Instagram for business
2022-03-24 10:00 - 12:00 UTC
Thinking about using Instagram to communicate with existing and potential customers? Want to showcase your products or services using it? During this webinar we will cover:

Getting the setup right and benefitting from the available business tools.
Best practice profiles, and some strategies to help your business stand out from the crowd.
Learn which type of audience you can reach via this platform and the factors and analytics such as cost and timing of posting images and how that can maximise impact.
The various types of content you can post to Instagram, from regular posts, to Stories, Reels, and Live Video.

Plan for the ban
2022-03-24 13:00 - 14:00
To engage with as many people, businesses and organisations as possible, Zero Waste Scotland is hosting a live webinar on behalf of the Scottish Government. The webinar will be open to all and live across our social media channels and website.
This is your chance to speak to our team of experts on how to prepare for the upcoming restrictions on single-use plastics, understand how it will affect your business and ask any questions you may have ahead of the new laws coming into force.

Starting a business: Everything you need to know
2022-03-24 14:00 - 16:00, 2022-04-06 10:00 - 12:00
Whatever your reasons may be for considering being your own boss, Business Gateway is here to support you and this webinar will help you decide if this is the right path for you. We will explore your potential customers, the problems your business can solve for them and how you can do that better than the competition. Once that is clear, we will look at the key activities and costs involved in starting and running the business and tools for determining the commercial viability before considering the main options for business structures (sole trader, partnership, or limited company).
We will look at:

Personal finance planning – how much do you need to earn?
Researching your market – to develop an understanding of your market, who your customers are, understanding your competition and what the trends are within your chosen field.
Business structure – what are the main 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.

Generating ideas for your business
2022-03-24 17:30 - 19:30
Many people would like to start their own business but don’t have a business idea to focus on. This session will help you:
1. Clarify your motivation behind starting your own business
2. Appreciate your skills and experiences
3. Use a range of techniques for generating new business ideas
4. Gain an appreciation of how to evaluate these ideas
5. Prepare to get started!

The Stress-Free Guide to Smashing your Business Goals
2022-03-24 18:30 - 20:00
Here at Business Gateway Tayside, we understand that, as well as bringing a huge sense of personal satisfaction, achievement and freedom, being a small business owner means having to juggle a busy work schedule that can often lead to stress and a feeling of being overwhelmed.
Our Business Owner’s Guide to Smashing Goals and Staying Sane event brings together a panel of experts with a wealth of knowledge on how to effectively organise day-to-day tasks leading to more efficient processes and a happier business owner.
Our speakers will discuss tried and true methods that will help you to streamline your general practices, build a better social media management system and give you a vital understanding of how to cope with work-related stresses. Our speakers for the evening will include Continuous Improvement Practitioner Gillian Reid from Scottish Enterprise and Digital Marketing expert Amanda Inglis from Due North.
The topics for the evening are:

How to effectively manage your day-to-day tasks and plan ahead for milestones and goals
Manage social media without becoming overwhelmed
Staying sane whilst juggling a busy workload

Complete Storytelling - Perth Workshop
2022-03-25 09:30 - 16:30 | The Black Watch Castle and Museum, Hay Street, Perth, PH1 5HR
This one day workshop is designed to help tourism businesses with their recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Delegates will learn new communications and sales skills to help enhance customer service delivery and re-build income streams. Successful consumer experiences are the product of creating and delivering engaging and memorable stories. Stories effortlessly transform consumers into ambassadors; generating repeat visits, recommendations and increased secondary spend.
Complete Storytelling is a highly motivational workshop that breaks down the fears and boundaries that prohibit truly effective communication. This is achieved through teaching and practicing practical methods in a safe, supported and inspiring environment. Using performance techniques, the experienced trainers will hone participant’s skills in Body Language and Voice by teaching tried and tested tips and tricks used regularly by actors and presenters.
Over the course of the training, attendees will learn how the power of your story can motivate staff, create exceptional consumer experiences and generate income in a COVID secure environment. Attendees will be taught how to use storytelling to engage, sell and create brand loyalty.
Cost: The delegate fee is £50, inclusive of VAT.
Venue: This event will be held in Perth, at The Black Watch Castle and Museum.

Marketing your business on a budget
2022-03-25 10:00 - 12:00
When budgets are tight it can be difficult to find the funds for marketing. This webinar will help you use marketing to increase customer engagement. We 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 that provides opportunities for businesses to make transformational change with little or no 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 and the power of of a clear focus and 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.

Bookkeeping and finance: The essentials for business
2022-03-28 13:00 - 15:00, 2022-04-07 10:00 - 12:00
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 developing 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 both start up and growth. At the end of the session, you will receive a workbook on excel to help you manage and monitor costs and sales.
After this webinar, 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 how you can fund your business

The 150th Open industry webinar
2022-03-28 14:30 - 16:00
Join us at this upcoming industry webinar on 28 March from 2.30pm – 4.30pm focusing on the 150th Open Championship coming to Fife this summer.
Find out more about this major golfing event coming to Fife and how your businesses can make the most of this exciting opportunity.

