Q. Tell us about your business

My husband and I run The Quiz Team, which creates and hosts bespoke quizzes for both businesses and private individuals. Our clients include large corporate organisations, charities and pubs, and we often run private events for weddings and birthdays.
We aim to bring people together to be entertained and enlightened, and for our corporate clients it’s often about team building.
My husband, Jez, originally set up the business in 2007. I then joined him three years ago to nurture and support growth and take charge of event planning.
The last few years have been really interesting. Whereas previously we delivered most of our quizzes in person, the forced switch to a virtual model has transformed our business. We’ve experienced 50% growth year on year and are now in the midst of recruiting more hands to help us continue this upward trend.
As a small business we are agile and fast, and managed to set up our virtual model within the first two weeks of lockdown. Enquiries started flooding in, which was just incredible, albeit a little overwhelming at the time. There were lots of long days and late nights, but we worked our way through it one step at a time.

Q. What inspired your business idea?

Sadly, I can’t take the credit as I didn’t even know Jez when he started the business. It was his idea and stemmed from his former career as a professional actor, and love of knowledge and facts. In the early days Jez used to do all the hosting himself, but we now have a team of individuals who are all actors and bring a polished, entertaining performance to our quizzes.
The great British public love a quiz, which is obviously good news for us.

Q. What’s the best part about running your own business?

For me, it’s being in charge of entertaining people and making them happy. It’s entirely our responsibility to make this happen and seems to bring out the very best in me. And of course, there’s the flexibility to work your own hours. This often means long hours, but we choose when to do them.

Q. What do you find most challenging?

As a growing business we do everything ourselves, which is tough during busy periods. Fortunately, we’re now large enough to bring on other people to help us tackle the next stage in our journey. I’m delighted I’ll soon have someone to help me with event planning.

Q. How do you keep motivated when the going gets tough?

Before I started running The Quiz Team with Jez, I had my own personal training business and to this day continue to work with a small group of clients. I am passionate about exercise, which has always been a big part of my life. As well as the obvious health and fitness benefits it helps me unwind and manage everyday stress. I also practice affirmations and deep breathing whenever I take time out to relax.
I’m also motivated by providing the best possible customer service. The feedback from a happy client is worth its weight in gold.

Q. How has Jo supported you?

When I joined the business we were very small and didn’t worry too much about things like T&Cs, but as we grew our corporate clients it quickly became a priority. We needed legal advice, but we didn’t want to spend a fortune, which is why Jo’s oven ready legal documents fitted the bill perfectly. The fact she spent time with me ensuring I knew how to tailor it to our specific business was a saviour. She also made sure I fully understood the contents so I could confidently talk our clients through the document and answer any questions.

Q. What’s your biggest learning?

Sometimes opportunities come from the most challenging of situations. When we first went into lockdown we thought it might be the end of our business. But we managed to gather our thoughts, get our creative heads on and think big. That’s why we’re here today running a successful business. My advice to anyone is to take the time to think, then be brave and act quickly on the opportunity.

Q. What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were setting up your business?

I wish I had known how important it is to be constantly thinking ahead and making sure everything is in place for the busier times, which often arrive unexpectedly. I learned this the hard way when I had to turn down several clients because we hadn’t fully trained our new quiz hosts. We should have started training earlier, ahead of our busy season but we didn’t have a process at the time to support that work. As you can imagine, we’re all about processes now!

Q. Which businessperson would you most like to have dinner with?

I’d love to eat with Oprah Winfrey and find out what steps and leaps she has taken to build her empire. I think she’s an incredible woman.

To find out more about The Quiz Team click here