On the 6th August we have various brilliant speakers delivering as many Top Small Biz Tips as they can in 7 minutes each. (Video below from a similar event)
Pecha Kucha means chit chat in Japanese. It inspired a high octane speaker format for designers to share their ideas with 20 seconds per slide over 20 slides. We’ve twisted it to our own design and have premium speakers to share their knowledge.
The Rules – Speakers have 7 mins and CANNOT SELL. Theycan ONLY TELL/SHARE/LOVE
Your business is cooking on gas. You have your business plan and everything is running according to it, recession or no recession……Right?
On the last Thursday of each month Our Coach and Mentor runs a free workshop in Central London to help push businesses through their next brick wall (For most this is the recession, but not for all) and accelerate growth.
Here is a video from the last session
What does it look like?
A free monthly program to learn, share and build a community of likeminded businesses.
You must RSVP via phone, email or Meetup.com. Limited to 20 spaces
Who is running it?
Les Hercules Kalas, our Business Coach for the past 4 years. He is a founding partner at Shirlaws. They turn over $18m, have an international footprint and work with all types and size of business.
Why are we doing this?
Les, who is used to working with O2, Sony and other large corporates also loves working with Startups, businesses stuck at a growth stage (like us) or those looking for ways to innovate through the downturn (also us). I am there as an example, to learn, reinforce the frameworks in my business and support friends, colleagues and clients with material I have found to be extremely powerful. It is also a great opportunity to network & build relationships within a community of likeminded people.
How much will it cost?
These ‘Tasters’ are free. There are also Master Classes in specific subjects and 1 to 1 options geared for smaller businesses, all of which consider ‘Credit Crunched’ budgets.
Who should come
Owners/Managers of smaller businesses (1-100) who want to learn, grow, share, collaborate and ultimately thrive through the recession and on.
Expectations
You will learn useful concepts within one session that you can take back, discuss with the team and perhaps implement. Each ‘Taster’ session is different so you can come to more than 1 if you find it’s for you.
I appreciate that business coaching can be a dirty word to some, misunderstood by many and it is not a magic bullet. Personally I have struggled with it in the past, the people and delivery methods.
However, come and see what YOU think….
What previous attendees have said:
“They say you can’t bottle inspiration. But it does seem that an afternoon spent with Les and Dan uncorks the ideas and enthusiasm to take a business over its next hurdle. Les asks the right questions, builds confidence and provides key strategic guidance. For a small business every hour is precious. The time spent in last Thursday’s coaching was an excellent investment in my business’s future.”- Lucy George, Wordville Limited
“Les was impressive and clearly knows his stuff (very different from the last coach I worked with). The purpose of my visit was to assess if I want to work with Shirlaws. I came away wanting to take it to the next stage.”- Stu MacArthur, Green Oak Living
“Great to have an opportunity to discuss issues in an open environment. I think the venue worked brilliantly for post event networking which was very valuable for me. This demonstrates that Dan has a great network. Thank you” – Alyson Pellowe, People Vision HR
”The ‘Taster’ session was an effective introduction to business coaching which I was sceptical of. While aware of my own business and personal situation, these free ‘taster’ coaching sessions could prove a catalyst for change, encouraging a commitment to action and the development of lasting growth.” -Victoria Millar, Hy Smith & Assoc
“Stimulating. Great to take a step back and re-think”- Ian Sime, Sime Design
“Simple, concise and very effective”- Geoff Sewell, Incognito Artists
“Powerful frameworks, thank you so much for sharing”- Paul Shafer, Sony Distribution
Dan
Call or email me to RSVP. Or Sign up here (Other events, workshops and parties here too). Space is limited to 20 people
On Thursday 25th June 09 we held our 5th Business Skills Workshop Taster delivered by our Coach and Mentor Les Hercules Kalas from Shirlaws.
The objective is to share our coaching time with a community of likeminded people & learn how to apply powerful frameworks within our respective businesses to accelerate growth, focus and energise activity. (Why are we doing this here)
In this session we had 18 owner/managers ranging from small boutique businesses to higher end SME’s turning over £6m+
Feedback was exceptionally positive so don’t miss out on the next one!
