Let's Celebrate Local!

By Hannah Edwards who is professional VA with marketing bias, particularly around social media. She's run her business Empowered VA Services in Swindon for the last three years and has both local and international clients.

How are you feeling about your business?  

I’m feeling really good about my business right now. It’s been a rocky few months however I wasn’t backing down and I think that determination has helped me. I like my routine with networking and hours in clients' offices and when this changed I needed to develop a new routine. 

How are you feeling about business in general? 

It’s been hard, not just because of lockdown, but because I am still in my first five years so I’m still learning. The Coronavirus then put created a whole new learning experience and I am really proud that I managed to stay the course. 

I find myself learning new stuff everyday from all of my clients and I can apply a lot of that learning to my own business. I have a few clients that I feel comfortable enough to ask for advice on situations and as someone who would usually try and work things out for myself that has been a big game changer for me. 

Tell us how you now apply this phrase to your business and/or life ‘buy local supply local’. 

1. I work on social media a lot so one of the things I do is recommend businesses and give them shout outs even if I can’t buy from them.

2. I try to buy local wherever possible because independent businesses are the backbone of the community and someone has put a lot of work in to be able to provide you with that service or product.

3. I’m always encouraging family and friends to try things from small businesses. It might be something that they have never purchased before and most of the time they continue to buy from that supplier. Relationships matter. 

What has changed for you positively as a result of lockdown? 

 I ran my first Facebook Pages Mastermind. I wasn’t sure if anyone would sign up because everyone was saving money wherever they could but they did! 

It was an enjoyable month with some great feedback and now that Mastermind is going to be a permanent fixture in my business. 

What makes a good local business?

For me I think it’s a business who is all about local and can signpost you to other businesses in the area for different services. 

There are so many businesses that are all about showing off Swindon in a good way e.g. Angela Atkinson of Born Again Swindonian (https://swindonian.me/) for example. 

For me, it's also about going that extra mile. During Covid19,  those businesses really stood out. 

Businesses like Rays Ice Cream (https://www.raysicecream.co.uk/) who not only handmade and fulfilled all of their orders, they had them delivered to their customers in less than 3 days after the orders were placed and for an independent business with orders that is amazing. 

Can you name a local business which you support around food & drink? 

Again it’s Rays Ice Cream (https://www.raysicecream.co.uk/). With the amount of orders they receive they really go the extra mile to make sure everyone receives them within a couple of days and that’s in crazy hot weather at times. 

Can you name  business which you support around clothing or accessories? 

I always watched Beautie (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BeauTieUK) online because she makes some amazing things – wedding accessories for men – bow ties, ties, pocket squares, and she makes bow ties for dogs!  Run by Emma Phipps who lives in Swindon. 

When the Coronavirus hit, her orders instantly stopped when weddings were cancelled or postponed and she showed exactly what it means to pivot your business in tough times by creating scrunchies. 

I purchased one of her scrunchies and it’s great quality. I’m always on the look out to buy more because they are a godsend and watching another female run a business in Swindon and grow it the way that Emma has is very inspiring. 

Can you name a local independent business which you support around health, wellbeing or fitness? 

I’ve spent some time with Caroline Peyton of Peyton Principles (https://www.peytonprinciples.com/) because I have wanted to learn about how I can improve some things with my health and I learnt so much about how to improve my diet and nutrition -  that weren’t as great as they could be for my age (33).  

Can you shout out to three local clients you wish to celebrate? 

Lis McDermott (https://lismcdermottauthor.co.uk/) who not only has encouraged me to write the book that I want to but has taken her business to new levels by offering writing mentorship sessions and launched a great poetry group where she is helping people like me discover a new way of telling a story in a shorter but equally expressive form!

Gareth Lock of The Human Diver (https://www.thehumandiver.com/) who runs courses that have taken him all over the world to teach them. He has kept business going by offering courses online and he has written a book that whilst it is aimed at divers has some fantastic content that can be used in any business industry and in your personal life. I’ve read some great stuff in there that I have adapted to my business and progressed it further.

Mike Land of Nickel Design (https://nickeldesign.co.uk/) who is such a talented graphic designer. He takes the time to sit there and get your design out of your head and onto paper. He could have loads of other client work to do but when he is working with you, he makes you feel like your design is the only one that matters to him. He did my logo and what he made come to like is exactly how I saw it in my head! I recommend him to anyone looking for a design. 

Can you shout out to any local suppliers you wish to celebrate? 

Chris Goodchild of Supportwise IT Services (https://supportwise.co.uk/) who hosts my website and my emails. He is so knowledgeable about his industry and is so quick to reply with answers to any questions or issues I have. He doesn’t charge ridiculous prices and is someone I recommend to everyone when I’m asked about hosting, emails or IT problems.

Barbara Leatham of Barbara Leatham Photography (https://www.barbaraleatham.com/) who offered professional photography with wording or blank space (known as negative space) for you to add your own wording to it. She is so patient and sits with you talking through the type of pictures you want and what wording you would like. I struggled to think of different phrases and she sat working through them and coming up with ideas with me for ages.

Who has had your back in business over the last few months? 

Fiona Scott of Fiona Scott Media Consultancy (www.fionascott.co.uk). Fiona was my first long time client when I only had a few months experience of running a business. 

She has always been patient when I have had questions that I needed to ask and we’re coming up to three years of working together. 

I have learnt so much from her and they have all been skills that I have been able to use in my business. Without her support I wouldn’t be as far as I am in my business right now and I am always grateful to know that I can turn to her when I am stuck in my business and I need help.

Can you name one person in your life who has really helped you during this time? 

My best friend Sam. We have known each other for years and she has been there through the struggles of starting a business, the highs and the lows and even though she doesn’t always know what I’m talking about when I mention things like the programmes I use for scheduling social media, she still takes an interest in my business. 

She is also the one I know will be there when I want to take a day away from the computer and get outside. I couldn’t ask for a better friend to go on this journey with me.

What are your business plans for Q4? 

I have some new clients so I will spend the time getting to know them and how they like their social media and their admin to be done. 

I had such great feedback from my Mastermind that I will run that again and come up with some ideas for new ways to up level and expand my business.

I’ve gone full force into my business for the past few months that I want to slow down a bit and start planning for next year.

Any special offers you’d like to mention? 

I am running my Facebook Pages for Business Mastermind again in October and it’s the last chance to get it at the introductory price of £50 for the month. 

It’s for you if you have a business Facebook page and you’re not getting the results that you’re after when you’re posting. Most often it means that you are posting at the wrong times for your audience.

If you can’t afford a social media manager yet you want the best results you can this is the course for you. You can email me on [email protected] for more information.  

Your parting thought? 

Lockdown has been hard and damaging for a lot of businesses and their families, but the way that the community of business owners and their supporters have come together to help them as best as they can has been a wonderful thing to see. 

The business community in Swindon is made up of an amazing bunch of people and it is a brilliant to be a part of it. I’ve learnt so much from everyone and some of those businesses probably don’t even realise how much I have learnt from them, from the content they put out to the way they have rallied together.

For more information visit www.empoweredvaservices.co.uk