So what are the real opportunities of being part of #SBS?

My journey from working as a Sales Director in the corporate world to becoming a personal trainer, fitness expert for the over 50s and also as a businessman has been a winding road. If I think about how much I’ve learnt along the way and how often I’ve had to get out of my comfort zone and, in fact, out of my own way too, I can’t help but feel a little sense of achievement and also gratitude for the journey. 

With the help of some fantastic partners I’ve got by my side, I’ve realised that ‘being more than my business’ and showing my expertise, being willing to take an opportunity, working on my business as well as in it – all come together to make me a ‘leader’ in my field. This is not me sounding arrogant at all; it’s about showing up and having so much passion for what I do that I take the opportunities as they arise – albeit mindfully. 

One of the things that my PR Partner, Fiona Scott, encouraged me to do was to align myself with business communities nationwide to widen my reach and impact beyond my home town of Stroud. This advice saw me entering the circle created by former Dragon and businessman Theo Paphitis, who runs something called Small Business Sunday (#sbs) on X and Instagram. 

Theo set up #sbs over a decade ago to bring together ambitious small businesses and celebrate the small business owner in the UK. The aim was simple: between 5pm and 7pm on a Sunday, many small business owners tweet or send an image introducing their business and each week, Theo’s team will choose six and welcome them into his community as well as sharing their business to his substantial social media following. 

Over the decade, that ‘group’ of business owners has swelled to more than 4,000 members who are all invited to be part of an active community on social media. The entry is to make the effort until your business is chosen. I was very lucky it happened on my first proper try! (I say proper because I’d entered one time before but mistakenly misspelt the hashtag - so it hadn’t been seen)

Initially, my thoughts were that many of the businesses in the #sbs community are product-based and spread widely across the UK, whereas in my business, I essentially am the product and with being based in one location - what value could this be to me? But how wrong I was!

Last week, as an #sbs winner in 2023, I was invited to Birmingham for the #sbsevent2024. Fiona came with me; it was her first time at the event too, even though she’s got several clients and contacts who are part of that community. The event is entirely free in that there is no ticket cost – however, of course, there is the cost of taking a day out of your business, travel and, if relevant, accommodation. It’s very easy to ‘not bother’ when this is the cost of taking part in something with no obvious tangible outcome. 

However, when we arrived, it was buzzing and very well organised with stands from the event sponsors, food and drink provided and a main stage full of speakers – all aimed at helping the attendees, who numbered over 1,000. 

It gradually became clear to me that the value here was more than I had originally anticipated – it was simply a question of opening my eyes and embracing opportunity. One clear example was that I ended up chatting with a representative of the NatWest accelerator programme, of which I have since been invited to apply for the programme in based out of Bristol. Also, there are now plans for regional meet-ups in the coming months – again at NatWest hubs. That’s another opportunity. We also got to meet some representatives from Google to talk about our types of business and what support they could give.

There was the obvious opportunity of having a photograph taken with Theo – along with 100s of others who also became members of the community last year, and the bonus of receiving my SBS certificate, which is now proudly placed on my studio wall!

I met several other business owners who were experts in their field and who were also service-based – something I did not expect, and I asked them what the value was to them. Many talked about the active social media group, which provides support and advocacy, referrals and advice on a regular basis. It’s like having cheerleaders who number in the thousands – what’s not to like about that?

Given that not only do I have my own fitness space where I work 1-2-1 with my clients – but I also run Jim’s Gym, an online gym for the over 55s to help them build fitness into their lives – it became clear that I had the potential to reach 4,000 other business owners many of whom would support me in spreading the word. Who knows, some might even become clients in the future – and perhaps I’ll become their client, too. 

My final takeaway is that mixing with other small business owners is a tonic in itself. Running your own company can be lonely, you can question yourself on an almost weekly basis – are you doing the right things? Why did this happen? Why hasn’t that happened? Being with all of those people made me realise we all face those challenges. Those feelings are not special to me, and taking the time to meet others at different stages of their journey in business means that we can all help each other.

I’m not kidding about that. As I was having my three seconds with Theo, he asked me if I was enjoying the event. I mentioned that it had come at the right time, as I was having a bit of a tough week, and the event had been really helpful in many ways. He pulled me aside after the photo and said sincerely that this is exactly what both the event and the #sbs community are for, to support one another through the inevitable wobbles and hope it had help me see beyond a tricky patch. I know we all have weeks like that in business – yet what makes me stand out? The fact that I’d made the effort to show up and be present. When a Dragon tells you that – you’d be a fool not to listen.