It can be lonely running a small business in Sunderland
Starting a new business for the first time can be daunting. The Federation of small businesses said that in 2016 76% of small businesses (4.2 million businesses) only employ one person; the owner.
New Sunderland Network support Group by small businesses for small businesses
There are lots of questions you either want to ask, should be asking or need to know. But networking with large, established corporate businesses can be intimidating.
Mike Dodds and Sue Stott both have small businesses established in Sunderland. They met at a Networking event a few years ago and have attended several other networking groups in the North East, with varying degrees of success. Based on feedback Mike and Sue have gathered, new business owners can feel intimidated among larger, long established confident businesses.
One Sunderland has been borne from the frustrations that several years of Networking have raised. New start-ups and small businesses in general have limited funds, are time poor, need help in areas such as marketing, social media, attracting sales and cash flow and accounting. Equally as important are ways to protect and insure your business ideas and how to get over the pitfalls that many small business owners face such as coping with stress, managing your time, juggling work and family commitments.
One Sunderland has brought together a collection of small Sunderland based businesses, many of whom have local experience in working around the pitfalls that new and small businesses face. Our aim is to facilitate and encourage sharing information, help and advice with other businesses based in Sunderland in the hope that any requirements can be fulfilled locally.
The new monthly networking meetings will take place at St. Peter’s Gate business centre on the first Wednesday of every month starting on the 1st of February 2017 between 4pm & 6pm. Attendance is free, no annual membership and all they ask is £2 donation to cover the cost of refreshments and whatever is surplus will be donated to their nominated Sunderland charity St. Benedict’s Hospice based in Ryhope.
To launch their venture they are holding a small informal exhibition at St Peter’s Gate, Charles Street in Sunderland on Wednesday 11th January. Where up to 12 small local businesses from the fields of marketing, bookkeeping, finance, PR, website & hosting, advertising and printing, employment for small business, training, insurance and banking will be present to answer questions (no matter how minor) and offer advice on potential pitfalls. Elliott Westland Insurance group based in Houghton were the first to come on board and have kindly sponsored the event
If you are a local small business from the sectors above and would like to book one of the remaining tables, have the opportunity to showcase your business, help and advise attendees who may be contemplating starting up on their own and hopefully make connections that may lead to increased business along the way, visit www.onesunderland.co.uk and book your place through Eventbrite
We have set aside only 250 Free tickets through Eventbrite, available through the One Sunderland website for anyone who may want to attend. You may be at varying stages of pre-start, have started or are running your business, this is a chance to ask for help and advice to get over those hurdles that may cause many small business to fail within the first three years of trading. If you have any questions please e-mail Mike or Sue at click to contact or visit them on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
To book tickets please visit http://onesunderland.co.uk
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