Congratulations to Diane Shawe for becoming one of the 2023 Start Up Awards Finalists for her Shoppers Discount Club Business.
Dudley based startup Shoppers Discount Club has been named a finalist ahead of the Midland Final of the StartUp Awards.
The StartUp Awards has been launched to recognise the booming startup scene across the UK which has accelerated since the 2019 pandemic. Over 800,000 new businesses were founded in the UK since 2021, a 4.3% increase from the year before.
A record number of businesses applied to this year’s StartUp Awards, with 1,100 firms shortlisted across ten UK nations and regions. The contribution of these firms – all of which were started in the last three years – is significant, having created over 5,000 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of £584 million.
The Shoppers Discount Club is a using AI Conversational Chatbots and QR codes to help bricks and mortar retailers offer live discounts to shopper via their mobile phones in real time, helping retailers attract more footfall into their businesses founded by Diane Shawe in 2022. The business has been nominated for the Mobile and Emerging Technology StartUp of the Year.
Diane Shawe, founder of Shoppers Discount Club, said: “This is amazing. I have a business on the High Street and the idea came to me when I was trying to think of a way that us the retailers could compete with online discounts and offers in real time to attract more footfall. I focused on a solution using Artificial Intelligence Technology Chatbots and QR codes that could instantly engage passer-by in real time and entice them to claim their instant discount via their mobile phone and would not cost a fortune for retailers to use. Its been working for my business as customers are surprised that they can claim an instant discount on certain treatments. ”
Supported nationally by Starling Bank, British Business Bank, BT, Creative Ideaz, GS1 UK, Jeeves, Join Talent, ScoreApp and The Purposeful Project, the programme will celebrate the achievements of the amazing individuals who have turned an idea into an opportunity and taken the risk to launch a new product or service.
The cohort of finalists will be considered for the regional prizes by a panel of seasoned judges with experience founding or supporting entrepreneurial ventures.
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, the creator of the StartUp Awards, said:
“ Start-up businesses are the lifeblood of any economy, being responsible for new jobs, innovation and in supporting communities in every nation and region across the UK.
All of the finalists this year represent the best of those entrepreneurs who have spotted an opportunity and through their sheer hard work, talent and perseverance, have created an amazing new business that is creating real impact in its sector.”
The StartUp Awards was created in collaboration with the team behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, one of the most successful awards programmes in the UK. The StartUp Awards are running for the second year after launching in 2022.
This year’s StartUp Awards finalists can be found online at
The StartUp Awards is a collaboration between the founders of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards – an established programme nationally receiving thousands applications annually – and the Wales Start-Up Awards, the only regional awards currently celebrating new businesses in the UK.
The StartUp Awards will recognise the achievements of those amazing individuals who have had a great idea, spotted the opportunity and taken the risks to launch a new product or service.
Already established and thriving in Wales, the StartUp Awards is now taking the passion and drive to celebrate new business and extending across the whole of the United Kingdom.
Influencer marketing is not an emerging trend anymore but a strategic part of companies’ overall digital marketing budget.
While a decade ago, influencer marketing did not exist, the adoption of influencer marketing is rising fast and 93% of marketers use it today.
Ignoring the benefits of influencer marketing campaigns can spell doom for companies and social influencers. But what is influencer marketing, and how can you develop an influencer marketing strategy that works for you?
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy in which brands partner with social media influencers to promote their products and services.
Influencers have an engaged and large following on social media platforms due to their knowledge, expertise, or unique point of view. They typically share content with their followers on diverse social media platforms such as:
• Podcasts
• Online blogs on WordPress, Wix, or other online content management websites
• Instagram
• Twitter
• TikTok
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn
• Snapchat
• Twitch
• Facebook
To strengthen your influencers online conversational marketing strategy you now need to consider seriously introduce A.I Technology. A Conversational Chatbot can interact with all your followers simultaneously providing them with advice, links, offers and much more.
About Virtual Speedy Services Chatbot Design Services
We can design a Interactive #Chatbot for your business and your clients which helps interact with visitors, capture vital information, signpost, send proposals, vouchers, videos and lots more.
Businesses, Enterprises, Organisations of all sizes and legal formats now find themselves post pandemic with increased online activity from current and new customers wanting information, customer services, services fulfilment and much more at an all time high.
As a result of this the last few years have set up scenarios where businesses and customers are mutually ready to adopt conversational automation.
A.I Chatbot for Business: Industry reports that today, just being present online is not enough. Businesses need to provide a 24/7 conversational availability, which is what customers expect across messaging platforms, social networks, websites, and other digital channels.
Virtual Speedy Services has looked at the top ten industries that are adopted conversational AI on various social media platforms like facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or providing a link instead of their business website.
1. Social Media influencers
There is a growing number of social media influencers who have now amassed a huge following sometimes in the millions. In order to stay connected with their fans and streamline any endorsements, products or promotions they can stay fully connected in real time with their followers using A.I. Chatbot technology.
