Amazon and Enterprise Nation launch new campaign to help firms focus on recovery and build business resilience in 2022

Enterprise Nation and Amazon are launching a new campaign to help small businesses become more resilient and focus on recovery following the pandemic. The events are designed to help all entrepreneurs build a resilient mindset, raise funds and succeed in the digital economy in 2022.

The five free bootcamps start on Wednesday 16 March. The first two events focus on some of the challenges women-founded firms face, with the events in April and May providing guidance for businesses that want to explore the opportunities of pop-ups and physical retailing. There will be a chance to hear from a range of expert guest speakers on topics including mindset, raising capital, live-stream retail, selling on Amazon, maximising pop-up spaces, visual merchandising, barcodes and data analytics. The bootcamps will be a mix of online and in-person events.

• 16 March – Women Founder Bootcamp: Building Business Resilience in 2022

• 30 March – Women Founder Fire-Side Chat and Networking: Building business resilience

• 14 April – Becoming a successful online seller

• 12 May – Help to master physical retail

• 26 May – Extra steps to becoming a resilient business

Check out tickets here: enterprisenation.com/bootcamps

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s recent report into fledgling businesses, found 12.6 percent of UK’s working age population were in the first three months of starting a business, a record number since the report began in the 1990s. Research commissioned by Amazon in 2021² showed that 81% of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had invested in digital skills in the previous 12 months, but three in four (78%) said they would value free training and skills to support their growth.

“Building digital skills can lead to better performing businesses, and we’ve heard from many participating in the Amazon Small Business Accelerator that they want more training on resilience in particular,” said Duaa Basheer, Head of UK Small Business Empowerment, Amazon. “With the number of new start-ups and entrepreneurs climbing in the last twelve months, now is the time for those businesses to access new tools and explore the opportunities afforded by the digital economy.”

This was echoed by Paul Scully MP, Small Business Minister, who said that “Anyone running a small business knows that resilience is a vital tool for sustaining success and long-term strength. It’s great to see this initiative which I hope will provide a boost to entrepreneurs across the UK alongside Government support schemes like Help to Grow and Start Up Loans.”

Matt Vickers MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Future of Retail, added that “I’m delighted to see the launch of this Resilience and Recovery campaign, which will help thousands of entrepreneurs learn new skills to sell both online as well as on the high street. Training provision like this will be critical if we are to recover strongly following the pandemic, creating a dynamic retail sector that can deliver both for the economy as well as for local communities across the UK. This campaign builds upon the existing work of the Amazon’s Small Business Accelerator, which has already helped over 400,000 entrepreneurs across the UK start a new business or grow an existing one.”

Emma Jones, founder of small business network and business support provider Enterprise Nation, said “Now we are seeing business open up post-pandemic, we are experiencing a surge in interest from small businesses that can see the value in testing and showcasing their products on the high street. Many have launched digital sales successfully but are now looking for ways to meet their customers, attract new audiences, showcase to stockists and test new products. We expect omni-channel retail, where businesses sell on their own website, via global platforms, via stockists and short-term high street shops, to be an exploding trend in 2022. And by learning new skills and broadening their approach, they will add resilience for the longer term.”

The bootcamps are an extension of the Amazon Small Business Accelerator, a major support package from Amazon and Enterprise Nation, which has helped more than 400,000 small businesses and start-ups across the UK. It was launched in July 2020 as a rapid response to COVID-19 and the impact of the economic lockdown on small businesses.

Amazon Small Business Accelerator Bootcamps, run by Enterprise Nation, have already helped thousands of founders learn new skills to help them build and grow their business.

Sofia Javed, a former solicitor, founded organic curry spice blend firm Singing Spice Company. She made the decision to focus on the business and her family, joining an Amazon Bootcamp in 2021 to pick up key tips to take her business to the next level.

She said: “The challenges I faced were running my business while working as a lawyer and raising a family were manifold. Juggling so many hats was tricky, and then we had to face the pandemic! As a result, I decided to leave my job as a solicitor and focus on my business and family, which was definitely the right decision to make.

“A lack of funding and mentoring support was a challenge. The Amazon Small Business Accelerator, Enterprise Nation and other small business networks massively helped me find that support.

“The Amazon Small Business Accelerator Bootcamp, in particular, showed me how to reach millions of customers easily. I loved the information from Amazon’s Angel Onwochei who showed me that by selling on Amazon you only need one account for Europe. With the changes to exporting into Europe last year, seeing the value of Amazon’s exporting programmes was an exciting opportunity for my business. The segment on how to secure funding was also useful - it encouraged me to ask myself those difficult questions founders often put off, such as understanding exactly what business I am building and what are my long-term goals.”

Learn more about how Amazon supports small businesses.