5 Small Business Communities in Bristol (and online) that have benefited my business
As someone who runs a business on my own, I’m always on the lookout for ways to feel more connected to the small business community.
I love the collaborative vibe that lots of my photoshoots bring, but when it comes to the edits, it’s just me sitting at my computer for hours tinkering away.
For ages, I had just been plodding on, and not lifting my head up from my client work.
As my business has evolved, so has my passion for connection and community, so I thought I’d write a blog about.
Here are the 5 Small Business Communities in Bristol (and online) that have benefited my business
Dockyard is a hidden gem, it’s a lovely shared studio near the harbourside in Bristol full of awesome people who don’t want to work from home. There’s a great mix of creative businesses and also remote workers, who want to have a work community and a change of scene from home.
I’ve had a desk here for nearly 8 years, and it has been one of the most significant changes I have made for my business.
Before I moved here, I would spend my editing days alone working in our spare room. I would easily get filled with self-doubt, lose momentum, and really missed feeling like part of a team.
My partner would come home from work, and I would immediately want to chat to him and find out about his day…this used to drive him nuts, as he’d been working with people all day, and all he would want to do is wind down, not deal with a needy Faye!
Luckily he’s great at pushing me out of my comfort zone.
….for years he suggested shared workspaces, but I thought it would feel like a waste of money, when I could work from home for free.
But it has honestly been such a great move for me! I have a lovely bunch of work friends, who I can drink tea with, bounce ideas off, and who keep me from spiralling into self-doubt.
The Best 90 Days Ever is a quarterly / yearly membership run by the amazing Hannah at Hi Communications. The concept is a 10 minute daily marketing task, to help you stay on track with promoting your business.
I joined this membership a couple of years ago to help me feel more inspired with my marketing, but the main thing I love about this membership is being part of the supportive community.
The daily prompts are shared within a private slack group, and this is such a great place to meet new small businesses, and brainstorm ideas.
Hannah is such an inspiring human and being part of this group has really shifted how I feel about marketing.
Wild is an online (and sometimes in-person) coworking community.
They run amazing monthly workshops, group problem solving sessions, quarterly goal setting, online coworking and ad-hoc in person coworking days.
There’s also a lovely community chat on heartbeat, and whatsapp, so you can really feel supported and part of a lovely social community.
I’ve been a member of this group for just over a year. I signed up because I already knew a couple of the members, and it looked like a lovely group from the outside.
I really love the in-person aspect of this group, and it’s been a great way to meet other small businesses with really useful skills that will aid my business.
Since I’ve joined, I’ve felt really supported and cared for when I was going through some tough family times last year. I’ve seen the benefits of asking for help from experts, rather than trying to do everything myself. And I feel like my business is stronger from being part of this lovely community.
4. Honest Folk
Honest Folk is run by brand strategist Fliss Lees.
Last year I did some one to one brand coaching with Fliss, and it was a game changer. Fliss helped me to take a step back from my work and view my business in a different way.
We created a structure that helped me to define my values, photography and video packages, and my overall goals as a small business.
After completing my coaching, I have taken part in numerous online workshops that Fliss has run for her community. I love Fliss’s approach, and even though I haven’t been part of her group program, I love that I’ve still felt included in her lovely community.
5. ON IT
ON IT is a year-long group program run by Alice Benham.
Alice is an amazingly inspiring business strategist, who created this group to bring together a like minded community, who wanted time to work ON their business rather than IN it.
It’s centred around Alice’s amazing business foundations, and is a great way to stay accountable and actually take action on your goals.
I only joined this community in April, and have been loving it so far. The way Alice breaks down your goals into manageable steps is awesome, and I’m loving all the bonus worksheets that can help me track my progress.
Working with Alice feels like another game changing moment, and is definitely making me appreciate how far my business has come in the last 10 years, and helping me to focus on where I’d like it to go in the next 10.
As you can tell, I really love being part of lovely supportive small business communities.
Drop me a message to let me know which ones you love being part, or if you’d like to find out more.