Exciting times. We're about to appear in our local Chamber of Commerce newsletter as new members. In
the course of writing our piece for that I stumbled across the below, a piece I wrote for when we were featured on the BlueBiz blog a while back and I thought I'd share it. Things have come on quite nicely since then but it warms my heart to see that we've stayed true to what we believe in...
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1) Tell us about your
business:
Treacletiger is a venture that’s grown from our work with small
businesses providing HR support, health & wellbeing programmes and all the
kind of stuff business owners need, want and would love to have to build skills
and value in their company.
We work with your existing team to develop HR and employee surveys
and policies that have genuine worth. There’s a world of difference between a
policy that sits on a shelf gathering dust and one that really informs how you
do business.
We can review your existing policies and bring you bang up to
date. We won’t clutter your business with policies for the sake of having them;
our support is realistic and aligned with your business’ values and culture.
Oh yes- realistic. That also means affordable. We don’t believe
there’s anything to be achieved by demanding huge investment of cash or time.
We’ll reflect your position, rather than imposing our own terms on a business.
We believe strongly in keeping the client in the driving seat, because that’s
how we’ve experienced the greatest impact and positive change. If a business’
people are part of the change, their voices are heard and their value
appreciated, they ‘buy in’ more readily... and working together with common
aims is better than imposing change on anyone.
We’ve designed a simple to use health & wellbeing programme
that not only offers a survey of all staff by a trained professional, but that
we can coach to your people so that you feel confident in running with it in
years to come- and developing it to support your business. This programme has
been implemented in several businesses now, and we’ve seen reductions in
sickness absence, stress levels and unhappiness at work whilst staff loyalty
job satisfaction, productivity and confidence in the business has risen.
We offer varying levels of support- if you just want to get the
basics right, sure, that’s a great place to start. But if you want to move
things up a notch we can help you on the road to accreditations such as
Investors In People and ISO standards.
2)
When did you start your
business and where did the idea come from ?
We’ve worked with a number of businesses in the last five years
and seen positive results; in 2011 my partner Steve and I decided that what we
do has value for small businesses struggling to cope, or who cannot justify
engaging a full time HR or training professional. We saw a solution, and we’re
looking forward to helping others develop using the techniques we’ve tried,
tested and know to work.
3)
Where do you see
yourself in 5 years time ?
We’d love to be working with some seriously creative and
challenging organisations, developing our skills and knowledge further and
loving every day of it!
4)
Can you offer any advice
to anyone thinking
of starting a new business ?
Don’t wait til you’re ready- that day never comes! You don’t need
a huge start-up budget, marketing guru or fancy office. You just need focus,
commitment, and the ability to engage others when you speak about your
business. If you’re going to do it, go into it with all your heart and soul.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes- that’s how we learn after all.
5)
And finally, what do you
think of social media marketing for small businesses ?
Social networks like Twitter are changing the playing field for
start-ups, and are essential marketing tool. They do take time to maintain if
you’re doing it right, but it’s fun and you’re gathering info on what your
audience wants as well as building connections, so where’s the harm? Our advice
would be to make friends, share info, be yourself and be helpful. Don’t
auto-tweet- be genuine. Be original. Have fun. Don’t just spam followers with
your mission statement or ‘special offers’- take time to chat to them,
understand their needs and don’t be afraid to offer a little free advice or
help if you can. You really do get what you give on these sites.
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