As part of our popular Inspirational Female Founder Spotlight series, we recently caught up with the wonderful Monique Sveinsson, founder of The Perfect Planner Company. We’re major fans of the brand and use their excellent planners daily, so it was a delight to discover more about how the brand started and Monique’s entrepreneurship journey.
“I am a time management and productivity expert with 25 years’ experience working in the events and stage management industry. I have worked with some of the world’s largest businesses such as Disney, Google and Facebook and am proud to have been a stage manager for various west end shows such as Hairspray and War Horse. I am now a mother of two girls and CEO & Founder of Perfect Planner Company.
The Perfect Planner Company brand has grown into a successful multinational company that helps business owners, families and individuals around the world get organised, focused and driven to grow their business and personal development to the next level. The company is ever innovating and expanding its product range with the aim of helping as many people as possible to become successful and productive in their personal and business lives.
We are in the midst of an ever-growing digital world, full of new opportunities and distractions, but the age-old tradition of putting pen to paper as a way of recording our thoughts and organising our lives is still as strong as ever, pushing aside all the distractions of the modern world of notifications and focusing our minds on what is important – our goals and dreams!
How did the idea come to you for the company?
The idea to start Perfect Planner Company came to me whilst I was on maternity leave. I discovered the world of entrepreneurship and started working for an online business as a way to make some extra money whilst taking some time off with my daughter. I have always been very organised and heavily focused on time management, but I felt that within the Direct Selling industry there wasn’t a planner which facilitated this taking people through every stage of their business, teaching them how to juggle the many hats we all need to wear these days and essentially holding their hands through a beautiful and elegant planner. I decided to fill that gap!
How did you achieve awareness?
As many other business owners will know it is extremely hard to fight through your competitors in order to get seen whether this is sending an email to someone’s inbox or a post showcasing your products on social media. If I am totally honest with you, Perfect Planner Company has grown through word of mouth and recommendations. I have created a product that I am very proud of and most importantly my products help others get more organised in a very straightforward, step-by-step way. I think we all need something which makes our lives that little bit easier whether you are business owner, busy parent, or network marketer!
What were/are the challenges and how have you overcome these?
Every step for me at the start was a learning curve. When I first started to create a planner (which was the initial goal, I had no idea at the time it would grow to the size it did), I had no idea of the complexities of a product business from learning about manufacturing, shipping, marketing and business skills. Every day was a school day. However I am fiercely determined and don’t let anything phase me. I have grown and learnt along the way facing every challenge with integrity and dignity. Competition has also been a challenge for us but no one can take away the one thing that we have as a business, which that people buy from people and that uniqueness is part of my superpower!
What are your plans now/for the future?
Perfect Planner Company is going from strength to strength from us selling more and more planners each year to our online community growing beyond what I ever thought or predicted! 2022 is going to be a very exciting year for us, we are working with some amazing new brands, continuing working with our corporate clients but most importantly we are focusing on our customers, listening to feedback, and supporting them every way we can here at Perfect Planner Company. Just watch this space!
Can you share your top 5-10 tips for entrepreneurial success?
My top tips for any new entrepreneur are:
- Believe in yourself and your product!
- Create an actionable plan, a step-by-step process so you can tick things off each day!
- Prioritise your customers and customer service, without them you will have no business!
- Keep an eye on your work/life balance! Running a business is hard so make sure you look after yourself and take time out when needed!
What are your favourite inspirational /motivational quotes?
Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do – Steve Jobs (Think Different Campaign)
What are your social handles and website links so our readers can connect with you?
You can find us on Facebook our handle is @perfectplannercompany and on Instagram we are @perfectplanner.company. Our website is perfectplannerco.com. We also have a Facebook group which is the SLTP (She Loves to Plan) The Planning & Goal Setting hub for Entrepreneurs & Network Marketers where we have an incredible community of business owners and entrepreneurs who are very motivating and supportive! And finally we also have a podcast, the She Loves to Plan Podcast which is available on all podcast streaming services where I give advice and top tips covering topics from Outsourcing to Parenting and everything in between including some incredible guest speakers as well!
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/perfectplanner.company/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/perfectplannerco
Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/shelovestoplanbusinesshub
Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/she-loves-to-plan-by-monique-sveinsson/id1577104033
Website – https://perfectplannerco.com/
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