Where the wild things are
HOW ONE DAD WENT FROM FURLOUGH TO OUTDOOR FAMILY ADVENTURE BUSINESS
When Nottinghamshire dad James Dixon was furloughed in the first lockdown he struggled to find things to do with his little girl – so he created a children’s activities business that found online success thanks to free mentoring and training from Google.
“We’d lost our childcare, the local park had been shut and I was looking for ways to keep her entertained and stories to keep his outdoorsloving daughter Aubrey, three, amused – and when one sent a scavenger hunt, James realised that this would be a great business idea.
When he was later made redundant, James launched The Little Mud Club, an adventure-based subscription service for families with young children. Each kit contains age-appropriate outdoor activities that have been approved by early years educators and are designed and grown-ups to have fun together. More and more parents are searching online for ideas to keep their children entertained, so local businesses who aren’t easily discoverable are missing an opportunity to connect with potential new customers. Although James already had online experience in social media, he knew he needed to learn new digital skills to build his company. To help businesses and new startups find success online, Google has been offering free live webinars and one-to-one mentoring to help firms adapt. “Having someone to candidly discuss your business with is extremely useful,” says James, 36. “The Google trainers and mentors were friendly and knowledgeable, but also honest. That gave me confidence that what they said was credible. I would absolutely recommend this mentoring, particularly for solo entrepreneurs.”
MENTORING HELPED LITTLE MUD CLUB
While James was already using some products such as Google Analytics, he knew there was more he could be doing to make them work smarter for his business. However, as with many companies, this was just one item on a long list of competing priorities. So James spent time with his mentor delving into his business.
The experience has helped him develop stronger Google Analytics skills, meaning he can now accurately track where his sales are coming from, and understands where to focus his marketing efforts. “Having confidence in the quality of data is so important for business planning and decisionmaking,” he says.
James’s mentor also helped him sign up for a Google My Business profile, adding contact details and product information, so customers can see more details before clicking through to the website. His mentor also made suggestions such as using the Google My Business profile like a social media channel, to update potential customers and add in offers and promotions.
People sending me pictures and videos of their children enjoying my adventure packs is amazing – and I’ll now ask them to write their reviews on Google
BUILDING TRUST
As The Little Mud Club is a young company, James hopes to use tools such as Reviews on Google to help develop more social proof around his brand. “Start-ups need to build trust and Reviews on Google will really help with that,” he says. The Little Mud Club’s Kickstarter (a crowdfunding platform) was successful and the packs are arriving with eager users.
James says he’ll now focus on promoting reviews: “People sending me pictures of their children enjoying the adventure packs is amazing, including videos of them being opened on Christmas Day. I’ll now ask them to write their reviews on Google!”
He adds: “My next steps are all about growth. We want more families to have adventure in their lives. But one thing I’ve learned is that it takes time to be a success!”