2020 is over... so what for 2021 (business wise I hasten to add)

Having watched Death to 2020 on Netflix on New Years’ Eve (and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it, for Hugh Grant alone), I’d somehow forgotten about this time last year. The fires out of control in Australia, nearly going to war with Iran… it’s all somehow been eclipsed by the consequences of someone eating a bat sometime back in 2019…

Last year of course, started normally enough. That is to say, with a hangover. With our friends in Warwick, drinking all the wine, eating all the cheese, and generally seeing in the New Year with people rather than sleeping through it (my own choice for the 31st of 2020). We all knew there was something going on with a virus in Wuhan, but that was China! Viruses happen all the time and DON’T lead to a global pandemic! It’ll be fine! We all thought as we booked holidays, made business plans (me), prepared for another two terms of the school year.

By March, as we all know, the world had turned into pandemic central. I had two trips to London booked that still went ahead (lots of anti bac), and went to a gig with 4000 other people, because we still all thought and hoped it would blow over. On my flight back to Jersey - surrounded by students returning from a ski trip to Italy - I did try and breathe a little less deeply.

2020 was not the business year I thought it would be! It was vastly altered, challenging, humbling, and threw all of the ‘rules’ and plans that I’d formulated in early 2020 out of the proverbial window. But that’s what happens in the midst of a global pandemic. Care packages became by best seller, and I quickly moved to source as much in the island as I could - more so than before, because I knew where they were made, where I could get them, and that I could get them quickly. In fact, shopping local became not only a necessity, but the right thing to do - remember, to support local where and when you can to ensure they all get through this pandemic with a business on the other side.

Which takes me to the biggest business development for me of 2020 -The Small Business Pop Up. I founded this in July 2020 when the Government announced they would be issuing vouchers to all islanders to help inject money back into the local economy… it hadn’t occured to me that no one else would be organising a community of small businesses into action, so rather than think about it, I set to doing it myself. I’ve just about recovered from the workload!

What became clear during the Small Business Pop Up was just how much appetite there was for people founding new, small, creative businesses - many as a direct consequence of Covid and job losses or redundancy.

Starting a business is not an easy thing. We all start with a passion, or a feeling that we can do something better… but after that where do we go? Branding is always a fun place to start (and sets the tone), but your brand, your voice… they all develop over time. Perhaps one of the most important things is thinking ahead. As someone whose last business was in jewellery making, I sold into businesses as well as selling direct. If you are creative it’s really easy to underprice what you do - it feels like a simple equation to go from what something costs to make, to what it costs to buy, but if you ever want to sell to shops, or to scale up to having premises, then you suddenly have lot more costs, and that profit margin diminishes.

I’ve learned this the hard way.

One thing that I took away from The Small Business Pop Up is that we all know different things. I’m now a proud user of QuickBooks thanks to Lauren Radley’s recommendation. I also manage my website from apps on my phone now rather than logging in on my phone (I’m embarassed to say I hadn’t realised there was an app). Sharing our knowledge is powerful. As is giving something back.

Which got me thinking.

The Small Business Pop Up itself is having a bit of a rest (Covid, the bleakness of January, the need to do my accounts!), but Harriet and Rose is going to be offering two businesses a year mentorship. For free.

There’s a few stipulations! First off you must be less than a year old or new business. You must have a clear plan of what you want to do and sell, and you must have something to differentiate you from existing businesses in the island.

Drop me an email at harriet@harrietandrose.co.uk and express an interest in applying. I’ll select a business to work with at the end of February and at the end of August. I’ll be here for a chat, any queries. I’ll give you my suggestions, and act as a mentor and hopefully take your business to the next level… and by next level we include from your head to reality, from a small craft business to a successful brand, or from retail to wholesale. Next levels are all relative to where you start. But just think how far you could go!

You can find out a bit more here.