In January, the second Swedbank Small Business Academy started to operate, where 10 selected small companies from all over Lithuania are looking for opportunities to strengthen their business. The organizers of the academy say that their program is not only for participants – it is also relevant for those who follow businesses.
Rasa Verkauskaitė-Kazanskienė, head of Swedbank’s small business clients and marketing department, says that very different businesses participate in the academy. “The goal is that not only those who are inside the academy, the top ten, but also everyone who observes the business from abroad will gain insights for their business. Hence, if people are in such a business, solutions, challenges can resonate with them, and they can benefit from insights. The sectors are the most diverse: decorative lighting, metal workshops, accounting, financial management, baking “Shimtalapiu”, sewing and selling bed linen, creating and selling clothes, selling children’s goods, selling shampoos, cosmetics – retail and wholesale. I would say, most of the sectors that operate in Lithuania”, says R. Verkauskaitė-Kazanskienė. According to the interviewee, one could talk about the challenges that small business representatives have to face for an hour, and the main difficulties are excessive independence, financial management, product placement in the market.
“Our business started more than 30 years ago. Rimutė discovered a passion for yarrow and while fashions and hobbies were changing, she perfected her recipe – she loves each yarrow with her own hands. We decided to participate because we felt that the public still knows too little about us, so we want to expand the circle of buyers. Our products are not only tasty: we are currently digitalizing and dressing in a little more modern clothes – we have created a logo, we are creating an electronic store, new packaging. With all these beautiful new clothes, we really want to appear in public and find new customers, attract more young people. Young people may have forgotten this dessert, which has many years of experience in the market and has been around for a long time. And there are various flavors: with cottage cheese, with plums, with apples, we can meet everyone’s needs”, says S. Zuzevičiūtė.
The participant says that the marketing area is really important for them because they have not yet created a proper advertisement.