Be part of something bigger

Taking time to plan your new business and seek advice before you start trading is time well spent. This session will help you to understand how to develop your own Business Plan for success.

A written Business Plan is an important tool to help you get your business started. It helps you clarify the resources and finance required. It also helps you visualise how the business could develop and provides you with a management tool going forwards.

We will cover:

We’ll discuss the various formats of businesses, e.g sole trader, private limited company etc, and also consider some of the other decisions you’ll be making.

Includes an overview of key elements of your Business Plan including:

Marketing:

• The role of marketing in your business.
• Identifying your target customers.
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
• The importance of market research.

Finance:

• Preparing sales plan.
• Producing a cashflow forecast.
• Understanding working capital.
• Different sources of finance.

Workshop outcomes:

After this training session you will understand the central part that your Business Plan plays in your business, the key elements of the plan, and how to develop your own plan.

There will also be information on additional services from Business Gateway and details of other workshops which may be appropriate to you.

To book a place, click here.

Google Search is no longer just a list of links or Google Business Profiles. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode now generate a written answer at the top of the page.

Crucially, that AI answer doesn’t just pull from a business’s Google Business Profile – it cross-checks information across websites, reviews, directories, and social platforms like Facebook to decide who to name and trust. A business with a strong GBP but a neglected or inconsistent Facebook page can lose ground; one that’s consistent everywhere gains an edge.

This session will help business owners understand what’s changed, why it matters for whether they get found at all, and the practical steps to make sure their business is the one AI recommends.

To book a place, click here.

Email marketing is one of the most effective channels to engage with your audience. This session will help you create and implement an email marketing strategy using MailChimp.

Customers buy from businesses they know, like, and trust. Email marketing is a powerful and affordable tools in your digital marketing toolkit to build these relationships. Most businesses send monthly newsletters to stay in touch with their audience, but your results will improve with a structured plan and best practices that will be explored in this workshop. Whether you’re new to email marketing or looking to optimise your email strategy, this workshop will enable you to:

• Integrate email marketing into your wider marketing strategy and gain insight into your target audience.
• Understand the key stages of an effective marketing strategy.
• Segment your audiences and target and position your offering to them effectively.
• Create value-driven and customer-focused content for email marketing while measuring and testing its effectiveness.
• Identify the most suitable platform and tools for email marketing campaigns, including different psid-for account levels.
• Optimise the different components of a successful email campaign through practical exercises.
• Use reporting and key metrics to ensure your campaigns are successful.
• Be compliant with legal requirements relating to email communications and use best practices for escaping the spam folder.

To book a place, click here.

Learn how to prepare for interviews, ask insightful and legally compliant questions, assess candidates objectively, and create a positive candidate experience.

This interactive workshop will equip you with the skills and techniques needed to interview effectively and make informed hiring decisions. You’ll learn how to prepare for interviews, ask insightful and legally compliant questions, assess candidates objectively, and create a positive candidate experience.

To book a place, click here.

Both start up and growing businesses will require a business plan for getting a loan, grant or just to consider the direction they wish to go in.

This workshop will:

• Provide a structure for a Business Plan.
• Review each section of what should be included within the Business Plan.
• Understand when and how to use a business plan.
• To understand cash flow within the business planning process.

To book a place, click here.

As small business owners we want to be “seen to be green” and would like to do more to help the planet but often we don’t know where to start and just don’t have the time to do things differently.

You will leave this webinar with top tips that all businesses can use for adopting more sustainable practices in your business that aren’t just good for the planet but could also work wonders for your brand reputation and your bottom line!

To book a place, click here.

This workshop goes beyond the basics of Canva and explores how to boost your creativity and productivity with clever AI-powered features.

In this workshop, we’ll explore the powerful tools that Canva offers to help you save time and be more creative when marketing your business. We’ll look at Canva’s AI-powered “Magic” tools when you want to promote what you offer and dive into its advanced features.

By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to:

• Make your designs even more creative and engaging using the Canva editor’s advanced features.
• Use Canva Magic to create custom-generated images and edit your photos with tools like background remover, magic eraser, magic edit and more.
• Understand how to expand what you can do with Canva using their huge range of apps.
• Use clever content strategies to boost your marketing effectiveness.
• Easily create, present and record engaging presentations.
• Create landing pages and basic websites with Canva Sites.
• Create next-level digital reports and documents with Canva Docs and Charts.
• Save time in Canva with shortcuts, hacks and integrations.

Please make sure you are already signed up for the free version of Canva before you book your place. To leverage Canva’s AI features, you will need a Canva Pro account.

To book a place, click here.

Join us for a day discussing all things social media as we examine the ways tools like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok can help (and hinder) your business objectives.

Social Media is much more than just a promotional tool. Used effectively, you can truly engage and influence your target market audience and achieve better business objectives. Used wrongly, and you’re likely just wasting your time hoping for some vanity likes.

This session aims to ensure you remain “business focused” with your own usage of social media and will cover:

• The current social landscape.
• The power of social influence.
• Creative social media business examples.
• The business dangers of social media.
• Practical Tips and Tricks.

There will also be plenty time for questions and some live audits of attendee social media profiles (with advice and recommendations given).

To book a place, click here.