Businesses get fluent in digital

Hundreds of small and medium sized businesses are signing up to receive free support from Local London’s E-business programme to help them grow in an online age.

Set up in 2021, our E-business programme helps SME businesses become more resilient and flourish by using digital platforms and software to grow their business. Business owners and their staff work with an expert E-business advisor to develop a bespoke programme that suits the business’s needs.

The programme has already been hugely successful in helping SMEs from many different sectors across eight Local London boroughs to market themselves and streamline processes.

One of the numerous businesses benefitting from the E-business programme is Lexis Interpreting & Translation Services, based in Greenwich.

Learning the language of digital 

Lexis Interpreting & Translation Services provides interpretation and translation services to and from English, Spanish (Latam) and Portuguese (Brazil) for public services (including police, Home Office and Courts) and for businesses.

Carolina Fernandez, the owner of Lexis Interpreting & Translation, approached the E-business programme wanting to attract private businesses to her services and was unsure how to achieve this successfully.

Adiel Khan, E-business Advisor said “Following the initial audit, we gained a better understanding of where the business currently stands digitally. We established that the business is not taking advantage of any of the free tools available for businesses and lacks any digital presence online.”

The business currently relies on word of mouth and the regular business from the local police as well as police forces in other cities and the Home Office which leads to advocacy work.

Adiel added “We also looked at the potential market from businesses searching for a professional interpreter online and discovered there was high demand and a huge market for Carolina to tap into.

Following our initial meeting we created an action plan together which covered a number of areas to address within the business. We are at the start of our journey and progress will be ongoing as we help Carolina to develop an online presence and grow her business.

I strongly advised Carolina to get a website for her business. In fact, it is imperative that her business has a website – no business can afford to be without one in 2022! Most potential clients would expect to find one and that it would be a base to drive the traffic from social media channels towards.

Understandably, Carolina was concerned about the cost of setting up a website. We recommended Carolina attends our workshops on creating a website using Wix, as well as our Instagram and LinkedIn training which will help her make the most of low and no-cost channels appropriate to her business.

Although it is early days working with Carolina and Lexis Interpreting & Translation Services, there is huge untapped potential for her business if she adopts digital tools and embraces these new practices. I’m looking forward to working with her to bring her up to speed with current business methods and report on progress.”

Carolina Fernandez, owner and founder of Lexis Interpreting & Translation Services, commented “I approached the E-business service as I really wanted to work with more private business clients. I was not sure where to start and how to best use all these social media channels to attract direct customers to the service. As a small business, cost has deterred me from pursuing further, so I jumped at the opportunity of obtaining free training in the areas I need the most help with.

I am very happy that South East Enterprise are able to help me to understand and make the most of all the low-cost options available. I am excited to see the growth of Lexis Interpreting & Translation with the invaluable support of the E-business programme. To any business owners wondering should I see how this E-business Training could help me? I’d say ‘Si!’ – its free and helping me get fluent in online marketing which is great for my business.”

Get involved with the E-business programme

Operating across eight of our member boroughs, our delivery partners are working closely with local authorities and stakeholders to reach businesses and are recruiting staff to expand the programme.

Find out more about the programme in your area:

• Enterprise Enfield who deliver the programme to businesses in Enfield, Redbridge and Waltham Forest.
• Newham College who deliver the programme to businesses in Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Newham.
• South East Enterprise who deliver the programme to businesses in Bexley and Greenwich.