Hartley Wintney’s Steve Bloyce was made redundant from a job in computer hardware in 2018. But he did not let it get him down, instead he used the opportunity to take his career in a different direction. Steve had an accident 4 years earlier and suffered an injury and was unable to use his arm (a Brachial Plexus injury). Since the accident he worked and trained hard to re-gain the use of this arm through the development of his own bespoke exercises and excellent medical support.

This life-changing experience inspired him to develop a business as a Personal Trainer (PT) specialising as a PT for adaptive athletes. He got in touch with the Inspiring Enterprise project and with his business adviser Susan Reviere he embarked on a journey to turn his experiences into a new business opportunity. To add to his skills-set, Steve is currently training to be a physiotherapist and works at Royal Berkshire Hospital to get the further medial experience to support his PT business. Alongside his full-time job Steve is gradually developing his business by providing PT session in the evenings and weekend. You can find out more about Steve: www.mettleplexus.com, Instagram and Youtube.

His Business Adviser Susan commented: “From our initial meeting Steve was committed and focused on becoming a specialist PT for adaptive athletes alongside general PT training.  Through regular business planning meetings we developed a structured plan to define his business and revenue goals.  It was a great being able to work with Steve and I have no doubt he will have a successful PT business.”

The growth of online marketplaces such as Notonthehighstreet.com and Etsy have helped British consumers discover products from independent retailers that they may never have found otherwise.

So how can you make sure that your online business stands out this Christmas ???

1.Treat your website homepage as you would a shop front

Your website homepage is your digital shop front and it’s the customer’s first port of call. Just as people will stroll past a shop window on the high street and move on until they find what they’re looking for, they’ll glance at your homepage and quickly make a decision about whether it’s selling what appeals to them.

Remember: with most users now using mobile devices to access the internet, make sure your website is optimised for mobile or you risk losing website visitors and, therefore potential sales.

2. Be active and visible on social media

Have an active presence on platforms where you’ll be visible to potential customers and engage with them. This could be to answer their queries or to promote sales and special offers. You’ve got something to sell so stand up and shout about it!

3. Run special offers, gifts and promotions

You could offer promotions for new customers which could include incentives such as a discount, a sign-up deal (e.g. a six month subscription for the price of three months), or a free gift when they make a purchase.

Similarly, you can offer promotions for your existing customers to ensure they spend more with you. This could include a voucher code for them to spend online when they make their next purchase and loyalty cards are another option.

4. Offer an easy journey from browsing to basket

If you want to create a stand-out customer experience and maximise sales, the best thing you can do is make buying a simple experience

Ideally, it should be a one-click process to go from browsing to basket. You need to find out exactly where visitors drop of in the buying journey to identify pain points and then rectify them to ensure a smooth and easy process.

5. Keep it fresh

Regularly rotating what you’re selling is the best way to make sure consumers keep coming back for more.

Don’t just keep your products fresh though; if you have blog posts or other written/ video content on your website, update it regularly to keep people engaged with your brand.

Give customers a reason to make repeat visits by letting them know when you have exciting new products in via email and social media.

6. Encourage customer loyalty to keep them coming back for more

Loyalty schemes are a great way to encourage repeat business. Digital loyalty platforms such as Yoyo Wallet and Loyalzoo allow you to offer customers far more effective rewards schemes through their phones.

You can sign up customers to your e-commerce platform loyalty scheme and then reward them with points for making purchases or promoting your brand across social media. These points can then be exchanged for rewards or discounts.

Being a smaller retailer also allows you to be far more personal than larger chains and to make your customers feel more valued e.g. you could acknowledge a customer’s birthday with a personalised message or gift

Independent retailers are booming in the UK, whilst large chains are in decline – this is not a short term trend so maximise your potential whilst you can.

With thanks to Henry Williams 

Corinne is an accredited psychotherapist and an artist. She has previously worked in NHS secondary mental health care services and has run therapeutic workshops and group art activities.

Corinne came to Action Hampshire, one of the Inspiring Enterprise partner organisations, to get support to develop Top of the Town (TotT), an art therapy enterprise based in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

TotT will offer art workshops and group activities for vulnerable members of the community who might not otherwise get the opportunity to engage with arts activities. It will also offer services to the general public to generate income that can then be used to fund workshop spaces for people unable to pay.

The artwork that results from the workshops will be displayed online and, eventually, at TotT’s premises which Corinne hopes will house both a studio and a gallery space.

How has the IE programme helped?

I can’t fault the support I’ve received. It guided me through an important development process and encouraged me to look at some fundamentals of building an enterprise that I would have not been aware of. E.g. articulating the vision, mission and values. I felt totally supported thanks to the team’s willingness to listen and stay in touch, especially when things got tough.

What have been your highlights of the programme?

Getting Top of the Town set up as a Community Interest Company would have been way beyond my capabilities and it’s only with the support of the team that I have now been able to do that.

Also, the team signposted me to government support called Access to Work, which I was eligible to receive as I am dyslexic. It has been amazing to have found this support that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about.

What would you say to someone else who is considering joining the programme?

