'Local Business School' program offers 4 tips to make your company more sustainable

DES MOINES, Iowa — For the past year, "shop local" has been a phrase constantly said to encourage community members to support and keep local shops in business during a hard time. 

Now,  Emily Steele owner of Love Local, a company geared towards helping local businesses grow, has created a program to teach methods to grab customers' attention and keep them returning. 

The "Local Business School" program will take place over the course of 12 months, showing owners different ways to become more visible and sustainable as a company. 

"We can come in and support, and coach them and walk right through what they need to know," Steele said. 

The program is broken down into four phases: 

1. Learn how to build an online presence.
2. Build a strategy to grow your business.
3. Learn to analyze data and make appropriate decisions for your company based on facts.
4. Accelerators, described as learning to hone in on strategies that are working for a company.

The program is intended to save the people who enroll in it money in the future.  

"We really tried to find a solution that was super cost-effective that [business owners] could have that support in the community and still feel like they're investing in their business growth," Steele said. "But without kind of those retainer fees that come with having an employer or agency."

The phases were developed from methods Steele used on past clients that worked.  

RELATED: Iowa program aims to help small businesses

RELATED: Bars struggling to get by amid pandemic

Susanne Landgrebe, owner of 360 MedSpas and a client of Steeles, had to close her facility for two months during the pandemic.

However, because of Steele's advice on building a bigger online presence, Landgrebe says was able to struggle less and her business fared well.

"They helped me a lot by exploring other options besides in-person," Landgrebe said. "My virtual presence became more popular with online telehealth visits."

Steele noted her goals of the program were to get owners to become more successful and build "a community of customers who love their brands so they can generate consistent sales."

To learn more information about Love Local click here.