Spring to Action Ltd

Real-Life Entrepreneurs - event by FSB

Local businesses and startups are invited to join the FSB, Sir Peter Soulsby the Mayor of Leicester, Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership and speakers to hear about why local businesses are so important to our economy and listen to a motivational workshop by Rob Brown.

Leicestershire and Rutland's branch of the Federation of Small Business (FSB) invites you to a FREE event at the Leicester City Football Club on 16th March from noon til 4.30pm.

For more information Download Invite to FSB Event March 2012

See you there

 

 

International Enterprise Promotion Event, Harrogate

Harrogate is going to be the worldwide centre of enterprise promotion in November, when the international conference hits town. Whether you're involved in working with oung people to stimulate their entrepreneurship or are interested in the latest thinking about high growth, there's something for everyone.

This 3 day extravaganza is sure to help your development in thinking and enable connections between practitioners.  Tickets are £395 for the event, with reduced fees available.

Closer to home, the Global Entrepreneurship Week kicks off again shortly.  So far 29 events have been registered in the East Midlands alone, including the Say Yes challenge by PERA in Melton Mowbray, and the Design a House Day in Lincolnshire. A list of these events and more throughout the year are listed with Unleashing Enterprise.

What I love about this years events is how creative and interesting they are.  What a fantastic celebration of enterpreneurship!

 

Conference for Social Enterprises

Save the date - SEEM will be holding their annual conference on Social Enterprise Day (18th November) at Curve, Leicester.

It will no doubt be a great way to raise the profile of social enterprises to a wider audience, especially during Enterprise Week.

Find out what else is happening in the East Midlands from Unleashing Enterprise.

**Update: Book your ticket here**

Small Steps to Employement (FREE entry)

Want some help to get a job? Facing redundancy and need some support to improve your confidence?

Spring is pleased to announce a FREE event for local Leicester people to raise their confidence, self-esteem and motivation and move closer to getting a job.

You can benefit from:

• 4 free, short, fun workshops to improve your confidence and skills in getting a job
• Access to a range of organisations who offer longer term support, guidance and CV writing skills
• The opportunity to learn about how your local Multi Access Centre can help you

Download Flyer pdf to find out more or  Download Poster pdf to print out and post up in your venue.

It will be held on 23rd September 2010, from 10am - 2pm at the Linwood Centre, Linwood Lane, Leicester.  Please can you email us to confirm your attendance at kash.khunkhuna@springtoaction.co.uk  If you're interested in exhibiting please download the  Download Employment Fair Exhibitors booking form or email Kash on the above address.

Keep up to date with developments on this event at the event website at www.smallstepstoemployment.wordpress.com

Please spread the word!

Trust, Credibility and Great Products

Today saw the East Midlands Business Conference, which celebrated the achievements of local women in business, at Derby's Pride Park.  

We were treated to presenntations by Susan Hallam, as usual providing a range of top tips on improving your credibility on line. Did you know, for example, that there are free polling or review sites which google uses to rate your trustworthiness, no matter what industry you're in? Did you know too, that you can and should claim for businesses Amazon business page and get using it? We have a pretty long list of actions we need to take to make sure we have strong trust and credibility signals online, thanks to Susan's presentation.

There was a presentation too from the inspirational Kathryn Stone OBE from Voice UK, who we have had the pleasure of working with. the work they do with vulnerable victims of crime never fails to move me, and I am always shocked by the inhumane acts of some people in society. Thank goodness for women like Kathryn and the rest of her team.

The main things I will take with me from the day are:

• Customer service must be your highest priority.
  
• Suprise and delight your customers and this will reap rewards
  
• There is no substitute for hard work - be proud of your achievements and celebrate them
  
• Trust and credibility online is complex and hard work!
  
• Find out what your 3 key personal strengths are and shout about them .... In a way that is comfortable to you.
  
• Green and black's chocolate really is yummy!

Enterprise for All?

