Business Woman of the Year. Photograph: PR
Sarah Brockwell, founder of Essex-based sarahBee marketing, explains why the business should win the innovation in funding category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
From a home-based office sarahBee marketing and associates was founded by Sarah Brockwell in 2010 after she had been made redundant while on maternity leave. The startup budget of £250 came from selling her old maternity clothes on eBay. The company provides no-nonsense PR and marketing services to SMEs across Essex.
In the past 12 months founder Sarah Brockwell was crowned Essex Business Woman of the Year. Also, Sarah worked on Braintree’s Mary Portas pop-up shop scheme, is a regular presenter on BBC Essex’s Loud Women show and has been featured in national newspapers including the Sunday Mirror, the Times and the Independent. Prime minister David Cameron tweeted about sarahBee marketing earlier this year as an example of a great startup.
With all new business coming from recommendations, word of mouth and PR, the company has helped over 800 Essex entrepreneurs do better business. The company prides itself on the fact that it does not need to advertise. A partnership approach with the media has proven highly successful and the company is in regular contact with its database of more than 600 media journalists. Being connected on LinkedIn to a number of celebrities has resulted in contact with entrepreneurs Lord Alan Sugar, Mary Portas and Jacqueline Gold.
There has been no requirement for third party funding. With low business expenses, profit margins are high. New income from franchisees is budgeted at £15,000 per franchisee per annum.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
