Help to Grow

Growing a business is no easy task.  

From finance to marketing, sustainability to staff wellbeing, there are many plates to juggle – and lots of competing voices claiming to show you how to do it. 

Whether its online “gurus” or your friends and family, everyone has an opinion on what you should do next. 

But sometimes you just need something that cuts through the noise. A trusted voice, teaching you the basics, and helping you think through the next steps. 

That’s where Help to Grow: Management Essentials comes in. 

A free, online course, backed by some of the leading business schools and packed with tried and tested frameworks for growth, it will help you get clear on your direction of travel and provide the practical tools and tips needed to excel. 

Developed by the team at the Small Business Charter, and fully funded by the UK government, it’s packed with real-life stories from businesses like GymShark, Mackies and Ooni, who share what’s worked for them (and what hasn’t!), helping you avoid costly mistakes and grow with confidence. 

Aimed at SMEs who’ve had some initial success but are hungry for more, the course will help you explore how to think more strategically about your business, your target market and your go-to-market strategy. 

It takes only two hours to complete and has already helped hundreds of people unlock the true potential of their business. 

Getting to grips with the financial side of running a small business can feel daunting.

The Help to Grow: Management Essentials Course contains an introduction to the key financial facts you need to know, with topics ranging from cash flow forecasting to where to get funding.

In the first of a regular series, where we ask industry experts to share their knowledge and help expand upon the learnings in the course, we spoke to Nick Howe, Strategic Partnerships Manager for NatWest, who gave us his thoughts on the financial metrics every small business owner should be keeping an eye on.

Finance is often the thing that trips new businesses up -with nearly 40% failing within the first three years due to a lack of cash. How can business owners feel confident in this area, even if numbers don’t come naturally to them?

For many business owners, the numbers are their least favourite part of the job. They’re passionate about their products and services, but don’t necessarily have the same motivation for finances. The most fundamental thing is to create a standard template to ensure the founder understands the picture it shows for their business and what actions they might need to take as a result.

One thing we suggest is to create a template with projected figures for each month and then update them at the end of the month with actuals. The British Business Bank has a very intuitive template which is a great starting point.

When you’re swept up in the day-to-day logistics of running a business, strategic thinking can often feel like a luxury. It’s much easier to focus on the more immediate problems - the what of your business such as products or services you sell - without fully thinking through the why. 
 
But taking the time to really focus on why you do what you do, and why your customers should choose you, is crucial when it comes to driving your business forward. And that’s where your value proposition comes in.  
 
As explored in the Help to Grow: Management Essentials course, understanding your value proposition helps you clarify what your business offers, who it’s for, and why customers should choose you over the alternatives. This differentiation is a fundamental building block for sustainable growth. 
 
In this blog we’ll look at the idea of a value proposition in greater detail, exploring what they are, how to create your own, and how getting it right can give your business the edge. 

Every successful business starts with a clear understanding of its customers - who they are, what they value, and why they choose you. Yet, for many small business owners, marketing often feels like a guessing game.  

That’s why it’s one of the key areas covered in the Help to Grow: Management Essentials course, with several sections devoted to it, including an overview of digital marketing and social media basics, as well as the importance of customer targeting, segmentation and positioning. 

In this article, we'll explore some of the learnings from the course around defining your ideal customer, why it is so important and how to do it.