How We're Helping Our Clients Thrive, Not Just Survive
Published on 10th March 2021
There is a lot of doom and gloom surrounding 2020 and all of the unprecedented turmoil it brought with it. Many businesses unfortunately had to close their doors for good - however, for many, the pandemic presented the opportunity for their business to thrive.
Stay home, we were told. Non-essential businesses closed, the roads were clear, the streets were quiet. The world slowed down. But not online. The digital awakening had arrived. With a sudden urgency, businesses needed to be online to survive. Brands had to adapt to consumers’ changing needs and there was a clear link between how resilient a business was and how well it weathered the storm.
Working closely with our clients, our website consultants have helped many to adapt in the face of adversity and thrive in these tough times.
We are delighted to share some inspirational success stories from a selection of our clients.
One of the major changes that we saw as lockdown began was the way in which people purchased their food. Avoiding going to supermarkets wherever possible, and with delivery slots becoming scarce, more and more shoppers turned to their local providers.
Aroma Dining at Home
Roma promoted her Private Chef/Private Dining experiences. She saw the opportunity to broaden her offer and contacted her it’seeze consultant, Garry, immediately. Now Roma’s new upgraded website features a shop where local diners can enjoy dishes she has prepared, from three course meals to a Sunday roast.
Here is what Roma had to say: “Garry and his team created my first website over two years ago. A couple of months ago, I contacted Garry about redesigning my website and adding a few new features. Garry was very helpful throughout the process, and the final result is outstanding. So a big, big thank you to Garry and his team!”
The Egg Machine
Following a trip to Holland, the owner came across a vending machine selling prosecco and strawberries and knew that this was something that their farm shop needed. Implemented in 2019, just in time for the pandemic to strike, the Egg Machine has been a huge hit. Fresh farm produce, contact free, was the perfect recipe for success.
Recognising the increasing demand for people ordering online and requiring home delivery, they also set up an it'seeze online shop. The website enables customers to place their orders which can then either be collected or delivered to their door. Since the start of COVID-19, The Egg Machine have been non-stop, even getting a mention on Radio 1 for their innovative idea.
Dales The Chef’s Choice
Providing high quality ingredients to restaurants in the North Yorkshire area, Dales soon found business grinding to a halt when lockdown began. Not one to shy away from the challenge, the decision was made to diversify their offer. Taking advantage of the demand, Dales decided to offer delivery to the local area and Smart Dine. Adapting the existing website to an online shop to accommodate the new offer was no mean feat, and one which was implemented within a week. Read more about the quick response to the crisis by Dales and the it’seeze team.
“Coronavirus had a huge impact on our business. Overnight, almost all our orders dried up. The team at it’seeze Web Design pulled out all the stops to help us. They got the new online shop running in under a week – so we could adapt our business completely for the current crisis. We took thousands of orders in the first few weeks – it has been a real lifeline for our business. I can’t thank the team enough and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it’seeze to anyone in need of a new website.” - Richard Dale
Of course, it was not just the food industry; many affected businesses grasped the opportunity to diversify with both hands.
School Signs.co.uk
Having been a client since February 2018, they originally opted for an it’seeze Max website to promote their signage services. During the pandemic, they produced a range of new COVID-19 signage and wanted some new order forms adding to their website. Their local consultant, Ian Burnett, saw the opportunity for their business and suggested upgrading to an it’seeze Shop website. The upgrade was implemented in April and within a few months they turned over £140k through their online shop.
Snowdrop House
An existing client specialising in mindfulness and hypnotherapy found themselves in great demand and in need of a new website. An upgrade to an it’seeze Shop enabled them to sell their products online.
Here’s what Christina, the owner of Snowdrop House, had to say:
“When I started my business four years ago, I actually cried tears of happiness when I received my website from it’seeze - it was perfect!
Fast forward to 2020, my entire business model had to change for me to survive. Arturo (my local it’seeze website consultant) worked rapidly with me to completely change my website to fit with my new business model. I’m pleased to say that I didn’t just survive the business-related challenges of COVID-19, but I thrived!” - Christina Morgan
Course Detective
Fuelled by the requirement for online learning, entrepreneur Faye Watts seized the chance to build her business.