August 6th 1430-1600 in Adam St - There is no charge for these events (Call or email me for details and to RSVP)
What attendees had to say:
“Many thanks for hosting last Thursday – very informative, excellent event and I truly can’t think of anything constructive to say other than that because you really have got the formula right in my opinion, even down to venue! I look forward to the next one.” - Lucy Becker – Partner, Lawrence Stephens Solicitors
“They say you can’t bottle inspiration. But it does seem that an afternoon spent with Les and Dan uncorks the ideas and enthusiasm to take a business over its next hurdle. Les asks the right questions, builds confidence and provides key strategic guidance. For a small business every hour is precious. The time spent in last Thursday’s coaching was an excellent investment in my business’s future.”- Lucy George, Wordville Limited
“Les was impressive and clearly knows his stuff (very different from the last coach I worked with). The purpose of my visit was to assess if I want to work with Shirlaws. I came away wanting to take it to the next stage.”- Stu MacArthur, Green Oak Living
“Great to have an opportunity to discuss issues in an open environment. I think the venue worked brilliantly for post event networking which was very valuable for me. This demonstrates that Dan has a great network. Thank you” – Alyson Pellowe, People Vision HR
”The ‘Taster’ session was an effective introduction to business coaching which I was sceptical of. While aware of my own business and personal situation, these free ‘taster’ coaching sessions could prove a catalyst for change, encouraging a commitment to action and the development of lasting growth.” -Victoria Millar, Hy Smith & Assoc
There were four take away food shops in a small town. When the last recession hit, two of them went out of business. The two that survived are still thriving.
There are five organic growth opportunities during a downturn. It goes without saying that finding time to develop these in your business is vital.
As we come out of this recession with a fresh innovative product range, sold into new channels to market, the business will need different levels of infrastructure and different skill levels. This is how we define capability. Fast moving succesful businesses depend on it to come out of a downturn.
Join us for the first Master Class in a series of 5 titled ‘Capability’. Delivered by Les Kalas, our Coach and Mentor & Co-Founder of Shirlaws
Learn how to apply a powerful & simple business framework (Capability Matrix) to measure the capability in your business. Think of it as a business MOT. You will also learn more how the commercial decisions you make affect the culture in your business and vice versa.
This next 4 Master Classes will cover Innovation (Product & Packaging), Distribution (Channels), Functionality (Skills) & Succession Planning (Light at the end of the tunnel!)
Are you using The Internet to market yourself or your business effectively?
This workshop will give you the skills to leverage powerful online tools and measure activity.
We have 3 speakers In this session, myself, Richard O’Connor from Search Marketeers Amber Green & Luke Williams from Social Tech Solutions. Between us we will explain why your business needs to embrace ‘online’ now, demonstrate tangible ’how to’s’, offer top tips and create measurable metrics you can use daily.
You will walk out of the door with the following skills or your money back:
* How to extend your marketing strategy onto the social web (Using Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, etc)
* How to identify, locate and engage with your target market (B2B or B2C)
* 10 top tips, tools and resources for engaging with the social web
* How to reduce time spent online and get more from the time you do spend
* How to create real measurable metrics for your social media marketing strategy
* Learn valuable Search Marketing Tips to push sales
* PLUS Expert news, views and top tips from the online world
After the session, you will also receive any material discussed with links to all of the resources and tools.
If you work in a small business and need a stronger online presence, this is the starter pack for you…….
1. Explain to your followers what retweeting is and encourage them to retweet your links. Retweeting pushes your @username into foreign social graphs, resulting in clicks back to your profile. Track your retweets using retweetist.
2. Fill out your bio. Your latest tweets and @replies don’t mean much to someone that doesn’t know you. Your bio is the only place you have to tell people who you are. Also, your bio is displayed on Twitter’s Suggested Users page. Leaving it blank or non-descriptive doesn’t encourage people to add you.
3. As @garyvee says, “link it up.” Put links to your Twitter profile everywhere. Link it on your Digg, LinkedIn, Facebook, blog, email signature, and everywhere else you live online. Also, check out the great feedburner-like badges from TwitterCounter for your blog.
4. Tweet about your passions in life and #hash tag them. Quality content coupled with an easy way to find it never fails. If others enjoy your content, they’ll add you. Learn more about #hash tagging here.
5. Bring your twitter account into the physical world. Every time I give a talk, speak on a panel, shoot a podcast, present slides, or hand out business cards, I figure out a way to broadcast or display my twitter account.
6. Take pictures. Pictures are heavily retweeted/spread around. This one from US Airways Flight 1549 has been viewed 350,000+ times. For mobile pics use iPhone apps such as Tweetie or Twitterific, both which support on the go uploading.
