Accessing expert and experienced advice as and when you need it is one crucial element of developing a successful enterprise or charity or making it as a self-employed individual. Another important input to consider is training for yourself, any other members of the management team and staff. Although finding the right kind of (affordable) training might be time consuming, it is advisable not to wait until things start going wrong before looking into it. Try to be as honest as you can with regards to the skills and abilities you do or do not bring to the table. If you identify the need for training, try to fit your schedule around it as soon as you can. You are only going to get busier!
Identified a gap in your skill set? Maybe you need a crash course on business finance, or a course to help you improve your pitching and selling skills or an overview of Health & Safety regulations or an understanding of negotiation techniques? There are a vast number of public and private sources for you to tap into. Your local Business Link has centralised information on what is on offer. It might be the best starting point for you - they will help you finding the right course and/or a one-to-one adviser with whom you can develop your ideas and skills further. As with any other types of help available, some courses are free whilst you will have to pay for others.
Useful websites
- British Library Business & IP Centre in London
Help you start, run and grow your business through workshops, events and advice.
- Greater London Enterprise
Access to equity and debt finance for small and medium enterprises in London.
- Learndirect
Information and advice about courses throughout the UK.
- School for Social Entrepreneurs
Access to training, but their links page also give access to sources of funding and other resources useful to social entrepreneurs.
- Social Enterprise London
World-leading provider of training, research, networking and consultancy for social enterprise.
- Start Quest
Helping you start up in business successfully through signing up to informative daily emails.
- StartTalkingIdeas.org
Gives information on starting a business and includes information on the Enterprising Young Brits competition.
- Step
Paid work placements for undergraduates with small or medium-sized enterprises.
Links to external sites
Some of the links on this page are imported from our Diigo social bookmarking account. You can view all our links directly on our Diigo site. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained on our website and to update it regularly, LSE cannot be held responsible for the content on external websites.