How to generate and increase sales
2023-10-13 14:00 - 16:00 UTC
Sales are the lifeblood of every business. This webinar focuses on a pragmatic approach to sales strategy and delivery and is designed to fit with the needs of small businesses in both B2C and B2B environments.
We will cover:

Why a clear understanding of what an ideal customer looks like, and a good understanding of their problems, needs and wants is key to sales success
How to develop your sales platform using digital tools, platforms, and techniques
The different motivations potential customers may have and how to identify which ‘buttons’ your business needs to press
The key phases in prospecting, qualifying, and converting sales prospects
The value of a ‘sales funnel’ and how it can be used to help plan and achieve sales
Why keeping the customers you already have is the best sales strategy of all
The importance of appropriate customer service in retaining customers

How to write and develop your business plan
2023-10-16 10:00 - 12:00
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

e-Commerce with Shopify
2023-10-17 09:30 - 11:30
Shopify is a powerful all-in-one e-Commerce website builder that makes setting up an online store simple and straightforward. In this webinar, we will explore Shopify’s features and pull together the building blocks for your first e-Commerce website.
By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

Understand the essential features that a website needs to have to sell physical and digital products online
Understand what Shopify is and how to use the features it offers to build a secure and powerful e-Commerce website
Use the Shopify page builder and work with free themes to get the design and style of your website on-brand
Understand how to manage orders and deliver great customer service
Understand how to launch your new e-Commerce website and ensure all essential building blocks are in place using a pre-launch checklist

Build your brand and promotional graphics
2023-10-17 12:00 - 14:00
This webinar will define what a brand is (and is not) and explain how it is more than just creating a logo. We will explore how a business can use their brand to show its identity, purpose, personality, message, and values in order to stand out from competitors, build a loyal customer base and make more sales.
This session will:

Provide you with a clear understanding of the difference between brands and branding
Help you understand what a brand is
Show you why branding is important
Look at your brand strategy, brand identity and action
Help you learn how to develop your brand’s positioning, character, and purpose to differentiate your business from its competitors
Demonstrate how to set up a brand kit and style guide to ensure consistency across websites, social media, business cards, posters etc.
Teach you how to create simple promotional graphics using a variety of tools including Canva
Highlight a variety of free tools including Google Drive, Hubspot and Mailchimp that can save time and simplify marketing tasks

LinkedIn for business
2023-10-18 10:00 - 12:00, 2023-11-01 10:00 - 12:00
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.

Community Development Programme of Support - Budgeting, Pricing & Cashflows
2023-10-18 18:00 - 20:00
Angus Council Vibrant Communities, in collaboration with Angus Rural Partnership, have commissioned a programme of events for community groups and organisations.
The new programme of workshops will help local groups and organisations:

successfully form a sustainable group
plan their projects
apply for funding
deliver their aspirations

Workshop Six:
This session will cover the financial elements of the business planning, how to use this information to create a good funding application, monitoring and financial management.

How to protect and manage your intellectual property
2023-10-19 10:00 - 12:00
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

Email marketing for business
2023-10-20 15:00 - 17:00
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

How to start a business: The basics
2023-10-21 10:00 - 12:00
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

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for tourism businesses – Part 1
2023-10-24 11:00 - 12:30
Join the first of two 90-minute webinars designed specifically to help you improve the search engine results rankings of your tourism business.
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.

The business benefits of running a sustainable business
2023-10-24 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

Sourcing Scotland
2023-10-25 09:00 - 17:00 | Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ
What is Sourcing Scotland?
Sourcing Scotland is a national event designed to grow sales of Scottish produce by bringing together buyers and suppliers from across Scotland to do business across the retail, wholesale, hospitality, and independent sectors. If you’re looking to grow your business beyond your local area, then come along and meet the people who can help you on your journey.
What is involved?
A series of one-to-one speed dating style meetings as well as more informal exhibition style browsing allowing buyers an opportunity to browse the stalls of fantastic Scottish food and drink producers.
Buyers use this event to keep abreast of what’s new in the market, meet potential new suppliers and catch up with more familiar faces.
Who can take part?
Scottish Suppliers
We are looking for Scottish food and drink suppliers with high quality, market-ready products who would like to grow and reach new markets.
Applications for suppliers are now closed.
Buyers
If you source, or aspire to source Scottish produce then this event is for you. You could be a buyer of multiple supermarket retailer; a group foodservice business; a public procurement specialist; a wholesaler; an independent retailer, caterer, hospitality or tourism provider. You are looking for quality produce from businesses that can meet your local sourcing needs and/or to stay on top of what’s new in Scotland.
Registration deadline is Friday 13 October.

