Practical help for small businesses

You're already great at what you do. I'll help with the bits that get in the way.

Friendly, practical help for small business owners. We sit down, have a proper chat about what's getting in the way, and work out what would make things easier.

Tell me about your business How I work

Plain English. No jargon. Promise.

Technology happens in the background. The relationship happens with me.

A doodle of two mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits

We sit down together

A proper conversation. What you do, what you love about it, what's driving you up the wall, and what you'd like more of.

Biscuits optional. But encouraged.

A doodle of a tangled scribble going through a funnel and coming out as a neat ticked list

I translate

I turn what you've told me into a plan, and I deal with the technology. You don't need to learn the jargon, brief an AI or become a content creator.

Jargon in. Plain English out.

A doodle of a little shop with a leaflet and a phone beside it

We make something

Something useful that fits you and the way you work. Not a package off a shelf.

Then we tweak it till it feels like you.

Sometimes it's a website. Sometimes it's a spreadsheet.

Sometimes it's better wording, or a social media presence, or something neither of us had thought of when we started.

The sort of thing I help with

Looking more like yourself online
Sorting out your information
Leaflets, posters and marketing bits
Saying things clearly to your customers
Spotting opportunities you're too busy to see
Finding easier ways of doing things

There isn't a menu. There's a conversation, and we start with your problem, not my list.

Proper business help. No corporate bollocks.

For small businesses of every kind, and especially the ones without the time, the confidence or the spare pair of hands to tackle everything themselves.

Hate social media? Fair enough. Not sure what AI is for? Nor is half the internet. Website from years ago, or no website at all? Spreadsheet held together with hope? That's what I'm here for. You keep doing the bit only you can do.

Things you won't hear from me:

"Let's leverage your digital ecosystem."Let's sort your website out.
"We'll run a stakeholder alignment workshop."We'll have a cuppa.
"An omnichannel content strategy."Posts you'll actually want to put up.

Head of Quality Control. Frequently asleep.

Ron the cat, asleep on top of the notebook

Hello, I'm Jo.

Jo at her desk, writing in her notebook, with a mug of black coffee and pen pots beside the keyboard

"You talk, I listen, and then I make it happen."

I'm nosy.(it's a skill) I love finding out what people do, what they create and how on earth they came to be doing it. I'm fascinated by the stories behind small businesses, because there's always a person, an idea and usually an awful lot of hard work.

I'm naturally curious, I ask a lot of questions, and I get a ridiculous amount of satisfaction from untangling problems and coming up with ideas. Especially the sort that make you wonder why nobody thought of them sooner.

I started More Chicken & Crystals because I wanted to put that curiosity and creativity to good use, helping people who are already great at what they do but don't necessarily have the time, enthusiasm or inclination to tackle everything else that comes with running a business.

I'm particularly interested in the creative and practical side of things. Helping people get their business noticed, finding the right words to tell their story, improving their online presence, creating useful materials or discovering clever little ways to make everyday tasks easier. Sometimes it's about technology, sometimes it's about communication, and sometimes all that's needed is a fresh pair of eyes and a different way of looking at something.

Think ideas, creativity, communication and practical solutions rather than bookkeeping, tax returns or financial advice.

I'm not here to tell you how to run your business, turn it into something it isn't, or sell you something you don't need. I'd much rather sit down, have a cuppa, find out what makes you and your business special, and see what we can come up with together.

No pressure, no judgement, no corporate nonsense. Just an honest conversation, a few fresh ideas and hopefully a bit of laughter along the way.

Practical solutions. Questionable spirituality.

Why More Chicken and Crystals?

Well, it made perfect sense to me at the time.

There's a practical side to me. I like getting things done, solving problems and finding ways to make life easier. And then there's the slightly more unconventional side that's fascinated by the occasional bit of unexplained weirdness.

Throw in my recent fitness adventures, an ongoing obsession with getting enough protein, and the firm belief that eating chicken solves a surprising number of problems, and you've got a fairly accurate picture of the contradictions that make me, well, me.

I like to think you can have your feet firmly on the ground while keeping your mind open to the occasional bit of nonsense.

And the cat?

Ron is a black cat and my good luck charm. Frankly, it would have been more surprising if a cat hadn't found its way into the logo.

He's not particularly helpful, but he's excellent at supervising.

So there you have it. More Chicken. Practical solutions. And absolutely no sensible explanation for the name.

Not bigger. Not shinier. Just more you.