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Image represents increasing clarity towards a clear business blueprint. There are four brains in a row from left to right. The first brain in the row has a tangled thread in a thought bubble above its head. The next brain in the sequence has a less jumbled tangle. The third brain has a small, open knot. The last brain in the sequence has a light bulb lit above its head and is looking at a business blueprint. The blueprint is titled 'my business'. It has four sections: values, vision, customers and offer.

DESIGN FOR BUSINESS.

GET TO KNOW YOUR BUSINESS – AND YOU – BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE.

Do more of the work you want and love
with the customers you want and love.

The image shows a hand drawn tangle of thread, with three different coloured threads all tangled together. One is labelled as 'me'. The second colour is labelled as 'my business'. And the third is labelled as 'my customers.'

TO THE SOLO BUSINESS OWNER WHO FEELS ALL IN A TANGLE.

Finding clarity about who you are and what that means for how you show up in your business doesn’t happen by chance. Knowing who you want to serve and what those people really want so that it refines what you offer isn’t some magic trick.

The reality of running your own business often means that:

You have a lot on your plate. You’re doing a lot. And it’s easy to feel like there’s always more to do. It’s easy to get stuck in a holding pattern, or a ‘just surviving’ pattern. It’s easy to wait until you’re less busy, or less stuck, before you make some changes. How do you decide what to do, and what not to do? How do you decide what to say yes to and what to say no to?

It feels like there’s nothing you can do to change your situation. Or that you just don’t know where to start. Taking no action means that you stay in the status quo, feeling stuck and frustrated. All the more frustrating because this is your business – you created it, and yet you feel it’s not quite working for you. Is there anything you can do to change things when you’re so busy keeping the lights on?

It’s hard to know where your business ends and you begin. Or maybe it’s hard to know where you end and your business begins. Where’s the separation? Who are you when you show up in your business, and who are you outside it? Let’s find out.

Let’s find space and make changes now. No more waiting, hesitating, or feeling stuck. Instead, take small, consistent actions that will help you to find more space straight away and will also add up to long term changes that you feel in control of.

Read on to see how Design for Business can help you get the clarity you need to take those small, intentional actions with confidence.

LOU IS AN AMAZING SENSE-MAKER.

The way she chats things through with you in such a calm, measured, and intelligent way is fantastic. I came away with a much clearer vision and a renewed sense of motivation.
Claire Gordon
Virtual Assistant

FROM THIS

  • A scrambled brain with scattered focus.
  • Doubts.
  • Scared to make changes.
  • Unsure of your direction.
  • Overwhelm.
  • Reactive to the customers that come along.
  • Frustrated and struggling to make progress.
  • Disconnection.
  • Stuck.

TO THIS

  • A clear vision that encourages focus.
  • Taking confident actions.
  • Making space to experiment and learn.
  • Clear priorities.
  • Strategic confidence.
  • Proactive and clearly signalling to the customers you want.
  • Renewed motivation.
  • Who you are, what your business and who it’s for are aligned.
  • Making steady progress with new opportunities.

ARE YOU READY FOR MORE CLARITY IN YOUR BUSINESS?

Are you at the point in the growth of your business where you want it to:

  • Bring in more of the work that you enjoy and excel in?
  • Work with more of the customers that you love to work with?
  • Reflect more of who you are, but without taking so much from you?
The image shows a hand drawn tangle of thread, with three different coloured threads all tangled together. One is labelled as 'me'. The second colour is labelled as 'my business'. And the third is labelled as 'my customers.'This time the threads are untangling and getting separated into individual strands.

DESIGN FOR BUSINESS CAN HELP YOU

  • Get to know yourself better so you know who you are, separate to your business.
  • Understand what you love to do, your strengths, and who you love to serve.
  • Uncover more about the people you love to serve so you can refine your offer to them.
  • Unblock your energy, take control of your business alongside your wellbeing, and find a new sense of freedom.
  • Get clarity, find focus, and take actions to get things moving.

LET’S USE THE KINDS OF DESIGN TOOLS THAT SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE BRANDS AND SERVICES USE EVERY DAY.

Tools like empathy maps and customer mindsets are helpful for getting into the detail of who your customer really is and what they’re looking for. Design for Business makes these tools accessible to you and your business.

I combine these with tools from my Design for Life programme so that you get to know yourself better, too. That way we can bring who you are and what you love to do closer to the types of people you really love to serve in your business.

Want to explore how Design for Business can help you? Book your free, no obligation chat. I’ll find out a bit more about what you want help with, and can give you more specifics on how I can help. We can work out if we think we’re a good fit to work together. I’ll always be honest if I feel I can’t help you and will try to direct you to someone who can. Click the button below to use my bookable calendar.

