Business start-up courses in King's Lynn and Fakenham

In 2017, Oobah Butler decided to get his London restaurant to the top spot on Trip Advisor. He started out ranked at 18,149.

Six months later his quirky eatery, the “Shed at Dulwich” was the number one restaurant in the capital. What then went onto make national news was the fact that the restaurant didn’t exist!

What he cleverly exposed was how we rely on others' opinion and experience. Nothing new, of course, as we’ve been doing this in the pub and over the garden fence for years.

But increasingly digital platforms, especially social media, make the sharing of such information so readily accessible, 24/7. This concept, called social proof, is striking. Trust Pilot report 92 per cent of consumers read online reviews and 80 per cent of shoppers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Manage this right and now your customers can engage with your business like never before. It is very likely that positive customer reviews will have more impact than any branding message you can create. Developing a strategy for such customer advocacy is where many businesses have gone, or are heading.

Critics argue Butler proved where the weaknesses lie, but this doesn’t seem to be deterring most entrepreneurs who can use social proof to create competitive advantage.

For new business start-ups, it’s something that could be at the heart of the launch campaign. To find out more about this and what else you need to do to start a successful business, our fully funded two-day Start Up workshop will help guide you through what you need to do.

Covering areas such as business types and structures, basic book keeping and tax requirements and how to do effective market research, the course has been developed to be easy to follow and relevant.

Plus if you need finance to help you start, we’ll show you to develop a professional business plan and financial forecasts that could help you secure up to £25,000 through the Government’s Start Up Loan scheme.

For more information and to book a free place, visit www.nwes.org.uk or call 01553 970029. Our next courses are in Lynn on November 5 and 6 and 21 and 22 and in Fakenham on November 11 and 12.

Now, anyone know a good restaurant?