2. Using conversational A.I for e-commerce
The e-commerce industry is on a roll with exponential sales growth. The worldwide e-commerce retail sales amounted to £3.00 trillion in 2019, which is expected to reach £6.00 trillion by 2024.
Despite this growth rate, e-commerce businesses are struggling to maintain their sales cycle with traditional channels such as social media, emails, and phone calls. Not more than 1-3% visitors feel engaged enough to fill those static forms. If you also rely on these platforms, you must be struggling with the same problem.
Relying only on the human-driven sales and support system which are becoming more and more expensive can’t lead a business to success at profitable scale. E-commerce brands such as Shopify giant brands have created a new form of transformative digital customer experience with A.I chatbot.
Conversational A.I is helping e-commerce companies to
Every company needs a smoothly running HR department to ensure long-term success. During the process of recruitment, HR managers have to take care of hundreds of activities. And the success of those activities defines the future of a company. Finding the right candidates, ensuring policy compliance, resolving queries and conflicts- all these activities ensure that a business can run without any interruption.
Many organisations have started using conversational A.I for futuristic and proactive HR activities. Companies that use artificial intelligence for HR are able to increase their productivity by 45%. HR teams are saving almost half of their time usually spent on managing talent and answering repeative questions and queries. Hence, they can spend more time strategising, planning, developing, and recruiting talent.
With A.I deployed to your Customer services and HR activities, you can-
Attract more relevant prospective candidates
Reduce the hours spent and scale up the recruitment process
Qualify candidates based on automated background checks
Answer their questions with personalized interactions
Help candidates with paperwork, onboarding, and company policies
And more!
With Virtual Speedy Services, you can adopt an A.I-powered Customer Services or HR chatbot for more human-like engagement of candidates, customers and employees. An A.I that can find what they want in real-time and help them instantly rather than letting them go through an endless cycle of emails.
4. Conversational A.I for Distribution and Manufacturing
The distribution and manufacturing industry involves large-scale customer queries and operations. Manually handling interactions causes reduced results due to delayed responses and inefficient processes. With everyone having a mobile phone to hand they react by calling instantly when wanting assistance
To match the scale of manufacturing, enterprises are deploying AI in their digital conversations. Various tasks across marketing, sales, and support are being automated using AI chatbots for business.
Using Virtual Speedy Services conversational A.I platform, your manufacturing business can-
Run conversational marketing for more qualified leads
Take care of supplies and inventory with AI-enabled ERPs and legacy systems
Automate 90% of repetitive customer support queries
It’s hard enough for doctors and nurses to ensure accuracy in every minute detail of their jobs. At the same time, they have to invest 1/6th of their working hours into administrative work. For instance, even the small task of arranging doctor’s appointments requires a lot of attention. Any mistake during manual entries can result in serious problems for patients.
Thankfully, now your hospital staff can automate many such tasks with A.I-powered chatbots. Instead of manually filling forms, hospital staff can simply let the self-service A.I bot schedule meetings for patients as per the available time slots and much more.
Conversational A.I can offer complete automation to the healthcare front-office. Patients don’t have to rely on calling the staff to get information or wait for responses regarding transfer requests, discharge, and consultation requirements. Everything is processed and conveyed by an A.I-enabled virtual assistant.
With AI there for patients 24*7, hospitals can send on-time alerts and receive urgent requests to respond without any delay. AI bots are designed to update records, manage medical history of every patient, notify them about prescription refills.
Every prospective customer adds a big amount of money to an estate agency’s revenue. So, businesses can’t afford to lose those leads on social media and websites due to the nonresponsive approach or abandonment due to waiting too long..
Beautiful images and too much information can’t do the trick if customers want to ask questions for quick and relevant answers. In that case, they’re likely to enjoy an instant conversation with A.I that understands their requirements, rather than browsing through the long web pages.
Virtual Speedy Services can give that ability to estate agents businesses with conversational A.I, so they can have more qualified leads ready for nurturing and more satisfied clients.
In the travel and hospitality industry, businesses work for 8 hours while customers wish for assistance 24*7. This presents the challenge of losing more than half of your potential customers. Even the best of contact forms on your web pages can’t give you more than 1 to 2 percent of sales.
An A.I chatbot, on the other hand, lets you engage potential leads, qualify them, and convert them into sales. Not only that, but conversational A.I can also be there to answer customer queries 24*7 to enhance their travel experience without you lifting a finger.
For car dealerships, maintaining an ongoing relationship with customers is a must to keep on receiving revenue by fulfilling maintenance and repair requirements. At the same time, they need to ensure that no prospect goes away due to complications or wrong information.
Without any conversational automation, car dealerships struggle to capture leads and convince them to book a test drive due to delayed or no response. Often customers choose multiple channels to connect with a dealership and feel frustrated if they are restricted to a single channel for conversation.
So, automobile dealerships are now transforming their approach with AI-powered chatbots by integrating them across multiple channels for a unified customer experience. They are using the predictive intelligence and data segmentation capabilities of AI to find, track, and nurture leads.
