Spring to Action Ltd

The Startup Sessions - 21st March 2012

Join us for a starting in business workshop at Kettering's Naseby Hotel on 21st March 2012 from 9am.

The Startup Sessions are designed to offer an introduction to running your own business, giving you the chance to share your concerns, answers your questions and weigh up the pros/cons of running your own business.

The workshop will be informal and interactive, no chalk and talk here! You'll be learning through doing, using your own experience and skills to inform the day and help others, whilst their differing skillsets will help you focus on areas you need to work on to make your business idea thrive.

We won't get a chance in 8 hours to cover everything about running a busines (it takes a lifetime!) but this is a great start and will help you answer the age-old dilema of 'not knowning what I don't know'. 

We will also inform you about other support that's's available in your area and through government programmes.

The day will also feature:

• Take-away guides for business essentials to refer back to
• The chance to get reflections on your business idea from a qualified advisor and other people
• Top tips on key areas of business and sources of advice / information
• Information about networking groups and local support including access to free 30 mins of legal advice
• Plenty of drinks refreshments

All of this for a £40 fee is a great value offer.  This doesn't include lunch - you can bring your own, visit one of the local cafes within a short walking distance, or we can order in advance from the hotel on your behalf.

Book your place today.

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

 

 

Friendly Friday Goes Large!

Linwood Centre, Linwood Lane, Leicester, LE2 6QJ
9th March, 10am - 2pm

Spring can be found at this fantastic community event at the Linwood Centre on 9th March.  We're having a stall and will be doing a presentation about self employment. Pop by to visit us on our stand or come and see us speak.

What's on?
Refreshments, Stalls Information & Advice, Arts & Crafts, Fun Activities, Guest Speakers, Workshops, Community & Business Networking

Guest Speakers
We have 11 experts and guest speakers lined up to give talks on a range of subjects including; Self employment, Business Start Up & Development, Social Enterprise, Mulimedia, Marketing, Branding and Writing Funding Bids.

Business Surgery
Come and along speak to our panel of experts for advice on business start up and development, self employment, tax, accounts and marketing.

Taster Workshops

• Email Marketing
• Social Media & blogging
• Digital Photography
• I need a website but don’t know
  where to start

For more information or to book a place Call Beckie on 0116 224 9790 or 0790 000 2530.

This event is FREE, book your tickets at http://friendlyfridaygoeslarge.eventbrite.co.uk

Parking available

Meet / Mingle with Leicester's startups

Wednesday 29th February 2012
From 6pm at LCB Depot

Meet / Mingle Leicester is a new event designed to help local people interested in starting a business to connect, share experiences and meet.  Held at the creative LCB Depot, the event is hosted by our very own Kate Cowan and will feature 4 local business people, who've developed successful businesses right here in Leicester.

You'll have the chance to ask them questions and hear about how they made their businesses work, and the pitfalls along the way.  There will be honest accounts of the highs and lows, and some useful tips for you to use in your business.

Book your place at Meet / Mingle Leicester online, it's free, and includes a drink. We suggest you eat before you arrive though, so there aren't too many rumbly stomachs.

So far over 60 people have booked a place, with just 20 places left we suggest you book yours swiftly too!

See you there.

All new January 2012 business startup workshops

New year, new start - isn't that the common saying at this time of year?  In our experience, it's particuarly true of people thinking of starting a business.  January is an extremely popular time to consider a change of worklife balance and to set goals (and hopefully achieve them).

We're delighted to start this year off with some new workshops, courtesy of our involvement in the Enterprise As a Life project.  You can follow it on twitter @enterprisaslife or read the blog at www.enterpriseasalife.org.uk

Dates are:

• Thursday 19th January
• Friday 20th January
• Thursday 26th January
• Friday 27th January
• Thursday 9th February
• Friday 10th February

All workshops are held 9.30am - 12.30am at St Martins House, 7 Peacock Lane, Leicester, LE1 5PZ

Contact us to book your place and find out more about how we can help you start a business in Leicester on 0116 217 9250 or email kate.cowan@springtoaction.co.uk

This project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Leicester City Council.

New dates added - Selling to the Public Sector

Does you business or organisation want to sell to the public sector or improve their success rate?  A range of workshops have been organised including:

Introduction to Selling to the Public Sector - 14th November, 9.15am - 12.30pm

Completing a PQQ and ITT: Essential documents for tendering - 14th November, 1.15pm - 5.00pm

Writing a tender with impact - 6th December, 9.15am - 12.30pm

Advanced Tendering Skills: Winning the Bid - 6th December, 1.15am - 5.00pm

 

• All seminars will be held at Highpoint Conference Centre, 165 Glenfield Road, Leicester LE3 6DJ.
• Joining instructions will be sent to you once we have received the completed and Download Booking form - Selling to the Public Sector.

Get in touch with kate.cowan@springtoaction.co.uk or call 07921 992 194 for more information.

Our Leicester Day a Roaring Success

Our Leicester Day, held on 11th September in Leicester Market, was an opportunity for local community and not for profit organisations to showcase their work to Leicester.  It will be remembered not only for being very windy (we lost a brochure or two to the wind and puddle combination) but for being a clear indicator of the amount of work and community involvement the sector has in Leicester.

You can catch up with the day here, with a short film from Pukaar News.

Celebrate 100 Years of International Women's Day

On a recent hen do, a woman with young children told me "Women should be told not to bother with university and a career.  It's all rubbish. What a waste of time going to university"!  After having twins she found she needed to reduce her hours at work, but her law firm was unsupportive.  She tried changing career but her teaching job was also unsupportive and she had to give up work completely. 

This story was repeated amongst other attendees, who's also found balancing work and home difficult with a few exceptions. Whilst I wouldn't agree that going to university was necessarily a waste of time, I have sympathy with the sentiment.  Finishing university doesn't mean the hard work is over, it's just beginning.

Listening to Annie Lennox she described many people this morning as 'living in a bubble'.  Although I partly agree with her, I also think that many women in the UK live in reality, where poverty is never far from their door, where inequality is a fact of life and where they face everyday challenges to survive.  Inequality is present both here and abroad.

Tomorrow is International Women's Day, a day where women are honored throughout the world.  The last 100 years of International Women's Day day have seen many changes and developments including gaining the right to vote in the UK, access to university, to prominent political seats including a Prime Minister.  This is a chance to celebrate women and the advances and highlight the work yet to be done.

Find out what events are going on near you.  Leicester is holding a Public Meeting at the Secular Hall  and you're invited, or join in the debate online or with friends and family as step towards positive change.

Meanwhile, my friend from the hen do is considering starting up her own business so she can be in charge of her working hours, pay and looking after the children. Hopefully she got a few words of encouragement from me!

Melton Mowbray Business Advice Day

 

Join HMRC for their business advice day at Melton Mowbray's Brooksby Melton College on Thursday 10th March 2011.

Seminars include the hot topics businesses have shown interest in - VAT awareness, becoming self-employed and your tax responsibiliities, first steps as an employer and opportunities from the Olympics 2012.

The day starts at 10am.  Book now.

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!