Cogito can provide coaching and support to existing small medium enterprises to help to improve efficiencies, especially access to training to performance against key business targets.  This includes support to engage with apprenticeships or to develop relationships with training providers.  The support available is provided by consultants with proven expertise in the topics outlined below:

Funding and policy
Making effective use of market analysis
Developing partnership and strategies for growth
Effective organisational needs analysis
Marketing
Sales and account management
Accessing training and development
Customer service

Cogito will help businesses facilitate their own performance improvement by providing assessment against relevant criteria (for example Investors in People )and then leading workshops or individual support sessions against an agreed action plan.  

What are you planning to do differently in 2012?

“So what are you doing to support enterprise this year?”  The questioner is asking whether business are still doing ‘more of the same’. We want to know what you are going to do differently this year in response to the Prime Minister’s recent speech in Leeds. He was at the ‘Business Start-Up Britain’ conference and he laid down a challenge to all of us to ‘go for it’ in 2012:

“This is the country that led the agricultural revolution, that led the industrial revolution, that helped to kick start the technological revolution. We’re the country that invented the jet engine, DNA, the World-Wide Web, Viagra – almost everything you think of, most of the sports you’ve ever heard of. We’re the country that sells tea to China, vodka to Poland and yes, cheese to France. Enterprise is what we do in Britain so this is the year that more than ever we’ve got to go for it …. and with all your help, that is exactly what we’ll do.”So, other than ‘more of the same’, what are you doing to ‘go for it’ this year? Working ‘harder’ or ‘smarter’? More innovation or cutting costs? Increasing productivity or outsourcing? New product or new market? Is 2012 the year you are going to go for it!?

Growth and Improvement Service

The new Growth and Improvement Service provides straightforward, practical ideas for people who want to generate more sales, increase profits, and save time and money. It provides you with access to practical videos, case studies, events and business support finders; and makes it easy to network and share challenges with other business owners.

Resources

Cogito is developing a number of resources that will be available to support small business.
For other useful resources and links look at the Resources section.

See what useful information our friendly HSBC bank provides. At Cogito we are big fans of Dropbox cloud computing and this useful article gives some good tips.

Meanwhile for a useful online resource that is accessible check out:

	Business Support Finder Use our updated Business Support Finder to find potential sources of help with starting, running or growing your business. It provides details of publicly-funded grants, loans or offers of expertise you may be entitled to, as well as details of publicly- or privately-funded business recognition awards.