In this week’s updates, I’m going to be sending out information about ideas you could try, training opportunities and business support available that will benefit you and your business both now and in the future. This update introduces a comprehensive business support programme through Save The High Street. Save The High Street has launched a new Covid-19 support programme for the 200,000-plus small retailers across the UK struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic. Save The High Street is a lobby group that campaigns for diverse and successful high streets nationwide. They will work with businesses for 12 weeks to develop a personalised business plan, focusing what retailers should do to adapt and protect their businesses. This includes negotiating with landlords and suppliers, help in applying for grants and loans, assistance in setting up an ecommerce site, offering local delivery, hosting virtual events, and new modes of community engagement to all forms of digital marketing. I’ve reproduced details of the scheme below, and you can link directly to the site here: http://www.joinjo.com Please note – this is an extensive, personalised support scheme, and costs £192 for the whole 12 week programme, equivalent to £16 per week. The COVID-19 Support Programme (source: https://jo.joinjo.com/dashboard/todays-goals SaveTheHighStreet.org is offering a limited number of businesses every month the opportunity to join an intensive 12-week COVID-19 support programme, powered by Jo. Together we will tackle the challenges and opportunities facing your businesses today. Together, we will develop and implement a plan to weather the Coronavirus storm, while setting you up for success on the high street, now and for the future. Who is this for? This is open to independently-owned high street businesses of all shapes and sizes, across all industries, anywhere in the UK. Space on the programme is limited and offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. If the programme has already filled up before you complete your registration, we will notify you when we are able to re-open for a new intake of local businesses. What should you expect if you join? • We would become part of your team, working closely together to give you the best chance of success in 2020. • Everything below is optional, albeit recommended, and included in the programme: • We will give you access to experts across our team, all championing your success • We will analyse your target market, competition and your current performance • We will identify the total revenue available for you and work on targets together • We will audit your business against the key factors impacting success on the Coronavirus-era high street • We will develop a plan of action that we agree on together We will consider all the strategies and tactics we’ve found from multiple years of studying what works on the high street with hundreds of independent businesses and experts as well as the intensive research project we led through March 2020 to update this industry standard based on the impact of COVID-19 • We will send you new ideas each week, tailored to your plan and your personal business goals • We will give you step-by-step guides to make each idea a reality • We will identify potential suppliers and negotiate the best deals if you want to outsource any parts of your plan • We will recommend (when appropriate) new tools, advertising channels and other third party services that are relevant to your plan • We will help you set up tracking for all the metrics that matter • We will monitor and report on your performance and progress • We will give you a personal account on Jo that that you can access via joinjo.com 24/7 • We will engage your council and any active Local Champions to promote ideas that could help you and others on your street • We will discuss any challenges you are facing with your landlord, your partners, your team and anyone else and explore how we might help resolve them with you • We will offer you the opportunity to connect and, where relevant, collaborate with other business owners on the programme • We will feature you on our website and promote you through our social media channels and in our newsletter • We will produce content and videos about you and your experience with the programme, publicising your story to the media • We will invite you to be part of the High Street Advisory Board 2020 • We will invite you to regular webinars, covering the key challenges and opportunities for local businesses on the Coronavirus-era high street • We will schedule-in and support you on weekly mentoring and planning calls • We’ll be with you every step of the way. • We will work as a team and won’t consider this programme a success unless you’ve achieved your goals. How much does it cost? The total cost for the full 12-week programme is £192. That’s just £16 per week. At this price, it’s clear that our priority isn’t to make a profit. Our motivation for this programme is: • To ensure as many local independent businesses as possible receive expert, highly tailored, affordable support through this highly challenging period • To turn you into an inspiring example of what can be done to succeed on the Coronavirus-era high street, presenting you as a case study to other businesses across the country • To help you to achieve your potential, making another step to supporting the health and future of our high streets What else would you need to do? The amount of time you invest is up to you but the more we do, the more we’ll achieve together. You should be open to putting new initiatives in place, with a clear focus and motivation to grow. We will do everything we can to help you protect, adapt and even grow your business this year, but we need to work as a team. We will give you the option to outsource some of the work if you want to trade time for money while maintaining your dedication to the plan. This is always your decision and, ultimately, our priority is seeing your plan being put into action. Would you like to get started? Registrations are now open and will close as soon as we meet full capacity. Once your payment has been made, your place on the SaveTheHighStreet.org COVID-19 support programme will be secured. Your Success Manager will then be in touch within 24 hours to book an initial call while setting up your Jo account. Any other questions? If you have any other questions, send us an email to accelerator@savethehighstreet.org and we will respond as soon as we can. If you leave your phone number for us to call we should be able to get back to you even more quickly.
Whilst Clair is temporarily furloughed, and I am working from home, you can still contact me by email: info@brbid.org, by phone: 07917 692690 or through Zoom meeting software. The software is free to download and works across a wide range of platforms – phones, tablets, PC’s, Macs. If you’d like a virtual face to face, please invite: heather@brbid.org Kindest regards, Heather Heather Allen, BR BID Co-Ordinator