BOOK A FREE 30 mIN CHAT
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DESIGN FOR BUSINESS HELPS CREATIVE BUSINESS OWNERS LIKE YOU.

Design for Business helps creative entrepreneurs. That doesn’t mean your business has to be in a creative industry. It does mean that you do feel you have a creative approach to your business. You feel creative in your work. And most of all you enjoy the work you do (most of the time!).

Here are some examples of people who have benefitted from Design for Business:

  • Designers – freelance service designers, content designers, systems coaches.
  • Facilitators – trainers, coaches, mediators, consultants.
  • Virtual assistants.
  • Authors and writers who have or are building an audience.

The most important thing is that you do want to make an impact with your business. You want it to have a positive impact on your life and on the lives of the people who buy from you.

YOU WANT TO MAKE AN IMPACT FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS.

Whether it’s you on your own or a small team, Design for Business is designed for one-person bands and small businesses.

I love working with people who want to:

  • Get clear on their values and aims in life and how to apply them in their business.
  • Do no harm through their business – you didn’t get into this business to create the kinds of problems you’ve seen elsewhere.
  • Create a positive lasting impact in the world through their business and outside it. You started this business to have more freedom and also to help people with your skills and strengths.

Design for Business is best suited to people who feel this way, too.

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what Design for BUSINESS offers you.

You started your business to help more people using your skills and strengths. If you keep going as you are, will you eventually stumble on the magic formula to make that happen? Your uniqueness as a human is what makes your business unique too. You can get to know yourself better, and bring more of that to your business… and find a greater degree of separation between the two.

When you delve into your identity and capture who you are and what you want. And when you establish who you really love to serve in your business, and what they need. Then you can find more freedom in your business and your life.

Over three or six months we’ll go on a deep dive whilst making sure what you learn is applied to your decisions week to week. A bespoke, step by step process that guides you through getting to know yourself and your customers better with:

  • One to one consultations by phone or WhatsApp call.
  • One session per month (60mins).
  • Making changes in your business on your terms.
  • Activities tailored to your business situation and goals.
  • Personalised guides that collate your learning.
  • Learn tons about yourself and find that making changes in your business can be easier than you think.

FORCE FOR GOOD

When I want to understand a new concept of business better, I go to Lou because she sees the world through a different lens.
Dr Carrie Goucher
Entrepreneur

DESIGN FOR BUSINESS SUPPORTS YOU IN YOUR UNIQUE JOURNEY.

Every step of your path through Design for Business is chosen so that they meet you where you are and you make progress in the areas you need to grow in.

You’ll have dedicated time with me where we overcome any challenges you might have. I’ll give you short activities designed to get the most clarity from what you know right now so that you can apply it straight away. And you’ll get detailed visual guides from me that show your current thinking and your progress.

WHAT YOU DO IN THE PROGRAMME

Over a series of calls with activities for you to do in between, we’ll work with simple frameworks and tools to help you make tiny changes right here, right now.

Small, gentle changes that give you a greater sense of control over time, and connect you with the reasons you’re doing what you do. Just enough risk that you feel in control. Just enough clarity that you’re ready to take action. This is not about endlessly planning, taking break to work on yourself, or taking a huge leap before you’re ready.

I love hearing the glow in people’s voices as they realise how empowering it is to take small consistent actions and see the lasting effect that has in their business. And you’ll be surprised by the difference that will make in three or six months (and beyond!).

Sick of quick fixes, or committing to a new idea and then losing momentum within days or weeks? Good news: That’s why I’m here.

One session at a time, one activity at a time – we’ll work together to define the change you really want to see in your business and take small consistent actions to make it happen.

You’ll have accountability from me to actually get it done. Then a sounding board, listening ear, and critical friend when it doesn’t. And a partner to celebrate with when it does.

Figuring out your intent – choosing the one thing that will serve as your guide, to focus your attention and energy – is the tricky bit.

That’s why it’s really helpful to have me as your guide to uncover it with you, to get every drop of clarity we can.

It’s that clarity that drives a series of small, specific, manageable actions to move you towards your intent, one day and one week at a time.

And we’ll come back together to problem solve, identify obstacles, and overcome them, session by session.

Intent might seem a concept far removed from business. Actually it’s the most important thing. It determines what you say yes to, what you say no to, what you’re open to. And when you find it and use it, it’s much more rewarding and satisfying than achieving any smart goal or KPI.

