Community Connections: Your invitation to a bespoke online masterclass for small businesses in East Sussex
Like many of you, The Grain Store Lewes has been vastly affected by Coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown which caused businesses like ours to close their doors. That’s why we are delighted to tell you about a new initiative from our friend and local Business Coach Marisa Guthrie, which aims to help small businesses in East Sussex and beyond to get back on their feet.
You are not alone - a message to small businesses
Launching Monday 01 June, Marisa has developed a new four-week online masterclass series designed to help small companies who are looking for support and inspiration to emerge from the crisis.
Helping You Build Confidence In Your Business During The Covid-19 Outbreak
Explaining her motivation for the course, Marisa says: “Many small businesses have been hit hard financially, but they will need to be ready once we emerge from lockdown so I have put together this four-week series of masterclasses to help people build confidence in their business. Supporting those businesses has been my top priority in lockdown. You are not alone.”
What is covered in the masterclass?
The course has been designed to help answer basic and fundamental questions, which Marisa promises to be “free of jargon and unnecessary business speak”.
Over the four weeks, participants will focus on how to develop skills that help you to:
Identify and connect with your audience
Put together a simple marketing strategy
Develop engaging, relevant content for social media
Write copy for your website with confidence
Write blogs that reach out to your audience
Advice for businesses and those feeling the productivity burden
“I think there has been too much emphasis on being ‘productive’ during the lockdown, rather than how we nurture and take care of ourselves, and our communities,” says Marisa. She reminds business owners that their business needs to be sustainable not only financially, but also physically and emotionally.
She explains: “For me, leadership is about acting with integrity so I need to model how I take care of myself and how I demonstrate my values. If I am to ask my clients to do the same. It is only when we are resourced in ourselves that we can start to think about how to support our communities.”
For further advice and tips make sure you sign up for the masterclass starting Monday 01 June.
Full leadership interview with Marisa Guthrie
In March, The Grain Store Founder Anni Townend talked to Marisa as part of her Leaders in Conversation podcast series. They talk about trauma in business, the role of Equine facilitated learning in helping people through trauma, her love of wild terrain and how she finds inspiration in the work she does with millennials - their values and their contribution to the world.
About Grain Stories
Grain Stories is a new online feature where we put a spotlight on the people, places and tales linked to The Grain Store and our home in East Sussex. From inspirational stories in the community to diving into the rich history of the South Downs Way, we want to celebrate this beautiful corner of the world and the people that make it special.