The year 2020 was an eye-opener for many institutions that neglected the digital student experience for a long time. From primary schools to higher education institutions, all are now trying to establish a digital presence that can manage the immediate requirements for information by student.
A.I chatbots can help educational institutes:
Improve the quality of student query support
Increase admissions with conversational academic marketing
Attractive landing pages and regular social media promotion can’t do much if an instant conversation isn’t possible in the insurance industry. People decide to buy insurance from a company that gives them top-notch experience, answers questions, and resolves confusion.
To enable such prompt service and support, insurance companies now adopting conversational A.I. Instant interactions are improving engagement on websites, social media, and digital ads. Using this 24*7 availability, insurance companies are able to-
With a conversational A.I platform, you can generate leads on every channel and simultaneously nurture those leads with personalised interactions and help with transactional activities 24*7. But in todays world not everything is about leads.
Callers usually have questions, problems or want some information which is often hard to navigate via a mobile phone on a website.
It was statistically proven that most people respond to text messaging or prefer to engage in messaging on their phones, this is one of the main reasons why A.I conversational technology is proving popular
To have such a conversational A.I for your business, click here to chat and share your business details. Or, sign-up for a FREE DEMO to see how an advanced conversational A.I chatbot performs 90% of regular business activities without any human involvement.
The Franchise Association welcomes and interviews Diane Shawe founder of Need a Hair Makeover Hair Extensions & Hair Loss Specialist Salon Franchise. Read interview in June Magazine. Read interview here
Recent survey showed that 90% of ecommerce websites generally looked the same. And played little to no role in a customer’s decision to chose who they will purchase from. This means that thousands of pounds spent per month on traditional advertising has little to no contribution on over all profits.
But despite these setbacks, some businesses are earning more profits than ever while spending less time and resources then their competitors. No matter where your business is located, and no matter what condition its in, you can attract high paying customers in droves using little to known but effective techniques I’ll introduce just a couple of them to you now.
Did you know that many of your customers are willing to pay you more and buy more of your products if you simply presented it in the right way to them. You can also acquire more customers by simply marketing smarter and more efficiently as well.
One way to immediately increase your front end sales is to improve your sales letter offering.
Take control of your headline
You donʼt need to test and tweak a million different things until you start to doubt your own offerings, in order to bump up your conversions the first thing you want to do is just test and tweak the headline. Leave everything the same …just start changing the headline and see what happens.
You test your headline first or in some cases your email subject heading and you do that simply by just making a more powerful, more compelling headline that in my opinion should solve a problem for the reader. Once you have control over your headline then you can start testing the body of your content.
Use A.I technology by introducing conversational marketing
Start engaging with your social media followers especially if you have thousand of followers across your social media platforms?
Did you you can have a conversation, pass on details, resolve problems, show videos, get visitors to schedule appointment themselves, buy from your store, register on your courses, competition or events and much much more without you lifting a finger. A.I online virtual assistant can help you to:-
➢ Qualify your website visitors and direct them to what they want
➢ Increase your website or social media conversions
➢ Build a bigger email subscriber list
➢ Collect valuable feedback data to improve visitor experience
➢ Give them quick answer to questions
➢ Present a more streamlined buying experience
➢ Resolve complaint or problem in real time
➢ To get a more detailed answer to a query
➢ Link to calenders, videos, courses seamlessley
➢ Reduce your online admin time by 50%
Test your offering
The Key To It All. By testing your offer I mean you might want to, say, instead of selling an eBook for £12.99 – you might want to offer a physical version of your package for £27.00 + shipping and handling. You could offer three easy payments of £9.00 by a paypal subscription to a persons credit card. See?
Thatʼs actually £14.00 in total …over double the price …using a risk reversal offer that seems cheaper at first glance.
In fact, that offer would probably convert better. So it’s important to tweak your offer a lot. In the words of Dan Kennedy, “ITʼS THE OFFER, STUPID.” Iʼll give you another one.
Trial offers are another fantastic way to persuade potential customers to register, use your services and you can then up sell them afterwards (no spamming)
Testing your offer structure.
Instead of offering a trial, you could ask for a fair sum upfront £99.99 …and then gave them the big box of stuff as a bonus. They get the same thing but you simply structured the offer differently. Just imagine if you got 100 people to take your service there and then online, fees right up front. No trial, no launch, no affiliates you could see just how profitable and structured your offering truly is.
The number 1 complaint about launching and running a online #business or posting links is generating enough enquiries to make a #sale! and capturing contact details to respond
There are many different statistics that suggest why franchises are such a popular option in the UK for aspiring entrepreneurs and have higher success rates than running your own independent business. In fact, according to What-Franchise 80% of new franchise businesses are still running after their first five years. However, with so many to choose from, how do you know which one will be right for you? You can learn more about why franchises have much higher success rates below and also where you can find the best franchises for sale in the UK.
Why are franchises more successful than other business opportunities?
Buying a franchise is one of the safest ways to run a business. There are many reasons why franchises are more successful than other business opportunities, such as buying a company for sale or starting up your own business from scratch, but today in this article, we will list the five main reasons franchises tend to have such high success rates in the UK.
