Who
do you talk to? Where do you
go? Can you afford it?
Whether you’re thinking of
starting a new business or have just started one, things can sometimes get a
little confusing and overwhelming.
For over 25 years, Centre for
Business has been on hand with all the business
advice you could need to help you navigate all the challenges, obstacles and uncertainties
you may face. Whatever your business
idea, whatever the problem - we’re here and we’ve got you covered.
The majority of the services we offer are fully or partly funded by the Welsh
Assembly Government and could be free of charge
to you. In some instances a small subsidized fee is
chargeable, but this is usually to larger businesses.
Centre for Business provides comprehensive, far-reaching new business
start-up support and advice, including:
The Basics of Business Taster Seminar
Starting
your own business is a big decision, let our taster seminar help you make sure
it’s the right one to take.
This
three hour informal seminar aims to give you an overview of what’s involved in
starting a business for the first time.
Designed to get you to think about what is involved in becoming self
employed, it covers all of the main issues concerning setting up a new
business. You will have the opportunity
to learn about further business support networks, consider your own personal
skills and qualities and get familiarised with some of the jargon you might
hear along your journey.
The seminar aims to:
-
outline
the advantages and disadvantages of self-employment
-
identify
reasons for small business failure
-
consider
your motivation for starting a business
-
provide
a framework for analysing your personal skills
-
describe
your networks of support
-
provide
information on sources of finance for a business
-
provide
information on the legal aspects of starting a business
-
provide
an overview of business planning
Reserve your place on an upcoming seminar today by simply filling out this form and either posting or emailing it back to us (addresses can be found on the form).
Business Advice and Mentoring
We can give you objective help and guidance from an experienced
business advisor, who can offer you straightforward, confidential advice on any
number of business-related queries, including helping you to develop your
business plan, find funding and source appropriate business training.
One-to-one business mentoring aims to help you challenge assumptions, creating scenarios about the
possible ups and downs that your business might experience. It is designed to give you t
he opportunity
to talk through your ideas with the
added peace of mind of on-going support.
Start-up Funding and Grant Applications
Finding the finance is one
of the most important factors in deciding whether or not to start a business. Our
advisers will help you look at all the twists and turns of the grant and
loan maze, enabling you to present the best case to a potential funder. If you are worried
about getting through an application process for funding routes - we're here to help. We are also in a position to make small loans of up to £5000 available to business start-ups through a loan fund established in association with UK Steel Enterprise. Get in touch to find out more.
Business Planning Workshops
We run a fully-funded, 3-day intensive
course to help
you formulate and develop a business plan. This course will help you to prepare your business plan, providing you with an essential route map
for taking your business
idea forward and enabling you to communicate clearly to others what you want to do.
Find out dates and reserve your place by filling out the appropriate form below and either emailing or posting it back to us (addresses can be found on the form).
- Courses taking place in Torfaen
- Courses taking place in Newport
Business Skills Training
Looking to polish up your presentation skills? Want to learn how to delegate, facilitate, communicate or negotiate better? Our Leadership & Management Course Programme offers quality open access workshops covering a variety of essential business skills from marketing and sales techniques through to conflict resolution, project management and performance raising.
We also provide subsidised NVQs and Health & Safety Training.
For course dates and details, please
click here.
Professional Advisory Clinics
This
is an opportunity for you to talk to our business experts’ one on one. Our Clinics give you access to specialist
advice from a range of highly-experienced Business Consultants, from
accountancy to marketing. If we can't advise you,
we know experts in other fields who can.
Property Letting & Conference Facilities
All
businesses need a place to do business from, but
central, convenient, cost-effective space can be hard to find,
particularly if you’re a small or start-up company. This is where we come in. Centre for Business offers serviced office accommodation, and industrial units in varying sizes with flexible, non-committal easy in/out monthly leases, and no service charges. We also offer superbly located conference and hot-desking facilities in a number
of prime locations in South-East Wales.
Our services are purposely tailored around you. Find your business a hassle-free home with us. For more
information, please
click here.
Networking Opportunities
Through
our sister organisation, the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, we are able to
offer all businesses, whether new or established, the opportunity to
network. Participate in a dynamic and lively business community where you
can share ideas, identify new opportunities and generate leads for your
business. From their Business Week
through to regular networking breakfasts, lunches and evening drinks there’s a
wide variety of opportunities available in different formats and times to suit
your busy schedule. To view our upcoming
events and book your places online, please click here.
I
T and E-Business Advice
We can offer you specialist E-Business Project
Management and
Consultancy at a strategic level to increase efficiencies and profit-benefit by integrating business
processes and invigorating businesses through utilising next generation ICT.
Examples of the support we can provide includes:
integrated systems and infrastructure, document management systems,
virtual collaborative working and much more.
We also offer an ICT Diagnostics Service, designed to assess ICT usage
across your business. This diagnostic can: provide a report/health
check of all your ICT functions; identify how key technologies can
impact the business; provide a high level spec for needs that can be
taken to the market. The service has been designed to
support businesses who may be unsure if they are using their ICT in
the most efficient manner.
Best of all, assuming your business meets a small set of criterion,
these services are usually available to your business either at no cost
to you, or for a small, heavily subsidised fee.
For more information,
and to find out whether your business is eligible, please contact Pete
Stevens on
01633
242 742
or email pete.stevens@centreforbusiness.co.uk.