After clients have completed our workshops and launched their business, we offer them essential business support through an ongoing programme of events and services, to ensure they have all the help they need to sustain in their first year of trading and beyond.

The first year of trading can be a challenge for even the most able business person. Putting great ideas into practice for profit is exciting but it’s also hard work. For our clients, these early achievements are very important and we are there to support them as they take their first steps in to the market.

Our business support programme is made up of four core elements, all designed in response to feedback from our clients and delivered at a range of times and locations:

‘Ask the expert’ events

These events, usually offered monthly, are designed to offer our clients the opportunity to benefit from the expertise of specialists and professionals in a variety of business fields, such as accounting, tax, applying for finance, digital marketing, social media etc. Some of these topics will have been covered during the programme, but clients benefit from a dedicated seminar where more time can focussed on and dedicated to a particular topic.

‘Client focus’ showcase events

We believe nothing is more powerful or motivating than hearing from someone who has made a success of the very you thing you are trying to achieve. Our ‘Client Focus’ events create an opportunity for new and existing clients to visit a former client’s business and learn about their experience of setting up their business: their progress, challenges, how Outset helped, lessons learned and achievements since. For new clients, these events act as a source of inspiration, introducing them to tangible and accessible role models; and for our hosts, they are an opportunity to show-off their success, generate some free promotion for their business and “give back” to the service that supported them.

Networking events

Coaching

We also offer 1:1 coaching with our enterprise advisors in order to provide a forum for confidential and focussed discussion on their business or financial aims. Continue on to the next section to find out more about what this entails.

Relaxed and informal, but purposeful – our networking events offer clients a regular opportunity to network with other Outset clients (both past and present) to improve and grow business opportunities, access peer support, engage with ‘different’ business sectors, and improve or focus on a specific area of their knowledge (if a topic is specified).