Franchises are supported by a proven system.
When you buy a franchise, you’re buying into someone else’s proven system. Franchises are tried and true, which means they already know what works and what doesn’t—so that can save you a lot of time and money. For example, when buying a franchise, don’t try to reinvent any wheels; accept what is working for them and change only things that won’t disrupt their growth. It might seem obvious, but many entrepreneurs try to do things their own way—which means it can take twice as long to get going, or the chance of failure can dramatically increase when you buy a franchise. You don’t have to worry about this since all you need to do is successfully replicate the proven system to get customers through your door as early as possible.
Some franchises offer pre-built marketing tools.
Franchises give you access to brand-name products that may already be market-tested. In some cases, like Subway or McDonald’s, these brands are easy to recognize and well known by consumers. You’ll also have access to a company-branded marketing kit that can get you started with your advertising efforts immediately. To help ensure franchise success, many franchisors take a hands-on approach with new owners and offer lots of training and support during the first year of business. This is in addition to any experience you may gain while working at a franchise location part-time before purchasing it full-time.
Franchises are usually cheaper to start than independent businesses.
Starting a new business costs a lot of money, and most small businesses operate on thin margins. Franchises can offer their start-up packages at relatively low prices because they already have equipment and employees. This doesn’t mean that franchising is cheap; however, it can help you save money when compared to starting your own operation from scratch. The average franchise for sale in the UK usually costs around £10,000 to £55,000. However, every franchise is different, and you need to remember not all franchises are created equal each one is different. For example, some franchises might be very expensive depending on their brand recognition and location, but there are some low-cost franchise investment opportunities that usually cost £1,000 to £10,000. The bottom line is every franchise is different. This is why it’s crucial to do research before investing.
Franchises save time and money upfront.
You’re not on your own when you buy a franchise. The company that owns it will help you get started, offering training, business planning, and marketing support. All of those things cost money—and require time—but when you buy a franchise, you don’t need to worry about spending either. That gives you more time and money to focus on building your business into something profitable. In many cases, a franchise can also help new owners land their first customers since they already have brand recognition in their community or market segment.
It’s easier to get access to funding with a franchise.
You’ll be able to get access to funding easier with a franchise, mainly because there are support networks behind your franchisor. Also, banks are more likely to provide loans to someone who has invested in a proven system rather than starting their own business from scratch. Many franchises will provide you with advice on applying for financing and give you tips on what types of businesses work best with their brands. And if things don’t go as planned, many will offer help in finding investors or other capital sources should you need it down the road. In short, franchise owners are somewhat protected from market fluctuations and competition—and can focus more on doing what they do best: making money for themselves and their franchise brand.
Is now the right time to invest in a Health, Hair & Beauty Franchises?
We all like to look & feel good, which is why regardless of the economic climate, health & beauty franchises for sale, and the beauty industry generally tends to be very stable.
This trend is set to rise with beauty products representing around 6% of all retail sales in the UK, sectors such as cosmetics. Makeup continues to grow.
Another growth area is the use of vitamins or supplements, including many people that like to use protein powders or other protein supplements to enhance their look & gym performance.
With the industry trend of increased health & beauty, spending likely to continue a business within the sector could be highly lucrative.
Facts and statistics around the beauty industry:
The UK boasts £28.4 bn beauty product and services industry, a report reveals. The UK’s beauty industry contributed a total of £28.4 billion in 2018 to the nation’s economy. Resulting in a valuation of the UK’s consumption of beauty products and services in 2018 at £27.2 billion.
The industry itself directly employed 370,200 people. With a further 220,300 jobs being supported through its supply chain and wage-related consumer spending contributions.
The UK’s beauty industry contributed a total of £28.4 billion in 2018 to the nation’s economy. Resulting in a valuation of the UK’s consumption of beauty products and services in 2018 at £27.2 billion.
By 2019, this market was worth over 1.74 billion British pounds. On the retail side of the spectrum. Over the past decade, UK retail stores specializing in cosmetics and personal care increased their turnover from selling such products. Going from 2.7 billion in 2008 to over 5.3 billion British pounds in 2018.
Best Types Of Beauty Businesses For Sale To Invest In
What types of beauty businesses are the best to buy? As an investor, you have many decisions to make when choosing which type of beauty business for sale to invest in, but one of the most important factors is your own personal preferences and career goals. If you’re looking to buy into the beauty industry, it’s important to choose the right business model that will give you the potential to make money while still allowing you to enjoy your time as an entrepreneur.
Going it Alone or Franchising
If your servicing a very exclusive sector and you just want a small exclusive business with you having sole responsibility then going it alone might be more appealing to you. But it is worth taking a course in small business management and marketing, it will help you enormously.
If you decide to go the franchise route, when you buy a franchise, you buy a system – an entire method of doing business. Franchises have an established system in place that you must follow to distribute the franchisor’s products or services using the franchisor’s trade or service marks. Having a proven system already in place eliminates the guesswork and errors a common business owner would normally face.
