Lockdown easing: 5 tips for small businesses
As lockdown eases we offer our advice and tips for small businesses to adapt to this new transition period.
DWH is a small business and the coronavirus pandemic and lock own has affected us greatly. As it has most businesses in the UK.
We do sense, however, that things are starting to open up again. We have been asked to quote for more work, clients have started to brief in new jobs and some clients are looking to refresh and revitalise their websites ahead of lock down easing. Now is the time to prepare as the inevitable reduction and removal of support from HMRC for furloughed workers will mean many business have little choice other than to make sure their business can operate in this environment.
Here are our tips for small businesses on ways to get back into the work groove:
Cut costs. Then cut them some more
There’s absolutely no doubt that work will continue to be different for a while. We took the painful decision quite early to furlough our full time staff, shut our office (the beloved DWH Towers in the middle of Coventry) and work out of our kitchens, bedrooms and home offices. Like the old days. Our tips for small businesses will inevitably focus on costs as something to control.
After building up the business for years, we’d only recently moved into our swanky new office. But our clients told us quite early they were reducing a lot of their activity. We knew it was a poor use of budget to maintain an office we couldn’t use for an indeterminate amount of time. We also wanted to protect our staff for when things started returning to normal.
After 3 months of lockdown, we know this was the right decision.
Home working should be part of your future plans
If you have a business where any part of that operation is desk and computer based then you should plan to continue home working even as restrictions ease. Video conferencing has proved to be effective. Despite what some business owners might have thought, people are actually quite effective if they have the responsibility to manage their own time.
There is always going to be a need for an office. We’re a creative and consultative business and what we miss the most is being able to just chat about our work and ask for opinions and advice and suggestions on work we’re doing. This isn’t easy to replicate on structured and appointment-based video conferencing calls.
It’s important that some of the spontaneity of the office can happen but a mixture of home and office work is our aim. Staff can have the benefit of being able to manage their time but have the office environment as well.
Facilitate digital communication
As well as work discussions, we also find work to be a social thing and we miss the banter of the office. We manage work AND we maintain the water cooler moments using slack which facilitates digital conversations with instant chat. Crucially, you can set up dedicated spaces called channels so you can set up project specific chats as well as general conversations.
It’s a great way if someone needs a quick bit of help or clarification on something without playing telephone tag. For us this has been crucial for both project management and staying in touch with one another on none work related stuff.
For video conferencing we’ve used Google hangouts as most of our clients use it. Its straightforward to use and really iterative so even in a post coronavirus world (we’re assuming that day will come!) we will try and do more client meetings using this medium to save us or the client travelling time.
Of course, some colleagues have needed some education on using a new technology but we don’t know anyone who hasn’t mastered it. Eventually. As well as this blog with tips for small businesses check another one of our blogs: Life in Lockdown: 10 things we’ve learned. This blog takes a light hearted look at learning new lock down skills.
Take the opportunity to spring clean
Whilst we’ve had extra time, we’ve cleaned up our contact database, instigated a regular contact strategy with clients and expanded our social media activity. Not only that, we’ve reviewed our business plan that we write every year. We plan to offer some additional packaged products that will suit how we see the market developing for businesses that will use our services.
There is never a time to stand still and 2020 is going to be a crucial year for many businesses. Take the time to prepare.
Be flexible
Everyone we speak to has their own story of how they’ve coped and what they plan to do with their own business as we transition out of lockdown towards a new normal. We advise our customers and contacts to be flexible as things can often change quite quickly. Where possible we break down projects into a series of smaller steps so clients can manage the project and their cash flow whilst staying able to react to market changes.
For example, we recently started a project for a client to refresh a website and to develop a content and marketing strategy. Normally we’d develop all elements concurrently but rather than asking the client to commit to everything, we’ve broken it down into a three-phase plan to give the client flexibility. As their business depends on how social distancing guidance changes, they’re in a good place to be able to change the plan as new guidelines are issued by the Government.
Life in Lockdown: 10 things we've learned
Let’s take a lighthearted look at some of the things we’ve learned during lockdown. Our Marketing Manager (and proud owner of 1,500 new pandemic era twitter followers) Jonathon Bright gives us his take.
