Greater Hartford Small Businesses Launch Online Community to Enable Digitization of Products and Services

The Small Business Collective, West Hartford Coworking, Moppets Drop-In Childcare, West Hartford Chamber of Commerce and others band together to support the local economy as they grapple with the COVID-19 crisis.

An unprecedented partnership between local businesses has enabled the launch of The Small Business Collective Online Virus Support Community​ – a private Slack-based workspace focused on supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs as they navigate the impact of the coronavirus.

The channel provides content and consulting services in a variety of categories including marketing, sales, finance, and insurance, as well as health and wellness content and even music and entertainment – all curated from experts and providers throughout Greater Hartford.

Adding to the impact of COVID-19 on local businesses is the closing of schools, leaving children home with parents as they try to keep business going. To help provide support, The Small Business Collective and client Moppets Drop-In Childcare, have created an additional virtual content channel for kids called “Moppets On the Go!” The paid channel will provide online story times in English and Spanish with surprise guest authors, music and movement classes, creative printables, and more, to help parents occupy and engage their children while they manage to work.

“As one of the newer businesses in town, we were poised to feel the impact of the outbreak more acutely than established businesses,” said Moppets Owner and Director, Miriam Varnai. “The idea of virtual content was on our radar down the road as an important way to digitize our otherwise brick and mortar-based offering, but when the situation began to escalate, we knew now was the time to move fast and think creatively to better serve our members and the greater community.”

As many global organizations generously extend their services, content, and technology for free, small businesses are left struggling to move quickly to translate their products and services online with the hope of keeping the lights on, supporting their families and staff.

“With both a physical space and a services business, I felt the strain from both perspectives,” said Annisa Teich, owner of The Small Business Collective – a small business-focused marketing group – and West Hartford Coworking. “Our online community was developed to give entrepreneurs the resources they need to work on their business in this slow season and come out of it stronger and more prepared than before. It is also meant to provide visibility and lead generation for all our expert contributors when face-to-face networking is barred.”

Alongside Moppets and The Small Business Collective, initial contributors to the community include financial planner Eric Bergenn, business consultants Grace Napolitano and Beth Bolton, content creator Nan Price, insurance expert Ryan Keating, talent development group The Bolder Company, DJ Q Boogie, marketing and mindset coach and yoga teacher Prati Kaufman, and many more to be announced.