The pandemic has caused huge upheaval in the way all of society operates – and one thing Covid has highlighted is the vital importance of education. Not just for children, but for workers and businesses of all sizes looking to realign themselves during the pandemic, or to adapt to this new normal. As some workers were left unemployed or just looking for a change of direction, many people started their own business – roughly 62 per cent more than in 2020.
Covid has accelerated the shift to digital for many companies as lockdowns restricted physical operations. One report from McKinsey found that 58 per cent of all customer interactions are now digital, compared to 36 per cent before the pandemic, a three-year acceleration on the normal rate of growth. Yet many new business owners aren’t aware of all the ways to make their businesses work online.
To make sure all organisations can take part in this digital revolution, Vodafone Business has launched an array of new features to assist small and medium businesses to develop digital skills. First and foremost, there is business.connected. Partnering with Enterprise Nation, the new, free programme set to run until May 2022 offers online courses, webinars and interactive workshops where business owners can learn about all the ways to optimise their business – from social media and website management to cybersecurity. Alongside that, Vodafone Business also runs the V-Hub, an online ecosystem offering free insight and guidance, as well as tailored one-to-one support with their expert businesses advisors.
Just one example of this help in action is Jayne Saunderson. Having spent a career working in recruitment, it was once the pandemic hit that she decided to start her own business as a personal and business branding photographer. “I offer small businesses, particularly women entrepreneurs who have, like me, changed direction, a way to show their personality alongside their product or service,” she explains.
Starting a new business is hard enough, but doing it alone can be truly daunting. “When I worked for large corporations, I just had to be good at a few things and there were other people to do the rest,” explains Saunderson. “Starting a business, you don’t know what you don’t know.” And that was where Vodafone Business’ support made a difference. The business.connected programme offered online webinars and classes to help her master the parts of running a business she wasn’t used to.
Saunderson also used the one-to-one V-Hub service, getting invaluable insight and ideas from the Vodafone Business team on setting up a website, optimising her SEO results and harnessing social media. “It was good to talk to someone looking at it from the outside,” she says. “To me that’s amazing – a support that is free to people and free to a lot of businesses.”
But the programme isn’t just for new businesses or sole traders. “It doesn’t matter what size your organisation is, you’ll find useful information in the programme,” adds Saunderson.
Vodafone Business offers an array of other support packages for small businesses, including access to Wix, which can help you build and design your own website. “Websites are tricky – not least handling the SEO and all other bits that go into them,” explains Saunderson. “It can be intimidating, so having an area where you can find help is another useful service for small businesses.”
“The future of small business is to have an online presence, but so many business owners just don’t have the experience to make that happen,” says Andrew Stevens, head of small business at Vodafone UK. “We are providing a complete support service that helps businesses identify the right tools, activate them, and use them to improve their operation. We’re here to help Britain’s small business community."
Vodafone is also supporting education charities stopping the most vulnerable slipping through the cracks during Covid. Founded in 1903 as the Worker’s Education Association (WEA), the WEA empowers communities through offering lessons on everything from reading, writing and employability, to culture, English as a second language and technical skills. “We want to bring adult education within reach of everyone who needs it, fighting inequality and promoting social justice,” explains Mary Jones, who handles communications for the organisation and says it’s helped around 40,000 learners last year alone. “We do this by bringing great teaching to local communities across England and Scotland.”
Like much of the voluntary sector, the pandemic has had an impact on the WEA, which relied on in-person lessons in local communities. The charity shifted over 700 of its courses online in a matter of weeks during the first lockdown. One of the biggest challenges was making sure that lessons were accessible for the poorest and most vulnerable – those most in need of the WEA’s support, and most likely to not have access to the internet or devices like laptops. “Digital exclusion is the UK’s silent emergency,” says Jones. “The pandemic took this to another level, physically cutting people off from the outside world.”
To support these people in accessing lessons, the WEA purchased a bulk supply of unlimited data SIMs from Vodafone as part of the company’s communities.connected programme, and then separately procured tablets. These were then distributed to their users with the least access to technology to let them attend WEA lessons remotely. The communities.connected project was a follow-up to the schools.connected programme run by Vodafone last year, which donated 350,000 SIMs to help connect in-need students.
And the impact education can have is so much wider than just employability or learning a new skill. “Many go on these courses to escape isolation, and there’s the mental health aspects… I understand the importance of employability but it isn’t always about that,” says Jones. “We want to provide a lifeline to those in need.”
To find out more about Vodafone Business’ support and tools for SMEs, visit vodafone.uk/TogetherWeCan-SME
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