LinkedIn for business
2022-03-29 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:

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.
Content is king on LinkedIn, and we’ll show you how to plan and produce captivating content that enriches your brand.

Building your brand and promotional graphics
2022-03-29 13:00 - 15:00
This webinar will define what a brand is (and isn’t) and explain how it’s 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 webinar will:

Provide you with a clear understanding of the difference between brands and branding
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

Writing a business plan – Why it's essential for ALL businesses
2022-03-29 15:00 - 17:00, 2022-04-04 13:00 - 15:00
Just starting up or looking to update your business plan to get funding or take forward developments? Then this session is for you.
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 cover:

The business plan structure
What should be included within each section
When and how to use a business plan
The connections (and importance) between the words and the numbers
How to identify and manage cashflow within the business planning process

Meet The Advisor - General Surgery
2022-03-30 09:00 - 17:00
Whether you are thinking about starting a business or you have already started one, the Meet the Adviser General Surgery is an opportunity to meet with one of the Business Gateway Tayside team over Zoom to ask any business related questions you may have.
We have slots throughout the day and you will be matched up with an adviser that suits whichever stage of running a business you are at.

What to do if running your business feels hard
2022-03-30 11:00 - 12:00
Running a business that is out of alignment with your true self is like driving a car with one wheel pointing the wrong way. It slows you down, wastes energy, ruins your equipment and creates unnecessary stress for you and anyone connected to you. People deal with this problem in one of three ways:

Turn up the radio and ignore it
Put their foot down harder, hoping force and persistence will solve things
Are humble enough to realise they’re on the wrong course and bravely commit to a path of self-discovery and a more impactful way of living

In this context the correct option seems so obvious. Why then, do so many business owners choose options one or two when it comes to dealing with misalignment in their businesses?
In this webinar we will explore:

What causes us to feel tired, burnt out or frustrated in our businesses
What to do if/when you find yourself in this situation
Long term changes you can make to make your business feel more effortless

Email marketing for business
2022-03-30 11:30 - 13:00
By the end of this webinar, you will be able to understand how to:

Target the right audiences
Create a quality marketing email and how to measure its effectiveness.
Learn how to 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.
Reporting and measuring is vitally important, we will recommend what reporting to track to make sure your campaigns are successful
Legal requirements that you need to follow will also be covered.

Get hands on with collaborative robots for manufacturing SMEs
2022-03-31 10:00 - 11:30
Are you a manufacturing SME considering a move from manual to automated processes in a factory or production setting?
Has Robotics always seemed out of reach from a cost and capacity perspective?
Then it could be time to think (and look) again.
Smart Hub Lanarkshire has teamed up with Business Gateway National and Scottish Enterprise to help manufacturing SMEs explore Collaborative Robots (Cobots).
And this time, it’s less about the theory and much more about the practice.
We invite manufacturing SMEs to participate in an interactive Cobot demonstration and learning session.
This will enable attendees to see Cobots in both an integrated (mini factory) and free-standing form.
Attendees will be able to:

Observe Cobots operating up close
Have a go at basic programming and understand Cobot task capabilities
Learn all about the multiple applications for Cobots in different manufacturing settings
Understand the costs and Return on Investment (ROI) potential

The event is run by Smart Hub Lanarkshire and open to anyone across Scotland.

Young Entrepreneur Starter Pack - Part 1: Ideas Generation & Researching your Idea
2022-03-31 13:00 - 14:30
Aged 16-25 and ready to start your entrepreneurial journey? This webinar series will show you how to break into business.
This specialist two stage webinar series will provide you with the inspiration, tools, and knowledge to start your own business. From developing initial ideas to structuring and funding your business, you will feel confident, motivated, and ready to begin your start-up journey!
During this webinar, we will help you work through the creative process to come up with a concept you love and test out whether you have the foundations of a successful business. After this session, you will have a clear understanding of how to undertake the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new thoughts and ideas. You will also recognise the importance of conducting market research and how to use the Business Model Canvas which will support you to form the building blocks needed for business success.

Young Entrepreneur Starter Pack - Part 2: Structuring your Business and exploring Financials/Funding
2022-03-31 15:00 - 17:00
Aged 16-25 and ready to start your entrepreneurial journey? This webinar series will show you how to break into business.
This specialist two stage webinar series will provide you with the inspiration, tools, and knowledge to start your own business. From developing initial ideas to structuring and funding your business, you will feel confident, motivated, and ready to begin your start-up journey! During this webinar, we will run through everything you need to know when it comes to setting up your business including legal and tax requirements, cash flow forecasting and funding options, and everything else in-between.
After this session, you will come away with a to-do list and the information needed to help you prepare for kickstarting your ideas. You will have a sound knowledge of start-up costs, fixed and variable costs, cash flow forecasts, a personal survival budget and funding options.

