Business Development
with a Positive Impact
Good for Business
My name is Karen Bentley-Brown and I am passionate about helping people to grow good business. For twenty years I’ve been helping businesses and charities to thrive.
What I do
What my clients say
“Karen was a welcoming support during the time I spent with her as mentor, we share similar values and it was great to discuss my motivations and ideas with someone who understood. It gave me more clarity on my ‘why’ which I felt I had begun to forget. I came away with a great action plan and with improved confidence and motivation.”
Kate Stalker, Oubas Knitwear
“Karen gave us confidence and encouragement to find something unique about how we promote ourselves. Her support was considered, efficient, specific and ambitious and we are certain that our business will grow as a result of her support.”
Laura Miller, Miller Clear Architects
“Karen offered an engaging and individual person-centred approach. Her positive feedback, questioning and advice gently probed and guided to ensure that Lakeland Mediation Solutions made progress. Well chosen exercises encouraged focus on strengths and areas for development.
Opportunities to develop a sustainable business approach were offered and I was advised of tools that might help with this. I highly recommend Karen’s services for any new start up wanting to gain momentum, focused self reflection and a cohesive business approach.
Thank you for your support Karen, it has been invaluable!
Dawn Stainer, Lakeland Mediation Solutions
“Karen provided me with sound advice and support during my ‘dreaming up a business idea’ stage. It was wonderful to have someone to throw ideas at and to help me think about things I wasn’t aware of before. She also signed me up for an additional business start-up advice course which was really helpful and informative. I plan to draw on Karen’s business advice again once I’ve launched my business.”
Jacqui Wallace
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“Karen was the Business Club Executive from its inception in 2014. In that time she has been instrumental in growing the Club and in ensuring the members are satisfied with the product. Karen is highly professional with a great grasp of business issues such as corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. It’s always a pleasure to work with Karen and I am happy to recommend her services. Her insights would be an asset to any organisation.”
Paul Singleton, Development Officer (Fundraising), Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
“Karen has enabled us to see the assets of our business more clearly and helped us to tell our story with greater emphasis on our ethical credentials. With Karen’s help we have redesigned our website and marketing materials to reflect our values and make them more appealing to our customers. I am now confident that this will make us a more attractive business to trade with in a very competitive market.”
Lisa Smith, Founder and Owner at Ginger Bakers
“Karen brings a wealth of knowledge, connections and experience that she uses to support, guide and inspire others in setting up their own business. I love the way she always has a collection of interesting snippets from books, theories and other materials to add to the topic of the day – I have learnt so much from her in a short space of time. She is infectiously passionate about sustainability and sustainable business and has so many fascinating examples of great practice, yet at the same time she’s beautifully non-judgmental, choosing to help people take small steps towards sustainability goals. I see her as an intelligent, thoughtful mentor who balances the right amount of championing and challenging – it’s been great to meet her. ”
Harriet Wills, Future Fixer
My Positive Impact
- SUPPORT LOCAL - I use local suppliers and support small businesses as much as possible
- ETHICAL OFFICE - I use ethical suppliers for tea and coffee, recycled paper and pedal power for meetings where I can
- MINIMAL WASTE - I go paperless where possible, use reusable cups and bottles, and recycle all waste
- GREEN HOSTING - My website is powered 100% by renewable energy
- RENEWABLE ENERGY - My office is 100% powered by renewable energy
- COMMUNITY - I volunteer my time and give at least 1% of my profit to Simply Repair South Lakes and other chosen charities
- OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT - I plant or sponsor trees every year