Unleashing Enterprise has announced the line-up for its conference, designed to unleash an enterprising culture across the East Midlands. On 31st March at East Midlands Conference Centre, you'll have access to keynote speakers including Mike Chitty, Diana Gilhespy and Tony Reid, together with an agenda packed full of workshops.

Kash and I will be delivering a workshop entitled 'Promoting Diversity within the Enterprise Agenda' and some of the other topics include supporting entrepreneurial graduates, enterprise in the primary curriculum and the need for local support.

I think it's a must for everyone interested in entrepreneurship in the East Midlands, not least because it's a chance to delve into the minds of local policymakers and make sure you're in tune with the latest thinking.  If you're coming, let me know and perhaps we can meet up for a coffee to make connections?

Spring Deliver Marketing Workshop at Aston Villa FC

Today's adventures began for Spring with a trip to Aston Villa FC to deliver a marketing workshop to the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector.  Organised by People 1st, the sector skills council, it attracted a wide range of businesses seeking to improve their confidence in their marketing skills and learn something new.

With six more events for People First around the UK, there ae still spaces left for people in the sector in areas including Bristol, Warrington, Newcastle and Norwich.  Find out more.

We also delivered a full 3 hour Marketing Workshop to Taste of Lincolnshire, which proved popular and a dynamic place to lead a workshop.  Call Stonebow for more details or to book your place on 01895 81 7009.

East Midlands Women in Business Conference 2010

This event is the highlight of East Midlands female entrepreneur's calendar - it's a chance to meet other people starting a business, already in business or in a successful career. On Thursday 4th March 2010, Derby's Pride Park plays host to this annual conference dedicated to supporting female entrepenenurs in the East Midlands.

Speakers include Jo Fairley, Founder of Green & Blacks, the excellent organic chocolate brand that's taken the UK by storm. Rosemary Conley CBE will share her secrets of success and Susan Hallam, one of the UK's leading trainers on all things internet-related.

Find out more from KC Jones, the event organisers.  Places cost £95+ VAT.  We attended last year, in our role as Women's Enterprise Ambassadors, and found it very useful.  We still have our notes from Susan's workshop seminar! I remember leaving the event and enacting several of her top tips to improve our SEO.  It's still something we're working on, but Susan alone was very inspirational, let alone all the other speakers and attendees.

Are you attending?  If you'd like to meet us in person, just email us and we'll set it up.

Supporting Global Entrepreneurship Week across the UK

Next week Global Entrepreneurship Week hits the UK, and indeed the rest of the globe.  You can look forward to 100's of events in your region, all aimed at encouraging more people to be entrepreneurial - anything from networking, seminars, conferences and much more is going on right on your doorstep.  It's easy to find out what's on offer, just take a look at the searchable calendar.

Spring is taking part through its support of People 1st and Business Link's industry masterclasses which include industry-focused sessions around marketing and customer service.  Aimed at employers in the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sectors, attendees will also find out how to benefit from Train to Gain funding.  There will be a session near you, with locations including Derby, Brighton, London, Newcastle and Bristol (and a few more besides) between November and January 2010.  There are still places available, so book now to secure your place.

This means loads of travelling for us, but a great opportunity for you to learn from the other delegates and those leading the sessions.   If you book your place, don't forget to come and say hi to us.

Kate

Unleashing Enterprise - helping people start businesses in the East Midlands

Last week Spring attended the launch of Unleashing Enterprise: the enterprising region on 26th March at Highpoint, in Leicester. Chris Shaw organised an inspirational programme of speakers, informing us about emda's new programme to assist young people into enterprise, through strategically supporting organisations to deliver enterprising skills.

What makes an enterprising place? How can we support people to start and run more businesses from home, as the economic situation begins to bite? What do we (people who deliver enterprising skills to communities) need to work more effectively?  We left the conference with new thoughts, ideas and questions of our own that we want to explore over the coming weeks.

Find out more about Unleashing Enterprise from their new websites  - www.unleashing-enterprise.co.uk and www.enterprisingstreak.co.uk

Kash