Business link

[JamesSmith]

Contacted them a few times, had informal meetings with two people from them.  Must say they were useful.
 
 Focused mostly on the finance side of things, best ways of writing up profit / loss, forecasts for the financial year. There quite happy to talk about anything, 99% of the time they would of ran a business, or still are so have plenty of real world knowledge.
 
  Anyone here had experience with them?

[paul andrew]

The brochure they do is good but the guy I met with was very Patronising. I applied for a website development grant to build and promote a website. The guy that phoned me to progress the grant didn't have a clue what google or yahoo was!!!  I am sure the service varies between different locations but I was less than impressed.
 
 
On the same sort of topic, I have recently joined FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) the services they offer are very good and the membership fee is very reasonable in my opinion. They also have events and seminars in your local area and is very good for networking. They have a website [url=http://www.fsb.co.uk/][url=http://www.fsb.co.uk/]http://www.fsb.co.uk/[/size][/font][/url][/url] if you are interested.
Regards
Paul

[JamesSmith]

First person I saw wasn’t much help, but IMO that was probably my fault.  Wasn’t very welcoming the first time.
 
  2nd time I was probably more mature, and wanted to further the business so had alot more to say.

[Owen]

The brochure they do is good but the guy I met with was very Patronising. I applied for a website development grant to build and promote a website. The guy that phoned me to progress the grant didn't have a clue what google or yahoo was!!! I am sure the service varies between different locations but I was less than impressed.
 
 
On the same sort of topic, I have recently joined FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) the services they offer are very good and the membership fee is very reasonable in my opinion. They also have events and seminars in your local area and is very good for networking. They have a website [url=http://www.fsb.co.uk/][url=http://www.fsb.co.uk/]http://www.fsb.co.uk/[/size][/font][/url][/url] if you are interested.
Regards
Paul

Yes, I  have been very impressed by the FSB - particularly all the free advice and cover included in the membership.

[Business Brian]

I might just join up then....
 
 ...and welcome to business-talk, owen.

[OneofaKind]

I'm a member of FSB and I must say that the advice and special deals you get are more than pay for the subscripton you pay.

Though they do service different purposes, with Business Link, it's hit and miss, it all depends on where you live and who you meet with.

[Slashmire]

That's actually good to know... in this day and age, it's always hard to know if you get the correct amount of "bang for your buck" 

[OneofaKind]

I actually met a Business Link Advisor at an exhibition who spoke about including me in their supplier list.

I'm going to meet with her and see what comes out of it.

[ninikins]

I've never heard of Business Link...anyone got more info or know where I can get some?

[OneofaKind]

I've never heard of Business Link...anyone got more info or know where I can get some?

Business Link is a UK Government Business Advice organisation

website: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

If you are UK based you'll find contact details for your region.

If you are planning to get in touch with them I'd recommend that you have an idea of what you want

[ninikins]

I'm planning a move back to the UK so this could be really helpful. Thanks for the link.

[Melos]

It sounds as if it is similar to our (the United State's) Small Business Administration - http://www.sba.gov/ . Here we also have something called SCORE which is a group of retired professionals that will mentor new business owners for free.

[OneofaKind]

Business Link is also free.

There are a number of other organisations that offer advice and support, but are not free.

[Slashmire]

Yes, I've noticed that too; I'm quite surprised that the quality of service is nice AND free, truly a good plus for them 

[OneofaKind]

Actually is free to the users of the services, but paid for by Government.

They therefore have to maintain a good service to justify their existenc.e