Harpenden-based Businesswoman supports local small businesses

Rachel Bradbury from Custard and Crumble understands better than most the challenges of setting up your own small business and keeping it running in these tough economic times. She believes that now, more than ever, small business owners need to do all they can to support one another and to demonstrate her commitment to giving something back to others in the same position she’s started her Promote Local campaign which aims to help local businesses in the Hertfordshire area to market and promote their services to a wider audience.

The struggle faced by high street businesses has come under the media spotlight in recent years and not without good reason; one in six high street stores now stand empty and several household names which were once permanent fixtures in every town have vanished. Local business, in many cases through no fault of their own, are disappearing at an alarming rate, faced with competition from out-of-town retail parks and online retailers, not to mention a global recession. In the face of such adversity affecting some of the UK’s biggest businesses, what chance does the little guy have?

Well, this is one case where size may actually be an advantage. Small businesses can offer something their larger competitors struggle to compete with: local knowledge and personal service. That’s one of the reasons why some independent businesses are still flourishing while their larger counterparts flounder and fail. But in order to survive, they depend on the continued support of their customers. As consumers, we have a tendency to take it for granted that the businesses in our area will be there when we need them, but that’s an assumption we can no longer afford to make, as once-ubiquitous names like Comet and HMV, to name but two, can attest. The reality is simply this: if we don’t support our local businesses, we will lose them.

Business BUZZ takes place in city centre locations to help boost the High Street and local business networking. Attending your local BUZZ, or starting your own if there isn’t one in your area, gives you a chance to keep abreast of what’s happening in the business community and is guaranteed to grow your network of contacts. It will raise your profile amongst your fellow business owners and can open up opportunities to promote your products and services to a wider audience as well as forge new and rewarding business alliances.

We encourage and applaud collaboration and mutual support between local businesses and so were delighted to hear about Rachel’s Promote Local initiative as it reflects much of our own philosophy. If you’d like to take advantage of this great opportunity to spread the word about your business, you can send your details to Custard and Crumble via this contact form.