Ep.77 4 Simple (But Overlooked) Shifts for Business Growth
With Maria Lloyd
Episode Description:
In the final My Local Marketer episode of 2025, Maria shares four key takeaways from local business interviews to help Reading-based entrepreneurs succeed in 2026.
- Mastery of Industry Insights
Maria highlights Becky Ottery from Eclectic Games, who stays competitive by tracking designer blogs, attending trade shows, and listening closely to customer interests.
To streamline this, Maria suggests using AI prompts—specifying your niche and location—to identify the best sources and people to follow.
- Strategic Positioning
Differentiating your business from giants like Amazon is essential. Local shops provide value through specialist advice, product trials, and physical experiences that online retailers cannot match. Understanding this unique positioning allows for more effective marketing and targeting.
- Shared Knowledge Systems
Becky Nallon of Double Barrelled Brewery shares how they use a “product book” containing brewer and marketing notes to empower front-of-house staff.
Collate your team’s knowledge into a central resource to ensure consistent, high-quality customer service. Solo owners can use spreadsheets to track these details for contractors or partners.
- Extraordinary Customer Touchpoints
Inspired by Pete Hefferon of Shed, Maria advises auditing every business touchpoint to add “thoughtful tweaks” that turn ordinary interactions into memorable experiences. Creating a “Fans First” culture leads to fiercely loyal followings and increased word-of-mouth growth.
By refining information channels, USP, and internal communication, local businesses can build a standout brand for 2026.
Listen to the episode
Episode Time Codes
00:00 Introduction
00:34 Takeaway one | Build Robust Information Channels | from Ep.29 “Fun in Boxes” with Becky Ottery, Eclectic Games.
05:34 Takeaway two | Define Your Strategic Positioning | from Ep.29 “Fun in Boxes” with Becky Ottery, Eclectic Games.
08:05 Takeaway three | Centralise Your Team’s Knowledge | from Ep.48 “Brewing Bigger Business” with Becky Nallon, Double-Barrelled Brewery.
09:47 Takeaway four | Elevate Every Customer Touchpoint | from Ep.52 “Be Efficient and Stand Out” with Pete Hefferan, Shed.
11:17 Summary of key takeaways
Episodes mentioned
Ep.29 “Fun in Boxes” at Eclectic Games
With Becky Ottery
In this episode, we speak with Becky Ottery, co-owner of Eclectic Games, a specialist board game retailer in Reading. Driven by a shared passion for gaming and a desire to provide a welcoming space for…
Ep.48 Brewing Bigger Business | Double-Barrelled Brewery
With Becky Nallon
In this episode, Becky Nallon, Taproom Supervisor at Double-Barrelled, discusses their role at the brewery, which they joined almost three years ago. Becky explains their responsibilities as...
Ep.52 Be Efficient & Stand Out with Shed Cafe
With Pete Hefferan
This episode features Pete Hefferan, co-founder of Shed Cafe. Pete shares the fascinating journey of how he brought Shed Cafe to life, from a casual job opportunity to taking over...
Key takeaways
Build Robust Information Channels
To stay competitive, establish formal systems to track industry news, local developments, and audience interests. You can use AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT to help identify specific blogs, trade press, and key influencers to follow. Becky Ottery from Eclectic Games highlights that listening to customers is often the best “crowd-sourced” method for staying ahead of trends.
Define Your Strategic Positioning
Clearly define how your business adds value in ways that global competitors like Amazon cannot. Specialist knowledge and physical experiences—such as product trials or expert advice—are critical USPs for local businesses. Understanding these unique advantages allows you to target your marketing more effectively.
Centralise Your Team’s Knowledge
Improve customer service by sharing expertise across your entire staff. For instance, Double Barrelled Brewery uses a “product book” containing brewer and marketing notes to empower their team with consistent information. Even solo entrepreneurs can benefit by recording service details in a spreadsheet to streamline communication with future partners or contractors.
Elevate Every Customer Touchpoint
Audit every interaction a customer has with your brand and identify where you can add “thoughtful tweaks”. Taking an ordinary process and making it extraordinary makes your business more memorable and shareable. This “Fans First” approach helps cultivate a loyal following and drives word-of-mouth growth.
Episode References
Fans First by Jesse Cole discusses the story of the Savannah Bananas, an American baseball team,
and how they developed a full fans first experience.
