SEW Peer to Peer Learning Programme
The SEW Peer to Peer Learning Programme provides a funded opportunity for younger CICs to spend a day of learning with more experienced CICs to discuss for example, business planning/organisational development; developing the ‘offer’ or enterprise; financial modelling; market development and marketing; social impact measurement etc.
Guest Blogger Lisa Stallard, Wolves Play Café visits Charlotte Watkivs, Zero Waste Life
Wolves Play Café is about Fun, Food and Friendly Faces. We deliver play sessions for under 5s and their caregivers across the city, and work in partnership to help create a fun, safe and supportive city for children of Wolverhampton to grow up in.
I wanted to learn from Charlotte’s experience in business development and her clear messaging to her customers throughout all platforms. The day was so useful with Charlotte sending through some key questions prior to our meeting to help frame discussions.
Business structure
Following the meeting, we’re going to focus on what passive income streams can grow without taking away staff capacity to deliver face-to-face services. Charlotte helped us work through our new income streams to ensure these will prove to be sustainable.
Marketing
There is so much more we can do to market to our ideal clients – firstly, Charlotte helped us pin down who our ideal clients are at present and what it is Wolves Play Café offers to them. Action points from this area of our learning include communication development via phone and website, mapping the customer’s online journey and introducing video content to connect further.
Concluding the day
Following our discussions, we arranged to visit Gatis Community Space where Wolves Play Café delivers weekly play sessions. Director Maria Billington discussed potential future partnership working with Zero Waste Life.
Thank you to SEW and WVSC for this useful opportunity to develop Wolves Play Café.
Charlotte Watkivs, Zero Waste Life
Lisa and I first connected through the School for Social Entrepreneurs program.
I run a social enterprise to support people towards Zero Waste Living. I work with schools, businesses, and individuals. I run talks and workshops both on and offline, and there is a blend of passive and active income streams, which allow me to provide services to beneficiaries for discounted rates.
My business was born out of a blog so the key areas Lisa and I focused on were marketing, offers, and business structure.
Business structure
We discussed the ideal clients for Wolves Play Cafe. We discussed current revenue streams, and where there are avenues for more income streams in the short and long term. I discussed my pricing structures and the services I have tested over time I have been in business.
Marketing
We discussed website calls to actions, where leads are generated from and attraction marketing.
Offers
Discussions were had around making offers to alleviate the client’s pain point and doing this through valuable content such as free downloads, social media posts or short videos.
Zero Waste Living is hard! We live in a consumerist society, and Zero Waste Living is very much elitist at the moment. That’s why we set up Zero Waste in the Community. It’s a not- for- profit initiative which aims to improve community pride through zero waste initiatives by reducing and reusing landfill waste.
Zero Waste in the Community is a not- for- profit initiative which aims to improve community pride through zero waste initiatives by reducing and reusing landfill waste.
Contact details: Lisa Stallard
Email: info@wolvesplaycafe.org Website: http://www.wolvesplaycafe.org/
Twitter: @WolvesPlayCafe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wolvesplaycafe
Contact details: Charlotte Watkivs, Zero Waste Life
Email: Email: azerowastelife@gmail.com Website: https://www.zerowastelife.co.uk/
