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Informi – The Story So Far

Here’s something you might not have considered: Informi is a startup in its own right.

After a number of years in the pipeline, we launched this very site just a little over six months ago. 

Just like a new business, we went through much of the pre-launch planning you’ll be familiar with. Business plans, research, development work and testing, and finally arrived at the site you see today. But, as Winston Churchill once said, this was just the end of the beginning. 

Six months in, here are some of our highlights…

 

Informi – the story so far

An early concept of the Informi site design

Losing our beta stabilisers

As we’ve said many times, sometimes the best way to learn is to get your product out there and gather feedback. After months of development work and testing, we launched the Beta version of the Informi website across August and September 2016. The feedback was encouraging. Small business owners complemented the information available and the look and feel of the website. Informi launched in full towards the end of September.  

 

Henry Cooper delivered these words of wisdom at the Business Show in November

Spreading the word

As any business owner will tell you, you can’t afford to rest on your laurels. We’ve been getting out and about meeting with small business owners to help spread the word and find out what really matters to you. We exhibited at The Business Show back in November, taking with us business owner and licensed accountant Henry Cooper, owner of BirchCooper Accounting Services Ltd. He delivered an inspiring and uplifting talk reflecting on what he what he wishes he’d known when he started his business. More recently, we headed to Manchester for the Northern Business Exhibition

 

 

Bettie Confetti

Serving up A-grade content

Since we’ve started, over 100 articles have been published on the Informi website. This includes the new blog section which was launched in January. Here, small business owners themselves – across all industries and sectors – have passed on their remarkable stories. Our blog with Etsy guru Bettie Confetti and grilled cheese enthusiasts Northern Soul have proved especially popular, being shared enthusiastically on Facebook and Twitter. 

 

 

This quote from Linkedin’s co-founder in February has proved your favourite of our Instagram posts so far, receiving over 250 likes

Getting social

We’re proud of our efforts to encourage and empower small business leaders through social media. Our Instagram channel has racked up the likes – attracting well in excess of 4,000 followers to date. We’ve surpassed 1,500 Twitter followers, while you could be added to our 750+ Facebook addicts by giving us a like.

 

We were shortlisted in the ‘Best Not-for Profit’ category at the 2016 UXUK Awards
 

Looking mighty fine

We were thrilled that Informi was recognised for its innovative and engaging approach to helping small business owners, through being shortlisted in the ‘Best Not-for-Profit’ category at the 2016 UXUK Awards. These awards celebrate excellence in user experience.

 


 

Email is alive and well

A growing number of subscribers are receiving our fortnightly and monthly e-newsletters. These provide a round-up of the latest articles and blog postings to the Informi site, as well editorial comment on hot topics such as automation, business rates and Brexit. Anyone can sign up to receive our fortnightly newsletter, while registered users can build your own reading lists for accessing our articles in your spare time.

 

Stop the press!

We’ve also started making waves in the media. Since our launch, Informi’s expertise around small businesses has been picked up nearly 100 times. The most popular story related to which UK city is the best to start a small business. Research we conducted into the self-assessment deadline for tax returns was picked up by The Guardian, while the small business press lapped up our MP survey on the tools SMEs need to thrive. Informi also provided expert commentary on Philip Hammond’s Spring Budget in March.

What’s coming up next?

  • This is just the beginning. Over the coming months, we will be expanding our range of small business expertise, with new articles and blog posts aimed at giving advice to small businesses on almost every issue imaginable. If you’re a small business owner with an interesting story to tell – why not get in touch?
  • Having brought in the expertise of Hudson Energy to help power your small business, we’re looking to add other independent experts to cover a range of topics helping your company – or just your business idea – to thrive and grow.
  • We’ll be finding out what policies small business owners would like to see implemented during the next Parliament and begin lobbying for change that will benefit business growth throughout the country.

So, to steal a quip from Labour’s 2001 election campaign: “A lot done, a lot more to do.”

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