Course Detective was launched during the first lockdown. Our slogan is 'We do the investigating for you'. We offer a free advice and guidance service for those seeking online training. We are lucky that even with lockdown restrictions, we are able to promote distance learning courses via our website so we have experienced positive results throughout the pandemic.” - Faye Watts
The Course Detective website went live in the summer and since has received lots of traffic and enquiries.
Dr Finlay’s Private Practice
With health at the forefront of everyone’s mind and seeing a medical professional face to face in a surgery less desirable, Dr Finlay's Private Practice updated their offer. A rebrand of their website now sees them promoting online services, GP home visits, and consultations - in particular to older patients.
“We were a city centre based private GP clinic so we were reborn as a virtual and home visiting service during COVID-19 due to lack of footfall. We adapted our website to the new services and rebranded to reach out to those working from home or remaining at home who needed a GP home visit. Now we offer online virtual GP appointments, psychological services, menopause consultations and GP home visits.” - Dr Ben Sinclair MRCGP
Swales Wool
Sarah, owner of Swales Wool, by her own admission, was struggling. She had no website and her products were only available in the local area. Luckily, she found it’seeze, and her business is now going from strength to strength.
“We started the business “Swales” in 2018 making products to promote Swaledale wool from our flock of pedigree sheep. In 2019 we were flying high and looking forward to a very profitable 2020. When COVID-19 hit in March, we hit the ground with a bump as all the agricultural shows and craft fairs were cancelled. This had a huge impact on the business as we usually attend over 50 of these events a year.
During March and April we were flailing in the wind not sure of which direction to take going forward with the business. The only option as we could see it was to get an online presence, a new shop front which would attract both the public and wholesale buyers. This is when we discovered it’seeze.
Gemma and Mike, our local it’seeze consultants, have guided us through the process providing invaluable advice and help to produce what we think is a fabulous website. We have received numerous compliments. It really is early days for the website but we are confident from the continued support from it’seeze, our online presence will be a great asset in the growth of Swales in the coming months, as hopefully life returns to some form of normality.” - Sarah
Happy Sweets
When the pandemic put her post-graduation travel plans on hold, Peggy Ullott decided to use the skills she'd gained from her recently completed Food Business Management degree to launch a new online business.
Happy Sweets was the result, and through working with her local it'seeze consultant Rob, Peggy was able to kickstart the business with a unique website that allows customers to create their own sweet boxes with ease. Having only just launched, the site is already proving to be a huge success:
“Rob and his team couldn’t have been more helpful – and the site was live in a matter of weeks! The design is exactly what I imagined. It looks fantastic, it’s easy to use and we’re already getting lots of orders through.” - Peggy Ullyott
SKL Training
With the focus on shifting to an online-only business model for much of the past year, the team at SKL Training recognised that their existing it'seeze website could be enhanced further to better meet the changing needs of their students.
Here's what Amanda Harriott, SKL Training's director, had to say:
“We updated our website during the pandemic as we thought it would be a really good opportunity to take the time to make our website more of a tool for our students to get all of the information they require.
We were fortunate to be set up to deliver distance learning but knew that the pandemic would have an impact for people who wanted to use the time they had at home to update their learning or browse courses.
We wanted to make the website as accessible as possible so introducing features to navigate the site with ease was important to us.
Our blog posts are now easily located on the website, which is well optimised for SEO and our top keywords, and has generated us numerous leads.” - Amanda Harriott
Get in touch
If the current situation is making you reassess your business offering or consider an online presence - or if your existing website is desperate for an upgrade – get in touch with the team here at it’seeze. We have the expertise to make taking your business to the next level as easy as possible. Our friendly, professional team are here every step of the way from design and implementation and beyond with our ongoing service. Get in touch to find out more about how we can help you to thrive during the pandemic.
Tagged as: News, Web Design
Share this post:
