Sometimes, in business, you just need a helping hand.
The pace of change of modern society can be so overwhelming it’s tempting to think there is nothing any of us can do to keep up.
And the smaller your business is, the more daunting the challenge to carve yourself a successful marketplace can seem.
Step forward online retailing behemoth eBay.
It’s just announced that it’s launching a partnership with the city of Wolverhampton aimed at supporting local retailers and boosting the local economy.
One of the aims of the scheme – the first of its kind in the country – is to prove that online and high street retail can co-exist and show new and emerging businesses how to make their way in the digital world.
Okay, the cynical among us may dismiss the plan as a great piece of PR behind which there is little substance. But let’s cut eBay a bit of slack here.
It says there are plenty of exciting, creative businesses in the Black Country which are making innovative products wanted all over the world. But one in four small companies don’t have any online presence so are missing out on showcasing their fabulous products to as wide a market place as possible.
It is now setting up a 12-month partnership which will see its experts stationed in the city to provide support to small retailers who want to start up or expand their online presence.
Here at Be Bold Media we know just how much a helping hand – such as that offered by eBay – can help emerging businesses.
Essential business support
Take the work of the Marches Growth Hub as an example.
Day in, day out, the Hub – the one-stop shop business support service for the region – goes out of its way to offer the sort of support, advice and guidance which can make all the difference to a fledgling business.
Whether you want advice on turning your great idea into a proper business, finding new and innovative funding streams, developing an export market, going digital or even sorting out your business’s tax affairs, the team at the hub’s three regional centres (in Hereford, Shrewsbury and Telford) will have the answers.
And it really works. Time after time after time. We know, because we see it every day in our job handling the Hub’s communications.
So we’re prepared to dismiss the doubters and welcome eBay to Wolverhampton with open arms. Good luck to them.
And just this once we’ll resist the temptation to rename them ay-Bay…