Small businesses across the UK are being offered a big boost of free business support to help them deal with the current economic challenges, as Small Business Saturday unveils a major programme of online mentoring and training during November as part of its ten-year celebrations. Business owners across the country are being encouraged to sign up for the campaign’s jam-packed programme of virtual workshops and one-to-one mentoring, which forms part of Small Business Saturday’s nationwide roadshow.
Supported by BT Skills for Tomorrow, ‘The Tour’ will be travelling to 23 locations across the country to profile small businesses from 31 October. It will also be offering over 20 free digital workshops delivered by leading experts, along with hundreds of free online coaching spots with experienced business mentors.
Small business from anywhere in the country can sign up for workshops on a range of useful topics, from sales and digital marketing, to managing time and money, including:
- How to promote your brand for free
- 5 ways to use PR to attract more customers this Christmas
- Sales made easy
- Quick tips to get you cyber secure
- Creating a rock-solid business plan for 2023
- How to be more productive with your time
And to make this learning even more fun for small businesses, those attending at least ten workshops will be rewarded with a large luxury candle from Scottish candlemaker Jo Macfarlane, left, in time for Christmas. There will also be opportunities for entrepreneurs to tell their stories and network on Small Business Saturday’s social media channels.
A Small Business Happy Hour, featuring giveaways from local businesses will also be open to all to enter each weekday at noon. “Small Business Saturday has always been about supporting and celebrating the UK’s fantastic entrepreneurs,” said Michelle Ovens CBE, director of Small Business Saturday UK. “This package of support is intended to give small firms a major boost as they face a barrage of challenges from all angles this winter.”
Small Business Saturday is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which celebrates small business success and encourages consumers to ‘shop local’ and to support businesses in their communities. The iconic campaign takes place on 3 December this year and is marking its tenth year in the UK, with principal supporter American Express.
“Once again small businesses are facing another challenging year and having to think strategically in order to succeed,”said Chris Sims, BT’s Managing Director for Small and Medium Enterprise. “Earlier this year BT launched a new customer Charter with a commitment to step up free digital skills training for small businesses and working with partners such as Small Business Saturday on initiatives like The Tour is an important route to deliver this.”
To book onto the workshops, small businesses should visit https://smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com/the-tour. Mentoring slots can be booked via the My Small Business section of the Small Business Saturday website, where small firms can login or create a profile, and click on ‘The Tour 2022’ tab https://smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com/my-small-business.
