Launched on Squarespace

An online presence has the power to make creative dreams and business goals a reality. With Squarespace, millions of people have brought their ideas online and achieved success through sheer persistence, problem-solving, and passion. No matter the end goal of an idea, the first step in getting there is sharing it with the world. If you believe in something, launch it.

Here, we’re highlighting some of the business websites—and the founders behind them—that have done just that.

The Acorn Market

Launched in 2020 as an extension of The Acorn Restaurant, an award-winning, vegetable-forward restaurant in Vancouver, The Acorn Market has grown into an entirely new branch of the business. Co-owner Scott Lewis explains that The Acorn Market started as a landing page on the larger restaurant website, offering goods for customers to purchase online and pick up in person. 

The Acorn Market’s website includes an online store, the story of the market’s founding, information about vendors, and the option to navigate to the restaurant website. As the Acorn Market expands, Lewis hopes that “we can have our products reach a variety of retailers around the city while we get a grasp on the growth potential.”

Art on the Avenue

A popular Virginia-based arts festival, Art on the Avenue’s website hosts up-to-date information about participating artists, restaurants, musicians, and more.

The festival is a one-day, in-person event, held in Alexandria, Virginia. The event features hundreds of artists and musicians, along with food options and activities for kids and families.

BLKHLTH

Co-founded by Khadijah Ameen, Matthew McCurdy, Mercilla Ryan-Harris, and Paulah Wheeler, Atlanta-based BLKHLTH was launched to create space for necessary conversations about the intersection of race and health. Ameen notes that the co-founders made the decision to relaunch their website on Squarespace because their business was “growing out of its infancy phase into its teenage years and we wanted an updated website to reflect that.” In partnership with Squarespace Circle member Sunbird Creative, they spent time streamlining the look and feel of their business with “consistent branding, color schemes, and imagery across all of our digital platforms.” Their new website includes events, workshops, a blog, online store, and more.

Ameen explains: “Because we want to serve as a resource hub for Black people and health equity champions, digital reach is essential for us and our Squarespace site has helped us tremendously with that.” Since relaunching their website, BLKHTLH has developed both a national and international reach. In addition to offering more interactive content to visitors, Ameen notes that they envision their website “being a go-to destination for health-promoting resources for Black people and anti-racism resources for health practitioners.”

CanDo Kiddo

Founded by Rachel Coley, CanDo Kiddo is an online platform that supports strengths-based development for both parents and children. On her site, parents can easily access books, consulting services, free resources, and a blog to learn more about strengths-based development. 

In the future, Coley plans to offer ongoing memberships to enable more personalized connection, “and offer spaces to build rich, diverse communities of individuals seeking support for the same challenges.”

Chef Louisa Ellis

A private chef in Nottingham, Louisa Ellis was motivated by the digital-first world of the COVID-19 pandemic to move her business online. As a first step, she wanted a website provider “with an easy check out and online store system in place, and Squarespace stood out for me.” 

In addition to educating site visitors about her professional experience in her site bio, Ellis’s new website enables them to read customer reviews and easily pre-order heat-at-home meal options that support a range of dietary restrictions.

In the long term, Ellis is aiming to grow her business into “a well known brand providing luxury meals delivered to your home.”

Dough & Oil

Co-founded by chef Aaron Brown and designer Vivek Bhatia, Dough & Oil is a UK-based sourdough pizzeria connecting customers with an urban dining experience in a small town environment. While their website was originally launched alongside the opening of their restaurant in 2017, Bhatia explains that “we felt we needed to provide an online experience that aligned better with who we are, so we updated the website.” The end result is a beautifully branded site that includes a merch shop, the restaurant’s founding story, links to Dough & Oil social channels, and a simple contact form for customers to connect with the business.

Bhatia notes that the relaunched website has already paid off, with successes like nearly selling out t-shirts in their new online store. From expanding Dough & Oil’s delivery capacity to partnering with other independent retailers, Bhatia explains that they “plan to build organically, one step at a time.”

Duo-Hue

Motivated to start her own business after production on a work project came to an end, Amelia Ayerst launched her UK-based custom embroidery and design company, Duo-Hue during the pandemic. 

Through Duo Hue’s online presence, including an online store, press page, and contact information, she plans to build on a specialist embroidery technique she developed herself. Ayerst explains that the technique “allows colors to change in appearance and hue as movement is introduced.”

Feed Eat Speak

Founded by speech and language therapist Stacey Zimmels, Feed Eat Speak exists to support children and parents with feeding and speech therapy services. Zimmels decided to revamp her Squarespace website when she began working on her first online course. She established a framework for building out more online courses and also offers blog content, an overview of her services, webinars, and more through her website.

