Let's talk about adding value.
Ian Taylor ?? Empowering Your Success ??
Professional Speaker ?? Helps SME Business Owners make their business more successful ?? Growth Expert ?? Business Consultancy of the Year ?? Experienced Business Leader ?? Business Buzz Host ?? Mentor?? Trustee
This month's theme is all about adding value. What does it mean, how does it benefit your business, and what are the outcomes.?
EVENTS
Business Buzz was a great success!
September 28th?saw the launch of the popular Business Buzz event in Towcester, sponsored by?Business Times and Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce , and the Business Buzz - Local Business Networking HQ team of James Brodie and Simon George . The hosting team was myself and Rachel Collar - HR Rockstar???? from Haus of HR, and Towcester Town Mayor Cllr David Tarbun. I was delighted to see a turnout of 60 local business people in attendance! The room was really buzzing and conversations flowing.?There was a fantastic prize-draw with Eden Smith from Popworld as the winner! Congrats!
JOIN US!
Where:?Saracens Head Hotel, Towcester.
When:?4th Thursday of each month.
Time:?10am to 12pm.The Business Buzz format of no-fuss mix and mingle networking and I would love to see you there.
Join our Collaborate MK Breakfast & Brunch events.
As you may be aware, I recently took over as sponsor of the Collaborate MK - Breakfast or Brunch Networking at Willen Hospice Cafe .This is my favourite networking event as it is 3 events in 1! The location is the café in and our proceeds go to support the work of the Hospice.
JOIN US!
Where:?Willen Hospice, Milton Keynes.
When: 1st Thursday of each month
Timings:?
Business breakfast: 07.15am - 08.45am (or just after 9am if you wish to stay on for the net-walk!).
Business brunch: 09.20am - 11.30am. There is usually a different mix of people at both, and If you haven't attended one before I'd highly recommend it.
Collaborate MK Gold members workshop.
I attended my first Gold Members Workshop in September and hosted my first table session. My chosen topic was ‘Why are some SME businesses more successful than others in tough economic times?” I talked about...?
We had some great discussions and shared loads of knowledge and experience on these points, and plenty to reflect on.
NatWest Accelerator Meet the Mentors Event.
I recently participated in the 'Meet the Mentors' session for the latest NatWest Business Accelerator cohort. This program empowers UK entrepreneurs to scale their businesses, and I'm thrilled to contribute as a mentor. Sharing insights and guidance on business growth is a passion of mine, and this opportunity allows me to support these entrepreneurs as they embark on their growth journeys. During the session, I delivered my Tinderbox pitch, offering practical advice and met with aspiring entrepreneurs seeking mentoring support.
GENERAL UPDATES
12 year celebration - it's competition time!
In September, I celebrated my 12th anniversary as a Business & Management Consultant. This milestone is particularly meaningful, as only 50% of businesses make it to their fifth year. During this time, I've had the privilege of working on various successful projects, including bids, business development, growth strategies, and more (many of which are confidential). I want to express my gratitude to all the business owners and leaders who have entrusted me with their projects and supported me.Now , as part of the Tinderbox consulting team, we're passionate about helping small businesses thrive.
To commemorate my 12th anniversary, I'm offering one SME business a valuable opportunity: a half-day of free consulting. To participate, simply email me at [email protected] by October 9th (23.59pm at the very latest) with the correct answer to this question from our "why are we different" video :
How many experts does Tinderbox have in the UK across different sectors and disciplines?
领英推荐
I'll announce the lucky winner on October 10th.
SEMLEP Enterprise Advisor with Bugbrooke Campion School
I had my first 2023/24 careers review with Bugbrooke Campion School, where I'm a SEMLEP Enterprise Advisor. We discussed careers programmes for this year, and some of the areas they wanted to develop in their careers education for children in Key Stage 5. Careers events, in whatever guise, are so vital for our future workforce, and statistics show huge benefits from increasing the number of touch-points between students and businesses. A number of local businesses helped the school last year, which we're forever grateful for, it was much appreciated. I will be circulating details of the careers fairs and other activities over the next couple of months. Watch this space!
Panto plans are well underway.
As many of you will know, I am very active with a local am-dram group “The Paulerspury Players Theatre Group”, and September has been a particularly busy month planning for next years pantomime! Our performances have historically received excellent reviews, and next February we will be delivering 7 performances of ‘Robin Hood’. To prepare for this, our team have been running summer workshops for children, and we have held our auditions to fill all the roles! We have a particularly large cast this year of well over 30 people on stage, and another 12 backstage, so looking after everyone is high on the agenda. My main role has been to select 11 songs to fit around the script, and the vocal abilities of the performers. Alongside that, I have been finalising arrangements with the wonderful charities that are the beneficiaries of our fundraising efforts. We will be announcing these in the next few weeks.
MK Food-bank MK Can world record attempt!
As part of World Food Day, Tinderbox are very proud to be supporting the MK Food Bank with their upcoming 'MK CAN' World Record attempt, as part of the Collaborate MK Team.The World Record attempt takes place on Monday 16th October 2023, and we're aiming for 132,000 cans - that's 10km long! The official world record for the longest continuous line of cans of food was set in Canada in 2014 with a line of 45,000 cans (3.8km). MK Food Bank, along with 400 business and community supporters, want to smash this record.
Bedford Blues Lunch.
Bedford, located in the southeast corner of our region, stands as one of the UK's top 100 towns. With a thriving business community, I regularly participate in the Business Buzz meetings here. To further integrate into Bedford's local business scene, I've joined a monthly business networking forum hosted at Bedford Blues rugby club, sponsored by a local accounting firm and supported by Handelsbanken . At these events, we have the privilege of meeting players and managers to discuss their insights on building high-performance teams.
Connections Club at Your Business Matters.
I was delighted to be the guest speaker at the September’s ‘Your Business Matters’ Connections Club meeting. My chosen topic was ‘Strategies for Success’. I talked about...?
This is one of my favourite presentations as it poses a lot of questions for people in the audience.
Final thoughts...
As I mentioned earlier, this month's newsletter has been all about adding value. How do you think I did that over the past few weeks? Let me know!
Let's connect!
My main role as Regional Director of Tinderbox is to help SME businesses in the region. We help businesses with strategy, growth, operational issues including supply chain, management and leadership, shareholder, and exit.
Since launching in 2009, we've helped over 400 businesses and you can read some of our amazing testimonials and case studies on the Tinderbox website here. If you're looking to add value to your customers, and enhance your customer relationships, then please do get in touch.
I cover the following and the surrounding areas: Daventry, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Buckingham, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Silverstone highlighted in the map below.
Thank you for taking the time to read this months newsletter! Please do share with your friends if you've enjoyed it, and connect with me if you've not already.?
Here's to another successful month!
Ian.