Help To Grow: Leeds University Business School supporting SMEs

National World - Sponsored Content

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a cornerstone of the UK economy, and supporting their growth is essential for regional development and national productivity.  To meet this need, Leeds University Business School delivers the Help to Grow: Management programme - an initiative designed to strengthen the leadership and strategic capabilities of SME business leaders. A Structured and Practical Approach to Business Growth The programme is structured over 12 weeks and is built around a carefully designed curriculum that combines academic insight with practical application. It is aimed at senior decision-makers in SMEs—typically owners or senior managers—who want to boost performance, resilience, and long-term sustainability. You can find out more information and register for the programme here: https://business.leeds.ac.uk/executive-education/doc/help-grow

Transcript

00:00Help to Grow is a 12-week programme for leaders of small businesses who are looking to focus on

00:07the next opportunity or growth opportunity for their business. It's really time spent on developing

00:11the strategy of the business, thinking about the future and really try to put together some concrete

00:16plans that can be taken forward back into the business. I knew what the growth opportunities

00:21in our business were but having the time to think about those opportunities and understand which

00:28ones to give priority to, it was really really beneficial. There are experts brought in both

00:33who've got experience in industry and professors who have got deep expertise in those areas and then

00:40we have our coaches, experienced entrepreneurs themselves who provide one-to-one meetings with

00:44the business owner and they all bring a range of different industry expertise and insights. We had

00:49a couple of webinars every week, there was a group call with a growth mentor that had been assigned

00:56to you. Every couple of weeks you'd come into the university and everybody would spend a couple

01:00of hours listening to people giving presentations. When people take part in the programme they'll be

01:08surrounded by like-minded business leaders like themselves who are all focused on growth and so

01:13it's not just about the content and the experts we have in the room, it's also about the peer learning

01:18and sharing experiences and challenges. That kind of interaction with the business leaders is

01:23absolutely invaluable. Being able to share those experiences, those ideas and get people's feedback

01:31on it and get people challenging you, that was really important to me. Because you've become really

01:35close to those people over those 12 weeks you find that you trust each other. We've got a WhatsApp

01:42group that we still use really regularly so you don't have a problem kind of reaching out and saying

01:47oh yeah I've experienced that just give me a call anytime and I'll talk to you about my experiences.

01:51I think the opportunity of doing a programme that helps to grow is that it's really tailored towards

01:57the needs of leaders of small businesses. We understand the kind of challenges and opportunities

02:02that small business leaders face and it's really to focus on those needs and help that development.

02:08For me the end of the course was the start of the journey, that clarity of thought

02:13as to what to do next I think for all of us was very important.

02:17The challenge can be saying how do I get the time to do this. This is not a generic management course.

02:25Taking part in a programme like this is an investment in the business. I think as a leader

02:30it's also an investment in yourself. It's given me my mojo back, it's given me that sense of I

02:35remember why I'm doing this. I think it's a great experience that everybody should do just to kind of

02:39remind them of why they're in business. Help to grow as a game changer because it's going to reinvigorate your business.

02:45If you are looking to grow your business, if this really helps you to focus, just do it.

Category

Transcript

Recommended