With the help of a franchise, you can:
A. Duplicate a real, genuine business that allows you to help others.
B. Set up a business that consistently provides an impressive return on investment.
C. Put together a business that helps you assist real people with genuine needs.
D. Develop a meaningful career path for yourself that has rewards for years to come.
E. Have a full supportive management team around you
F. Benefit from global branding and marketing
G. Benefit from established supply line, retail etc and much more
1) Hair Salon Businesses For Sale
The salon business is a booming market right now. If you are looking for one of the most lucrative beauty businesses for sale, it’s hard to top hair salons for sale. You can find everything from salons in up-and-coming neighborhoods to high-end salons downtown. An established salon with a proven clientele will always be in demand and is an asset worth taking into consideration when deciding what type of beauty business for sale might be best for you.
2) Hairdresser Businesses For Sale
Most hairdressers for sale are small businesses and can be found everywhere. The market for hairdressers is relatively steady, particularly if you’re looking at specific demographics and types of clients. Hair salons often specialise in a certain type of clientele or offer services that may not be as popular with others. Some salons specialise in hair colouring and require less investment than buying a full-service salon. Before you buy a hair business opportunity, it’s important to know what your options are; looking for specialist services such as hair extensions, hairloss treatments, wig making etc., are niche sectors that could yeild more from your investment than a traditional hair salon. When buying hairdressing businesses for sale, research those that might best fit your lifestyle and goals and attract high paying customers.
A larger hair salon franchise may be a good choice if you want to join an established team with experience, retail sales, clientele and branding.
3) Nail Salon Businesses For Sale
If you’re interested in buying a nail salon business for sale, it’s important to remember that different types of nail salons for sale offer different services. While some focus on manicures and pedicures, others might be focused on offering more specialised treatments like nal extensions, nail art or vn pedicures. If you want to work with private clients, you can find nail salon business opportunities that operate out of homes. A larger nail salon franchise may be a good choice if you want to join an established team with experience and plenty of clientele already built up.
4) Barber Businesses For Sale
Barbering is a business that goes well beyond cutting hair. The health and wellness of your clients are just as important as their looks. Barbering services can include relaxation and pampering, a haircut and style, hot towel shave or facial wax, tanning.. not to mention retail sales opportunities. If you’re considering buying a barbers for sale or other beauty business for sale, here are some considerations to make before signing on the dotted line: What licenses do I need? Can I afford to pay for any renovations required for compliance? Is there parking for my potential clientele? How does social media work into my marketing strategy? Are there potential leads out there that could convert into customers without too much extra effort from me?
5) Beauty Salon Businesses For Sale
Buying a beauty salon business from a current owner is also an option. Before you buy, be sure to ask as many questions as possible so that you can make a fully informed decision. The best way to do that is by talking with other salon owners in your area who have purchased beauty salons and asking them what they did right—and wrong—as well as if their initial expectations for return on investment matched reality. If you decide buying a beauty salon for sale is for you, make sure to do thorough research before investing in any salon business opportunity.
Salon Awards winner 2021
Dream Big Have Faith. Lean In
My dream began in 2000, to set up a #hairextensions and Hairloss Specialist Salon Franchise model.
5 years later, winning several awards I am excited to report that we have just been accredited by the Quality #franchise Association and have gone live in the national and international Franchise Directories. It has been a challenging journey and just like when you pass your driving test, the real driving begins when your in the car alone.
I am so looking forward to seeing replica of the salon and brand throughout the UK and Europe and assisting #investors in my initiative become viable #businesses within their own right. This is the link in the UK directory
Don’t let your dreams be crippled by doubt and fears. lean in!
Looking for Entrepreneurs to set up their own Hair Extensions & Hairloss business. Checkout our Franchise Opportunity which includes Business Plan, Raising Finance, Training and launching your businness with full support. Click to have a chat http://bit.ly/3jYM20b
Need a Hair Makeover Hair Extensions & Hairloss Specialist Salons celebrates winning the coveted prize at the annual Salon Awards for Best hair Extensions Salon West Midlands 2022
Winners Best Hair Extensions Salon West Midlands
After being announced as finalist in six categories for the Salon Awards 2021
Best Salon Best Customer Experience Best Salon for Hair Extensions Best Refurbished Salon Best creative Image Best Colourist
The awards ceremony took place in November 2021 in London.
Need a Hair Makeover Hair Extensions and Hairloss Specialist Salon impressed the judge’s thanks to its commitment to meeting customer needs, making their mark as an established business locally, providing an exceptional range of hair extensions and disguising hairloss techniques to clients and for their exception salon design and interiors.
Commenting on the result, Diane, the owner said; “To be named as a winner and nominated in not just one but six categories for the third year highlights how hardworking and commitment can pay off. With hundreds of entries for each category and a panel of judges that excel at looking for the finer details, just to make the shortlist is an outstanding achievement. What also makes it more important is the fact that we have also had to deal with a pandemic and closure.”
