Spelling and Grammar Errors in Shop Signs Will Lose Small Businesses Customers, Survey Reveals

LONDON, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

• Survey of consumers reveals half put off making a purchase from a business with a spelling or grammar error in its sign or on its website
• Apostrophe Protection Society backs new campaign by SmallBusinessHeroes.co.uk to improve spelling and grammar in small business
• Campaign offers small businesses the opportunity to have sign text proofed for spelling and grammar errors for free

Nearly half of potential customers would be put off making a purchase because of a grammatical slip-up or spelling error in a shop's signs or on a website. Moreover such mistakes would cause the majority of consumers to question a small business owner's competence.

These are some of the findings of a survey commissioned by SmallBusinessHeroes.co.uk into the effects of poor grammar and spelling on small businesses, as part of a new campaign aiming to improve spelling and grammar in Britain's small business community.

The campaign has the backing of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which strives to preserve the correct use of this currently much abused punctuation mark. Chairman John Richards comments, "We would say that correct grammar is very important to a business of any size. A firm is judged, at first, on its presentation. Many people would think that if a company owner can't be bothered to use correct grammar or is too lazy to learn, then where else might they be found wanting?"

The survey also revealed that:

• The misdemeanours most hated by consumers are spelling mistakes and the use of "text talk".
• 90 per cent of consumers surveyed believe that spelling and grammatical errors in small business signs or websites are "unacceptable".

As part of the campaign, SmallBusinessHeroes.co.uk is offering any UK small business the opportunity to have text for its shop signs or website proofed professionally for free.

The blog's editor, Heather Baker, comments: "When you're running a small business it's easy to overlook little things like getting spelling and grammar right. We're running this campaign because we believe that bad grammar ticks off customers and damages businesses and we want to make it easy for small business owners to get this one thing right."

SmallBusinessHeroes.co.uk is a new blog championing the people who make British small businesses great, running features, interviews, and advice pieces.