Invest in Angus

How Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help your business marketing
2023-03-23 14:00 - 16:00 UTC
You’ve heard of Artificial Intelligence, but do you know how it can help you as you run your business? This brand new practical webinar will explore how AI can help revolutionise your business marketing to be more efficient and cost-effective, through the automatic creation of content for all your digital platforms; as well as helping you better understand your customers and business opportunities.
This webinar will include:

What is Artificial Intelligence
Current AI tools and systems to use right now (including ChatGPT and Dall-E 2)
Automating Digital Content for Blogs and Social Media
Using AI for business strategy and customer profiling
The pros and cons of AI for small businesses

This webinar will help you understand how you can integrate AI into your existing marketing, looking at the potential consequences (good and bad) of Artificial Intelligence, and its impact on small businesses and their customers.

The business benefits of running a sustainable business
2023-03-23 14:00 - 16:00
It’s becoming increasingly important to customers to source their products from companies who have strong green credentials. This webinar will show how by becoming more sustainable you can increase sales and profits.
We will look at:
Understanding the problem
What is sustainability and why it is important
Innovation
Profiting from being a green business
Embracing a purpose beyond profit
The sustainability triple bottom line
Developing your own green charter
Examples of those practicing this way of growth with remarkable success
Top tips for going green

How to Write Outstanding Tenders - The Invitation to Tender (ITT) Stage
2023-03-23 14:00 - 15:30
Understanding what a buyer is looking for and creating a response to show how you are the best candidate for the job can be tricky.
At this training, you will learn what skills are needed for your business to write a good tender response and stand out from your competitors. One of SDP’s expert trainers will also explain how to analyse the tender documents and how to find hidden clues in the tender documents to help you develop a well-round response.
Overview of what you will learn:

What work can be done pre-tender to make the process of creating a bid less stressful?
How can use Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) and Public Contracts Scotland-Tender (PCS-T) to submit tenders?
What work needs to go into preparing for the ITT before the tender documents are released.
Which skills do you need to have in your bid team to write winning bids?
What good looks like in a bid response

At the end of the session, there will be an interactive Q&A session where you will have the opportunity to ask any burning questions you may have. As well as have the chance to hear what other SME businesses in Scotland have to say.
This event is suitable for Level 2 (Intermediate), for people who know about bidding but need to develop specific knowledge and skills.

Access to funding
2023-03-23 11:30 - 12:30
Are you a business considering a fundraising campaign?
Do you need advice on what funding options are available? How do you get Funder ready?
What alternative finance is available to help grow my business?
What are the benefits of Debt and Equity?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for tourism businesses – Part 1
2023-03-23 11:00 - 12:30
It’s more vital than ever to get your business to the first few places in the online search results page. These two 90-minute events will tell you all you need to know to improve your rankings, including how search engines work.
This first session will show you how search engines work and we’ll show you the anatomy of results pages and what customers and clients look at on these pages.
You’ll see how to find out what key words people are using when they search for your service, and we’ll demonstrate how you use that information to greatly increase your ranking in results pages.

Email marketing for business
2023-03-23 09:00 - 11:00
Connecting with your audience through effective email marketing campaigns is a great way to improve your marketing strategy and boost sales. In this webinar, we’ll explore what makes an email campaign effective and ensure you are able to:

Segment your audiences and target them effectively
Create a quality marketing email and measure its effectiveness
Identify the most suitable platforms and tools for email marketing campaigns, including different paid-for account levels
Identify the different components of a successful email campaign, including design, HTML v text and other formats
Use reporting and key metrics to make sure your campaigns are successful
Be compliant with legal requirements relating to email communications

Build an effective strategy to grow your business
2023-03-22 14:00 - 16:00
This webinar is practical, outcome driven, and designed to fit with the needs of small businesses in both B2C and B2B environments. It will help you develop a strategically led approach that can turbo charge business growth, identify the core growth strategy(ies) that are right for your business, and develop an action plan.
We will look at:

Your business today – identifying your strengths and areas for development
The key pillars of a business and why balancing all areas is essential for success
Personal and business ambitions and using these to guide strategy development
Ansoff’s Matrix as a tool for identifying core growth strategies
The core components of your business delivery
How to develop a methodical, strategic approach to developing your business for future success

After the webinar, you will understand:

How to undertake a balanced review of where your business is that helps identify areas for development
Ansoff’s Matrix and how to use it as a core strategic planning tool
How to create a strategic plan for growing your business

Planning & scheduling your online content
2023-03-22 13:00 - 15:00
Businesses who plan their content in advance, aligning their channels with actual business objectives, customer themes and national events, and then schedule it to ensure it reaches the target market at the right time, on the right platform – hugely increase the chances of achieving impact.
In this webinar, you will learn how to:

Plan content based on your business and your customer needs
Evaluate current social media dashboards and management tools
Create a social media content calendar and schedule updates automatically
Reach more people through automating your blog and email newsletter content
Implement simple automation techniques to increase efficiency

Having great content is just the start. This webinar will help you better organise and setup your content strategy through simple planning and effective scheduling, to achieve great business results.