As the UK lockdown begins to ease, with some restrictions being lifted and a return to school for some kids starting to happen, here at DWH Bedrooms (our Tower is, alas, socially distanced from us) I thought it would be a good time to reflect.
In no particular order, my take on some of the things we’ve learned during the Coronavirus lockdown so far.
Toilet role stockpiling is a thing
Remember just before lockdown and the shelves were being stripped? Of everything? But who was taking all the toilet roll. And why? I’m still confused what was happening with toilet roll and have visions of a nation of garages full of three ply.
Kids are great
My kids are amazing. Rainbow pictures to support the NHS, picnics in the park, painting stones to leave around our village to support key workers, helpful posters to remind us about social distancing. It makes a parent proud when young kids whose lives have been turned upside down embrace the new world with all the joy and enthusiasm they have.
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Kids are annoying
It’s like having three drunk parrots sitting on my shoulder 14 hours a day screaming rubbish and incomprehensible gibberish down my ear in between bouts of fighting with each other and constantly protesting the inhumanity of three hours of schoolwork a day.
Trump defies bookies and starts war in country no one expected
When Trump was elected most of Europe raised an eyebrow and has been looking at him out of the corner of its eye the same way I look at my kids when they’re up to something. But Trump yet again dumfounds his critic by starting a war with his own country. No one was expecting this. Bookie favourites Iran and Korea must be sighing with relief.
A lot of ramping up and down
If I hear of anything being ramped up one more time in a Government communication, statement or speech I will explode.
Older colleagues embrace new tech skillz. Kind of…
Anyone who works in an office and hasn’t used video conferencing will be familiar with it now. Very familiar. It took a while for everyone to get the hang of it. In the early days there were plenty of clips doing the rounds of, shall we say, inappropriately dressed colleagues who didn’t realise they were on screen.
Video conferencing bingo was fun until everyone got the hang of it – ‘Tony you’re on mute. TONY YOU’RE ON MUTE’.
The question is how many companies will now realise staff can work very effectively from home?
Board games and jigsaws and fun after all
‘Yahoo its Buckaroo’ and ‘My turn to Operate’ may be familiar to anyone of my vintage but it’s amazing how much fun family games are. We’ve lost entire afternoons to Connect Four tournaments. All those jigsaws in our cupboard have finally been completed at least once and we’ve learned the planets by doing the one of the solar system. Don’t get me wrong, the kids still love the PS4 and tablets but we’ve spent a lot more time around the kitchen table hanging out whilst we play.
Family and friends are the most important in the world
This has been the hardest thing. Not being able to see out family and worrying about those we know working for the NHS and performing other front-line roles. With the easing of restrictions, we took our kids to have a socially distanced picnic in my parent’s back garden. You forget how nice, and normal, it is to just sit and chat and for the kids to see their grandparents.
The great outdoors is on our doorstep
Helped by great weather we’ve been out a lot in the local park. One of my kids has learned to ride a bike without stabilisers. Another has mastered a scooter and my oldest can do twenty kick ups (on a good day) when his pre-lockdown record was 3.
We’re lucky and live not far from Warwickshire’s countryside and whilst there have been plenty of restrictions, we haven’t had to go too far to find some great deserted countryside to explore just minutes from our house.
We know our neighbours better
The clap for carers on Thursday has brought out whole neighbourhoods. We’re lucky and know our neighbours pretty well but I’ve heard from lots of people that they know their community better. The clap on Thursday evening has not only brought communities together, but it has acted like a weekly gathering to remind us we’re not alone.
From Lichfield to London : My DWH Story
Our latest DWH story sees our oldest team member Jonathon Bright (known almost everywhere as JB) sharing his journey from Lichfield to London, and eventually back to the Midlands via Hong Kong.
My wife always jokes that as I’ve got older, I only make one new friend every decade. Dave was definitely that when we met. As soon as I met him, we became firm friends. A shared love of Aston Villa, Star Wars (although for Dave this is more like an obsession!) and Black Sabbath helped, but we have a very similar view of work in general. The yin and yang of Dave’s designer mind and my marketing mind are very much in tune.
