I'm Colin. I've started this blog as a place to document the ideas, the wins, and the lessons from the work I do, in the hope that some of it is useful to the brilliant people running local businesses.

Ninety-five percent of UK businesses employ fewer than ten people. Combined, they employ over four million. They are quietly keeping this country afloat.

I spend my working life close to these businesses. Salons, professional services and trades. I've been inside enough of them to know two things. Firstly, the people running them are often brilliant at the thing they do. Secondly, lots of them are being quietly let down by the people they pay to help. Web providers, marketers, suppliers who know exactly what good looks like, and choose not to deliver it because the client cannot tell the difference.

That sits uncomfortably with me. It has done for years. This blog is one of the ways I deal with it.

If you run a local business, or know someone who does, have a look. There will be no sales pitch and no upsell. Just honest writing about what's working, what isn't, and what I would want to know if I were in your shoes.

If something here is useful, take it. If you disagree with something, I would genuinely like to hear it. You can reach me at blog@colinshove.com.

Colin Shove's Blog