There is a substantial amount of assistance available to small businesses. If you enter the term ‘Business Support’ into any Internet search engine, and refine your search to UK sites only, you will probably receive in excess of 300,000 suggested sites. Unfortunately a great deal of this help is missed purely through ignorance of the actual scheme. Certainly with respect to grants or subsidies the business or project must not be started until confirmation has been received that the funds have been awarded.

Some people also do not seem to wish to discuss their plans to establish a new business and so they can never receive appropriate help and advice. Only by seeking help at a very early change can you optimise the assistance that you will receive.The number of schemes available across the UK are wide and diverse and offer both financial and non-financial assistance. In this chapter we will look at non-financial assistance. Grants and subsidies that are available to businesses will be looked at in Chapter 14.

 Different schemes also apply across the country so you will need to undertake your own investigation to see what is available to you locally. For this reason, and as a general guide, I will outline in this chapter the assistance that is available to businesses in my own location, the North East of England.The Small Business Service was established to help small businesses and to represent their interests across Government. It works closely with the network of Business Links in England, Business Shops in Scotland, Business Connect in Wales and EDnet in Northern Ireland.

Business Links

Business Links and the other support organisations throughout the UK provide a wide variety of advice and guidance to businesses, most of which is entirely free of charge. Examples include help with:

• design and production of business cards and stationery
• advice on putting together your business plan
• guidance on market research and strategy for your proposed business
• how to raise money for growth
• how to locate suppliers
• information on legislation or regulations that could affect your business.

Some of these take the form of training courses and others, such as design work, are undertaken by experienced professionals employed on a consultancy basis. In most cases, this support is offered free of charge.

Support is also available through these organisations on a subsidised basis where accredited consultants are employed to assist you and their fee is only partly payable by you. In Tyne and Wear for instance a 50% grant of up to £2,000 is available towards the costs of employing a professional to design your website.

Business Links Services

In addition to the general advice and guidance that Business Links offer they also have a number of key services:

• comprehensive business information service providing detailed and specific research
• personal and reliable advice from an allocated independent Personal Business Advisor (PBA)
• events, promotions, seminars and conferences on business-related topics which also provide networking opportunities with other business owners.

Each Business Link will also have a number of specialists who are independently accredited to work with small businesses and who are employed on a freelance basis. This is one of the areas in which I work. I am independently accredited by the British Accreditation Bureau and contracted by Business Links to provide consultancy support to businesses, primarily on strategic planning, fund raising and marketing.

Enterprise Agencies