In the Navy
When I was at school, I kind of assumed I’d do what my parents did when I grew up—working in a factory or shop—but as I got older it became clear that I was going to have a decent academic career at school. No one we knew had ever been to university, so, from a young age, I was set on a career in the armed services as an alternative to the factory floor. I started meeting my recruiting officer from about the age of 13 and it was the Royal Navy (not my parents or school) that persuaded me to stay at school, do my A Levels, and join as a junior engineering officer.
When I was getting close to joining, I changed my mind at the last minute; I realised I was a bit anti-authority, a socialist and a pacifist, and in my limited exposure to the Navy I knew I’d never tolerate the shouting and the structure (despite it being a fine institution). It just wasn’t for me. I didn’t really have a Plan B but I was working part-time for Tesco and they offered me a place on their management training scheme. It also included a company car (I think it was a Montego—ask your parents!) which for an 18 year old was amazing. That gave me a bit of confidence and I started writing letters.
London Calling
In sixth form, we had to do a bit of work experience, so I chose a local bank. The actual work seemed a bit tedious, but the young cashier who took me under her wing for the week told me all about other things that you can do in a bank. She was ambitious and enthused me about the career that could be had.
I think I got an interview for nearly every high street bank at their regional head office in Birmingham. The team at NatWest asked if I fancied working in London, as they had a shortage of school leavers. When I was 18, a lot of processing was still done manually, and that year NatWest recruited 3,000 18-year-olds just in London. I went down to London for an interview and was offered a job. Two weeks after finishing my A Levels, I was working in the tallest building in the UK in the International Banking department of NatWest. It was an absolutely insane amount of falling on your feet! I look back now and am astonished by my good luck, good fortune and the set of coincidences that led me to that job.
As my career developed, I ended up doing quite a lot of analytical work and it was looking like I was going to end up becoming a credit analyst (basically looking at company reports and accounts to decide how much money they could borrow). Luckily, I managed to get a role as a strategic analyst in the marketing department of the international banking division and immediately felt at home.
From there I moved into retail banking, evaluating the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, which gave me a route into mainstream marketing. I began managing through-the-line campaigns with massive budgets in the millions, working with top London agencies with all the associated bells and whistles. I had a slight hiccup in my mid-20s when the promotions dried up. I was “advised” that further promotions would be difficult without some academics to back up my experience, so I did two degrees while I was working, including an MA in marketing. It’s a passion of mine now, and I always advise any youngsters to keep on top of continual personal development (CPD) and to never turn down training or new opportunities to learn something new.
Hong Kong Gardens
I went freelance eventually, mainly to get exposure to non-financial services sectors, and I’ve had a great time. I’ve worked for some great companies, worked with some brilliant people, and delivered some fantastic marketing launches, campaigns and projects.
An overseas job working for the Financial Times in Hong Kong proved to be a moment of reflection (and record breaking), and I started thinking about moving back home. About 25 years after moving to London, I ended up back in the Midlands, which I love. One of my first jobs was at an agency where Dave was working, and that’s where we met.
My Hometown
One of my recollections of that time was a client that the agency had almost written off. They had lots of meetings with no real work ever coming out of it. Dave and I took the time to really get to know the client and met with them frequently to develop the relationship. We identified a few of the client’s problems and were able to really help them with suggestions to change some of their existing marketing approaches. It really paid off, as the occasional jobs turned into more regular jobs and the budgets increased—all based on simple and straightforward marketing advice and amazing creativity.
That experience is kind of what we do now with clients; we only suggest things that the client needs to do, and things that will have an impact on their bottom line. I’ve worked both client-side and agency-side, and I hate agency flannel and bullshit.
We’re totally straight and we only suggest things that are going to work and that will move the client’s business forward. We are also total detail freaks—right first time is what we aim for. Constant back-and-forth over little details that should have been clarified before anything is produced is a massive bugbear of mine (and Dave probably even more so). My Grandad was a carpenter and always used to say measure twice, cut once. I always think of that every time I start planning anything.
I’ve been with Dave since he started DWH and work as much or as little as the business needs. With our wider flexible team, we can manage anything, and we totally love what we do. Marketing is simple: know your customers, do things they love, and deliver them with amazing creativity.