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WHAT YOU GET FROM THE PROGRAMME

Over the course of each 60 minute call, we’ll explore what’s got you stuck and find a little space for you to start making changes straight away whilst we keep working on clarifying and refining the bigger picture. If you’ve had activities to do, you’ll bring them and share with me how you got on and what you found out.


Sessions are often audio only, so you can be in your PJs, your lounge, your garden shed – wherever is comfortable for you. I just ask that you meet from a place where you can speak freely and won’t be interrupted.


I also use video calls when it’s the best approach, so that we can work on a shared virtual whiteboard together. I bring frameworks specifically chosen to bring you clarity. We get started on them together and you continue on your own. What we capture there is yours beyond the life of the programme. With your own Miro account, you can also copy and paste content to your own boards.

Your business is unique, and so are you. I’ll use what we learn together to inform the best activities to help with whatever you’re stuck on at the moment.

You’ll discover your values and strengths and the kinds of services you love to provide. Great if you’ve already done work on that – bring it to the table! And absolutely fine if you haven’t.

You’ll learn about your current customers and we’ll dig into what you offer them, drawing on what you already know and uncovering new insights.

Then we’ll look at tweaking your offer, to help you find more of the customers that you really love to work with.

You’ll also discover what makes you happy, find small ways to add that in to every day, work on your health and wellbeing, and reconnect with your sense of purpose. Design for… programmes are holistic, whole person experiences. Because you can you show up to your business if you’re not feeling confident in yourself?

As we work through your activities together, you’ll gain insights into yourself and your business.

I’ll take notes in our sessions and distill these down into a personalised pdf guide that you can refer to whenever you need it.

We may also work on a shared virtual whiteboard that we both contribute to. Somewhere you can think out loud, capture observations, and see new connections that will inform your decision making in your business. I use software called Miro for this. With your own account you can create boards of your own, too.

And if Miro and pdfs aren’t accessible to you, that’s ok too. As part of getting to know each other, I’ll learn about your access needs and we’ll choose platforms you can use and are happy with.

HOW IT WORKS

ADD SECTION IN HERE, CLArity DRIVES ACTION

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WHO YOU’LL MEET

Portrait of Lou Shackleton - a woman with long hair and glasses with some added illustrations of a rainbow, rocket, star and notebook

ABOUT YOUR GUIDE: LOU SHACKLETON

HELLO!

I’m Lou, and I’ve built a reputation as a catalyst for change.

I love working with people who want to get clear on their values and aims in life, do no harm, and create a positive lasting impact in the world: through their way of life, the work they do, and the decisions they make in their businesses.

For the past twenty years, I’ve been fascinated with change and transitions and their effect on us humans. This fascination started when I studied for my degree in Psychology. Since then, I’ve worked with people who want to change things – in their own life, in their work, or in their organisation (and, sometimes, all three!). I’ve helped people adjust their lives after life-changing brain injuries and helped teams in organisations to redesign their online services. This means I bring a human approach as well as tried and tested design methodologies.

Along the way I’ve collected, curated, adapted and invented a whole toolkit. All of the tools in the kit are focused on making changes in your business that better serve the customers you love to work with and help you to shape your offer around you.

I’m really proud of the people who have come to Design for Business and made tangible changes for themselves in their business. From transitioning away from a day job in a way that felt safe and steady to finding new customers that are a better fit.

I’m a dreamer and a doer with a lover of stories. I’ve used these tools and techniques myself to find a fitness routine that works for me, change my job, and move across the country to live by the sea (a long-held dream). I believe in the power of design and storytelling to help us all do less with more delight in our day to day lives and in our businesses. I’ve created a business – this business – that I’m proud of, that genuinely helps others, and plays to my strengths.

MY GO-TO PERSON
FOR MY LIFE AND BUSINESS

Lou is simply the best at helping you see things differently, which allows for dramatic and positive change to happen, quickly and easily.
Neil Prem
Leadership and performance coach

Lou has so many skills to draw on and knows just how to nudge a conversation forward or ask the right question.
Eve Critchley
Mind, the mental health charity

Lou is considered and methodical, a very careful listener and brings a calm energy.
Vika Lebedeva-Baxter
Biodata Innovation Centre, Wellcome Genome Campus
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What will we learn together?

After completing Design for Business, you will be able to:

  • Understand yourself and what you want from your business.
  • Use that new understanding to make confident decisions.
  • Access your strengths, characteristics and values to inform the shape of your business and what it offers.
  • Determine what’s important to you, giving a new sense of confidence in what you say yes to in your business (and what you say no to).
  • Create space and just-enough-structure to reduce the risk of overwhelm, fatigue and burnout and find new options for yourself

This isn’t about taking time out to learn for six months so that you can apply the learning to your business later.

