Actually useful Christmas gifts for small business owners in 2022
I have a real aversion to Christmas presents - any presents, and cards actually too - which don’t spark joy for the recipient or which play into stereotypes.
Slippers for grandmas, socks for grandad, something to do with golf/cars/whiskey for dad and smellies or gardening goodies for mum. It feels lazy, impersonal and wasteful - I’d much rather buy something that someone will genuinely love and actually use!
So this year I thought I’d put together a gift guide for small business owners, so if you’re buying a present for one of us, you can get us something we’d really appreciate and put to good use!
Power hours
So many professionals (including me) offer power hours of sorts - a laser-focused 60 (or sometimes 90) minutes to tackle something that would take the uninitiated hours or days to figure out.
Here are a few ideas of things that can be tackled in a power hour.
Getting started with a podcast or making yours better (check it out here with the lovely Lucy Critchley)
Branding guidance from Jeanne at Spark & Bloom Studio (Jeanne is my colleague at The Ethical Move and you can be sure of advice that is not only great, but ethical too). Scroll to the bottom of Spark & Bloom’s services page or book directly on Calendly.
Other things your small business pal might like a helping hand with may include things like:
tax and bookkeeping (the bane of almost every business owner’s life),
learning a tool such as Canva or Calendly (both game changers),
sorting out an inbox (adding tags, setting up rules, that sort of thing), or
developing processes to help the business run more smoothly.
Courses for small businesses
The best investment we can make is in our own learning and development. Here are a few brilliant courses and workshops that can help transform small businesses!
SEO Training for Small Businesses - Paul (my client) teaches small businesses the basics of how to rank better in search engine results. What I love most about this is that it demystifies and simplifies something quite complex in a very practical and non-jargonny way!
MindfulCommerce Sustainability Course - Learn how to run a more mindful business using their six Sustainability Pillars.
Subscriptions and memberships
Karen Staniland-Platt’s Photo Club is a marvel. I’m a member and cannot recommend it enough for female business owners who want to get visible and connect with an awesome community of women.
I’m also a member of Found & Flourish. This membership is full of value and opportunities to connect with other business owners and learn from experts in various fields.
I’m also subscribed to Blinkist for audiobooks. You get short summaries of best-selling books, meaning you get to the crux of the book within 15-20 minutes (and can then decide to read the whole one or just stick with the key takeaways!).
Book recommendations
On the topic of books, my to-read pile is always growing and I’m totally fine with that! Here are a few great business books I’ve been recommending to clients.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Do Open by David Hieatt
Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner
And because small business owners don’t always want to just read about work, these are 3 great non-business books I’ve read this past year.
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
Please buy responsibly, which means avoiding Amazon wherever possible and opting for your local independent bookshop, a site such as Hive or Bookshop.org, or buying second hand (charity shops or World Of Books are my go-to options).
Cool products
It won’t be a gift guide without some great stationery! Please, please, please forego Amazon and the supermarkets and support a local indie instead. Check out my my pal Sarah Laker’s shops Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow or online at Giraffe Gifts. Here are some lovely gift ideas from her shop:
Recycled leather notebook and pen pouch with 2 recycled plastic pens (love the ‘make a mark’ on the front)
These utterly adorable highlighters for just £4.
My marketing strategy work relies heavily on one very important tool: the humble sticky note. Sarah’s sticky note selection is something to behold though.
Also high on the agenda of many a small business owner is caffeine. See if their local café or coffee van/shop does vouchers to see them through January!
A bit of woo
Lots of small business owners like a bit of woo woo, and you’ll be in good hands with these lovely humans.
Trish from Buddha Baby did my Human Design reading in 2022, and it has been an eye opening and empowering experience.
Kate from Calm at Work offers a range of services including massages, reiki and oracle card readings.
Stuff that doesn’t cost you anything but will make them happy!
Write them a review, and if you want to make them really happy, copy the review on all platforms where you can review them! (Think Google, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, Yell etc)
Recommend them to others.
Give them a social media shout-out.
Share photos of things you’ve bought from them (and tell them they can use those in their marketing).
Goodness Marketing goodies
I can’t not mention my own services here can I! I can help your small business pals with their marketing, including power hours, my marketing MOTs and more long-term options like marketing coaching or marketing strategies.