What support is available?
Business Advisers
There is a vast amount of support and assistance available through Bradford Kickstart. Our team of knowledgeable and experienced business advisors are here to help you access all the benefits of the Bradford Kickstart programme. They can help you plan your new business, offer practical help getting your business off the ground, and potentially save you time and money. This could make a real difference to your new business.
The Business Advisers are local professionals and experts who are employed full time by Bradford Kickstart to support and encourage our members - by sharing their experience, ideas and enthusiasm. They all have individual skills and knowledge so, when you join Bradford Kickstart, you will be introduced to the business adviser who we believe best suits your needs.
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Access2Finance
Bradford Kickstart members have access to financial help via their business adviser, including assistance building a compelling business plan that can be used to secure funding from a bank. There are loans for £500 up to £30,000 available to Bradford Kickstart members who have a strong business proposition but who cannot borrow from the bank.
These loans can be used for many purposes - from start-up capital to get your business up and running, to marketing and promotional exercises, and property grants to find and adapt your business premises.
For general information, the Kickstart Knowledgebase contains lots of information to help start-up businesses and growing enterprises to work out what funding they need and how to get it, including advice about how to forecast cash-flow, an introduction to VAT, and grants for developing new products to name just a few.
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Test trading
If you are over 25 and not on any NEW DEAL programme, or on incapacity benefit, then you can test your business idea with Bradford Kickstart - without losing your benefits.
If you have a great business idea that has the potential to generate sufficient profit, the test trading scheme within Bradford Kickstart allows you to advertise your product or service over a set period time and begin trading - so you can see how successful it could be.
During the test trading period any profit generated has to be paid into a client 'bank account' administered by Bradford Kickstart. However, you don't lose this money. During the test trading period some of the money may be used for business expenses agreed with your business counsellor. And, if you agree to continue working full time, any profit generated will be released to you as a lump sum at the end of the test trading period to provide working capital for your business and added financial security for you.
Your Bradford Kickstart business counsellor will be with you all the way - from discussing your initial ideas, to offering advice, guidance and practical assistance, as well as helping you to access all the additional support available through Bradford Kickstart and Kickstart Community.
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Professional services
As of August 2009, more than 700 Bradford District businesses had already benefited from the Bradford Kickstart Professional Services scheme.
Bradford Kickstart offers a range of free services to pre-start, young and existing businesses in the Bradford District, particularly for those which are hoping to grow, take on staff and register for VAT. Typical services being provided to companies include accounting, bookkeeping, HR, recruitment, legal services, branding, marketing, PR and website design.
In addition, and in response to the recession and feedback from local companies, the range of services has been expanded to include specialist support on accessing finance, change management, e-commerce solutions and product development.
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Marketing
When it comes to starting or expanding your business, the image you portray to your customers is almost as important as the products you make and the services you offer. Your Bradford Kickstart business adviser will be able to help you develop a marketing plan to cover every element of your business - from creating a great brand to producing a professional website. This includes the basics such as business cards, stationary and brochures, but also point-of-sale, e-commerce sites, advertising and public relations. And, as your business grows, your business adviser can help you define sales strategies and customer-care policies - to ensure you keep the customers you win.
Visit the Kickstart Knowledgebase to learn more about sales and marketing, including topics such as advertising and PR, marketing and market research, and selling and sales promotion.
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Skills & training
Details of many training courses are available here. However, Bradford Kickstart members are also able to join the Skills Brokerage Service so that we can help you find courses that best match your requirements and develop your skills and knowledge. We have very good links with local schools and colleges, and the University of Bradford - and, although Bradford Kickstart does not have grant funding for skills training, we will always try to help find other sources of funding if it is available.
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Jobs brokerage service
If your business doesn't work out this time, or if you decide that working for yourself just isn't for you, then Bradford Kickstart has a jobs brokerage service called Jobs@ who can help you find a new job.
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