There are more than 310,000 retail businesses in the UK, which is 5.7% of all businesses, with SMEs accounting for more than 99% of them. Many UK retail businesses, especially those in the high street, have had a very tough time in recent years, having battled Covid and a record inflation-fuelled cost-of-living crisis that’s left consumers much more careful when it comes to spending their cash. So, is it still worth starting a small retail business and if so where do the best opportunities lie? Should you take on premises or stay strictly online? How do you set yourself apart and create a winning brand?

Answering these and many other key questions is Catherine Erdly, a small-business independent retail expert with more than 21 years’ experience, 17 of them spent working for high street names. She now works exclusively with start-ups, independent brands and retailers, helping them to grow their profits.

This episode is brought to you thanks to the support of Square. Whether you're a small business or a multi-location retailer, Square's retail POS system includes all the tools your retail business needs including payments, inventory management and ecommerce. Find out more about Square's retail POS systems at square.com.

Show notes for the episode can be found on the Start Your Own Business podcast website. Visit Start Up Donut and sign up to the Donut newsletter for more free start-up news, advice and special offers to help you save time and money.

Creating a great customer experience is crucial, especially for new and established businesses operating in retail and hospitality. If you don’t create a great experience, many customers will avoid your business or head for the exit not long after entering your premises. There are many ways to encourage a great customer experience, but the potential for using music to create the right mood cannot be overstated. Music really can boost your profitability, as expert Liam Wood of the New World Trading Company explains.

This episode is brought to you thanks to the support of PPL PRS. TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS provides a streamlined music licensing service, with a single point of contact, to make it easier to legally play and perform music in public. Visit themusiclicence.co.uk to find out more.

Show notes for the episode can be found on the Start Your Own Business podcast website. Visit Start Up Donut and sign up to the Donut newsletter for more free start-up news, advice and special offers to help you save time and money.

How and why would a small business attempt to take on the multinational petrochemical companies? Can a small business even compete in a market dominated by a handful of big players? In short, yes! Dawn White of Ecoegg did just that.

Dawn White battled eczema while growing up. Her struggles with sensitive skin inspired her to create a detergent that was kinder to her skin and contained no nasty chemicals. Dawn tells us how she invented her own pioneering, eco-friendly detergent pellets and innovative laundry container that allowed the pellets to be placed directly into washing machine drums.

Packed with lessons on how to develop new products, how to set your business apart from established rivals and how to get your products stocked by major retailers, this episode is a must-listen for anyone starting a small business or launching a new product or service.

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If you don’t have a well researched business plan, you may still be able to start and grow a successful business – but it may never achieve its full potential. To do that, you need goals and a successful strategy that enables you to achieve them. Essentially, that’s what a sound business plan offers you. So, what are the key components of a successful business plan, how do you use it to grow your business and what are the classic business plan mistakes you need to avoid?

Nicola McKenzie, co-founder of AI-enabled business plan platform Venture Planner, provides the answers to these and other key business plan questions.

Show notes for the episode can be found on the Start Your Own Business podcast website. Find more help and advice on starting a business at Start Up Donut.

This episode is brought to you thanks to the support of Venture Planner. Designed to assist start-ups and small businesses, Venture Planner utilises the power of AI-driven technology for tasks such as market research, financial projections, and document generation, aiming to streamline the business planning process. Get a free trial and 10% off when you sign up with code DONUT.

What does the future hold for small businesses in the UK in the next five to ten years? Which businesses are most likely to survive and succeed? How will customer wants and needs change and how might small businesses market their products and services to them? Will online sales continue to grow and is that likely to bring about the demise of the high street? What about managing, and, could AI actually be a good thing for small-business owners? Applied futurist, speaker, writer and consultant Tom Cheesewright, explains how the small-business world is likely to change in the next five to ten years.

Show notes for the episode can be found on the Start Your Own Business podcast website. Find more help and advice on starting a business at Start Up Donut.

This episode is brought to you thanks to the support of Mediahawk. Mediahawk is a leading call-tracking and marketing analytics solution. Their software helps businesses big and small to quickly and easily pinpoint their most profitable marketing activities, cut wasted spend and drive more leads and sales. Founded in 2002, Mediahawk pioneered call-tracking technology, and have remained at the forefront of the industry ever since.

Many new small independent retailers buy their stock wholesale, often from small suppliers, makers and craft businesses. It can really set you apart by providing you with high quality, exclusive stock that’s superior to the mass-produced options sold by others. But where do you find such suppliers and how do you negotiate good deals? Consultant and wholesale and retail expert Therese Oertenblad answers these key questions, while also providing tips for micro makers that want to sell their wares to small retail businesses.   

Show notes for the episode can be found on the Start Your Own Business podcast website. Find more help and advice on starting a business at Start Up Donut.

This episode is brought to you thanks to the support of Faire. Faire is a global marketplace for local retailers to discover the best emerging and established brands to stock their stores risk-free. Faire enables independent retailers to grow their business with the advantages of big players and empowers makers to seamlessly build and run their wholesale business. Faire was founded in 2017 and is powered by the idea that the future is local.

Starting your own business is challenging. If you haven’t done it before, you’ll inevitably lack know-how, while there are common pitfalls to avoid. So, what key tasks do you need to complete when setting up your own business, if you’re to get off to the best possible start? Start-up and small-business content expert, journalist Mark Williams, answers this and other key questions.

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While some businesses grow steadily over many years, others achieve significant growth in a far shorter time and are started with that key aim. This episode looks at what types of start-ups are most scalable and in which sectors they’re usually to be found. The guest expert is Guy Rigby – AKA The Entrepreneurs’ Adviser – SME mentor and author. He explains how to start a scale-up and how to overcome key scale-up challenges.

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This series is brought to you thanks to the support of Dell Technologies. Our partnership with Dell means you get top products at special prices and a personalised consultation from a dedicated tech adviser who will get to know the goals of your business. Find out more by emailing the Dell for Startup UK representative at [email protected]

Email marketing can be a highly cost-effective way to attract and retain customers, but your email marketing strategy and content have to be right if you are to get the open rates and click-throughs that lead to sales.

Email marketing expert Laura Hanlon of Birmingham-based agency Pink Leopard reveals the secrets of building good email marketing lists, sending marketing emails in the right volume at the right time, getting your content and subject lines spot-on and the all-important business of measuring your success so you can improve your results.

Visit Start Up Donut and sign up to the Donut newsletter for more free start-up news, advice and special offers to help you save time and money.

This series is brought to you thanks to the support of Dell Technologies. Our partnership with Dell means you get top products at special prices and a personalised consultation from a dedicated tech adviser who will get to know the goals of your business. Find out more by emailing the Dell for Startup UK representative at [email protected]

In 2019, tired of their daily commutes and living for weekends, Charlie Low, then head of analytics for an adventure travel company, and design consultancy engineer Dale Comely decided to leave the nine-to-five behind by converting an old DHL delivery van into an off-grid mobile home, so they could live a simpler life and travel around Europe. They wrote a best-selling guide to converting vans into campervans, and launched their award-winning business, Nohma (at the time of recording called Climbingvan), which helps others with their campervan builds and provides an off-grid electrical system design service.

So, what key start-up lessons did they learn and how do they run a business from their van while traveling around Europe?

Visit Start Up Donut and sign up to the Donut newsletter for more free start-up news, advice and special offers to help you save time and money.

This series is brought to you thanks to the support of Dell Technologies. Our partnership with Dell means you get top products at special prices and a personalised consultation from a dedicated tech adviser who will get to know the goals of your business. Find out more by emailing the Dell for Startup UK representative at [email protected]