Pinterest for business
2022-04-01 10:00 - 12:00
Thinking about using Pinterest to showcase your business? Move from being a beginner to knowing enough to gain commercial benefit from the use of Pinterest.
We will cover which type of audience you can reach via this platform and the factors and analytics such as cost and timing of posting content and how that can maximise impact.

Sales – How to find them, make them and keep them
2022-04-01 14:00 - 16:00
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.

Leading Change
2022-04-04 11:00 - 12:30
‘Leading Change’ is the fourth in our series of post-lockdown leadership events with FSB Member Stuart Maddocks, Clemorton Training and Development.
Our concluding event will explore how psychology underpins both resistance and acceptance, building critical understanding and other skills. It will look at developing personal approaches to embracing new ways of doing things, collaboration with colleagues, customers and clients and how to take people along in order to effectively implement change to workplace and lifestyle.

Online user experience: How to analyse it and improve it
2022-04-05 10:00 - 12:00
In this webinar you will discover and define your business goals, design a user-friendly experience and learn how to test and launch your online platform.
Once you have completed this webinar you will know more about how to continuously maintain and improve your digital platform, acting on data and results. You will be able to engage with more customers (or potential customers) and sell your products and services to a wider audience.

Find your social media edge
2022-04-05 12:30 - 13:30
For most business owners there comes a point of no return. A pivotal moment when you realise you can no longer function at the same level as you were first starting out. Why? Because the number of different hats you’re wearing while running your business seems to be growing exponentially by the day, your attention is being pulled in a million competing directions, and the demands of awaiting online markets and audiences await on a range of fast-moving platforms.
In this webinar, social media marketer, mentor and influencer marketing expert, Karina Scott from Girl About Social, will inspire you to approach social media in a smarter, more efficient way. She’ll tell you how to transform your social media activity from a source of guilt, frustration and overwhelm, to a place of excitement, potential and growth and ignite your social media presence to inspire engagement from your ideal clients.
Structure of session

Write down one question you would like to be answered
Myth busters {and what you should do instead}
LinkedIn – 3 key points
Facebook – 3 key points
Instagram – 3 key points
YouTube – 3 key points
SASSY Approach
Download SASSY checklist QR code

After the presentation, there will be an opportunity for you to ask our speaker any questions in a Q/A session.

Discover Scotland: Reconnect 2022
2022-04-05 12:30 - 2022-04-07 19:30
Building on the success of Scotland Reconnect 2020 and 2021, Discover Scotland: Reconnect 2022, to be held on 5 – 7 April 2022, is a three-day virtual event providing an ideal platform to explore new business opportunities and to connect and engage with travel trade buyers representing key overseas markets for Scotland, through a combination of pre-scheduled and ad-hoc appointments.
Discover Scotland: Reconnect 2022 will also support VisitScotland’s commitment to make the country a leading destination for responsible tourism by showcasing new and existing sustainable tourism products.
In addition to the virtual event, we will be running a series of showcases in May and September 2022, to be known as Discover Scotland: Live Showcase. These will provide live networking for attendees of our virtual event and product familiarisation for buyers with a strong focus on responsible tourism development. More to follow on this in early 2022.
Registration for the virtual event is now open. There is no registration fee to attend Discover Scotland: Reconnect 2022, though participants will require to demonstrate that they are trade-ready.
The event will take place:
Tuesday 5 April: 12.30pm – 9.30pm
Wednesday 6 April 8am – 7.30pm
Thursday 7 April 8am – 7.30pm

Cloud for business
2022-04-06 10:00 - 11:30
How can you keep track of customers, manage resources and keep in touch with everyone efficiently? Is a cloud-based solution right for your business? How do different back office strategies compare on cost and value?
At the end of this webinar, you’ll have:

Up-to-date information and tools to help you make strategic back-office decisions.
Real-world examples will help you understand different cloud-based platforms, their functions, and their costs.
You will be able to identify which platforms suit your business, and how their scalability could complement your plans.

Website analytics to improve your business and sales
2022-04-06 14:00 - 16:00
Google Analytics, Search Console and Heat Mapping are incredibly powerful tools that help you better understand how your website is performing. This webinar will better equip you to be able to improve the performance and effectiveness of your website by:

Learning about top landing pages and traffic sources, to understanding organic search rankings and user interaction,
We’ll show you around the Google Analytics interface, help you view and understand key reports, how to setup Goal conversions and more.

What is ESG and How to tackle your ESG strategy
2022-04-07 11:00 - 12:00
Are you looking for more information on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)? Join FSB and our host of experts who will help you to demystify this well-known acronym. This informative session will explore why it is important for businesses to have an ESG strategy.

Governments across the UK have set the key target of achieving net zero by 2050 (or 2045 in Scotland). Developing an ESG strategy can help your business, no matter its size, transition to net zero while becoming more resilient and attracting eco-conscious consumers.
This webinar will explain what ESG is, why it is important to think about it as a small business, and how it can help your business make a difference in society. Businesses will find out how to overcome the challenges of tacking an ESG strategy and which support is available.
This event is ideal for small businesses looking for more information on ESG or how to tackle their ESG strategy.
