Nobody ever said setting up and running your own business was easy, and the many challenges faced by entrepreneurs are indeed a big part of the attraction for many. However, people who own or run their own business often need to do things that are a little outside of their area of expertise. Instead of baking a lovely wedding cake, instead you find yourselves doing accounts, building a website or trying to find new customers. This can often feel like wading through treacle, not even sure if what you’re doing is effective.
But you’re not alone! Everyone who runs their own business will find themselves in similar situations. That’s why Goodmoney are offering our members the support, expertise and connections needed to run your business more effectively.
On Tuesday 26th May, 17 people gathered upstairs at The Mesmerist for our first ever Goodmoney Members Workshop. This was a workshop on marketing and communications for small businesses and was delivered by Guy and Will from the amazing Long Run Works. They have a wealth of experience from working in marketing and communications for large brands such as Coca-Cola and Dove. Recently, they formed Long Run Works with the aim of bringing their cutting edge knowledge and insight to smaller organisations that are doing great things but can’t afford the same marketing budget as the big boys.
The session was focused on making your story – and this was one of the key learning points that I personally took away. So many people focus on how they should tell their story – social media, website, events etc – that they forget to take their time to first make their story. What is the challenge you’re trying to overcome? What change would you like to see? Who are you telling your story to? Can you describe your perfect customer?
Long Run split the workshop in two, with the first half being the ‘art’ of story making and telling, and the second half being the ‘science’. They made a challenging exercise fun and accessible by drawing strong connections with famous stories such as Star Wars, and by providing us with tools to help build the story of our own business and to reflect carefully on the type of people that we are telling our stories to.
As a participant as well as organiser of the workshop, I can personally state how useful and empowering the session was. We’ve also received fantastic feedback from our members_ who came along. So, a massive thanks to the amazing Long Run Works, and we look forward to many more Goodmoney workshops in the future.
