Small Businesses Offered Growth Plan to Kick Start 2015

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 29 January 2015

UPDATED: 29 January 2015

Up to 100 entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses in 2015 are being offered the chance to take part in a free workshop where they will receive expert one-to-one mentoring and an action growth plan worth £500 when they sign up for the Small Business Charter Growth Vouchers Programme.

Run in the region by Nottingham Business School and Nottingham University Business School, the first event has already taken place with businesses taking away individual action plans to help kick-start their growth ambitions.

Ian Morris, managing director of Nottingham-based creative design and branding agency, Threerooms Ltd, attended the workshop. He said:

"Taking time out of the business to work on my core business objectives was really valuable. Meeting with industry mentors to produce an action plan that I can follow over the next six months will help to keep my focus on my sales, marketing and business growth."

Businesses which attend the workshop have the chance to take part in a full training course on small business growth delivered by a national consortium of leading Business Schools, including those in Nottingham.

Following the diagnostic events, half of the participating businesses will be chosen at randomto receive a voucher worth 50% of the cost of the growth programme. Those allocated the Growth Vouchers will receive £2,000 match funding towards the cost of attending ten half day workshops and will also receive up to 10 hours of expert business mentoring.

The half day workshops will cover topics such as a review of growth opportunities; cash flow and general financial management; marketing strategies for small businesses; raising the finance for growth; and planning next steps. Nottingham Business School will also run specialist workshops tailored around the needs of the participating businesses, such as a session on social media strategy.

At the end of the programme, businesses will be invited to attend a national event in April 2015, where they will have the opportunity to network with like-minded growing firms from across the UK.

Nottingham Business School and Nottingham University Business School are running the Small Business Charter Growth Vouchers Scheme in Nottinghamshire and further north, and the consortium will collaborate to deliver sessions in other locations such as Leeds and Manchester. The next diagnostic workshop in Nottingham will take place at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, on Wednesday 4 February, with another to follow on Wednesday 4 March.

To be eligible, applicants must have a business registered in England, have between one and 20 employees, have an annual turnover of less than €4 million or £3.2 million, own 75% or more of their business and have been actively selling goods and/or services for at least 12 months.

To apply, visit www.sbcgrowthvouchers.co.uk or for further information contact nbs.business@ntu.ac.uk

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