Small Business Saturday Blog

We caught up with Jon May of Mooch Gifts & Home, to talk how to advertise without a budget, why big business is struggling more than small, and the impact of being a part of last year’s Small Biz 100. Mooch Gifts & Home took part in the Amex Shop Small offer in 2017.

Fed up of working long hours to earn money for others, Jon May and Luke Jacks decided that, if they were to be throwing themselves head first into a business, it should be their own. In 2015 the pair took the plunge and opened their first Mooch Gifts & Home store in their hometown of Stourport.

It was an immediate success. Jon says: “We worked out what our worst-case scenario would be - the fewest number of customers we could have each day to survive. And we absolutely smashed through that.”

With no advertising budget, Jon puts this quick-fire success down to their impressive social media reach. Focusing their customer outreach on Facebook and their brand-to-brand marketing on Twitter, they have seen strong, organic growth. They’re also getting by with a little help from their friends. Mooch have utilised the support of other Facebook pages such as we love stourport-on-severn past and present day, whose 12,000 likes gave Mooch a great platform to advertise.

Jon and Luke are returning the favour to small businesses in Bewdley, the home of their second store, with their own Facebook page. Shop, Eat, Sleep Bewdley has helped bring life to what had been a struggling shopping town. “We look after them, they look after us.”

This is an attitude that Jon says is vital to the survival of small businesses. When opening in Bewdley, other gift shops feared the competition, but they’ve become close allies. “There was definitely a sense of ‘oh no we don’t need another gift shop’ when we moved into the area, but we work closely together now,” says Jon. “At the end of the day, it’s not about competition. If we don’t have an item, we would much rather guide a customer to another gift store in the town, so they spend the money here rather than in the big city.

Unique products, a community-focused outlook, and the warmth Mooch staff show to their customers has led to numerous award nominations including at last month’s Small Awards, as well as a place in 2017’s SmallBiz100. This recognition has allowed Mooch to build up a closer relationship with media outlets in their area, and has seen them featured in national newspapers and websites, including the Telegraph, Independent and the Sun.

“Being able to say publicly that we were named one of the best 100 small companies in the country by Small Business Saturday has been brilliant for us. We’ve seen more customers on the shop floor, and more online traffic than ever before,” says Jon. “It’s great to know that we are bringing more revenue and recognition to Stourport and Bewdley, with orders from across the country.”

The growing base of ‘moochers’ in the last year has meant Jon and Luke have been able to open up in larger premises in Stourport, set-up over three floors. The company has gone from a penniless start-up to one of the town’s high street landmarks.

The message from Jon to any small business owner thinking of taking part in Small Business Saturday is to go for it: “If you’re passionate about what you do, if you fly the flag for your sector, then why not? Anyone who has found a gap in the market and put their job security on the line to create a business they believe in deserves recognition.

“Customers are returning to the high-street, appreciating their better prices and personal service. Now we are seeing that small is mighty.”

Click here to visit Mooch Gifts & Home

For more information on Amex Shop Small please see here