger firms. Several of my clients are local and my meetings can generally take place in coffee shops or at kitchen tables – I even had a meeting whilst walking around the Marine Lake recently.”

For Lynne, the best thing about being a businessowner is working from home over in West Kirby and the invaluable additional time she can spend with her children. As a mum of two, eliminating the work commute means that Lynne can do the school run and carry out various household tasks throughout the day without causing disruption to her business.

As business picks up pace, Lynne is feeling proud of what she’s achieved and is beginning to look towards plans for the future, which include building up a small team to develop the services offered by Virtual Stripe Services.

More recently, Lynne co-founded the West Kirkby Business Network in April of this year in order to connect with more local businesses and begin building an integrated community of entrepreneurs who can support one another. This network is now home to over 200 members and reflects the growing appetite for entrepreneurship across Wirral. Lynne said: “it’s helped me to see just how many others are making a success of their professional lives outside of the usual 9-5 roles.”

Reflecting on her lessons learnt, Lynne says: “if you’re having a bad day try not to lose sight of what you’re trying to achieve – tomorrow will almost certainly be a better day. Be sure to surround yourself with likeminded people – it’s truly amazing how some else’s drive and enthusiasm can rub off on you”.

If you’re looking to start a business, Lynne’s word of advice is: “do your research and do it well. Speak to trusted contacts and ask for their feedback. Once you’ve got it reasonably straight in your head, contact The Women’s Organisation who can help you improve your confidence to take that first big step.”

Anyone who’d like to find out more about how Stripe Virtual Services can help you build your web presence, brand recognition or manage projects or business admin, contact her on 0151 808 1145 or hello@stripe-vs.com. You can also connect with Lynne on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or head to the website!