International Women's Day 2023 - celebrating companies led by women

New research by Tide reveals that 53 per cent of women across the UK struggled to access finance to start their own businesses in 2022, highlighting the barriers women in business still face. At Funding Options, we want to make funding more accessible for all businesses. 

To celebrate women leaders, we caught up with one Funding Options’ female-led business customers, Well Life Physiotherapy - a holistic healthcare company in Oldbury. Well Life Physiotherapy recently received £5.5k of business finance to fund their working capital. 

Funding Options: Hello Well Life Physiotherapy! Can you tell us a bit about your business?

Well Life Physiotherapy: Well Life Physiotherapy is situated in Oldbury, within the West Midlands. We offer holistic healthcare by allowing our patients quick access to a range of healthcare professionals, all offering patient-centred care. 

This includes high-quality effective physiotherapy, occupational therapy, talking therapies, sports therapy, massage, and exercise classes. 

We offer daytime, evening, and Saturday appointments to meet the needs of our service users. We have excellent feedback from our service users, reflected in our 5-star customer satisfaction rating on Google, Facebook, and via a bespoke anonymous feedback provision. 

We have developed excellent working relationships and partnerships with the NHS, higher education institutes such as the University of Worcester, local schools, GP practices, and small businesses.

Our core business is pain management and the provision of occupational health physiotherapy, which we are experienced in delivering for individuals, small local businesses, and large organisations such as the National Health Service.

The Well Life Physiotherapy team.

Funding Options: What has your growth journey been like?

Well Life Physiotherapy: Our business is growing steadily with an increase in staffing and facilities year-on-year.  

We are proud to be an employer that offered Kickstart program employment in administration, apprenticeships in Physiotherapy to staff, and practice placements for students on Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Sport Therapy degree courses. 

Our staff are local to the Black Country and have a good understanding of the population demographics and the health inequalities and socio-economic challenges faced by this population. 80% of our staff are female, many of whom are bilingual. 

Funding Options: Can you tell us about your female leader, Lotoya Tashana Neil?

Well Life Physiotherapy: Lotoya, the Lead Physiotherapist, lectures in Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy and has over 18 years of experience delivering healthcare. 

This allows her to be at the forefront of research and evidence-based practice, as well as being a gatekeeper for the Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy profession. She has a special interest in pain management and is trained in acupuncture, soft tissue massage, gym instructing and personal training, as well as spinal manual therapy techniques. 

Lotoya has a BSc Physiotherapy degree from The University of Birmingham, a Masters’ degree in Health and Social Care from Birmingham City University, Soft tissue and Joint Injection certificate from Keele University, Diploma in Orthopaedic Medicine from The Society of Orthopaedic Medicine; and is in the final year of her PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at Worcester University. 

She is also a member of many expert panels for physiotherapy.

Lotoya Tashana Neil, Lead Physiotherapist

Funding Options: Lotoya, what are your top tips for women who want to start or grow their business in 2023?

Lotoya Tashana Neil: Work to your strengths, i.e., build a business around what you know, and are best at. For me that’s hands-on therapy. If you are unsure about what you’re best at, ask friends, colleagues, or trusted others.  Another way of doing this is a 360° appraisal.

Setting realistic expectations and being able to meet your targets is key. Always under-promise and over-deliver. 

When starting out, you may find yourself wearing many hats, and doing most things yourself. As your business grows, employ people whose skills complement yours, and others on the team. Don’t be scared to have a mix of personalities, skills, and experience – this enriches your team.

Apply for business funding 

Like Lotoya, if you require funding to help start or grow a business, use Funding Options to see what you could be eligible for. It’s free to apply and it doesn’t affect your credit score, and you’ll receive expert help throughout the funding process. Start your journey this IWD!

Follow Well Life Physiotherapy on Instagram (@welllifetherapies) and Facebook (@welllifetherapies).