The Cat Butler founder, Sandra James, recently received her certificate from entrepreneur and former Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis after winning his social media initiative #SBS (Small Business Sunday).
This initiative invites small businesses from around the UK to tweet about their business to Theo every Sunday between 5-7.30 pm, including the hashtag #SBS. Theo then chooses six lucky winners at 8 pm, retweeting them to his 500,000 followers, and inviting them to the annual #SBSevent to meet him and other successful entrepreneurs.
Winning #SBS not only provides small businesses with brand exposure via a listing on Theo’s website, but it also grants automatic entry into the #SBSWinnersClubAndNetwork, where former winners can network, communicate, and support each other. Only 0.8% of the 450,000 entries Theo receives every year become #SBS winners, and 76% of those winners are businesses owned and run by women.
Sandra launched her exclusive cat visiting service, The Cat Butler, in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 2015 and franchised the business in March 2021, now having five franchisees. As an April 2022 winner, Sandra was invited to #SBSevent2023, which was held in Birmingham last week. Days after the event, she expressed her excitement and gratitude, looking forward to the next event.
Sandra shared, “It was such an honour to be an #SBS winner and receive my certificate from Theo, but also to be invited to such an inspiring event with the other winners. Theo and his team put together an incredible day for us, including guest speaker ex-F1 driver Mark Blundell, who offered us some business insights, including embracing investment when the time is right. We also heard from psychotherapist and best-selling author Owen O’Kane, who talked about self-belief, dealing with stress, and focusing on supporting ourselves rather than our businesses. I also attended a really interesting talk on digital marketing, all of which were so relevant to me as a business owner.”
Sandra was particularly inspired by Theo’s advice to “not be a busy fool,” which encouraged her to delegate tasks to others and focus on supporting her franchisees and growing her business. She recommends participating in #SBS to other small business owners and hopes to see them at the next event.
