BIANCA MILLER-COLE FOUNDER To Be Group

Award-winning entrepreneur Bianca MillerCole started The Be Group in 2012 with the belief that everyone should be able to access personal development services. Her company is the ‘go-to’ business for personal branding success and boasts an impressive list of clients including HSBC, Google, and Kings College London.

Milestone spoke to Bianca about writing best-selling books including Self Made: The Definitive Guide to Business Startup Success and her time vying for Lord Sugar’s investment on The Apprentice TV show.

MILESTONE: When did you first know you wanted to pursue a career in business?

BIANCA MILLER-COLE: Looking back through my childhood there is an entrepreneurial vein that ran through many of my activities. I was the type of child who liked to make and save money so I found ways to monetise my activities and started small businesses along the way, from selling my paintings to anyone that would buy them (mostly my parents) aged five, to using my passion for dance to start a dance school aged 12, to hosting paid under 18 parties at 17. I think it’s fair to say that my hunger for entrepreneurship has been there from the very beginning.

How are you self made?

In 2010, when I graduated from university, there was a recession which meant I didn’t start a business straight away but instead took up a position as an HR advisor for Accenture, a management consultancy company. Part of my role was to oversee their community of 1,500 graduates and it gave me great insight into the reality of the working world. The graduates I worked with were very intelligent people, however, they were not always good at personal brand

ing, communication, and networking. They were not aware of how their personal brand could influence their career trajectory and future job prospects.

I was tasked with preparing the graduates for promotion and helping them to understand how to find and reach their goals. I knew then that it was what I wanted to do. I built my personal brand while working for Accenture.

After 2.5 years I was being earmarked for promotion, however, I didn’t know if that was what I desired. I was posed with a difficult decision, so I decided to leave and pursue a career in recruitment. I believed that recruitment had great potential as a business idea. However, what I experienced was that there were many candidates coming in for high-paid accountancy jobs who struggled to articulate their experience or build a reputable online brand. This is when I had my light bulb moment – I wanted to help people find and develop their personal brand and understand the impact it could have on them while climbing the career ladder.

I continued to work in recruitment by day and on my business plan by night. With purpose realised and my passion ignited, I started my first business, The Be Group. I was 23 and quite naive to business, but I had the right amount of passion to make a go of it. It took me a while to get my foot in the door, the beginning of my journey demanded a lot of grit, resilience, and persistence. I tapped into my well-established network, landing my first client which was a global bank, while the second was a prestigious university. I didn’t benefit from any handouts, but I used what I knew and those first two clients to open doors and create more connections I continued to network three to four times a week to keep my name out there and to keep people curious about what I was getting up to.

And now, nearly a decade later, I’m lucky enough to name some of the most prestigious corporate organisations in the world as some of my clients including Google, Accenture, KPMG, Facebook, HSBC, American Express, EY, Deloitte, and CMS…the list goes on.

What did you take away from being on The Apprentice – was coming second a blessing in disguise?

Anyone who has watched The Apprentice knows that it’s no walk in the park. It was important for me to weigh up the pros and cons of being in front of eight million people. It’s a gruelling process; 12 weeks in a house of 19 entrepreneurs all vying for a £250,000 business investment.

My experience on the show taught me a lot but also solidified my belief that anything is possible with the right work ethic, passion, humility to learn, and focus. Unfortunately, I didn’t win, and at the time I was disappointed that I came second – because I always focus on the win. But I believe it was a blessing in disguise. If I had won, it would have given me the investment from Lord Sugar. However, it would also have meant I was beholden to someone else. I believe that the reason why so many people dive into entrepreneurship is to truly be the narrator of their story, whereas, winning would have meant relocating and essentially doing as you are told.

What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

For budding entrepreneurs, I advise you to put yourself and your idea out there. It’s important to do the research but don’t be afraid to try and fail. In fact, I often say “fail fast.” Even if it’s a side hustle. during these times, it’s really important to think about how you can make more money and diversify your streams of income.

Get feedback. It’s important to test your product or service out with your target audience, not just your family and friends. Tangible feedback is what will let you know if your business is viable.

Have your survival budget ready. I would advise you to work this out, so you can live while growing the business. It often takes longer than you first anticipated. Therefore, it’s paramount that you get your finances aligned. You will need to know what you’re offering, how much you are going to sell it for, how much you are going to get paid, and how frequently you are going to get paid. All of this information is vital in ensuring your business is financially sound.

It’s important to use social media with your business in mind. Don’t just focus on getting followers, ensure you are focused on getting potential customers and growing your brand and your personal brand. It can be easy to get caught up in vanity metrics, such as followers, but you have to ask yourself “are those followers converting into money?” It’s important to focus on how you can use those followers to build the brand but also to add value. As the saying goes “information for free, implementation for a fee.”

Deliver excellent customer service, you don’t just want to have customers, you want raving fans. If you’re starting a business, you want to ensure you are providing a phenomenal customer experience and giving them value. Your customers are your mouthpiece and they will help you to gain more customers and traction. They are one of the cheapest marketing tools you will have, so make sure you are using that to your advantage.

Finally, have fun, entrepreneurship is a unique experience so soak it all up and enjoy your journey.