She notes that her website “serves multiple purposes; through the feeding blog it provides parents with good quality evidence based information to support their infants and children's feeding, and it demonstrates that I am a trusted and expert source.” Thinking about scaling her business, Zimmels explains: “As well as the more typical face-to-face support, I want to be a major online presence, giving them both free and paid for tools to help them on their way.” 

Freytag Anderson

Founded in 2013, Greig Anderson and Daniel Freytag’s Scottish design studio, Freytag Anderson, underwent a full redesign to elevate their online presence. Anderson and Freytag had clear objectives for their new site’s structure, which includes a projects page and an about page. 

Anderson explains, “one of the key drivers for the site was to make it as clean and simple to navigate both on desktop or on mobile and make better use of the dynamic motion and video work we are now doing within our branding projects.”

Anderson notes that the studio’s online presence “plays a fundamental role in not only showcasing the work we do as a design studio but also as a place to let potential clients get a sense of the way we work, the people, our experience and the design process we employ in all projects.” 

Grange Winery

For Canada-based Grange Winery, handselling wine through their traditional brick-and-mortar business was foundational for years. In 2020, mother-daughter owners Maggie and Caroline Granger decided to build an online presence to adapt to the digital-first marketplace. 

Their website includes gift cards and information about private events. Maggie explains, “Squarespace has allowed us to create our retail experience online. Each bottle on the online shop has beautiful imagery, informative tasting notes, the story of the winery and winemakers, and our philosophy.” 

Hauntoween LA

A seasonal event site launched by Experiential Supply Co., Hauntoween LA is a limited-run event intended to spook visitors into the spirit of Halloween. Creating an online presence for the event has been key. Smith notes that the website has been the event’s showcase, and that “the changes to the site from day one to now have been pretty substantial.” 

From introducing maps to updating sponsors and new attractions, the site functions as a cornerstone for customer communication and promotion of the event, in addition to ticket sales. For Smith, the goal of this site, and other comparable event sites his company has launched, is to give attendees and prospects all the information they need up front, as clearly as possible. 

Lotta Blobs

Founded by Shantelle Hyslop, a graphic designer by day and self-proclaimed blob sculptor by night, Lotta Blobs is a colorful online store selling uniquely framed mirrors that “aim to add a touch of colour and fun to everyone’s reflection.” Hyslop launched Lotta Blobs on Squarespace after hearing good things about the platform from friends. 

In addition to selling her mirrors and using her website’s announcement bar to share restock dates, Hyslop’s site also includes an About page. 

Hyslop explains that her online presence “plays a huge role in my business strategy as it is the main method I use to communicate with my customer base.” From including customers in business development decisions, to seeking out inspiration for new designs, she uses her digital platform to ensure her products and brand align with what her audience is looking for. In the months and years ahead, Hyslop hopes to collaborate with other businesses and creatives, and “carry on developing my product line and introduce new colours and designs to my mirrors.” 

The Mayflower Pub

A centuries-old Southeast London bar, The Mayflower Pub reinvigorated its online presence in 2020. In addition to connecting online visitors with the pub’s rich history, The Mayflower’s website displays clean, easily navigable food and drink menus, and an option for online booking. 

While an online presence has always been an important tool for The Mayflower to stay connected to its global visitors, this aspect of its online presence became all the more important in 2020. 

Open House Worldwide

A network of 46 organizations hosting festivals and dialogue about architecture, design, and cities across the globe, Open House Worldwide has been an administrative body for Open House cities around the globe.  

OHWW launched on Squarespace with a new visual identity in 2020. Visitors to the site can learn about and sign up for festival events, find participating cities, and stay up to date on relevant news via OHWW’s blog. 

Romford Rock and Boulder

Maxwell Hearne and Alex Spencer launched Romford Rock and Boulder, a UK-based bouldering gym, in November 2019. Navigating a new business amid three COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, they were motivated to build out a more robust online presence. The end result is a website that enables visitors to find information to prepare for their first visit and purchase merch in the gym’s online store. 

Spencer explains that the gym’s website is key to its success. “Our online presence has allowed us to see how our customers are interacting via online searches, reviews, questions, and requests. Customers can now complete digital waivers, freeing up time in the gym.” 

SAY Doughnuts

A UK-based micro-bakery, SAY Doughnuts was launched in 2020 after Sarah Ball’s passion for baking started gaining popularity with family and friends—and with a wider audience through social media. Outside of being stocked in a limited number of brick and mortar stores, SAY’s success is largely fueled by online sales. After trying a few different website building platforms, SAY Doughnuts made the switch to Squarespace “for ease of use, customer experience, and to make lightwork of our issues surrounding ordering and delivery.” 

The website includes an online store where customers can place orders and a contact form. As SAY Doughnuts grows, Ball hopes to continue expanding into brick and mortar sales and become “the go-to guys for doughnuts and cinnamon buns far and wide.”

