Coming up through Cumbria Business Growth Hub we’ve got the below free training/webinars.
Discrimination update
Date: 30th March 2023
Time: 8.30am to 9.15am
Venue: Online
5 top tips to avoid the pitfalls of facing uncapped damages in the ET, David will guide you through some common errors and provide practical tips to promote a culture of respect in the workplace
Facebook and Twitter for business
Date: 11th April 2023
Time: 10am to 1pm
Venue: Online
There is no doubt that Social Media should be a tool within every business marketing toolkit, but many businesses still struggle to get past the concept of ‘push’ marketing and using it as a broadcasting tool.
Social Media is most effective when it’s an interactive space used to build relationships and turn potential customers into advocates and fans.
This workshop is full of tips and examples of how to truly engage on social media, looking at simple methods to increase the effectiveness of your content, and examining the usefulness of paid for services on Facebook and Twitter.
By the end of this workshop you will know:
- How businesses of varying sizes are using social media
- Online connections and how to gain them
- Tips and tricks on business tools available for social media
- Comparisons of Twitter and Facebook for effectiveness
- How to consider social media to boost your business aims
Cyber Security webinar with David Allen IT and Indelible Data
Date: 20th April 2023
Time: 10.30am to 11.30am
Venue: Online
Join this focused webinar to find out some simple steps you can take to help protect your business, learn how to minimise the risk of cyber-attacks, keep your business operating and keep data safe. By attending this webinar, you can aim to increase your understanding of cyber security, ask questions and take steps to protect your all-important data.
Tendering and Contracts made easy
Date: 25th April 2023
Time: 9am to 12.30pm
Venue: Online
This workshop provides a step-by-step guide to help you commence your tendering journey… from navigating tendering portals through to preparing a convincing bid!
This easy-to-follow and interactive takes into consideration the potential varied experience of participants. Attendees do not require any prior knowledge to participate.
- Introduction to Tendering Portals (including GOV.UK, ‘The Chest’, ProActis and more)
- How to Register with a Portal, Profile Creation & Maintenance, Procurement Categories, Geographical Areas and Business Specific Keywords
- Finding Opportunities, Searching Locally & Further Afield, Identifying Additional Markets
- Different Tender Types including Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ), Single-Action and ‘Open’ tenders (ITT / RFQ), Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), Frameworks and Imposed Pricing
- Searching the Contracts Register to source prospective Sub-Contract Opportunities
- Overview of Tender Notifications, Expression of Interest and Download of Documents
- Understanding the Client Documents; Specification, Terms & Conditions
- Asking Pre-Tender Questions – why you should ask and when!
- Making a Bid / No Bid Decision!
- Client Questions (product and / or service related; general business related)
- The Standard Selection Questionnaire (SSQ) – contained in all Public Sector Tenders (including Company Details, Exclusions, Finance, Insurance, Technical, Ethics, Social Value and Health and Safety)
- Preparing the Bid (e.g. understanding the format and how to prepare & submit a compliant bid)
- Understanding Scoring Schemes & Weighting
- Deadlines and Extensions
- Finalisation & Uploading / Submittal of the Proposal
- Tender Assessment
- Post-Tender Clarifications
- Asking for Feedback (win OR lose)
To book your place email info@cumbriagrowthhub.co.uk – eligibility criteria does apply.
Through our Business Start-Up Support programme, any new entrepreneur or business under three years of trading can book onto the below free training.
SEO Essentials – Strategies to Boost Your Organic Rankings
Date: 16th March 2023
Time: 9.30am to 12.30pm
Venue: Online
It’s all well and good having great products and services, but if no one can find your website when they are searching online, then you might be missing out on a lot of potential business. This is where SEO comes in.
There are various tactics you can employ to start to boost your position in search engines and get your website to appear higher up on platforms like Google. To do this successfully you need to understand how the search engines work, and how they decide which websites to rank the highest.
In this course you will learn the fundamentals of search engine optimisation plus the benefits of optimising your website and online content.
Course Content:
- Introduction to SEO
- What is search engine optimisation?
- Search engine algorithms – the basics of how platforms like Google work
- The benefits of ranking higher in Google (and other search engines relevant search engines)
- How do search engines work, and how are they used?
SEO tactics:
- On page SEO
- Finding out what your target audience are searching for in relation to your products/services
- Understanding keywords and how to use them
- Tips and tricks to boost organic ranking for your website
Financial Records and Administration Issues
Date: 4th April 2023
Time: 10am to 12pm
Venue: Online
Where to start?
- Legal Status – trader, company, or something else
- Dealing with HMRC, and Companies House
- Accounting periods, dates, and deadlines
- Recording transactions and anticipating HMRC enquiries
- Bookkeeping – tips and good practice
- Reconciliations
- Allowable expenses
Pricing with confidence
Date: 25th April 2023
Time: 9.30am to 12.30pm
Venue: Online
If you have ever thought any of the below then this workshop is ideal for you:-
- I really don’t know where to begin with pricing…
- People won’t pay that much for my products or services…
- I don’t know how to handle objections about price…
- I’m not really sure what my costs are associated with my products or services…
Knowing what you are worth along with understanding the value of your products and services and understanding your costs are all vital when it comes to pricing. Getting your pricing wrong can leave you demotivated and “in the red”, get your pricing right and you’re on your way to business success.
This workshop will explore the vital factors of pricing and how to confidently price your products and services.
- Introduction: What is pricing?
- The psychology of pricing
- Customer perception
- Common pricing mistakes that business owners make
- Different pricing strategies
- Pricing a product/service
- Ways to increase existing prices
To book your place email lesleyr@cumbriachamber.co.uk or call 0844 257 84 50.
Inspira are running a FREE Multiply course in Cumbria. This course will help you improve your money management skills, and get to grips with your money!
You can build skills and knowledge, so you feel comfortable with budgeting, getting out of debt or understanding benefits and pensions.
To book a place or for more information please call 01228 596272.
Supply Chain Forum *Special Edition*
14th March, 9am to 3pm, Ingwell Hall Strategy Room, BEC Ingwell Hall Moor Row CA24 3JZ
Seizing the opportunity of International Women’s Day (8th March) and to promote diversification, equality, and inclusion we have decided to run the next Sellafield Ltd Supply Chain Event on 14th March.
To reflect this, we will be showcasing female excellence within Sellafield who will be speaking at the event and we ask all our suppliers to send female representatives who may not usually attend our events.
We are also happy to share that this event will be supported by the Women in Nuclear (Cumbria branch), members of which will attend on the day.
Booking will be open to all women across SMEs and prime contractors, therefore please share this invite to your female colleagues.
The agenda will be shared in advance of the event.
Click here to book your place
The Teenage Market – Saturday 22nd April – 10.30am to 3.30pm
This exciting new market will be at the Market Square in the centre of Carlisle for the first time. It offers young people a chance to test their entrepreneurial ideas and make money from their hobbies.
To be eligible for a stall you need to be 8-25 years old (if under the age of 16 a responsible adult is required for the duration of the market).
For further information email teenagemarket@carlisle.gov.uk