Build a Business

Started your own business or thinking about setting one up?
Build a business in Salford offers free, tailored support to new businesses and entrepreneurs through workshops and events.

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Get the skills and confidence you need to succeed

The workshops we deliver are specifically designed to support new businesses, people who are in the process of setting up a business or just have a business idea. Whether you’re an artist or a zero-waste shop owner, our tailored support is designed to meet the diverse needs of our business community.

Our SME Champion will provide one to one support and create a business information plan specific to you.

There are four workshops covering different topics to help you get ahead.

Business Basics: Getting started

Join Wendy Breakell, entrepreneur and named one of the top 50 business advisors in the Northwest, for this three-hour workshop covering the practicalities of starting and growing your business. This workshop covers the essential ‘nuts and bolts’ of starting up and running a successful enterprise, including:

Legal structures – self-employed, limited company etc.
Business planning & Business Model Canvas
Start up business model
Costs, Cashflow, Finance and Tax
Pricing

And more…

Marketing: The Essentials

Join Rachel Craig and Karen Macwee from Ruche Marketing who’ll be delivering Build a Business’s all new marketing workshop on the core essentials of marketing to get you started. Rachel and Karen combined have almost 40 years of marketing experience and have designed this workshop to help give you the skills, knowledge, and confidence to market your business successfully. The workshop will cover:

Understanding your customers/customer segmentation
Building an effective marketing strategy
Planning marketing campaigns
Building a brand through consistent marketing
Simple search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques
Creating effective social media content
Understanding PPC and display advertising.

They’ll also be on hand to answer any specific marketing questions about your business.

Know Your Customer: Get Competitive!

Giving valuable insights into unlocking the Business & IP Centre Manchester’s £5 million collection of UK and global business databases (including market research and company and financial information) to assess market potential and develop a viable business plan, upskilling you to ‘know your market’.

Intellectual Property: Protect Your Assets

Find out the basics of Intellectual Property (IP) and how it can be important to a new business. Make sure your product, service, website, and brand are protected from would be copycats or do not infringe others’ rights.

You will also be able to access a wide range of support and information from the Business and Intellectual Property Centre as well as drop in to our monthly coffee mornings or book onto one of our 1-2-1 slots.

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Business information resources

You will also have access to over £5million worth of industry standard business information. This includes market research, details of latest trends, details of grants, loans and awards available for application as well as guides on starting a business. For information on resources available in Salford libraries, please see our Business information databases web page.

Build a Business in GM Libraries is part funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and managed by Manchester City Council. The project will run from October 2023 to March 2025 .