Entrepreneur Spotlight: Suzanne MacDonald-Carr

Suzanne MacDonald-Carr (pictured in red) is an international business coach and mentor based in Suffolk. She now runs the Business Coaching, Mentoring & Training Centre (BCMT) from her HQ at Brightwell Barns, near Ipswich. The BCMT Centre offers training courses and coaching programmes that help business owners to thrive.

With expertise in law, sales, management, coaching and CSR to name but a few, Suzanne’s a sensational force for good in the Suffolk business community and someone you probably ought to know. In this candid interview, you’ll see why…

How did your career begin?

After graduating with a degree in psychology and business from London University, I joined IBM as a management and leadership trainer, and then moved to sales and management positions which I held for fourteen years.

I opened my first business – a school for children with learning difficulties – in Surrey and subsequently, after building the successful idea, sold the business and returned to the software industry working with very new technologies. I worked in a variety of roles including Directorships, Vice President and board positions in the UK, Europe and USA and have continued to develop owner run businesses including a consultancy business.

Why did you set up your business?

I had been working in my second VP role in the States and only came home once a month, so in 2001 when my husband got offered a job as an Insolvency Partner at Grant Thornton in Cambridge, I decided to relocate with him and become self-employed again.

Has it changed much since then?

Coaching is a new industry which is ever evolving. The standards of coaching, mentoring, and training are undefined between transitional and transactional for the business model and life coaching but are essentially all designed to help the business owner in their approach to the growth of the business.

Because of this, in 2017 we decided to create the brand of The Business Coaching, Mentoring and Training Centre (BCMT) to provide clarity for our SME sector to understand what each skill set of Coaching, Mentoring and Training really means.

We invite any Coach, Mentor or Trainer to contact us if they are interested in meeting and becoming a strategic alliance, as we believe that together we can raise the standards of each of the skill sets.

What do you love about it?

I love to see all business owners that engage with us achieve their goals in every aspect of business and their life. It provides great job satisfaction to know that you’ve contributed to their success and achievements. Amongst out client base we have 6 clients in the Future 50, and award winners at the EADT Business Awards and Mid-Suffolk Business Awards and we believe that this demonstrates our impact.

My other business passion is helping local businesses with their Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) practices. We have developed workshops to give SMEs an introduction into CSR, which can then follow on to more in-depth strategy work. I have also written a book on CSR which will be published very soon!

Looking ahead, what are your biggest challenges?

Like many SME business owners, a challenge for all of us when growing our business is shortage of time and we have helped to overcome this by creating our centre-based approach. I must make sure I divide my time on and in my business – so I practice what I preach!

What’s your view on business in Suffolk?

Like many other regions of the country, Suffolk businesses face some shared challenges – political, economic, social, and technical, but each are specific to them. I believe that there is an exceptional opportunity for growth in our region, and it’s an exciting time to be in business in the East of England.

And finally.. .How can you be an expert in so many areas of business?

I first gained accreditation with the Institute of Independent Business (IIB), and from then on, knowledge acquisition has played a big part in my life.

I went on to achieve an LLB (Hons) and an LLM and am currently completing ongoing legal research, together with continued CPD in social media training, marketing training, psychometric training, networking training, neurolinguistics programming and extended coaching skills training in both transitional and transactional coaching.

To find out more about Business Coaching & Mentoring with Suzanne and the upcoming Training Courses, visit the BCMT Centre website.

Photo credit: Simply C Photography