Buy Local Bexley

The global COVID-19 pandemic has created a very uncertain landscape for  millions of British small businesses, which is going to make it very challenging for businesses to survive. 

Buy Local Bexley is a Social Enterprise that seeks to showcase and promote all businesses in the London Borough of Bexley and encourage the Local Community to buy from local business owners..

As an enterprise that was launched during the pre-COVID period in  2019, the vision behind Buy Local Bexley was to get all businesses in the London Borough of Bexley on a local business platform and app to make it more visible to the local community. As we believed it will help boost economic growth, create jobs  in the local community  and foster community unity and engagement at all levels.  

The Need

The global COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty for  millions of SMEs in the London Borough of Bexley and the country at large. Just recently, Conor a business owner across town had to close shop permanently because he lacked the capital to restart his business or take it online after the lockdown ended. He is one out of the many business owners that will be out of business due to significant challenges like access to capital and customers. 

The post COVID-19 situation is an extremely challenging time for businesses that are the heart of our local community. Businesses are closing down and owners are left with uncertain futures because they don’t have the capital needed to stay afloat or pay bills and rents. Despite some government support, these businesses are far from safe.  Business owners like Conor want to salvage the situation by taking their business online. They need the visibility and increased sales that comes from having an online business presence so that they can pay rent and take care of other financial issues. They want more members of the community and the country at large to notice their businesses and buy from them so that they can create more jobs. But if they are not on the right platform or have an online presence where they can be seen, then they are invisible to their customers and the Local community.

The Solution

Our aim is to promote all London of Borough of  Bexley-owned businesses by making them visible online:

• Listing all business on the Buy Local Bexley platform and on the app which is were 90% of the consumers are. The Local community can find local businesses that offer the services they are looking for.
• Providing these businesses with webpages that can be used independently as their website or together with their main business websites to gain visibility and reach out to their consumers. The webpages can be used to generate discount coupons, sales vouchers which can be sent through push notifications on the app. 
• Provide joint marketing and promotional tools through our social media and online marketing channels, business education/training and network building opportunities that will drive more visibility and patronage.
• Provide business education and training that equip business owners with knowledge on how to reach their consumers on line through the app or through the webpages, to gear them up for the"new now" and help them face the uncertain economic future. 

But I need your help…

How  Can You Help

This project is a huge one as we will providing Bexley business owners with online visibility that will encourage community members continued patronage and lead to businesses striving in the post-COVID period. We will also be carrying out joint promotional and marketing strategies that will open these businesses up to even greater opportunities outside the Bexley area and offer trainings to help business owners keep up with current online business trends.

But to be able to achieve our set goal, we are requesting for the total sum of £11,600. With this sum, we will be able to upgrade the present platform, build the mobile application that will enable members of the Local Community to easily connect with business owners and find services that suit their needs (We have got the app MVP). 

 Provide businesses with the ability to generate vouchers and coupons, discount on pickup/delivery services and joint marketing services on all social media platforms and offline marketing. It will also be used to organize networking events, business trainings, yearly business exhibition, award nights and other necessities needed to make the Buy Local Bexley run smoothly.

By supporting and donating to our cause, you will not only be helping business owners strive in the post COVID-19 period, but you will also be transforming lives and playing a vital role in keeping more businesses open and accessible within our community. Every contribution counts and we will be happy to receive your donations towards our cause.

We also promise to keep you updated with our advancements through our progress report and share photos of everything we do in fulfillment of this project.

Thank you for reading through our campaign and helping in any way you can!

Your support means a lot to us!

Much love from Buy Local Bexley Team.