Get on the case! You don’t need to have a completely informed idea as the team will help you from the very beginning so that your idea evolves into something realistic

For more information about Top of the Town CIC go to basingstoketopofthetown@gmail.com

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Do you have a dream of setting up your own social enterprise? Contact Alison Bridge at alison.bridge@actionhampshire.org, or call 01962 854971

Want to increase your profits without constantly needing to find new people to buy from you? Find out how to improve customer loyalty, and keep the ones you’ve got.

As a business, you’re probably putting in a lot of effort into acquiring new customers. But what do you do with those customers once they’ve bought from you?

If you want to grow your business quickly, customer retention is key. Here are five ways to improve customer loyalty.

1) Always prioritise customer service

When a customer buys from you, they deserve the best possible service you can provide. Take customer service seriously – apologise when you get things wrong, and seek to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

Make sure all members of staff understand the importance of customer service – and the issues customers regularly face. Amazon famously makes all members of staff spend time working on the service desk each year, including CEOs. It’s a tactic that works. Amazon is regularly praised for its customer service, and boasts incredible brand loyalty.

2) Give your customers an incentive to return to you

Why should your customers come back to you? Many businesses are fast to incentivise new customers with discount codes or free shipping. But what about the people who buy from you time and time again?

Give your loyal customers a reason to come back. Discount codes work well, but you don’t have to give them away if it will hurt your bottom line. Reward cards work well, as well as gifts with purchase.

Some companies use loyal customers to test new products. This makes them feel special and incentivises them to come back, but it also helps you evaluate new products and services before you make them available to the general public.

3) Offer a subscription package

If you’re offering a product or service that people need regularly, why not offer a subscription package? This means customers sign up for the repeat order when they make the initial purchase, usually in exchange for a slight discount or a free gift.

Although this doesn’t guarantee a customer will return (they can always cancel the payment), it does increase the likelihood significantly.

4) Be better than your competition

If a customer has already bought from you, and you’ve provided a good experience, you already have the upper hand.

But customers can be easily swayed by competitive offers, smart branding and clever advertising. Make sure you’re always one step ahead of your competition. Watch them closely, and keep yourself ahead of the curve.

This doesn’t mean you should copy them – but don’t get complacent with your position in the market. In this digital age, a customer’s loyalty can change at the drop of a hat, so don’t get caught out.

5) Ask for feedback – and act on it

If you want your customers to stay loyal to your brand, value them. It’s hugely important to seek out their feedback, and listen to it. It’s easy to automate the process of asking for feedback, so you can maximise responses each time someone buys from you.

Evaluate their feedback for trends, and use these trends to inform the business. How can you make your offer more attractive? For example, if you’re consistently hearing your shipping prices are too – how much would you need to increase your prices by to offer free shipping?

You might not be able to action every suggestion, but when you take customer feedback seriously, they’re more likely to return.

With thanks to TLC

Jason Otenio is a larger than life character and looks younger than his 40 years, he is from Lewisham in London. He is of Kenyan origin and grew up in a caring and loving home.

As a young man he got mixed up with the wrong crowd and aged 17 he joined a gang and his life became really chaotic , selling drugs , in and out of prison and  gang related crime which even led Jason to be stabbed and he is lucky to be alive.

Jason tried lots of different jobs including retail, canvassing, painting and decorating and working in clubs but nothing felt worthwhile or rewarding and he seemed to always go back to crime.

Jason was also struggling with his addiction to drugs and alcohol and made a decision to turn his life around and do something different. He moved to Portsmouth and to make a fresh start and is now almost 3 years in recovery from substance misuse which is an amazing achievement.

Part of turning his life around was to enroll on the Inspiring Enterprise program to develop an idea he had for some time but didn’t know how to get it started, do something fulfilling and ideally work with animals which he is really passionate about.

Jason’s idea “Spiritz Animal Shelter” is to provide a safe space for injured, abandoned or stray animals and its aim is to care, love, shelter and possibly train animals so they can be rehomed.

The project will also have a mobile dog grooming business offering to groom homeless peoples dogs for free to improve the wellbeing and welfare of the pets and their owners. Jason also wants to offer volunteering opportunities to homeless people and eventually work placements or training to enable them to gain employment.

Whilst on the Inspiring Enterprise program Jason learned how to develop his idea  and about business planning, marketing and what it takes to be a social entrepreneur , it has also  given him the opportunity to meet and network with like- minded people.

On completion of the workshops and ongoing mentoring, Jason realized the challenges he faced and wanted to know more about social enterprise and how to develop his idea further. With some encouragement he applied to the NEST program, a six week start up course at Portsmouth University and on successful completion of this has continued to work on his idea.

Over the period of a few months and including a couple of cancelled courses for animal management and other responsibilities , Jason began to feel disheartened and felt unsure if he wanted to continue with his idea.

With the support of his Inspiring Enterprise Mentor, Keith McAllister, family and friends and his own belief in his idea, Jason was encouraged to pursue “Spiritz Animal Shelter” and apply to the School of Social Entrepreneurs where he could have access to a wealth of support, guidance and experience to develop his business.

Jason said he found the application process “ nerve wrecking” but it was a healthy risk.

He was accepted and started in September,   he can now see that all his hard work is starting to pay off.  Jason says “The journey has been challenging , I have had lots of ups and downs with developing the idea but at the same time found it exciting and rewarding and I hope to see “Spiritz” help a lot of animals and homeless people”