April & May Newsletter
Just like that we are in May, approaching half way of 2023. Have you achieved those goals you set out in January? Don't worry, our Enterprise Delivery team have you covered with lots of fantastic events and support so you can achieve those goals this year.
April
April saw the SME South East Taskforce attend the Vaisakhi Festival with the Gravesend Sikh Community. Working in collaboration with?Let's Do Business Group ?British Business Bank ?Gravesham Borough Council ?we was delighted to join on the day. Being able to display the extra support we can provide to enable businesses to start, scale and grow through connecting them with the right organisations and people.?Massive thank you to?Gary Belton ?Susan Elliott ?Lisa Young ?Rochelle Tomlin Dara Chauhan MBA, MCIBS ?Mike Leng ?Rav Sall ?Rupinder Kaur Bimrah ?for the support on the day.?A further thank you to,?Manpreet Dhaliwal ?the president of the?Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara ?and?Jack Rai ?Jagdev Singh Virdee ?for hosting us on the day and for your continued support in the local community.
In April we also announced our funding roadshow with South East Angels Jake Fox . We are excited to be working with?South East Angels ?to bring a series of events across different parts of the South East all with the focus and aim of showcasing diverse founders pitching but also newer budding investors the chance to learn more about what is involved. If you are in or around Brighton, Maidstone, Guildford, Southampton or London then this will be a very supportive and like minded event for founders and investors alike. Below is the link to register. https://www.southeastangels.co.uk/news/dates-announced-for-south-east-startup-roadshow-2023
May
Our accelerator hosted 'how to become a good networker' session. We hosted 25 of our entrepreneurs in the hub this morning to discuss the secrets to great networking as a business owner.
Here are some top tips from our cohort:
??Be strategic - know who you need to talk to, figure out the events they attend and go to them
?? Bring offline online - Use LinkedIn’s QR function to easily share your contacts with new connections - always get the other person to scan your code so the connection stays with you
? Little and often - Set aside 15 minutes a day to strengthen your network online - whether that’s connecting with people on LinkedIn or sharing stories on Instagram
?? Get out of your own head - no one cares that much about you, they’re all thinking about themselves so get out there and don’t worry too much about what others think
?? Listen and show genuine interest - Everyone likes to feel heard so show genuine interest in what people are doing?
We hosted a fantastic roundtable event at Kent Business Vision Live, where we took entrepreneurs through their mindset and understanding how their mindset can empower themselves as leaders but also their businesses. Additionally, we heard from our lending team in Kent & NatWest Tyl.
Our partnership and collaboration with the Business In Maidstone & Let's Do Business Group continued when we hosted our Help 2 Grow Taster event. For small business owners, this is was a fantastic opportunity to access academic expertise, practical real-life experience and learn how to boost business performance and productivity from leading experts in this area. If you are an SME looking to sign up to the Help 2 Grow scheme you can so here: https://helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/
As we look ahead into May and June we have some fantastic events coming up:
领英推荐
***FUNDING YOUR HIGH GROWTH BUSINESS***
On Wednesday the 24th of May, NatWest Enterprise will be hosting three Zoom webinar events throughout the day that will aim to share a variety of top tips and funding options for entrepreneurs to consider when looking to fund the growth of their business. The events are free to join and are available to all.
Eventbrite pages for you to register are below.
Funding your Start-Up (￡0 - ￡500k) 10:00 – 12:00, 24th of May – Eventbrite tickets here:?https://lnkd.in/eu-MjzpW
This session is aimed at entrepreneurs in the early stages of raising investment who want to understand more about the options open to them and what’s required to be successful.
Funding Your Business, Equity & Lending (￡500k - ￡3m) 12:30 – 14:30, 24th of May – Eventbrite tickets here:?https://lnkd.in/eQxfWdaC
This session is aimed at entrepreneurs that want to raise between ￡500K and ￡3M investment.
Funding Your Business (￡3m+) 15:00 – 17:00, 24th of May – Eventbrite tickets here:?https://lnkd.in/e_x-uzx4
This session is aimed at entrepreneurs that want to raise over ￡3M investment.
Local Enterprise Managers
As ever our Local Enterprise Managers will be providing informative educational events to help you & your business grow. Below are links for you to sign up:?
Additional Important Information
The NatWest Accelerator supports and empowers UK entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to the next level.
Our free Accelerator programme specialising in wrap around support provides:
Applications open very soon! Keep you eyes peeled...
It’s been a year since Aston University’s Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) launched the Time to Change report in partnership with NatWest. The report identified that tackling the multiple barriers faced by EMBs could increase their GVA contribution from the current ￡25 billion a year to ￡100 billion, highlighting the significant potential of EMBs to the UK economy.
A useful tool to use to help your business go further