SUSSEX POST BUSINESS FEATURE
Welcome to the first of a regular, monthly, business feature for the Chichester Post. This month a bit of background and introduction to me and why I think collaboration is key for business here in the city and what I’m doing to play my part.
So how did I come to be in Chi and what qualifies me to write this column?
Well, it’s a story as old as time itself:
- Girl meets boy;
- Girl starts working for the local county council;
- Girls falls out of love with the boy (and the council), but stays in Chi;
- Girl then joins a locally-based web design and development company; and finally
- Girl decides to go it alone and start her own business here in Chi.
That covers the last 20 years, or as I call it, “My Chichester Life”. As for qualifications to being here, in print? Well, I’ll let you be the judge of that!
When I started my own business over three years ago — I’m officially no longer a “startup”, apparently — I missed having a team around me. I was working at home on my own, finding myself down rabbit holes of “how to be a great freelance marketing consultant” and achieving, at times, very little output. This wasn’t sustainable activity – bills wait for no (wo)man, as the old adage goes.
I knew that networking and finding a business community was the answer, but nowhere seemed to fit the bill; there was a definitely a gap for a new approach. So I did what I do best, I asked others that are far more experienced in this area than me.
Chichester has approximately 15,000 people registered as self-employed – this is a 19.8% share of the overall “economically active” market. The national average for self-employed status is 10.6% – we are almost twice this. Go Chichester!! With this data to hand, my friend Emily (an HR consultant) and I agreed that a new business networking community that had a primary goal of supporting freelancers and solo entrepreneurs here in the city was absolutely needed.
My next question was, ‘How hard could it be to start a new business networking group?’ As it turns out, it’s very easy – the hard work followed later. But we needed it to have purpose. We had both spent many years living, working and socialising in Chichester and wanted to support independent businesses (and the local economy). So we decided that we’d work with selected venues to host our morning meetups on the last Friday of the month. The good news was that they were more than willing to work with us and recognised the mutual benefit.
Three years on, we’ve built up a network of over 300 members — it’s free to join — and we regularly get over 40 people attend each month. We’ve seen some great collaborations: a brand strategist and singing coach, is just one example. A crude calculation on the back of a matchbox suggests we have happily contributed somewhere in the region of £10k into the pockets of independent businesses. Some of our host venues have included: Rume2, Purchases Restaurant & Bar, Pallant Restaurant & Cafe, Chichester Cinema at New Park/New Park Centre, Hennings Wine Merchants, Draper’s Yard, Luckes, Arties Kitchen.
What connects me, my networking group and these businesses is a willingness to collaborate and participate for the greater good. In a month where we’ve seen another couple of businesses close, it isn’t productive or helpful to lament their loss — which may be due to much more than “greedy landlords/throttling rates” — whilst not stepping over the threshold of the remaining businesses and offering your support.
The question is, If you are running a business here in the city and it’s surrounding area, ask yourself honestly: “are we doing enough to market ourselves, collaborate and grow?”
The future of the high street will not be dominated by big brands, it will be the independents that survive and thrive. Study after study confirms this trend. What independents bring to the table is the chance to connect with their customers in a way that makes everyone feel like they’re a part of something; we’re in it together.
There are of course factors that make coming in to the city untenable, one of which is the cost of parking. However, a rant on social media clearly isn’t reaching the ears of the decision makers. If you want to help the District & County councils understand the impact their parking strategies are having on the city’s economy, then you need to take your informed comments to them directly.
Whatever we do in business, collaboration and participation is key if you are genuinely up for making a change happen.
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If you have any comments or questions about this article or about my business networking group, please email me at: [email protected]