Angus Community Development Conference
2023-10-25 09:30 - 15:00 | Reid Hall, Castle Street, Forfar, DD8 3HX
The first Angus Community Development Conference will take place on Wednesday 25 October at the Reid Hall, Forfar.
This is a free event is open to all community groups and organisations within Angus to share, learn and network with other delegates.
A range of speakers will showcase exemplar ideas, highlight support and funding guidance and will inspire you to take your project to the next level, whether it is getting your project off the ground or taking ownership of land or buildings that will lead to inspirational community led projects.

Deep dive into the EOT
2023-10-25 10:00 - 11:00
How does the EOT work in practice? Attend this webinar for an overview of the tax implications of the EOT.
Since its introduction in 2014, the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) has proved to be a feasible exit option for many business owners. It’s a flexible option, and by making the right choices, you can meet the requirements for tax incentives and achieve the best results for the seller, company and employees.
Aimed at professional advisers, this session will let you hear directly from legal experts Douglas Roberts and Nimarta Cheema of TLT Ltd. They’ll cover the following topics:

benefits and drawbacks of the EOT
financial aspects
legal conditions
protections
warranties and controls

Google Analytics – Understand how your website performs
2023-10-25 10:00 - 12:00
Google Analytics (Universal and GA4) is a powerful tool that helps you understand how your website is performing. It helps answer lots of questions, including:

Which marketing channels drive traffic to your site?
What pages are users looking at the most?
What impact does mobile have on your potential customers?

During this webinar, we’ll help you understand how Google Analytics is set up and give you an overview of key reports. We’ll also look at other web analytics tools to help you online.

ChatGPT Uncovered
2023-10-25 12:00 - 13:00
Many business owners across Scotland feel hesitant towards the chatbot, grappling with apprehensions related to trust in technology, teamed with a variety of ethical matters to consider.
Business Gateway wants to address these concerns and inspire Scottish business owners to explore the limitless potential of ChatGPT and how it can be harnessed for small business success.
In this webinar, our panel of experts, featuring Mark Wilkinson, Head of Development at The Data Lab, Maya Vertigans, Founder of Planner Bee VA and Gary Ennis, Founder of NS Design and Digital Skills Trainer at Business Gateway, will demystify the world of AI and chatbots.
The panel will reflect on success stories and share practical tips to make the most of ChatGPT’s capabilities and real-world applications, ensuring Scottish business owners stay on top of the ever-evolving digital landscape.
As well as unearthing its pros and cons, viewers will discover how ChatGPT can streamline operations and boost productivity, as well as gain insights into how to mitigate its pitfalls.

How to build a digital marketing plan
2023-10-25 14:00 - 16:00
This webinar will guide you through the steps needed to create an effective digital marketing strategy, ensuring you focus on the right tactics to meet your business objectives and goals.
We will cover:

The importance of planning your digital marketing activities
Building your plan around a simple framework
Conducting a situational analysis (and understanding Customers and Competitors)
Developing your brand and tone of voice
Planning your Content strategy
Prioritising digital channels
Evaluating your Digital Marketing efforts

Planning & scheduling your online content
2023-10-25 18:00 - 20:00
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.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for tourism businesses – Part 2
2023-10-26 11:00 - 12:30
Join the second of two 90-minute webinars designed to tell you how to improve the search engine results rankings of your tourism business.
In part 1, we saw how search engines work and how to find out what people are searching for.
In part 2, we’ll look at the many factors that influence how far up the search rankings you go.
You’ll see how to optimise these factors and how to keep up with future changes in the algorithms that search engines use. You’ll be shown how use tools and plug-ins such as Google Search Console, Google Business Profile and robots.txt
We’ll then demonstrate how to avoid ‘violations’ and their consequent penalties.

TikTok and Instagram Reels for business
2023-10-26 14:00 - 16:00
You might view TikTok as a stream of dance trends and lip-synching videos, but it can also be a fantastic place to engage with your customers and increase the reach of your business online. Explore how to create bitesize vertical video content and how to use this new format for more effective business communication.
We will cover:

How to optimise your TikTok and Instagram accounts for the best results with video.
How to discover the latest trends on each platform and leverage this to create popular videos for your business.
Ideas for creating content to entertain, inspire or educate your audience (with lots of examples from a variety of relevant TikTok and Reels accounts).
How to increase engagement and reach by paying attention to your videos’ structure, duration, titles and understanding hashtags and algorithms.
The best kit, apps and workflow to create bitesize vertical videos for both platforms.