Telling our brand story
At DWH, we talk about telling brand stories. For us a brand is more than just a name, logo and website; it’s a promise you make to customers. So, we thought we’d tell you ours.
The birth of DWH
At its heart, DWH is a rebellious creation with aspirational ideas, objectives and ideals. You might not think this if you met us. We’re down to earth, plain speaking and friendly.
We’re experienced, but in touch with the latest trends and innovation in design, digital and traditional marketing. We’ve worked for plenty of creative agencies and businesses both large and small. We’ve sat in board rooms and portakabins discussing marketing and design strategies. We’ve worked in two of the tallest buildings in the world and at our kitchen tables.
Our problem has always been that agencies are too expensive. When working client side, we got fed up with being ripped off for poor work. When working agency side, we got fed up having to compromise on quality or offer a sub-standard service to meet profitability objectives.
The idea
Our idea was simple: we want to tell stories. We want to tell the story of our client’s brand by delivering creative ideas, quality design and inspired marketing. And that’s exactly what we do. Our many years of experience let us deliver quality branding, marketing strategies and creative design for clients at reasonable prices. It’s no more complicated than that!
We know loads of people like us who are highly skilled but down to earth, friendly, accessible, practical and diligent.
The agency
We started small and little by little we started to grow. Then as we gained momentum, we grew some more—and we continue to grow today. We are flexible and agile and are capable of leveraging our resources through a large network of like-minded people. At its core, DWH has a team of six with a total of over 100 years’ experience, but we can call on a team of specialists tailor-made to suit your needs.
The work
At DWH, every day presents a fresh challenge. For some clients, we’ve created a new brand identity and built them a website. For others, we act as an outsourced marketing team and curate all of their social media. We handle CRM and manage leads re-solicitation. We can improve e-commerce functionality of existing websites. We manage PPC campaigns, design adverts, generate SEO content for blogs. We teach clients how to market their brand. Oh … and we design the odd brochure here and there, too.
Whatever your brief, budget, idea or problem, we can sort it out. Get in touch today and see why our clients stay with us for years.
This is our brand story—tell us yours.
Our Core Services - Web Design Coventry
At DWH we can pretty much do anything when it comes to design and marketing. By far the most common way we get to work with new clients is when they need a new website. Let’s face it, in marketing its often when a company is faced with a problem (like updating or designing a new website) that an agency is contacted.
Web Design Coventry
We’re web design experts and can build some fantastic sites quickly and for a competitive budget. During the design and build process we work closely with clients to ensure the site meets business needs now and in the future.
The process is straightforward and no matter your experience in marketing or working with websites we guarantee the process will be uncomplicated and deliver the results you want.
DWH Project Process – Web Design Coventry
We have a tried and tested project management process to ensure that the project runs smoothly for everybody:
The brief
This is where we sit down and discuss the requirements for the project. Some clients give us a written brief and some clients we just talk about the project and take it from there. For most sites the discussion is pretty straight forward – we’ve been doing this for a long time and we can build compelling sites from a verbal brief. Anything a little more complex (so for example if there is a requirement for e-commerce functionality) we normally like to have a written brief. But don’t worry – you can talk to us and we’ll write one for you!
The estimate
Sometimes during our initial discussions, we will give you an indication of cost. Particularly if you have some things you might or might not include depending on the costs. We will always put our estimate in writing and won’t do anything until you have seen, understood and agreed to the estimate
The project plan
Every project has a plan. This is a basic outline of the key stages to deliver the project and an estimate of the time it will take. Again, from our initial meeting we will already have discussed this, but we will formerly write it down as part of the estimate.
Project begins
Once you are happy with the costs, timings and scope of the work we begin
Initial concept
We give you some designs for how the new site could look, how the navigation will work, how any additional functionality (such as e-commerce) will work. Between us we agree the strongest design, make any amends and agree on the version to develop.
Copy & content
Very often clients have all the copy and content needed. We’re happy to edit this, tidy it and add to it to ensure it is presented in the best way to your audience. It’s much easier to make sure all the copy and content is agreed before the website is built.
Initial build
We’ll develop a working site that brings the concept to life and shows how the site will work and perform. Once everyone is happy we can put all the content into the site.
Fine tuning
It’s always worth spending some time fine tuning, editing and correcting content. Things often look different on the screen so this is an important stage of the process.
