Practically Leading
15 December 2025
Sector: Leadership Training and Consultancy
Location: Derby
Practically Leading is a consultancy and training business based in Derby. The business was founded in July 2025 by Director, Janet Holland after 26 years of charity leadership.
Practically Leading provides practical leadership solutions for small businesses and charities through training, coaching, and consultancy. Services include strategic business development, policy and procedure design, income diversification, bid writing, governance and project development.
The company also delivers specialist training in areas such as early years safeguarding and compassionate leadership, helping organisations strengthen their leadership capacity and improve operational performance.
Challenges faced
As a newly established business, Janet faced several initial challenges. It was difficult to clearly define the brand identity, service offering and target customer base. In addition, Janet didn’t have the skills herself to create the marketing materials, slowing down promotion and new leads. Online presence for the business also needed work as the current channels did not fully reflect the services provided or values-led approach Janet was offering.
Solution – Support Given
Through the Derbyshire Accelerator project, Janet accessed one-to-one support from Chamber Business Adviser, Lisa Baggott. This support helped Janet focus on developing the business plan, identifying target customers, refining the pricing model, and clearly defining the service offer. Lisa also supported Janet in reviewing her overall business approach, customer funnel and sales strategy.
Janet was also successful in applying for a Growth Voucher. This Accelerator funding helped Janet access further support with branding, which encouraged her to reflect on the purpose and vision behind Practically Leading, helping to establish a clearer understanding of the brand and its values.
The business’s previous website had been created quickly as a simple online “window,” without significant consideration of brand identity, target audience, or service focus. Working with Creative Director, Chris Green from Pretty Decent, this support allowed Janet to explore these areas in more depth, prompting her to think carefully about Practically Leading’s services, ideal customers and future direction.
Chris also provided guidance on improving social media content and visual presentation. He introduced Janet to Canva as a more effective tool for creating marketing materials, replacing her earlier use of PowerPoint for visuals.
To build her skills Janet also attended the Marketing that Means Business: Build your Marketing Plan Accelerator workshop.
Impact - The Difference it’s Made
As a result of the support received, the business now has a stronger sense of brand identity and direction. Janet has gained greater clarity around the business’s purpose, target audience and service offering, enabling a more strategic approach to marketing and business development.
The visual identity and web design support provided a clear foundation for refreshing the company’s online presence, ensuring that the website and branding now better reflect the values and practical approach of Practically Leading.
Through the guidance of Lisa and Chris, Janet also increased her confidence in promoting the business and improved her ability to create professional marketing materials using Canva which significantly reduced the time spent producing graphics. Janet also developed a more effective social media strategy. Overall, the support has positioned Practically Leading for sustainable growth and stronger engagement with its clients.
“Lisa and Chris were amazing to work with, they were both incredibly patient with me, as a non-marketing person, they helped me understand some key principles and how I should present my business online. I look forward to working with Chris further to develop my brand identity.”
- Janet Holland, Director