DURING THE PROGRAMME YOU WILL

  • Identify small actions you can take right now to adjust your business in the direction of your choosing.
  • Putting what you learn into practice after each and every session.
  • Bring what you learn and where you’ve got stuck to the next session.
  • Get just enough clarity that will help you to make slightly different decisions and be open to different opportunities.
  • Learn by experience, not just the theory.
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Curious about the activities and guides?

Following each session, I will select the activities and guides that will help you the most. You can get a sense of the activities I offer here:

  1. Knowing You, Knowing You
    Figure out what’s really important to you so that you can use it to inform your next steps.
  2. Empathy Map
    Gather everything you currently know about your customers. Separate out the customers you want more of and the ones you don’t. Identify opportunities to adapt your offers and create new ones. Get clarity on how to reach and communicate with more of those customers that are the ones you really want to serve.
  3. Inner Compass
    Turn what you learn about yourself into a tool you can use to make decisions, big and small, long after we have completed our sessions together.

You can also try out one of the activities I use in sessions, which is called Good Day/Bad Day. This is a great tool for getting to the heart of the parts of your business that you want to continue and the types of activity you want more of. And also the parts you would happily never do again! This is great data for choosing some changes you want to make in your business. For one client, it was a simple as making it to a lunchtime pilates class once a week.

Design for BUSINESS makes it easier to create changes with momentum.

How would your business be different if you felt more in control, less overwhelmed, and more certain about the future you want to build for yourself?

  • You would be excited to wake up in the morning and get started in your business.
  • You would have more confidence in the decisions you make.
  • You would be adopting new habits and routines that contribute to your wellbeing and happiness, alongside your business.
  • You would have a sense of freedom, and be able to flex more with what life and work sends your way.
  • You would find day to day life more grounding.
  • You would be content with figuring stuff out as you go, based on your own inner compass

If you’re still not sure if this programme is for you, it’s true that not everyone can benefit from this type of work. If you’re looking for a quick fix, it won’t work.

If you’re willing to show up, learn, be honest with yourself, and do the work between sessions, Design for Business will help you create the space and momentum you need. We’ll make incremental changes one small step at a time. Because that’s the only route to lasting change.

DESIGN FOR BUSINESS IS…

Designed around you.
Specific tools and frameworks chosen to match your exact situation.
Taking tiny actions that add up to long-lasting impact over time, and on your terms.
Growing your confidence in yourself and your business, with the help of a guide who gets it.
Encouraging and fun.
Turning possibilities into real learning about what will fulfil you in your business.
Focusing on what you can control, and letting go of the rest.
Holding yourself accountable.

DESIGN FOR BUSINESS IS NOT…

A cookie-cutter approach.
Lots of boring homework.
Time away from your business to ‘work on yourself’.
How to get to your first million (there’s so many other people you could go to for that).
Lots of long words that you don’t understand.
Someone else doing the work for you.
For people who are not ready to start taking small steps to change their life today, with the resources they currently have.

How to Pay

Tick

£850

– 3x one-to one sessions
(One session per month for 3 months).

PAY NOW

£1450

– 6x one to one sessions
(One session per month for 6 months).






CLARITY DRIVES ACTION

Before I met Lou, I felt completely lost – like a puppy on a boat at sea in the middle of a storm!
During the first session, my vision of what I wanted and why I wanted it became clearer and clearer. At the end of the session I felt extremely happy because I knew where I wanted to get to and exactly how to get there.
Adelina Chalmers
Speaker, coach, and entrepreneur

If you’re not sure what you need, let’s have a chat! We can explore what you’d like to get out of Design for Business and find a way forwards that you’re happy with.

BOOK A FREE 30 mIN CHAT

Subsidised optionS

If you can’t make the full price work right now, I am offering a sliding scale for people with different incomes.

  • If you have the resources, pay the full price.
  • If not, pay what you can – No guilt!

If you are able to pay the full price without causing any financial stress, please do. And if not, I ask that you pay one of the subsidised rates. This can be as low as £150 for a three session block for people on the lowest incomes, and I can organise payment by instalments too.

Contact me for a code to use at check out – via @loushackleton on instagram.

FROM THIS…

Overwhelmed and unsure where to begin.

Feeling like who you are and what your business does aren’t aligned how you’d like them to be.

Scattered focus and struggling to make progress.

Doing all the things but not sure if they’re the right things. Feeling frazzled and uncertain.

… TO THIS.

A clear vision that tells you which steps to take next.

Feeling like you’re showing up to your business with just enough of who you are.

A strong handle on what makes your business unique.

Certain about what you say yes to, and what you say no to.

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