New site live
New site is made live on the web. We handle all the back-end work so from the client point of view it’s a straightforward process.
Ongoing development
Websites will be found more easily by your customers if you add fresh content. Blogs and new product launches are a great way of doing this. We can write blogs, source images and load them onto your site for a small monthly fee. So even if you don’t have an established marketing team you can keep your site up to date and attractive for your customers.
Client case studies – Web Design Coventry
New responsive website for Cheshire-based event caterers
We were approached to create a brand-new responsive website for Benjamin Lauren. We quickly established that their existing site was unable to take full advantage of their vast library of images, as it did not respond very well on mobile and tablet devices. After seeing these photos, we wanted to create a website that would bring the shots to life and let the food do the talking.
Working closely with Lauren on the project scoping, sitemap and wireframes, we quickly established a framework upon which we could begin the design process. This initial collaboration made sure that everyone knew exactly what was expected and helped the entire project to run smoothly.
The new site was designed and built in-house, which resulted in a fast turnaround time between receiving the brief and pushing the website live. The result is a fully responsive website which showcases Benjamin Lauren’s event catering expertise, creating locally-sourced dishes that would leave a lasting impression at any event.
Responsive design for Coventry-based structural steelworkers
Trading since 1995, Steel Construction Ltd specialise in the design, construction and installation of quality structural steelwork for mainframe and secondary steelwork projects.
We were approached to create a brand-new responsive website for SCL. They also required a client FTP area to allow their customers the ability to upload and share blueprints and 3D renders directly with SCL.
Working with our web development partners, we designed and developed a brand-new website that retained their existing branding whilst bringing their overall look and feel up to date.
How to write a simple creative brief
Here at DWH towers in Coventry we work with a wide range of clients. Some of our clients have worked in marketing all their lives and know all about the theory of marketing and how to develop marketing strategies. Some of our clients are small business owners and know little about the theory but have an instinctive grasp of what their customers want and how to interact with them. Some of our clients have only been working a short time and don't always have a lot of practical experience. Some of our clients have literally no idea about marketing their business. Whatever the reason for using us our clients know they can rely on us to help them be successful.
We thought it might be interesting to develop some content that will give a basic explanation of marketing and the elements that are involved in it from design right through to SEO. Practical content that users can copy. For free – no catches. Help yourself.
This blog is all about the creative brief.
What is a creative brief?
A creative brief is an instruction for someone to build or design something for you. A website, a brochure, a logo, an advert, a building sign, an exhibition stand, an e-mail. It doesn’t have to be complicated or long but it must set out your expectations, deliverables and timescales for the project.
In our experience projects that don’t have a creative brief can go wrong or take longer than they should.
7 things to include in a creative brief?
It doesn’t have to be complicated and we’ve laid out a really simple template below – just copy and paste it into a document and you’re good to go.
About your business
A simple summary of your business. What markets do you operate in, what products do you offer, who are your competitors and so on. Any information about your customers and how they interact with you – are you online only, retail only, mixture of both and so on
Project
What’s the project about – what has brought about the requirement for change? Are you looking for something new or something to compliment your existing approach?
Objectives
You can have more than one objective for a project or piece of work but there is always a prime reason driving the project. Is it to get more sales, change customer activity or is it to refresh your brand?
Be honest – your agency partner will want to do the best job for you (to get more business of course) so be up front. I had a client once who asked us to develop a new brochure range and they were slightly coy about the reasoning. It turned out it was because they just didn’t like the ones they had but they couldn’t really say why specifically. Creative work can be subjective and bosses can be a bit bonkers so its OK to tell the truth to your agency.
Deliverables
What will we have at the end of the project? This sounds kind of straight forward but it’s worth spelling it out. Be specific – if all your brochures are a certain size include it in the brief.
Deadline
When does it need to happen. If its a website what is the live date. If it’s an exhibition stand when do you need it (not the date of the exhibition – when do you need it at your office so you can get it transported to the event) Your agency will take this date and work backwards giving you the steps along the way for the project to be delivered. This timing plan will then help you to see all the stages in the project.
