For some of us, Christmas is about having a rest away from work and (fingers crossed!) spending time with friends and family. But Get Ahead works with a huge variety of businesses, and the team here are well aware that for the retail, hospitality and beauty industries, Christmas is the busiest time of the year.
In this blog, we look at ways busy businesses can streamline their systems, leaving business owners free to make customers happy!
(more…)Social media management is one of our most popular services. Why? Because so many small businesses struggle to keep up with social media for the long term. Many business owners start off with excellent resolutions and invest in high-powered scheduling tools, but little by little, the social media tails off and ceases to be a priority.
So, to make life a bit easier, we thought we’d share some of our ideas for keeping on top of social media. Here they are:
(more…)Social media is something we all know we should be using, but many of us don’t have time, or don’t really see the point. But help is at hand! We have put together some quick ideas to help you see social media differently. We hope this will lead to you using your social media time better, or help you see the possibilities of digital marketing. Read on and good luck!
(more…)Do you experience fear of missing out when you hear of a new social media platform? If you do, ask yourself another question: is it fear of yourself missing out, or fear of missing out on potential new business?
If the latter, we are here to tell you not to worry. The best social media platform for your business doesn’t have to be the newest one. Instead, focus on the one your ideal clients and customers use most frequently. This will vary depending on your industry, so we’ve put together a handy guide to who uses what to help you find your online niche.
(By the way, it helps if you know who your ideal customers are before you start. If you haven’t considered this yet, check out our blog: How to identify your ideal client & market your business to them – Get Ahead VA)
(more…)Do you experience fear of missing out when you hear of a new social media platform? If you do, ask yourself another question: is it fear of yourself missing out, or fear of missing out on potential new business?
If the latter, we are here to tell you not to worry. The best social media platform for your business doesn’t have to be the newest one. Instead, focus on the one your ideal clients and customers use most frequently. This will vary depending on your industry, so we’ve put together a handy guide to who uses what to help you find your online niche.
(By the way, it helps if you know who your ideal customers are before you start. If you haven’t considered this yet, check out our blog: How to identify your ideal client & market your business to them – Get Ahead VA)
(more…)This autumn, Get Ahead has introduced a new range of social media packages to make it easier for busy business owners to access our services and get the right support. However, Get Ahead’s main focus is always on our clients: we want to provide you with the right services for your individual needs. In other words, you might benefit from one of our packages…or you might need a flexible service designed around your specific needs.
In this blog, we compare packages and flexible services and consider what sort of business they suit best.
(more…)Events of 2020 saw many of us working from home, with figures backed up by a recent survey from the ONS. Once the initial joy at the reduced cost of commuting had passed, many realised that the money they saved on travel cards was being spent instead on their fuel bills.
(more…)Awareness days, holidays and promotional days all present great marketing opportunities. You can join in with hashtags on social media, or leverage the enthusiasm generated by Google’s doodles. Offline, you can take advantage of the general holiday atmosphere and market your business in line with Christmas or Halloween.
(more…)Happy birthday to us! Get Ahead turns eleven this autumn and we are so proud of how far we’ve come. Of course, we don’t just want to keep our success to ourselves.
Here’s what we’ve learned in the last eleven years – we hope our experience will help you too!
(more…)Tell anyone who knows Fiona Ibbetson that she’s just won a major industry award, and their reaction is likely to be “Well, of course she would. Obvs”.
And it’s easy to understand why. The owner of Get Ahead in Leeds and Wakefield made her business profitable in the first three months, created work for 22 people, and expects to triple her revenue this year.
She’s also taking on the additional territory of York and Harrogate which will generate work for many more people as well as making life easier for the business owners she serves by providing outsourced virtual assistants.
“I’d not had my own business before this,” says Fiona, who’d worked for Morrisons supermarkets for 20 years. “That’s why I went down the franchise route.
“The franchise model offers flexibility and leverages the skills of my team to help local businesses. That’s my passion.
“I’ve grown the business really well during the pandemic, despite losing three clients which halved my revenue overnight.
“I’ve had a great mentor in the franchisor, plus I use two business coaches, one for my personal brand.
“I thought networking would be a completely new skill to learn until I realised I’d been networking naturally with peers and colleagues for years.
“My husband’s still working from home as well, and I’m working on my business around my family as well as home-schooling two children. Everybody’s had to adapt.”
Despite the face-to-face networks she relied on for new business vanishing overnight in the pandemic, Fiona built the business up to a team of six plus 16 virtual assistants, and she’s taking on a Business Development Manager to help with the new territory.
“Winning the award is amazing,” she says. “I’m thrilled to be recognised and it puts me up there with other great franchisees which is fantastic.”
The Great British Franchisee Awards recognise franchisees’ exceptional performance and business experience, ability to drive business growth, staff retention, customer satisfaction, community involvement, inspired leadership, and franchise involvement.
The awards are run by whichfranchise, supported by Lloyds Bank, BDO, AMO Consulting and Chantry Group.
• Read more about the awards at https://www.whichfranchise.com/awards
• For over 25 years, whichfranchise has promoted ethical franchise opportunities in the UK. Learn more at https://www.whichfranchise.com/