Growing a business
There are a number of ways that you can grow your business, including developing new products, increasing your market share and creating a partnership or joint venture with another business.
Top content within Growing a business
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Prepare a business plan for growth
Every successful business regularly reviews its business plan to ensure it continues to meet its needs and responds to variations in the market, the economy and customer base.
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Strategic planning: the basics
Creating a strategic plan is a key component of planning for growth. It will help prepare a realistic vision for the future of your business and in doing so can maximise your potential for growth.
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Starting and growing a rural business
Rural businesses can get support from various networks and schemes, including social enterprise organisations and the Scottish Government.
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Funding support for growing businesses
Before approaching anyone for external finance to help your business grow, you should consider your funding options, your current business performance and if you can use some of your own money.
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Increase your profitability
Every business can improve its profitability. Sometimes a single factor can significantly increase profitability, but for most businesses increasing profitability means implementing a number of small improvements gradually.
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Mentoring for business leaders
Scottish Enterprise’s business mentoring programme lets you draw on practical advice from experienced business people who understand the challenges, know your industry and actively wants to share their knowledge and experiences.
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Rural leadership programme
Scottish Enterprise’s Rural Leadership Programme addresses the specific economic, social and political challenges of operating a successful rural business.
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Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS)
Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service provides advice, support, training and events for manufacturing companies in Scotland
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Meeting the challenges of growth
Growing businesses face a range of challenges. As a business grows, different problems and opportunities demand different solutions - what worked a year ago might not be the best approach now.
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Options for growth
It is important to evaluate whether you want to consolidate your business' position or find ways to grow. If you decide that your priority is growth, you need to plan carefully in order to succeed.
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Innovation support service
The Innovation Support Service is a free, impartial innovation advisory service available to all businesses in Scotland needing advice and guidance on innovation projects / activities.
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Marketing Strategy Workshop
The Marketing Strategy Workshop offers HIE account managed businesses the opportunity to develop a new, strategic marketing plan by working with a highly qualified marketing consultant.
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Strategic business development
Strategic planning is critical if you want to plan for growth, providing you with a realistic vision for the future and maximising the growth potential of your business.
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Deciding whether to grow
Once your business has been running for a while, you will reach a stage where you need to decide whether to grow. This is an important decision because business growth has both advantages and disadvantages.
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Preparing for international growth
Help for experienced exporters to maximise international growth potential from Scottish Development International.
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Leadership essentials service
Define your leadership style and address a specific challenge within your business through a series of half-day workshops from Scottish Enterprise.
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Growing a franchise
Expanding a franchise business could be achieved by increasing sales by targeting a different market sector, or you could consider running a similar franchise in a different area.
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Intellectual assets support from Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise offers a range of free services to help Scottish businesses better manage their intellectual assets (including intellectual property).
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Innovation events
Scottish Enterprise's Winning Through Innovation programme can help you bring your innovative new products, service or business model to market.
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Co-operative Development Scotland
Providing specialist advice to new and growing co-operatives and employee-owned businesses in Scotland.
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Entrepreneurship Development Programme
The Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) is a week long, high level, intensive executive education course. It is held onsite at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.
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Best practice visits and masterclasses from Scottish Enterprise
Build your leadership skills through a series of one-off events aimed at time-pressed business leaders.
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IT strategic review and digital strategy service
Scottish Enterprise's IT and digital specialists can help ambitious companies use technology more effectively.
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Graduate placement programme
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) provides eligible businesses and social enterprises in the Highlands and Islands with the opportunity to employ a graduate or undergraduate for a specific piece of work.
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Exporting market research support
Changes in global markets present businesses with both new opportunities and challenges when planning their exporting strategy. Through Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and our partners, there are a number of support programmes and services available to help you.
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Advanced materials innovation service
Scottish Enterprise's Material Innovation Service can help you identify how advanced materials could benefit your business and help you to adopt the technology.
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General Strategy Workshop
The General Strategy Workshop aims to enable Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) account managed businesses to rationalise and focus strategy for proactive business development.
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Leadership services from Scottish Enterprise
Leadership services from Scottish Enterprise help business leaders and their teams in achieving their ambitions. We can provide leadership support at any stage; even to employee-owned companies or those with different business models.
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How to become an oustanding leader
The Leadership Guide provides principles of outstanding leadership for all businesses.
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Leadership Knowledge Series
From business mentoring and programmes such as Leadership Essentials to leadership best practice events and visits, Scottish Enterprise offers a range of tools to meet your specific needs.
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Leadership case studies and interviews
Read interviews and case studies from companies with first-hand experience of Scottish Enterprise’s leadership programmes and events.
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SDI's overseas missions programme 2012-15
Operating over a 3 year period, the SDI trade missions programme will run between 4 and 6 overseas missions each year with up to 30 Scottish businesses participating who are looking to expand their exporting potential.
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STEM Ambassadors programme
The aim of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programme is to connect businesses with young people and inspiring young people to consider a career in STEM subjects.
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New Markets Knowledge Series
Scottish Enterprise can help you grow your business by expanding your customer base and exploiting gaps in market.
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Business Gateway helps OMT get into training
Support from Business Gateway has helped this Glasgow based company to provide health and safety and survival training to the global oil and gas industry.
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Improve business efficiency through lean management
Scottish Enteprise's lean management thinking workshops give your company the skills to increase productivity and improve business efficiency.
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Why leadership matters
Developing your leadership capabilities can impact directly on your company’s profitability. Scottish Enterprise has courses to inspire you and your workforce to embrace change and adapt to future strategies.
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Exporting support in the Highlands and Islands
A business is never too small to export. Whether you're new to exporting or an experienced exporter, HIE and SDI have a range of support services to support your business growth.
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Business Gateway on same wavelength as Cameron Water
Bellshill water cooler company, helped by Business Gateway to expand into e-commerce and source technology from China.
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Low Carbon Knowledge Series
Find out about the low carbon economy and how Scottish Enterprise can support your business' low carbon ambitions.
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Innovation support for Scottish businesses (Encompass)
Encompass helps Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) identify the barriers to innovation in business and suggests ways to overcome them.
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Ukranians give Scots vodka a shot
Business Gateway helped this vodka company to crack the tough Ukranian market.