Enterprise Nation and Amazon launch a new campaign to help small businesses become more resilient and focus on recovery following the pandemic. The events are designed to help entrepreneurs build a resilient business, raise funds and succeed in the digital economy in 2022.
The free bootcamps run through March and April. The first two events focus on some of the challenges women-founded firms face, with the events in April and May providing guidance for businesses that want to explore the opportunities of pop-ups and physical retailing. There will be a chance to hear from a range of expert guest speakers on topics including mindset, raising capital, live-stream retail, selling on Amazon, maximising pop-up spaces, visual merchandising, barcodes and data analytics. The bootcamps will be a mix of online and in-person events.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s recent report into fledgling businesses, found 12.6 percent of UK’s working age population were in the first three months of starting a business, a record number since the report began in the 1990s. Research commissioned by Amazon in 2021 showed that 81% of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had invested in digital skills in the previous 12 months, but three in four (78%) said they would value free training and skills to support their growth.
“Building digital skills can lead to better performing businesses, and we’ve heard from many participating in the Amazon Small Business Accelerator that they want more training on resilience in particular,” said Duaa Basheer, Head of UK Small Business Empowerment.
Paul Scully MP, Small Business Minister, said: “Anyone running a small business knows that resilience is a vital tool for sustaining success and long-term strength. It’s great to see this initiative which I hope will provide a boost to entrepreneurs across the UK alongside Government support schemes like Help to Grow and Start Up Loans.”
Emma Jones, founder of small business network and business support provider Enterprise Nation, said: “Now we are seeing business open up post-pandemic, we are experiencing a surge in interest from small businesses that can see the value in testing and showcasing their products on the high street. Many have launched digital sales successfully but are now looking for ways to meet their customers, attract new audiences, showcase to stockists and test new products. We expect omni-channel retail, where businesses sell on their own website, via global platforms, via stockists and short-term high street shops, to be an exploding trend in 2022. And by learning new skills and broadening their approach, they will add resilience for the longer term.”
The bootcamps are an extension of the Amazon Small Business Accelerator, a major support package from Amazon and Enterprise Nation, which has helped more than 400,000 small businesses and start-ups across the UK. It was launched in July 2020 as a rapid response to COVID-19 and the impact of the economic lockdown on small businesses.
Amazon Small Business Accelerator Bootcamps 2022
30 March – Women Founder Fire-Side Chat and Networking: Building business resilience
14 April – Becoming a successful online seller
12 May – Help to mastering physical retail
26 May – Extra steps to becoming a resilient business
Find tickets here: enterprisenation.com/bootcamps