Award Winning Salon
The Salon Awards celebrate and acknowledge the success of the most creative, dynamic and innovative hair salons, hairdressers, and barbers across the country through county awards events. http://www.needahairmakeoverfranchise.co.uk-
I think you will be interested in this business for sale. Need a Hair Makeover Hair Extensions and Hairloss Franchise is looking for entrepreneurs who want to start a profitable business in the Hair & beauty sector. We will train you, Establish your Outlet, Help you raise finance, Help with Business Planning and Cashflow Projections, Promote you and Support your Business Enterprise under our Brand with a variety of packages to choose from.
Every New Year I have always checked for the top business growth tips and trends.
This year I have decided to present my own because we the business community are still living in unprecedented times of uncertainty, fear, transformation, deception, confusion, and outright disruption of the old ways of doing business.
I am Diane Shawe founder of Virtual Speedy Services Ltd (which I gave birth to during the first lockdown) and author of ‘Answer 77 Questions about your business to avoid business failure’ shares her top small business growth strategies for the year ahead.
2021 has been a year of rapid transformation across all industries as the business community has dealt with shifting customer buying activities and economic challenges, as well as mitigating hot-button issues such as the pandemic and people’s changing conception of work life balance. In a year filled with change, there are some trends which are going to be firmly fixed into 2022 that you and your business should seriously build into your growth plans.
To lead your business in the right direction as we head into 2022, here are my humble 10 small business growth strategies.[
1. Prioritise your business culture
Throughout the pandemic, businesses have been dealing with “The Great Resignation” as workers are quitting their jobs at record-high rates. One of the reasons for this is that people are changing their definitions of what they consider a healthy work-life balance and what they want in a company culture.
“The pandemic has shifted the way people incorporate work into their life, whether it’s moving to another county for cheaper housing or not going into the office every day and getting the opportunity to do remote or hybrid work,” Diane states.
Diane goes on further to state that “Not all solutions are made equal, and culture is now a part of that. “A big factor for employees, in addition to salary and benefits, is culture, so have a culture strategy in place.”
2. Consider hiring more freelance workers
The number of gig workers, freelancers and contractors has grown exponentially over the last few years and they make up a large portion of workers within the current market.
“Small business owners will now be able to bring in more specialised freelance workers to carry out tasks without having to deal with the hiring and training costs that are often associated with recruiting a full-time employee,” said Diane. “With the importance of being agile in today’s economic environment … as well as the rise of remote work, … skilled outsource
Peopleperhour.com and fiverr.com are great places to start.
3. Work with micro-influencers
While small businesses may be competing against larger businesses to work with online influencers, collaborating with micro-influencers is an option to consider.
“As influencer marketing is becoming more popular than ever… micro-influencers are going to be the best option for small businesses because they don’t cost as much and they are more open to collaborating with small businesses too,” explained Diane. “With a couple of these small influencers helping [your business] reach specific audiences, growth will not be an impossible feat in 2022.”
4. Leverage the way you supply your products and services.
Distributors and businesses across the country dealt with supply chain issues with the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent economic disruptions. In 2022, businesses must be aware of scarcities within the supply chain and get ahead of manufacturing and transportation challenges by working collaboratively with their suppliers.
Checkout companies like Amazon who can provide a fulfillment service for your orders. Consider moving to a drop shipping manufacturer or warehouse so as to reduce your cash investment in slow moving stock.
5. Educate client and partners your new paradigms
It’s important to inform your clients and partners about changes you’re making to better benefit your business across a shifting economic landscape. If the changes don’t land, it may be time to consider other options,
Many businesses are painfully aware how much the talent pool has changed. Working with potential employees, client partners to educate them on the new management styles needed, increased compensation packages and other aspects of recruitment and retention is very important.
6. Prepare for potential contracting opportunities
Almost 80 new businesses were created every hour across the UK in the first half of 2021, according to research by iwoca – one of Europe’s largest small business lenders.
Analysis of Companies House data reveals that 340,534 businesses were registered in the UK between January and June 2021, an increase of 32% from 257,243 over the same time period in 2019.
London dominates list of areas to start a business
iwoca’s Small Business HotSpots UK 2021 reveals that Camden saw the largest number of businesses registered out of all UK local authorities, with 19,755 new companies – a rate of more than four and a half new firms every hour.
The second largest number of new businesses were registered in Hackney (13,646) followed by 10,151 in Westminster. London’s local authorities make up half of the top 10, which also includes Birmingham in 5th with 7,442 new firms and Kent placing 7th with 6,504 businesses.
London saw over one third of the new registrations with 120,338, followed by the South East (37,573) and North West (33,640). The capital city also witnessed the largest increase in new business registration compared to 2019 of 59%, with the West Midlands registering a 49% rise followed by the North East (28%).
Christoph Rieche, iwoca CEO and co-founder, said: “It is fantastic to see the creation of so many businesses during the first half of this year, they are testament to the entrepreneurial spirit which characterises our vibrant economy.
“Many of these businesses will be unnecessarily constrained by cashflow. At iwoca we turn cashflow into a superpower enabling them to grow faster and worry less. We look forward to working with many of them.”-
Why is such a growth happening?