Online Sales: Improve, develop & make more money
2023-03-22 10:00 - 12:00
What’s the best way to sell your products online? The key to improving your online business is measuring its effectiveness – you can then take steps to optimise its performance. Should you be using your own eCommerce store or Amazon, neither or both? This webinar will help you decide.
We will cover:

Factors to consider when selling online.
What eCommerce options exist, and the benefits of each
Differences in available eCommerce platforms
Benefits of automation
Key items to optimise performance

Why Circular Procurement is Better for Business
2023-03-22 10:00 - 11:30
Circular procurement extends beyond ‘traditional’ sustainable procurement by helping to develop circular business models within the supply chain. It uses purchasing power to achieve maximum positive ecological, social, and economic impact throughout the life span of products and services.
This webinar will introduce the concept of circular procurement, highlighting the value of using and reusing the materials we already have, from construction, to clothing to food waste, maximising their value and potentially not only saving Scottish businesses at least £3billion a year, but also significantly cutting our emissions by reducing imports and making best use of our renewable energy.
We will hear from speakers whose expertise spans across both the public and private sector, highlighting opportunities, different approaches and viewpoints on implementing circular models within the field of procurement.

The accountant’s input to the EOT transaction
2023-03-22 10:00 - 11:00
Aimed at professional advisors, this expert webinar series will explore different aspects of the subject to broaden your knowledge and help support your clients to make informed decisions. The webinars are also relevant for business owners looking towards succession planning.
In this webinar Linzi Wilson from Consilium Chartered Accountants, will talk about valuing and selling a company to an EOT (Employee Ownership Trust). She’ll also look at how a deal can be funded.
It’s usual for these transactions to be funded primarily, or solely, by deferred consideration by the vendor — Linzi will discuss how this can be structured. She’ll also discuss tax clearances and meeting HMRC requirements.

Fair Work Workshop
2023-03-22 09:30 - 12:30
Fair Work is an investment in everyone, for everyone. It can improve productivity, innovation, organisational reputation and recruitment. It can also reduce staff turnover and help create inclusive workplaces with a richness of talent and a diversity of ideas.
For staff, Fair Work can increase financial security, physical health and psychological wellbeing. For businesses, it brings more engaged, committed and adaptable workers who spot challenges and opportunities, solve problems, offer insight and ideas for business improvement, and create value.
What’s the event about?
This is a fully funded programme which will help participating companies to:

Understand the benefits of fair work (for both the business and its staff)
Develop an action plan to embed or improve current people practices
Prioritise and take next steps to implementing an action plan

The type of projects and actions that could result from a fair work action plan include:

Improving people and fair work practices
Skills, leadership and management development
Creating a positive culture and values-based approach
Improving employee engagement and supporting performance management practices

Thorntons Corporate Webinar - Protecting Your Business During a Downturn
2023-03-22 09:30 - 10:30
In a time of economic uncertainty, supply issues, inflationary pressures and spiralling costs, business owners in all sectors need to take proactive measures to protect their business – and themselves.
Whether you need to manage costs; you’re experiencing supply chain issues; or you need to review your business structure and financing, there are a range of measures available to help navigate a difficult business environment. Seeking early advice is always recommended to help avoid potential business disruption during an economic downturn.
In this webinar and Q&A, Partners Pamela Muir and Chris Allan will explore the various legal options available to help reduce risks across your business and adjust to changing trading conditions.
This webinar will cover:

Structuring your business including location of assets and personal liability issues
Funding your business; shareholder loans v equity and third party funding
Contractual protection; contractual provisions for late payments and interest on late payments
Debtor and creditor management; effective procedures

Fife & Tayside Procurement Surgery
2023-03-22 09:00 - 13:00
To support local suppliers in Angus, Dundee City, Fife and Perth & Kinross Councils, Procurement Surgeries are hosted by each local authority on a rotating basis.
Local suppliers are invited to attend clinic appointments lasting 20 minutes, available from 9:00am to 1:00pm by prior appointment only. The appointments shall be conducted via Webex, hosted by the Supplier Development Programme.
Procurement Surgeries will:

Signpost and prepare businesses to local support, aiming to increase their confidence when tendering with the public sector;
Assist suppliers in gaining knowledge of local supply chain opportunities across Fife and Tayside;
Help the Councils build relationships with suppliers and break down barriers to bidding;
Raise awareness of the opportunities within public sector procurement, such as Regulated Procurement Pipelines; and
Support suppliers in becoming “tender ready” with the Supplier Development Programme to better understand and respond to the “ask” from local authorities in procurement.

