Real friendships and communities grow in person, and we know how much a community matters to your business journey. You will have the opportunity to meet local business owners and inspirational leaders. During 2022 (when the restrictions allow us), the DCBN will be rolling out a series of local networking events – check here for a date of one near you – link.
DCBN Membership
Intro
How we helped
Business support
I have been running a cleaning company for eight years, and I’m really, really good at cleaning, but I didn’t have a clue how to expand or take on staff. I joined the DCBN in 2019, and honestly, I’m not sure I would have survived the pandemic without them. They put on specialist courses and training to keep us open and operational when times were really uncertain, but the part I like best is that I have met other people in similar situations, who have given me the confidence and knowledge to expand. I customised all the templates, took the plunge to register as an employer and started to really understand my accounts. I had loads of questions and wobbles but there were always people on hand to support me. I now have five employees and hope to double this next year.
Doing things right
I thought I knew how to clean. I had risk assessments, but I never realised how much more I was expected to do. It was overwhelming at first, and I felt terrible that I hadn’t known this. When I learned about COSHH working for another company, I didn’t realise there were great big COSHH risk assessments on chemicals. I had just attended the training. The DCBN made this overwhelming task so much easier. It was broken down into manageable chunks, and the community reassured me that it does take a while to get all this in place.
Sales and recruitment
Running a cleaning business will involve a certain amount of balancing the seesaw. You will either have too much or too little demand. Staff are queuing up to work for you or you can’t pay them to work for you. As demand and supply swing up and down, the DCBN is there to keep you on an even keel, reacting to market movements but with the skills to adapt either way.
