BUSINESS REVIEW OF THE YEAR
What has success looked like for your business in 2021 ?
Success , a simple word which can mean different things to different people . This year , and in 2020 , it has taken on a new meaning when it comes to business . For many business owners , success has simply been survival .
For others it ’ s meant embracing great change within their business which will alter that business and its operation for the future . The resilience of the SME community to be agile and flexible has been both inspirational and breath-taking .
Here at The Business Exchange , we made changes which have allowed us to continue to operate when many magazines have fallen by the wayside . Just some of the ways we ’ ve done that include :
Circus Journal
• Posting hard copies of the magazine to homes and business addresses directly , free of charge ( and at no added cost to our advertisers ) when we could no longer deliver to communal spaces or office receptions through the lockdowns . We gave people a reason to escape from their screens and offered a sense of connectedness even though we were apart .
• Holding virtual events , webinars and networking , and this year using a hybrid model of both virtual and in-person to keep everyone feeling safe and secure .
• Sharing more content and stories online to support local businesses as much as possible .
For other businesses it ’ s meant much growth , some by sheer luck that those were the services or products in demand , or by securing contracts directly related to the management of the pandemic and all that came with Covid-19 .
Circus Journal is an independent journal on style , creativity and community , with free distribution across Bath , Bristol and the South West . Founder , Simon Tapscott shares the challenges and successes his business has faced in the last 18 + months .
Every business owner , of any brand large or small , should recognise and celebrate the success as that ’ s what powers them through those days , weeks or – as we ’ ve seen in the last two years – months of stress , worry , frustration and anxiety .
We ’ ve asked four local businesses to tell us about their ‘ success ’ over the last 12 months .
Simon , said , “ Publishing a print magazine during the lockdowns caused by Covid hasn ’ t been easy . I ’ ve always subscribed to the view that Circus is only as good as its distribution – content is king but it has to be seen and read to be effective - and we ’ ve always worked hard to make sure that copies are placed in venues and locations that are popular with our readership ; so it is easy to find and pick up , and drives footfall for the independent businesses who stock ( and sometimes advertise in ) Circus .
" So what used to be a simple job of maintaining a spreadsheet and sending to our distribution guy each issue turned almost turned into a full-time job overnight . Some businesses were allowed to trade , others weren ’ t . Then we had Bath in Tier 2 and Bristol in Tier 3 – each with different rules . Most of the hospitality sector had shut down for good . It was grim , but we had a commitment to fulfil our obligations to advertisers and get copies into the hands of our readers .
" This required patience , resilience and creativity . We incorporated an element of residential door-to-door delivery ( something I ’ d always tried to avoid for fear of unread copies being put straight in the recycling bin ) and used data from a recent research project to target the postcodes where we knew our readers lived . And we partnered with food delivery services to add copies to their distribution runs . We also created a digital edition of the magazine which peaked at 1900 views per issue at the height of the lockdown .
Since then our regular distribution has come back strongly , and we now have more stockists than ever – over 300 opt-in locations – and are in good shape to build on this for 2022 ."
For more info : www . circusjournal . com
Customer IQ
Gideon Barker is Founder of Customer IQ which provides research and insight for marketers in start-ups and SMEs .
Gideon , said , " I didn ' t imagine 2021 would be spilling over with successes , once the economic impact of the pandemic started to bite . But success does come in different forms . I ' ve had the opportunity to really think about my business : what it does , what the purpose and values are and who I want to work with . This to me is a success in that I ' ve managed to crack through some of these questions that I ' ve been struggling with for a very long time .
So a rebrand in early 2021 and now a clear sense of vision and purpose to what I want Customer IQ to be doing , and for whom . This has even meant me declining work from businesses that don ' t align well with our values . This might sound daft ( certainly felt so at the time ) but has allowed me to pursue opportunities that are more aligned to us ."
For more info : www . customer-iq . com
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