Shop Small PDX

Launched by an organization focused on supporting small businesses, Shop Small PDX is a directory of local small businesses and events and marketplaces that encourages visitors to shop locally. The decision was made to launch Shop Small PDX as its own site in an effort to amplify a small business message in a focused, direct way. 

Since going live, the site’s directory has drawn hundreds of local businesses to add their information for visitors. Moving forward, the owners hope “this effort can be a broader, long-lasting call to highlight local business year-round and offer a one-stop of sorts for events that support local small businesses of all kinds.”

Space Youth Services

Space Youth Services is a UK-based organization dedicated to professional youth work, community projects, and other services that ensure young people have the best opportunities to succeed. In 2020, Space accelerated an existing goal to create more digital-first points of connection with young people. 

Space relaunched a bespoke website with updated video content explaining the services offered, and landing pages to help visitors find a youth space, show support, and learn more about the organization. 

A spokesperson for Space explains that, since the relaunch, they’ve renewed their strategic objectives and in addition to creating more awareness and support for the services Space offers, their revamped website “provides an additional contact point for young people, parents, stakeholders, partners and commissioners” as Space continues to scale.

There’s Food At Home

At-home cooking blog, There’s Food At Home, was founded in 2020 by August DeWindt, a co-owner of multiple New York-based food businesses. DeWindt explains that, with the onset of the pandemic, “I found myself with a lot more free time and decided to start my online food journey.” 

Her website, which was created using a Squarespace website template design from Squarespace Circle member, 23 & 9 Creative, offers readers free recipes, and a blog with weekly grocery lists and meal plans. When it comes to creating content for her site, DeWindt always keeps her readers in mind, focusing on “easy recipes and hacks that can be replicated at home with everyday ingredients at an affordable price.”

DeWindt says that her online presence plays “a key role to get me new visitors to my page,” many of whom she directs to her website via her growing social media platforms. In the immediate and in the long term, DeWindt’s focus for There’s Food At Home remains consistent: “My goal is to help my audience's relationship with cooking at home, to make it fun and non-intimidating.”

We Met At Acme

When Lindsey Metselaar’s dating and relationships podcast, We Met At Acme, first took off, she launched an online presence that she describes as “more of a landing page than an actual interactive website.” As her podcast following expanded, Metselaar made the decision to build out her website to meet the needs of her growing brand. Redesigned with the help of a friend, her updated We Met At Acme website now includes an about page, the ability to purchase services like matchmaking consultations, and a contact page for partnerships, bookings, and site visitors.

In addition to providing information, access, and context for her popular podcast, Lindsey’s website offers robust mental health resources. “We showcase a list of therapists in cities and countries all over the world,” Lindsey explains. As for the future, Lindsey is hopeful that “with time, I’m able to grow the matchmaking side of my business.”

Western Mass Makers

A potter by trade, Megan Reed founded Western Mass Makers as a “group of artists and makers who met monthly in local pubs and coffee shops to talk shop.” When the COVID-19 pandemic suspended in-person meetings and the fairs that so many creatives relied upon for income, Reed felt that launching an online presence that was more robust than the community’s social media platform became critical.

The Western Mass Makers site includes a directory of artists and makers, a gallery of work, and the ability to explore offerings based on category. In addition to announcing future fairs and markets, fundraising events, and community outreach projects, Reed hopes that the new Western Mass Makers site continues to “bring attention to the tremendous range of talent we have here in Western Massachusetts.”

Whetstone Magazine

Co-founded by Stephen Satterfield and Melissa Shi, Whetstone Magazine began as a print publication in 2017 with the goal of championing food to expand human empathy. Offering content that aims to shine a light on food cultures around the world, and the people and traditions that shape them, Whetstone has sought out an engaged, diverse readership since its launch.

Shi and Satterfield decided to bring the magazine online because their content began to outgrow their print cadence. Behind the scenes, Satterfield notes that the backbone of their business, from bookkeeping and communications, to the content itself, is also run online.

Now offering print and digital content, as well as a podcast, Whetstone Magazine is looking to expand its collaborations with international contributors and continue to grow its audience. Ultimately, Satterfield says that he and Shi “just want more people to experience and learn from this collective knowledge and inspiration.”

Whit’s Frozen Custard

Based in Ohio, Whit’s Frozen Custard has been in business since 2003. Former marketing coordinator, Marla Krak, explained that, as the business grew, “creating an easy and intuitive online store was a huge focus for us.” To that end, Whit’s relaunched their Squarespace site with a new look and enhanced functionality for visitors. 

Now, in addition to learning the family-run business’s story, visitors can easily purchase gift cards, find Whit’s Flavor of the Week, store locations and hours, sample menus, nutrition information, and more.