SBS - Small Business Sunday Award

Carmarthenshire based Sarah Lou Crafts receives small business award from Dragons’ Den’s, Theo Paphitis.

An Ammanford based crafter has received a small business boost from Retail Entrepreneur Theo Paphitis. In September 2023, Sarah Skilton owner & founder of Sarah Lou Crafts, messaged Theo about her business during ‘Small Business Sunday’ and was one of six weekly winners to gain a repost by Theo to his over half a million X/Twitter and Instagram followers. The weekly initiative, set up by Theo in 2010, now has 4,000 #SBS winners and supports small businesses in the UK. Sarah recently attend the annual SBS Event at the ICC in Birmingham along with over 1000 other winners to meet Theo Paphitis and be presented with her official SBS certificate. 

Business and retail entrepreneur and self-confessed Shopkeeper, Theo re-posted Sarah’s message to his over 500,000 Twitter and Instagram followers and as a result, @SarahLouCrafts has received 100s more followers on Instagram and extra orders for her sustainable eco-conscious handmade gifts. Sarah is also profiled on the #SBS website (www.theopaphitissbs.com) that is exclusive to all Small Business Sunday winners.

Sarah said, “I cannot believe that I have won the #SBS Small Business Sunday award from Theo Paphitis. It is an amazing opportunity for my small business and self development. I am excited to be a part of the networking community and for this next chapter of Sarah Lou Crafts”. I actually won the award in 2020 with my previous business Adventure Accessories, but never got the chance to meet Theo and get my certificate due to the coronavirus pandemic. To win for a second time with my new business Sarah Lou Crafts is a fantastic achievement that I intend to make the most of going forward as I would love to stock my notebooks in gift shops around Wales.  

Small business champion and Ryman Stationery, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue Chairman, Theo Paphitis, said: “We are thrilled to welcome new #SBS members every week and highlight just how important it is to support our small businesses here in the UK. My vision is that everyone who has ever won an #SBS re-tweet or Instagram re-post from me becomes part of a friendly club; like-minded individuals who can share successes and learnings. The website will also give a valuable profile to the winners chosen and I wish Sarah Lou Crafts every success.”

Anyone looking for a re‐tweet or re-post from Theo should tweet on X/Twitter or do an Instagram post to him about their business on Sunday between 5 PM and 7.30 PM and include the hashtag #SBS. Six lucky businesses are re‐tweeted/re-posted every Monday at 8 PM and then invited to enter their profile on the new website, attend the annual #SBS networking event and take advantage of the networking opportunities.

For further information about Small Business Sunday visit www.theopaphitissbs.com.

SBS Event 2024

On Friday 23 February I attended my first SBS event at the ICC in Birmingham. Every winner is invited and permitted to bring a plus one with them. I chose to take my small business owner friend Tash, owner and founder of Rubba-Bubba baby massage and yoga classes. Tash is working hard to win SBS herself so she was an obvious choice to take with me. 

Each year the event hosts a day of networking and talks for small business winners like myself. The annual event offers unparalleled networking opportunities and is packed to the brim with must-have advice from leading industry figures and on the day activities.

The day begins at 9am for registration and refreshments with time for Networking, Meet the Expert sessions, Breakout presentations and Speed Advice Sessions. 

Kypros Kyprianou, CEO of the Theo Paphitis Retail group opened the event with a welcome speech and introduced Theo the man himself, who then went on to explain more about the day and gave us some amazing facts about the 4000 SBS winners. 

The stat that stood out most for me was that 80% of all winners are Female and that 53% of winners are Sole Traders. That means it is just them running their small business. This information gave me such a confidence boost to know that I am worthy of being a winner after all. 

The rest of day consisted of a talk by Google to learn about AI powered marketing tools and how to supercharge our digital marketing strategy. 

Susan Bonner, #SBS winner and founder of The British Craft House and Buyindie gave an inspirational session on how she turned her dream into reality. 

NatWest held an incredible panel session where #SBS winners and NatWest Accelerator business shared their insights on how they achieved their milestones. Chaired by Debbie Lewis with Absolute Collagen founder, Maxine Lacey, ~#SBS winner and Spice Kitchen founder Sanjay Aggarwal and Naturally Tiwa Skincare co-founder Shalom Lloyd as panellists. 

After lunch we heard from Theo again as he gave an update to the pioneering #SBS Invest opportunity that was announced at the event in  2023 and the highlight of the day was the fireside chat with Stacey Solomon and Theo Paphitis plus time for questions and answers with the audience. This got a little bit out of hand with everyone, over fan-girling Stacey. It was a bit gross in the end as lots of guests tried to storm the stage. 

Then to end the day we were able to collect our certificates and have our photos taken with Theo himself.

Official SBS winners certificate. 

As a new #SBS winner I was also able to have a picture with Theo and receive my official #SBS certificate! My certificate is now in a frame and proudly on show in my craft studio. I also take it to my in person market events and it is certainly a conversation piece. 

One of the other amazing features of the day was being able to get a free professional photo shoot. 

There were over 1000 winners in attendance making the event the largest in the SBS 11 year history.  The day really helped my imposter syndrome knowing my micro business is worthy of being in those numbers and seeing my winning entry to @theopaphitis on the big screen. 

The event was jam-packed with inspirational and informative talks. I was able to have a professional photo shoot for free. I spoke with Google experts and Dorset Tech about website options.

Susan aka Dottie from @britishcrafthouse & @buyindie gave a brilliant talk about how she made her dreams a reality.

Finally @staceysolomon was absolutely fabulous. She is funny, intelligent, insightful and gave Theo a run for his money with her entrepreneurial mindset. Her support for small businesses is incredible and she definitely has a new supporter from me.

Thank you to all of the @thesbs_crew for organising and managing such a wonderful day, I already cannot wait for the event in 2025. 🧡🩵

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