A hot source of ideas
Every business goes through a cycle of growth. After the excitement of launch, you experience steady growth then eventually things start to settle down and the business reaches a plateau. The only way to avoid decline at this point is to intervene, change something and enter a new phase of growth.
When you work in the business day to day it's hard to recognise that this is happening and harder still to find the time or the energy to break the cycle.
Sometimes you're not sure what help you need or where to get it - this is where The Business Map can offer you inspiration. It contains connections to all kinds of support for your business. Simply browsing through the many options could identify people with the skills to make a difference to your business.
Diane Budd, Business Link specialist adviser for Food, Farming and Land Based business is one such person. Diane made a big difference to ambitious entrepreneurs Joanna and Shawn Plumb of Edible Ornamentals.
Edible Ornamentals supplies trade and consumer customers with chilli plants, ready made sauces and dried products for the kitchen. It's a lifestyle business, but has the potential to be much more. The business recently acquired new premises with room to expand. All the opportunities were there but they needed advice on the best directions to move in.
Diane suggested a range of options, from looking at different channels, expanding existing wholesale and retail markets to looking at new product and service offerings. She was also able to introduce the couple to a wide range of industry contacts like the NFU and provide them with valuable consumer market data through Dunnhumby.
Joanna was also grateful to be put in touch with one of Business Link's specialist IT advisers, Keith Padbury. "We learnt some powerful lessons from Keith particularly about online pricing models for our hand-made sauces. We are also working on a new online strategy and website, in order to build our online presence and sales", explains Joanna.
As well as sales, marketing and IT help they've had access to funding guidance too. "Through Business Link we found out about grants for training - which we hope to use to develop our kitchen skills - and grants from the Rural Development Programme for England, which supports rural businesses like ours."
The couple are now exploring opening a visitors' centre and looking at growing other edible crops in their new nursery. Whichever route the couple choose, the future's looking hot for Bedfordshire based Edible Ornamentals.
If you want to take your venture up a gear, The Business Map gives you a clear view of the initiatives and programmes that could help. Whether your enterprise faces environmental challenges, funding issues or recruitment problems you can navigate your way to expert advice.
To find out how Business Link can help you, visit the Business Link website or call 08457 171615.