Bookings for Procurement Surgeries must be booked in advance by SMEs by logging into the SDP website and answering the required questions that are part of the booking process.

How to start a business: The basics
2023-03-21 18:00 - 20:00
Whatever your reasons may be for considering being your own boss, Business Gateway is here to support you and help you decide if this is the right path for you. Helping you consider your plans from exploring your potential customers to looking at the key activities and costs involved.
We will cover:

Personal finance planning – how much do you need to earn?
Researching your market – who your customers are, understanding your competition and what the trends are within your chosen field
Business structure – what are the core business structures? How to decide which is right for you and how to register as a business
Creating your start-up action plan – an outline
Marketing
Pricing
Naming the business
Basic bookkeeping
Forecasting
Financing, banking, insurance, and VAT
Tax

Paid for advertising
2023-03-21 14:00 - 16:00
This webinar is designed to help you make more informed decisions about where paid for advertising fits in to your digital marketing strategy. During the webinar we will discuss various key considerations of paid advertising, provide advice on planning, explore platform options and look at measuring the impact of your ads.
By the end of the webinar, you’ll have a better understanding of:

Key concepts of paid ads and how it fits within your strategy
Best practice during ads setup
Importance of planning for paid Ads
How to evaluate and understand performance of paid ads

Tourism businesses – Use analytics to evaluate your digital platforms and get customers
2023-03-21 11:00 - 12:30
By the end of this webinar, you will understand how to find out (for Google, Instagram & Facebook Analytics):

The characteristics of people who are accessing your online presence.
What people are doing when they access your website/s or social accounts.
How to set goals and objectives on each platform.
The art of measuring the effectiveness of websites and social posts.
How to continuously improve digital activities – measures to monitor and actions to take.

There will be particular emphasis on cost-effective/free ways to do the above.

Meet the Buyer Tayside
2023-03-21 10:00 - 14:00 | Invercarse Hotel, Perth Road, Dundee, DD2 1PG
Dundee City Council, Perth & Kinross Council, and Angus Council, in partnership with the Supplier Development Programme, invites businesses of all sizes to a free in-person Meet the Buyer event on 21 March 2023 at the Invercarse Hotel in Dundee.
New and existing suppliers are invited to this free event to chat about upcoming contracts, procurement processes, and what an organisation looks for when buying goods and services, be it personal care, building works, transport, catering, and more.
Meet the Buyer Tayside will give businesses of all sizes the opportunity to meet buyers from most of the Public Sector organisations in and around Tayside, including:

Angus Council
Dundee City Council
Fife Council
Perth & Kinross Council
NHS Tayside
Universities
Colleges
Tayside Contracts
Supplier Development Programme
and more!

In addition to networking opportunities about upcoming contracts, there will also be some optional short informational sessions delivered throughout the day, covering topics including Quick Quotes for smaller contracts and understanding the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) website.
This is the first in-person event since the Tay Cities Meet the Buyer prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an unmissable opportunity to engage with business opportunities related to the local public sector.
Attendance at this event is free, but we ask that you please book your place in advance.
Be sure to use the hashtag #MeetTheBuyerTayside to get the latest information on exhibitors and workshops, and share your photos on the day!

How To Get Found Online
2023-03-21 10:00 - 13:00
Within the busy digital environment, ensuring that you are prominently positioned is key to attracting people that have a genuine interest in your products or services. SEO is the process of optimising your website so that search engines can find you.
This masterclass will cover the following areas:
How will customers find you?
SEO best practice
The major ranking factors for search engine optimisation
Organic Search v Pay Per Click – Which is right for your business?
Google Business Profile and Google Search Console
As a result of attending this Masterclass you will gain a deeper understanding of how to utilise SEO to build your online sales and increase your website visibility.
This webinar is for businesses based in Dundee, Angus and Perth.

Photography for online business
2023-03-21 10:00 - 12:00
An image is everything. Learn how to shoot, edit and upload photos for use online and to showcase your business.
During this webinar you will:

Discover the basic ‘dos and don’ts’ of taking your own pictures, editing them and uploading them onto digital platforms.
See some real-life examples of posts that demonstrate good, bad and indifferent use for businesses.

Marketing 1-2-1 Surgery Sessions
2023-03-21 09:30 - 17:00
Whether you’d like to discuss market research, marketing strategy or would even just like an impartial review of your website or social media page, this is an opportunity to book a one to one appoint either from our Dundee office or over Zoom with our marketing specialist, Stuart Milne.
Once you have booked your space online, one of the team will be in touch to discuss an appointment time with you and send you further information. These sessions can take place online via Zoom or alternatively, face to face in our Dundee Business Gateway Office.
These appointments are aimed at businesses based in Dundee, Angus, and Perth.

