We’ve been busy with a new strategy and new website too!

As most small business owners will know, marketing for yourself is difficult enough but developing your own website can be an arduous task – time is precious and customers always take precedence.

Eighteen months ago, we took a long hard look at ourselves and decided we needed to embark on our very own marketing strategy giving us a clear plan for the next few years.

In an effort to practice what we preach and following a three-month marketing review project, headed up by Anwen Cooper from Get Fruitful Marketing, we were able to develop a forward-thinking marketing strategy for SHC. We dissected our sales process, thought about our customers’ requirements, how they work and translated this into a strategy that conveys our messaging and our expertise.

Anwen was great to work with and I would highly recommend her to any SME looking for clarity in their business objectives.

The overriding priority was to develop a new website.  However, the project has also seen SHC invest in a CRM system, Microsoft 365, QuickBooks online and a whole new brand identity. And it doesn’t stop there…

As part of the marketing review, we also felt it was important that we showed our support to a local charity in Kent. We’re delighted to be involved with Kent Cooks run by the KM Charity Team. Kent Cooks is a competition to find the best young cook in Kent, aimed at school children. In November I will join the other sponsors in a tasting of the finalists’ dishes and the crowning of the Kent Cooks 2016 winner. It has been a great event to be involved with and I can’t wait for the tasting!

Networking has also been key to the new-look business as myself and the team have been extremely busy networking locally and further afield in our three key sectors – FM, Food and Packaging.  Networking has definitely widened our contact list and helped SHC to become a better business by working with local experts such as Anwen Cooper, Philip Pilgrim, Graham Tarrant and Nick Bird.

Having embraced networking, I am now working closely with Nick Bird from everywherebusinesstools.com, to set up a lunchtime networking event to be held at the Dirty Habit in Hollingbourne, Kent.  It will be aimed at business owners as well as marketing directors and the first lunch will take place in the Spring 2017.  So if you’re interested in attending, then please do get in touch.

So, with our new website up and running and the marketing campaign well underway, we believe we’re all set to take our ambitious business to the next level. It’s been an exciting journey, albeit an expensive one – but worth it.  If you would like to be part of the business either as a client or as a consultant, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Here’s to what the rest of 2016 has in store for me and the team and please do check back in with our new blog to read our industry insights, tips, hints and the latest goings on at SHC HQ.

Let us know what you think of our new website and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @suzannehowecomm