As the pandemic becomes a distant — but still garish — memory, parts of our world have irrevocably changed. For one thing, a new crop of entrepreneurs has emerged. Maybe they re-evaluated their lives during the pandemic and started their dream side hustle. Or perhaps they were forced to do so after losing their jobs. Whatever the reasons, we found that post-2020 fledgling business owners were reaching out to us for help with their new business babies.
After a decade of running Black Mountain, our digital marketing agency, and working with some of South Africa's top brands and exciting start-ups, we realised we had many insights we could share — and so the idea for Small Business — Big Plans was born.
South Africa is a nation of self-starters and innovative thinkers, despite — or maybe because of — the supreme challenges business owners face here on a daily basis. But most of them don’t know how to use the digital tools available to market what they’re offering. Sure, there are loads of resources online, but the sheer volume of information is overwhelming, and most of the content is aimed at an overseas readership.
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We wanted to write a book that was accessible, practical and relevant for SA business owners specifically. Forget those romantic notions of taking a year off to write a book in a secluded villa in the countryside. Our book was written around the working hours in which we continued to run our agency — which meant it was largely done over weekends, during holidays, early in the morning, and late at night.
Writing it was a hugely collaborative process, not only between the two of us, but also with the various digital experts we interviewed. Thanks to them, the book has far richer insights — which proves that two minds (or even 10!) are always better than one when it comes to navigating a topic as broad as digital marketing. The experience also showed us how powerful a professional synergy can be.
Of course there were challenges. For one thing, the digital landscape is constantly changing — which means our book could date more quickly than we’d like. Still, we hope the core principles included in it will endure for years to come — at least until the machines take over. That said, we’re open to producing updated versions in future — after all, we’re practising what our book preaches by being willing to adapt with the times.
Small Business — Big Plans by Catherine Black and Belinda Mountain is published by NB Publishers