Build Your Own Silk Road to China - Practical A-Z of Business
2023-03-21 09:30 - 13:00
China, the world’s largest consumer economy, presents a significant opportunity for Scottish businesses, particularly with the recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
In this engaging online event, Scottish businesses will gain a detailed knowledge of business, digital and eCommerce, along with some practical tips on how to break into and grow sales within the market.
The information gained within this Masterclass can be utilised to further business opportunities in China.

How to protect and manage your intellectual property
2023-03-21 08:00 - 10:00
You have invested time, energy, and money into your project, however, have you protected the innovation?
Following this webinar, you will understand how to manage your intellectual property (IP) or how to start the process of registering it.
Topics covered include:

What are intellectual assets (IA)?
What is intellectual property (IP)?
How to use IP (in the real world)
Where to get more insight and information

Participants will leave with:

An understanding that all businesses create IA/IP
A framework of knowledge about IP
A little more knowledge about the diverse types of IP
An insight into how to identify, protect and exploit IP/IA
Context of why IP/IA matters
Links to useful learning resources

How to improve your Google search rankings - Part 2: Off page optimisation & technical considerations
2023-03-20 13:00 - 15:00
Join us as we take a further, more detailed look at how the Google search engines indexes and ranks websites based on a number of external (off-page) and technical factors. Implementing this learning will increase your chances of customers discovering your business through Google – the world’s leading research tool.
We will cover:

How to block or control what websites are allowed to ‘index’
The importance of a fast loading mobile website
How security and usability influence Google
What “off-page” optimisation means, and tactics to generate back-links
The importance of Local SEO, and why a “Google Business Profile” is vital

Digital tools to help run your business remotely
2023-03-20 10:00 - 12:00
Are you ready to ‘go live’ and engage your audience with a live stream? What about running webinars or working remotely with clients or collaborators on the other side of the world? Let us guide you through:

How to use video live streaming, webinars and remote collaboration tools to get results for your business
Equipment you need to get started
An overview of the tools and platforms currently available
Examples of what others are doing
How to monetise this way of working

How to write and develop your business plan
2023-03-20 09:00 - 11:00
New and established businesses will require a business plan for getting a loan, grant or just to consider the direction they wish to go in. This webinar will teach you what you need to include and how. We will walk you through what should be included within a business plan, how a business plan is used to improve your prospects for a loan or a grant, and how you can develop a business plan to meet your needs.
We will:

Provide a structure for a business plan
Review each section of what should be included within the business plan
Explain when and how to use a business plan
Explore the connections (and importance) between the words and the numbers
Look at how to identify and manage cashflow within the business planning process

Build a customer focused business
2023-03-17 12:00 - 14:00
Did you know that a returning customer will typically spend more than two thirds more with your business than a brand new one?
Did you know that retaining just 5% of your customer base can give an increase of over 20% in profits for your business?
Having an effective strategy in place for your business to deliver great customer service is critical for your business.
We will cover:

Why good customer service is critical for business growth
What are the essentials of delivering great customer service and how should this be delivered?
How to effectively manage different types of customers and their expectations
How, why, and when you should measure the service a business delivers
How to use the service provided to promote a business and enable growth

Marketing Made Easy
2023-03-16 18:00 - 20:00
This workshop aims to help you identify your customers, understand your competitors and plan an effective marketing strategy.
The workshop will look at:

the role of marketing in your business
identifying your target customers
identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors
market research

LinkedIn for business
2023-03-16 18:00 - 20:00
No longer just an online CV, LinkedIn can be an incredibly powerful – and profitable – business tool. Like any tool, you must learn how to use it, and this webinar gives you expert guidance.
You will:

Learn how to create a LinkedIn strategy to boost your business reputation via marketing and brand promotion initiatives.
Learn the difference between personal and company profiles and how to optimise them for both maximum visibility and brand awareness.
Understand that content is king on LinkedIn, and we’ll show you how to plan and produce captivating content that enriches your brand.

The low-cost guide to marketing your business
2023-03-16 13:00 - 15:00
When budgets are tight, it can be difficult to find the funds for marketing. This webinar will offer marketing tips and advice that you can then use across your business – without bursting the bank!
We will look at:

How marketing extends way beyond what most businesses consider it to be and how it provides opportunities for businesses to make transformational change with little or minimal extra spend
Identifying marketing priorities and using these to reshape your business.
The marketing mix as a tool for reviewing how your business plans and delivers its marketing activity
How your marketing activity is delivered successfully and effectively in your business
A series of top tips including the importance of understanding your customers, the core components of a brand, the value of strong and consistent branding, the value of a clear focus and the power of creativity
The many options available with traditional Advertising and Promotion as a way a company communicates what it does and what it can offer customers, but also looking how this has changed in a world where marketing has moved online
The foundations of effective marketing in a digital age, looking at how your business can grasp new ways of marketing such as social media, web, and digital PR
