The Business Village works with organisations to offer support at every stage of business development. We have regular workshops and ‘clinics’ offering help with everything from finance to data protection and marketing, working with organisations such as Google Digital Garage, Sheffield City Region, NatWest, and many local business experts, including our own tenants.
Our business advisors will tell you that investment in your business takes many forms. There’s the capital investment and time commitment that’s required when you first start up, then you may need to find funding or borrowing to support your plans for growth. One of the most important investments you must make however, is in yourself and your employees. A planned programme of staff training and development, gives your business much more than access to additional skills within your team. As well as helping you to become more efficient, investing in skills also has a positive effect on the motivation and productivity of people within your company. It’s simple; if people feel valued, they work better.
One of the easiest ways to access training and support is to attend one of the regular visits we have from the Google Digital Garage, right here at The Business Village. Google is a key partner for businesses, offering much more than search engine facilities. Google works with businesses from some of the biggest international corporations, to SMEs and sole traders, to help them get the most from being online.
With #DigitalGarage, Google brings their experts right to your doorstep. They offer a full day of information and training, covering different aspects of business, with a clear focus on digital.
Now, when you think about ‘digital’, you might think it isn’t relevant to you, but there’s no denying how quickly technology is spreading into every workplace and job. In today’s digital world, jobs that don’t include a digital aspect are becoming few and far between. According to research, UK digital jobs grew by 17% between 2011 and 2015. This is twice the growth that was seen in non-digital sectors. At some point, whether it was when you first began your business, or very soon afterwards, you probably realised that it was essential to have a website. That website may have been updated to include online ordering facilities, or a live customer service function. You may even have, or be thinking about, an app for your customers to access your services at their convenience.
Even if you just have a basic website to let your potential and existing customers know where you are and how to get in touch, you ‘do digital’. As part of this, knowing how to best maximise your online visibility is essential. Otherwise, it’s like having a shop window on the High Street, with no signage. If people can’t find you, what’s the point?
The Google Digital Experts will help you with everything from identifying digital marketing channels and how to utilise them, to creating strategies for social media and making sure your business is visible online. The sessions are free, so you really have nothing to lose.
Our next visit by #DigitalGarage is coming up next week, with a full day programme of training on Thursday 28th June. The day has an itinerary that includes training and information, along with networking opportunities at the end of the day and it’s all free of charge and you can attend just one of the specialist sessions or all three!
Our session earlier in the month focused on building a digital marketing plan and getting your business more visible on Google’s search and mapping platforms. There was also a session to help you create a social media strategy that aligns with your business goals.
The session being held on 28th June covers creating social media content that will get you noticed and engage your audience, as well as how to deal with customer contact on social media. There is also an introduction to digital advertising and how to use data to grow your business.
We also have many other events coming up that will help you in developing your skills and making your business more successful. You can check the events page on our website for all of our forthcoming training and networking sessions. https://www.business-village.co.uk/event/
Tenant Directory
