About

 

 

Sara-Jayne SlocombeDo you wish you understood how to use your data to make decisions more confidently? That’s what I’m here to help with.

Hi, I’m Sara-Jayne Slocombe. I help you know and understand your small business’ numbers.

My mission is to help you run a profitable, enjoyable business doing what you love by providing insights into your most pressing questions by analysing your data.

When you can understand what the data is telling you, you can harness that power to make better decisions about pricing your products, launching new products, changing direction, and so much more.

Running your own business can be a scary thing sometimes, with many of us relying only on our gut. It is important to listen to your intuition, but life is much easier when you have data to guide you.

I bring my degree in mathematics and my training in data science to your business to help you see the big picture patterns and understand the music of the numbers in a different way. I straddle the worlds of detail and the big picture view, and I keep a holistic view of your business and your life in mind to help you get your business where you want it to be.

I’m a mathematician, business insights consultant, qualified bookkeeper, numberphile, wife, volunteer, immigrant, lapsed musician (clarinet and baritone saxophone), stationery fanatic, eternal student, cook, baker, and much more. I look forward to meeting you!

Sara Jayne Slocombe

Success Story

Bonus £18k found

Imagine finding £18k down the back of the couch.

What would you do with it?

My client hired their first employee after I did just that for them.

I was able to bring in an extra £18,355 of revenue after simply checking their cash receipts against their invoices. Because no one had been checking this, the client hadn’t realised they were owed this money.

That was a 19% increase in annual income that year.

For work they’d already done.

We’re drowning in numbers and data; it’s vital to know which to pay attention to.

Their bookkeeper had prided herself that everything always matched to the penny. 

It did.

However, she never thought to check whether their customers were actually paying their invoices. 

It can really add up over the years.

Are you checking the right numbers? I’d love to help you find out.

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Revenue Increase

What my clients say

Positive: Professionalism, Responsiveness
When you worked with us I saw our organisation become more professional, efficient and effective. It was really great being walked through my technical problems. So helpful and patient.

Daniel Weaver Todmorden Therapy
Daniel Weaver

Amethyst Racoon has brought clarity and responsiveness to the financial workings of New Mills Festival. We can now see the current state of each project and event within the Festival as well as overall figures. Additionally by having immediate access and understanding of all our figures when she attends meetings Sara-Jayne is able to directly respond to any queries that arise on whatever aspect of our finances.

For the project that I was directly responsible for she ensured that it came in on budget and was able to follow through on all grant requirements, etc. Beyond that she is personally interested in how the various events are doing and can contribute informed suggestions on how to proceed.

I would happily recommend her services to any arts organisation or individual trader.

Toby Hardwick New Mills Festival
Toby Hardwick

Thank you so much for being really generous with your time sorting out my computer problems and anxieties. You were so calm and patient and listened carefully to the difficulties I was experiencing. Then with amazing speed you created a system which I could use easily and with confidence. I am delighted, relieved and feel more in control. Thanks again.

Diana Cavanagh 
Diana Cavanagh

The bookkeeping services have been second to none. The confident and efficient way in which the services are provided mean that a layer of stress has been removed from our financial management. Having an expert, professional bookkeeper makes life easier – would highly recommend!

Patty Doran

This workshop was incredibly helpful. I have been selling products for quite a while now, but always have to do lots of “back of a fag packet” calculations every time I work out my pricing. If I’m honest I often have an uneasy feeling that I am not charging the right amount for some of them, or that I am not tracking my profit margins properly. I wanted to understand my pricing properly and thought I’d try out Sara-Jayne’s workshop because I know she works with small businesses and people who make their own products as well as bigger businesses.

The workshop was brilliant! She went through all kinds of concepts but in a way that I could really understand and didn’t make me feel foolish for the bits that I didn’t quite grasp at first. We walked through some pricing psychology that I can definitely use on my website, and looked at some different ways to calculate costs when you sell on lots of different platforms. There was definitely something in there for all the scenarios I was worrying about.

Best of all, she provided me with a spreadsheet that was already set up for me to do calculations from so that I can go away after the workshop and enter my products in. We entered one product during the workshop itself so I was able to check that it would work for me and I have set aside some time to put the others in. It has taken such a lot of work off my plate having the spreadsheet set up exactly the right way for a business like mine that makes things for different audiences.

The two biggest takeaways that I got from the workshop is that I am not respecting my time properly and need to make sure that I am factoring that in more to my pricing, and that I shouldn’t be afraid of looking at my product figures, because if I find out something that I don’t like in them, I should be working out what to change, because they are not serving me well.

Highly recommended if you are a bit overwhelmed by the idea of investigating your pricing and want someone who is expert and experienced to walk through the process with you and provide you with tools to do the rest.

Most of all, recommended if you want help from someone who passionately cares about you making a good living from the thing that you do, and wants you to succeed.

Joanne Roach The Foodies
Joanne Roach

Credentials

When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is why I am delighted to bring a wide background to your business so that we can find the right tool for you. It’s also why I continually invest time and money into broadening my skills to better serve you. My qualifications include:

  • Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Mathematics from Louisiana State University Shreveport, USA
  • Certificates from 365 Data Science:
    • Data Strategy
    • Data Analysis with Excel Pivot Tables
    • Advanced Microsoft Excel
  • Level 2 certificate in Bookkeeping from the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers
Sara-Jayne Slocombe

What I do best

Details

My keen eye for detail means that discrepancies are found quickly and sorted to your advantage now, when it can benefit you most.

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Clarity

I’ll break down the information for you so that it makes sense and you feel confident. All questions are welcome; no one is born knowing this stuff!

Big Picture

I step back and look at the big picture frequently, to make sure we’re both working effectively towards your success.