6 JANUARY 2020, by Laxmi Owczarek
It’s been a very difficult year, for everyone and in different ways. It affected the economy and by extension it hit small businesses really hard. Yes, some businesses used it as an opportunity (all the power to them), however for most it’s been difficult.
We have started Visual Synapses just a few weeks before the first lockdown was announced, which had a massive impact on us as a new business in a competitive landscape. Having said that, we are very grateful for everything that so many people have been doing to help small businesses from shoppers to webinars and grants.
This is why as a reflection on 2020, we want to thank everyone who has supported us and other small business, and share what’s been particularly helpful.
1. Prince’s Trust
Prince’s Trust is a charity that has been massively helpful to us in developing our business plan and business thinking. They have a lot of different programs that are suitable for small business owners, entrepreneurs or simply young people looking for a job. We couldn’t recommend them enough. Princes Trust supports people of ages 11-30 years old.
www.princes-trust.org.uk2. Not Fur’ Long
A group of advertising experts who like to support small businesses and charities. They offer free webinars on marketing, which have revolutionised the marketing for us. They gave us tools and strategy on how to do it ourselves.
instagram/notFurLongCreative
3. The Dots
A great platform for creatives. As a creative myself I found it great for networking, but this could be useful for anyone starting a small business. By signing up and picking relevant interests to you, The Dots will be e-mailing you events that are happening based on your interest. We found some great webinars through there. You can also find yourself a potential partner to collaborate with, a client or a freelancer.
www.TheDots.com4. Rowan's Podcast
A YouTube channel that showcases interviews with entrepreneurs (mostly UK-based). We really enjoyed listening to different stories and how these entrepreneurs made their dreams happen. Not only inspiring but interesting and fun to watch.
Rowan's Youtube Channel5. Notion
A free and unique platform for organising. It’s very easy to learn and will help you organise your thoughts, which we believe is the key to success. We use it to brainstorm/manage/organise client projects, marketing, any other business and/or personal projects.
www.notion.so6. Capital Enterprise
They specialise in helping and connecting entrepreneurs. We’ve been to some excellent webinars organised by Capital Enterprise, and will be looking to get involved with them more in 2021.
www.capitalEnterprise.org7. Meetup
Meetup offers tons of free/cheap online networking events and webinars. If you sign up with your interests it will suggest groups to join.
www.meetup.com8. Later
A platform which allows you to pre-plan your post for Facebook and Instagram. They offer a free account that we’ve found very helpful in planning and then reminding us to post.
www.later.com9. It’s Nice That
Website that provides design news, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we would recommend at least having a quick look. You never know, you might just find inspiration for your logo or a comic strip that brightens your day.
www.itsNiceThat.com10. Networking groups on Facebook and Linkedin
We found that networking online in this groups could be very beneficial. It’s not the same as real networking face to face, however, at this time it’s still lovely to meet new people in any way. One of our favourite groups is the Vegan Business Networking UK, as we could connect with people who have the same lifestyle. Our recommendation is that you search for groups with people who have similar lifestyle/interest/agenda to yours, and you will find them beneficial. Below is a link to a group we mentioned above.
Vegan Business Networking UKWe hope you find at least one of these resources helpful and that it will support you to keep going in 2021.
If you found this blog useful, we also provide an affordable Website Benchmarking service, where we look at your website and tell you how to make easy and impactful changes to increase sales. This is specifically designed for new entrepreneurs, but would benefit any website, at any stage. Get in touch if you have any other questions and we’ll be happy to help you.
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