A survey I read stated that 39% of people in current jobs are going to quit within the next 12 months, which is not great for an employer, but suggests a start of a business revolution is happening.
What advice would I give to somebody looking to start a business?
There is never a good time to do it and you just must go for it. It’s all encompassing and it’s a phenomenon. I just decided to go for it in 2000 and have never looked back. However you can be clever about it though – can you cut down your hours in your current role or could you work part-time initially? Explore your options wisely.
7. Get creative on sales and marketing opportunities
The digital marketing landscape has become increasingly challenging due to congestion and evolving regulations, said Diane Shawe of Virtual Speedy Services Ltd
“This is forcing many traditionally digital companies to explore other sales channels and marketing strategies,” she said.
To mitigate these challenges, Shawe said her company is getting creative by helping other companies engage with A.I. Conversational Marketing Technologies with its engaging methods.
8. Widen your business’s online footprint
Small businesses must adapt and be “practical” when it comes to sales, as consumers continue to favor online and mobile shopping.
“Businesses need to widen their online footprint to gain a significant proportion of customers from the current market,” said Diane. “A simple way to sell products is to have a sellers account on your popular social media or estore platforms. To sell services, … list [your company] on freelance and contract websites.” Also create a blog and YouTube website for reviewing products, testimonials, advice and tips. Become the expert in your field. Entry competitions, exhibitions, network meetings.
9. Learn video SEO strategies to rank higher on search engines
Video marketing has become an integral part of a successful marketing strategy with the rise of live videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. It’s estimated that by 2022, videos will account for 82% of all consumer traffic. That’s why video SEO should be a top priority for businesses in 2022.
“Small businesses that incorporate short-form videos into their website posts will see more organic traffic coming from search engines,” explained Gilmour. “As TikTok continues to grow, search engine algorithms will shift to articles and posts that include short-form videos. Short-form videos from TikTok and YouTube may even become the main point of ‘how to’ searches.”
10. Utilise partnership marketing to reach a broader audience Partnership marketing is a strategic collaboration that gives you and your partner company a chance to reach a wider audience together, explained Diane Shawe, founder of Virtual Speedy Services Ltd.
“Collaboration with another company can aid in the development of better marketing initiatives that benefit both parties, If your target clients are similar, you may pool your resources to better your marketing techniques, build your brands and expand your audience reach.”
Start to use smart customer acquisition techniques such as collaborating with discount giants such as wowcher, groupon or discount voucher websites to help get your business name, brand or services directly into potential customers mobile.
“Another example, if a consumer purchases a product from you, you can provide a discount coupon that they can use to purchase discounted products from your business partner,” said Diane. “Co-branding of a product or project can also boost both companies’ marketing power.”
Virtual Speedy Services Ltd is set up to provide a suite of services for Small and Medium size businesses to help them efficiently and quickly Setup or expand their business. Our core service is A.I technology by designing conversational marketing chatbots to generate quality business leads or engage online visitors in real time. We populate and generate impressive business plan and 5 years projections for focus, raising finance along with smart eCommerce website, streamlined social media tools and an effective google verified website. We think of ourselves as your Virtual Personal Assistance who will help streamline your business development and growth without all the drama.
The effects of drinking Alkaline water on our body
We’ve all heard that drinking water is good for us and we’re often told to drink around 2 litres a day. But all waters are not equal. What is good quality water and how can it norish the body?
I work with a lot of clients who are experiencing hair loss, low energy, joint aches and pains and even weak nails. I had those same issues until I started to explore the benefits of drinking good quality water. What I mean by this is alkaline water?
I was reading and watching a lot of healthy eating books and videos by Dr Sebi https://drsebiscellfood.com/ and he kept mentioning Alkaline foods and drinks. So I set out to find out how I could drink Alkaline water everyday effortlessly and came across pH Replenish which I will introduce you to later. However what I really wanted to do is share the benefit of drinking alkaline water.
So does alkaline water have even more health benefits than regular tap or bottled water?
Firstly, why is drinking all that water so good for us?
Over half of our body is water! Our cells, organs and bones all need water to function properly. In fact, our brains and hearts are made up of about 70% water.
Although drinking water doesn’t seem very glamorous, if we become dehydrated we can quickly begin to lose concentration and focus, become lethargic and have sugar cravings. In the long term, dehydration can result in organ failure and humans can only survive for 3 or 4 days without water.
OK, So water is good for us. But what’s the difference between regular water from the tap and alkaline water?
Regular tap water usually has a neutral PH of 7 (although it can be lower) whilst alkaline water has a PH over 7.
7 is neutral and any lower than 7 is acidic. As an example, corrosive liquids like lemon juice have a PH of around 2.5.
Water usually has a natural PH higher than 7 which comes from the minerals and salts found in the earth. But as the water passes through our man-made pipes and water distribution systems it loses a lot of it’s minerals and as a result the PH levels drop.
The blood in our bodies has a PH around 7.4 and the systems in our bodies work hard to maintain that level. Many alkaline water fans believe that drinking filtered water with a higher PH means that we are giving our bodies a helping hand to keep to that healthy PH of 7.4.
