Hi Everyone,

We hope you are having a great January.

We have finally done it! “What did we actually do?”, you might ask. Well, we decided to start a monthly newsletter. “Not exactly rocket science though”, you might be thinking, and we agree with you on that. There are always news or tips out there that we want to share with you, and we have decided to start doing that more regularly from now on.

So, why the pictures of Bruce Lee and Uma Thurman in the header with a quote in the middle? Well, because we think that on some deep level, they represent you, the business owner, the professional, the worker, (even the Prime Minister) who is on a mission almost every single day to get through all the obstacles that may lie ahead. “Yeah right”, you might be thinking. And, you would be correct, we must grab your attention somehow as our attention spans these days are no longer than 5 seconds.

So, after that beautiful and unnecessary intro, you might be asking, remind me once more, what is it that you do?

Well, we could say that we offer Bid & Tender Support, Marketing Services, Website Design, IT Solutions, Business Incubation, and that we run Start-Up School, Future High Street and Urban Innovation programmes.

The short answer is – We solve your business problems, that is what we do.

Our newsletter is not long, it aims to inform, inspire and educate, while at the same time remind you that we exist and that you should remember us when you have some money to spend on a project.

Small Business: So, the first bit of news is about small business, pandemic and mental health, all rolled into one.

Member of our team Vijay Pall recently produced a short documentary about all those issues. It can be viewed here. We felt that this was worthwhile sharing as no one really has ever asked the small business owner how they are doing, coping, or getting on.

The recent survey by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy found that 56% of business owners feel they need help with their mental health but don’t know where to start. More details of the survey can be found here.

Being Practical: Second bit is somewhat more practical and can be implemented to improve your business. Yes, it is about the one that we usually dread – THE EXCEL. The other day we discovered that someone on our team (we are not naming anyone, but we may be referring to the author) discovered that their knowledge of Excel bordered on the Fail mark. We know that member of our team is not the only one out there, so we have decided to share a useful tip each month that will help you learn, improve, and discover something to make your work life easier. The link to 10 Excel tips can be found here.

Next month it may be a tip on accounting, sales or marketing, we just cannot guarantee what enlightenment will be shared with our readers.

That First Million: This is where we inspire you and share with you the stories of successful businesses. Today’s story is about Harriet Hastings, Founder Of Biscuiteer. Harriet Hastings founded Biscuiteers in 2007, creating collections of hand-iced biscuits to sell online as gifts. Hastings, 57, tested recipes in the catering kitchens of her husband, Stevie Congdon, before self-funding their £80,000 initial investment in packaging and design. Turnover has jumped from £392,000 in 2008 to more than £11m in the financial year ending April 2020. The ecommerce brand now has more than 200 staff at its headquarters, named the Ministry of Biscuits, in Wimbledon, London. Cafés offering icing lessons and DIY icing opened in Notting Hill in 2012 and Battersea in 2014. Another is soon to open in Belgravia. More on that story can be found here.

And that is us done. If you liked our short newsletter and would like to find out more about our services, please visit www.hub109.co.uk

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Hub 109 team