7. Start a contest. @jasoncalacanis offered a free macbook air if he reached the #1 most followed spot. That never happened, but Jason added thousands of followers…brilliant.
8. Follow the top twitter users and watch what they tweet. Pay attention to the type of content they sent out and how they address their audiences.
9. Reply to/get involved in #hash tag memes. search.twitter.com lists the hot ‘trending topics. Look for the #hash topics and jump in on the conversation (see #4 for links to #hash instructions).
10. Track your results. TwitterCounter will show you how many new users you’re adding per day and Qwitter will email you when someone unfollows you after a tweet.
It’s Free Fix month again and that means we’re running our Laptop Surgery at Adam St for you lucky people. If you’re out and about and depend on your laptop for work or play then you know how important it is to have it running smoothly.
If you’re laptop is feeling poorly, bring it to us and we’ll give you 30mins with our laptop Guru.
The next Surgery will be held on 20th May from 11am at the usual place: 9 Adam St (www.adamstreet.co.uk), near Embankment station, London.
Please book in a slot with us by calling 08456 447758, emailing info@theengineroom.co.uk or if you’re a member, by letting the wonderful people at Adam St know.
Your business is cooking on gas. You have your business plan and everything is running according to it, recession or no recession……Right?
If not, read on.
On the last Thursday of each month we run a free workshop in Central London to help push our businesses through their next brick wall (For most this is the recession, but not for all) and accelerate growth.
What does it look like?
A free monthly program to learn, share and build a community of likeminded businesses.
When and where?
Adam St on the last Thursday of each month 1430-1600. PS You must RSVP. Limited spaces
Who is running it?
Les Hercules Kalas, our Business Coach for the past 3 years. He is a founding partner at Shirlaws. They turn over $18m, have an international footprint and work with all types and size of business.
Why are we doing this?
Les, who is used to working with O2, Sony and other large corporates also loves working with Startups, businesses stuck at a growth stage (like us) or those looking for ways to innovate through the recession (also us). I am there as an example, to learn, reinforce the frameworks in my business and support friends, colleagues and clients with material I have found to be extremely powerful. As cheesy as this sounds, we want to put something positive out there in response to the flood of negative media messages. It isn’t all doom and gloom. It is also a great opportunity for you to network & build relationships within a community of likeminded people.
How much will it cost?
The first 3 ‘Tasters’ are free. If you want more, there are options geared for smaller businesses, all of which consider ‘Credit Crunched’ budgets.
Who should come
Owners/Managers of smaller businesses (1-100) who want to learn, grow, share, collaborate and ultimately thrive through the recession and on.
Expectations
You will learn useful concepts within one session that you can take back, discuss with the team and perhaps implement. Each ‘Taster’ session is different so you can come to more than 1 if you find it’s for you.
I appreciate that business coaching can be a dirty word to some, misunderstood by many and it is not a magic bullet. Personally I have struggled with it in the past, the people and delivery methods.
However, come and see what YOU think….
What previous attendees have said:
“They say you can’t bottle inspiration. But it does seem that an afternoon spent with Les and Dan uncorks the ideas and enthusiasm to take a business over its next hurdle. Les asks the right questions, builds confidence and provides key strategic guidance. For a small business every hour is precious. The time spent in last Thursday’s coaching was an excellent investment in my business’s future.”- Lucy George, Wordville Limited
“Les was impressive and clearly knows his stuff (very different from the last coach I worked with). The purpose of my visit was to assess if I want to work with Shirlaws. I came away wanting to take it to the next stage.”- Stu MacArthur, Green Oak Living
“Great to have an opportunity to discuss issues in an open environment. I think the venue worked brilliantly for post event networking which was very valuable for me. This demonstrates that Dan has a great network. Thank you” – Alyson Pellowe, People Vision HR
”The ‘Taster’ session was an effective introduction to business coaching which I was sceptical of. While aware of my own business and personal situation, these free ‘taster’ coaching sessions could prove a catalyst for change, encouraging a commitment to action and the development of lasting growth.” -Victoria Millar, Hy Smith & Assoc
“Stimulating. Great to take a step back and re-think”- Ian Sime, Sime Design
“Simple, concise and very effective”- Geoff Sewell, Incognito Artists
“Powerful frameworks, thank you so much for sharing”- Paul Shafer, Sony Distribution