Are there any other advantages to drinking alkaline water?
1 Reducing acid levels within our bodies
It’s widely believed that drinking alkaline water can help to reduce or balance the acid levels within our bodies.
Having too much acid in our body can result in a long list of issues including fatigue, confusion, joint pain and inflammation, headaches, an elevated heart rate and digestion problems. This ‘acidosis’ occurs when our kidneys cannot remove all the excess acid from our body.
Acid in our body can also strip important minerals like calcium and magnesium from our bones which can lead to diseases like osteoporosis.
Cancer is also known to thrive in acidic environments and struggles to survive in alkaline environments. The opportunity to reduce acid in the body could be a significant benefit of drinking alkaline water for many people.
2 Anti-oxidant effects
Alkaline water is high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are great for our body and our overall health. They help us to keep repairing our cells to keep us looking and feeling fit and healthy.
3 Anti-aging
Another benefit that drinking alkaline water can have for our bodies is an anti-ageing effect. A 2016 study on mice which ran for three years suggested that drinking alkaline water increased their life span significantly.
4 A treatment for acid reflux
A report by Dr. Jamie Koufman concluded that alkaline water with a PH of 8.8 can work as an effective treatment for people who suffer from acid reflux. Alkaline water has the ability to neutralise the stomach acid causing this unpleasant disease.
5 Hydration
The molecules in alkaline water are smaller than in our regular tap water. This means that our bodies can absorb alkaline water more easily without that bloated feeling that regular water can sometimes give you.
6 Reducing high blood pressure
One study carried out in Shanghai discovered that drinking alkaline water for 3 to 6 months brought high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood lipid levels back to normal.
7 Decreasing blood thickness
A paper Weidman et al found that drinking alkaline water after exercise helps to thin out the blood faster then normal water. This is useful to aid recovery after exercise and could be potentially life saving for individuals suffering from thickened or hardened arteries who want to improve their fitness with less risk.
8 Preventing obesity
Many alkaline water enthusiasts report that it helps with weight loss. Backing up this claim, a 2013 study found that when obese mice drank alkaline water for 7 weeks they lost weight compared with mice drinking regular water but eating the same diet.
The benefits of drinking alkaline water are very promising and many people who drink alkaline water report considerable health benefits. However, many of these studies and reports have only been carried out in labs or on a small scale so it would be nice to see more research demonstrating the many benefits of alkaline water.
Are there any side effects to drinking Alkaline water?
As with anything, if you consume too much there can be negative effects. Although it is extremely unusual, an over consumption of alkaline products could lead to alkalosis. Having too much alkaline in the body can bring on the symptoms of nausea and vomiting. However, if we drink alkaline water alongside a healthy and varied diet we would be very unlikely to experience this effect.
Slowly increasing the amount of alkaline water that we drink allows our bodies to adapt to the increased mineral content and higher PH and reduces the likelihood of any unwanted side effects.
How can I get alkaline water in my own home?
Installing a water filter is the easiest way for us to access unlimited alkaline water and Invigorated Water offers a variety of alkaline water filter systems to suit every home.
Counter top filters for kitchens with plenty of space hold enough water for the entire family. Smaller pitcher filters will fit easily into the fridge door where you can keep them cool.
Or, there faucet filters are a great option to easily provide alkaline water in your home and are easy to install.
If you are on the go and want to make sure that you have your alkaline water with you, try one of our bottle filters. Not only do they make your water taste better, they also look great.
You can also benefit from using alkaline water in your shower.
When you shower, water is vaporized into steam which you inhale as you shower. By installing a shower filter such as the PH Rejuvenate shower head filter, which increases the PH of your water you’ll know that you are breathing in safe, alkaline steam rather than potentially harmful, acidic water.
Showering with alkaline water can also be good for your skin. One study found that applying alkaline water to the sun damaged skin of mice helped to reduce the damage. Alkaline water has an anti-inflammatory effect that was also seen in people bathing in high PH spring water. Many of our customers report that their hair and skin feels noticeably softer and smoother after showering under our shower head filters.
Another advantage of the Invigorated Water filters is that they can remove any unwanted toxins, chemicals and heavy metals from our drinking water whilst adding in healthy minerals like magnesium and calcium.
Pollutants often work their way into our water supply and can be missed by our government water treatment stations, particularly if our water is carried through old pipes, across long distances.
Increasing the PH of your drinking water to make it alkaline, removing pollutants and adding in the healthy minerals allows your body to thrive. By choosing to drink filtered, alkaline water you are looking after your health in one simple, easy step.
So I hope you found this article useful, I have been drinking alkaline water for the past 18 months and have seen and felt the difference.
Congratulations to Diane Shawe for becoming one of the 2023 Start Up Awards Finalists for her Shoppers Discount Club Business.
All of the finalists this year represent the best of those entrepreneurs who have spotted an opportunity and through their sheer hard work, talent and perseverance, have created an amazing new business that is creating real impact in its sector.”
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