How Digital Boost x BT gave small businesses a Jumpstart!

It is an incredibly hard time to be a small business owner. Businesses that have been trading for years are struggling more than ever. Together with our partners at BT, we have created Small Business Jumpstart, a six-week programme designed to help micro-businesses get unstuck. 🚀 We held the first of these programmes in May and June this year!

Unlocking growth

The aim of Small Business Jumpstart is to give small business owners strategies and practical tips for growing their businesses. Through a combination of hands-on workshops, expert mentorship, and useful templates, we equipped businesses with the tools and knowledge needed to create their personal action plan, overcome their obstacles, and unlock growth!

The six sessions, which lasted one and a half hours each, covered business strategy, branding, marketing, customer service, and finance. Each one, hosted by volunteers from BT, included a workbook of templates and breakout activities, where the business owners could put what they learnt into practice and get and give feedback to each other, creating a supportive and encouraging community. 💖

Tailored support at every step

One of the key features of the programme and core principles of Digital Boost is that our support is tailored to each business. To support the live sessions, participants also had 1:1 mentoring sessions with our expert volunteer mentors, who offered insights, feedback, and direction throughout the journey. Participants submitted homework each week to get tailored and actionable feedback every step of the way! 🎯 We’re thrilled that our participants have since continued meeting with mentors after the programme has ended as they continue to implement everything they learnt 🤗

Giving small businesses a Jumpstart

We create our programmes for small businesses, so feedback and suggestions are so important to us. We want to make sure we’re serving the right support in the right way. Throughout the programme, participants shared helpful suggestions, which we implemented as we went along and glowing feedback at the end! 🤩

Here’s what Michelle from Find Your Spark said about the programme:

🚀 “The jumpstart programme is one of the best I have been on. 100% recommended to sign up for!!!” – Michelle from Find Your Spark

🎉 “Participating in the Jumpstart programme was a fantastic learning experience. It really helped to consolidate my thinking and helped me structure a strategy. Met some great people as well. Time well spent. Return on investment 100% plus” – Michael from Abceder

🤩 “I’ve learnt so much. I’ve already sent out my first newsletter and put things I’ve learnt into place!” – Seena from Bottlebee

We’re so pleased with the feedback and we are really looking forward to seeing the long-term impact over the next few months as the businesses continue to grow and thrive! 🚀

Future opportunities for a Jumpstart!

We have received a lot of interest in Small Business Jumpstart, so we are currently running our second cohort with plans for more to come soon! 🥳 Make sure you have subscribed to our newsletter to be the first to know when applications open! 🤗 Until then, you can access free 1:1 mentoring with our expert volunteer mentors who can help you grow!