A Guide to Completing your Self-Assessment Tax Return with EQ Chartered Accountants
2023-10-26 18:00 - 20:00
If you are newly self-employed and are required to submit a self-assessment return for the first time or want to better understand the basics of completing your Self-Assessment Tax Return then this workshop is for you.
The session will cover the key dates, the basics about allowable expenses and record keeping, as well as how income tax and National Insurance Contributions are calculated.

The low-cost guide to marketing your business
2023-10-27 10:00 - 12:00
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

An introduction to business websites & what you need to consider
2023-10-30 10:00 - 12:00
This webinar will take you through all the steps required to design, build and host a business website. You will learn about:

The need to determine website objectives
The importance of knowing who your audience is and measuring results
Setting clear calls to action and creating engaging content
Creating your brand’s visual identity online, your site’s blueprint and how you can structure your site map
What’s involved in registering your domain, maintaining your site content, and options for hosting it

This webinar will also offer guidance on when and how to outsource your website development. Covering topics such as choosing a suitable content management system, what to organise first and costing for the work.

HR – Recruiting, managing, and retaining staff
2023-10-30 10:00 - 12:00
One of the scariest things you can do as a business is take on staff – from hiring, interviewing, payroll, pensions, contracts, remote working and more, it is a minefield for the business owner.
This webinar will allow you to have the key information in your possession to take on staff and manage your team.
Topics covered:

Recruiting, managing, and retaining staff
Attracting and recruiting the best and right people for our business
Our obligations as employers
Managing people to stay with us
Moving on
Dismissal
Restructure/Redundancy

We will also look at:

How in the current climate you can manage staff and teams in a remote environment, considering their productivity, efficiency, and the issues of home working
How you can best manage staff to ensure productivity is kept and mental health is supported
The impact of companies who may be considering restructuring and therefore redundancy for the first time and how that can be managed

The essentials of bookkeeping and what expenses you can claim
2023-10-30 13:00 - 15:00
This webinar is for those who are entering business for the first time or require an understanding of what is involved in financially managing a business, including basic bookkeeping, and creating a profit and loss account. You will also get an understanding of what expenses the business can claim and then how to fund your business. At the end of the session, you will receive a workbook on excel to help you manage and monitor costs and sales.
At the end of this session, you will be able to:

Implement basic bookkeeping skills across your business
Create a profit and loss account
Understand what expenses can and cannot be claimed
Use financial management to increase revenues and profits
Understand capital and revenue costs and how they are treated

Scottish Tourism Alliance Autumn Conference
2023-10-31 09:00 - 17:00 | Edinburgh International Conference Centre, 150 Morrison Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8EE
The Scottish Tourism Alliance’s Autumn Conference will bring together leading voices and experts from a broad range of sectors for a day packed with speaker presentations, panel sessions and plenty of opportunities to catch up with colleagues and create new connections.
The programme has been designed to support and empower the tourism and hospitality industry, and all those connected to it, to thrive in the present but also well into the future, as we collectively work to deliver on Scotland’s vision to be a leader in 21st century tourism.
Whether you’re a business owner or manager, supplier or aspiring leader, this is an unmissable event, with attendees given access to the latest insights, trends and forecasts for travel and hospitality, the economy, and policy as well as an update on Scotland Outlook 2030, Scotland’s National Tourism Strategy.
You will also benefit from invaluable advice and actionable learnings both for tackling challenges and capitalising opportunities that they may be facing in the industry now and in the future.

Blogging for business
2023-10-31 14:00 - 16:00
This webinar will provide you with the knowledge and understanding you need to create a blog that promotes your business.
We will cover:

What a ‘blog’ is, how to set one up and what it takes to make them work
Other small and medium sized businesses who already blog successfully and what you can learn from them
Options for monetising a blog
How to promote your blog
How your blog can help move your website higher up search engine rankings
Understanding analytics and measuring the impact of your blog

Producing engaging online content
2023-11-01 14:00 - 16:00
Producing quality content is an excellent way of helping your customers develop a meaningful relationship with your brand, services and products.
In this webinar we will show you how to source and develop a variety of content for your website and social channels. Ideal for businesses that already have a business website or use social media and now want to take it a step further, and develop the skills to show your audience that you are a trusted operator in your field.
This session will help you:

Understand what kind of content your customers are looking for
Source, write and deliver that content
Amplify your brand and message and boost engagement online

Build an effective strategy to grow your business
2023-11-02 09:30 - 11:30
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