Mandatory’s & legals
What do you have to include with your brochure, advert or stand? Most industries have specific wording and small print to include but your agency will need to know up front what it is and how much space it will take up.
Existing brand considerations
This isn’t just about your logo but more about other things that may not be immediately obvious. Maybe there is a specific colour range or palette for specific products, maybe a certain type of image is required and maybe a certain tone of voice needs to be used in any wording. Often companies have things like this in their “brand guidelines” which explains how to use the company logo and any requirements for image type and so on. A lot of small businesses may not have a formal document but there will probably be some way that things are done but this needs to be detailed here. What’s obvious to people working at your company may not be so obvious to your agency partner.
Santa Claus is the real thing*...or is he?
I can remember years ago being on a marketing course and the subject of advertising influencing, informing and shaping popular culture (and vice versa) was discussed. One of the examples quoted was that Coca-Cola was responsible for the modern day imagery associated with Santa Claus.
I didn’t really think too much about this at the time and always took it at face value and presumed it to be true. However a discussion at DWH towers around the general commercialisation of Christmas and the expectations of our children (iPads, bikes, Cosmo Robots, skateboards) compared to us as children (satsumas, lumps of coal, only 3 TV channels, etc) brought us to this very subject. Fact or urban myth?
Santa Claus sorting out the facts from the fiction
Since I went on that marketing course I’ve learned that conventional wisdom isn’t always right so we thought we’d check out the facts or the fiction around this. By the way this isn’t an attempt to jam lots of Xmas related hashtags into our social media in December under the guise of a relevant blog at all. No sireee..
Santa Claus the advert
Isn’t the Internet fab? We instantly find the answer direct from the horse’s mouth. Well Coca Cola to be precise. Saved us minutes of tireless work. According to them:
“In 1931 the company began placing Coca-Cola ads in popular magazines. Archie Lee, the D’Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the campaign to show a wholesome Santa who was both realistic and symbolic. So Coca-Cola commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus — showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa.
“For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (commonly called “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”). Moore’s description of St. Nick led to an image of a warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human Santa. (And even though it’s often said that Santa wears a red coat because red is the color of Coca-Cola, Santa appeared in a red coat before Sundblom painted him.)”
If you want to know more there’s a great blog on their website “5 Things You Never Knew About Santa Claus and Coca-Cola”
Further Xmas mythbusting
This article in the Guardian is also worth a look if you want to hear about 9 other Christmas myths. “Coca-Cola didn’t invent Santa … the 10 biggest Christmas myths debunked”
Fantastic design and inspired marketing from a top Coventry agency
We’re in the business of making you successful. With over 15 years experience in branding, graphic design, web design & development, marketing & social media we’re an agency that can meet the broadest and narrowest of briefs. We've worked for a wide range of clients from start-ups and charities to public sector and FTSE 100 companies. Based in Coventry we’ve worked with clients across the globe.
A boutique agency that delivers
design | web | social media | marketing
Small and perfectly formed, we can deliver your project at a fair budget. With many years experience agency side and client side we get clients and what they want. A no nonsense, no fuss collaborative approach means we work effectively with our clients to make them successful. Lets face it, we’re successful if you are successful so we do everything we can to make your business thrive through excellent design and marketing.
Whatever design or marketing you need we’ve got it covered
Maybe you’ve got a good idea what you need, maybe you haven’t a clue or maybe you need to talk about it. We sit down with businesses every day to see how we can help them grow and evolve. We put together plans, budgets and ideas and then work together to decide what we are going to do. We are small and perfectly formed so you only talk to the people that are going to do the work. All (and we mean all) of our projects are delivered on time, on budget and to everyone’s satisfaction. Inspiration and common sense in equal measures.
Check out the range of services we offer and take a look at some of the examples of our work:
Branding
So what’s your story? Branding is much more than a name and a logo. It’s a promise you make to your customers. We deliver more than a set of guidelines. We tell stories. Let us start yours.
Case study – New look and feel for digital recruitment agency
Established in London in 2010, Opilio Recruitment are the go-to digital recruitment agency for global brands, tech start ups and everything in between. Over the years their business has steadily grown with a team spread across offices in London, Birmingham and Manchester. As a result, they needed a revamp of their current marketing collateral both online and offline.
