If you’re thinking of starting a new business, have recently started, or are in the first few years of running one in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Durham or Teesside, then you’ve come to the right place!
Since 2017 we’ve helped 1,000’s of people through the process via our annual 5-day Newcastle Startup Week festivals & monthly Founders’ Friday events. We now publish weekly blogs (& almost weekly YouTube videos) & provide daily advice, monthly networking & events via our online Startup Week Community.
We believe every week can be a Startup Week & that the startup lifecycle can be divided into 5 key themes:
- INSPIRATION
- GETTING STARTED
- FUNDING & FINANCE
- GROWING & SCALING
- KEEP GOING OR PIVOT?
We use these themes to structure our Newcastle Startup Week festivals & the content we share inside our private Facebook Group for Members of our Startup Week Community every Monday-Friday.
We also use them to structure our ‘5 Star Focus Programme‘ (1-2-1 business coaching over 5 days) for business owners, entrepreneurs, freelancers & creatives.
Here’s what we suggest you do for each of the 5 stages of the startup lifecycle:
1. INSPIRATION
If you’re looking for ideas & inspiration for your business, we recommend doing the following:
- Subscribe to our weekly newsletter (by entering your email address in the pop-up that appears when you scroll down this page)
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for almost weekly how to videos, interviews with entrepreneurs & business leaders & talks from our monthly Founders’ Friday events.
- Follow us on Twitter @nclstartupweek & @FoundersFriday. (You might want to Follow @lordlancaster too).
- Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NewcastleStartupWeek
- Follow us on Instagram @newcastlestartupweek
- Listen & Subscribe to Paul Lancaster (Founder, Newcastle Startup Week)’s ‘SuperConnector Show’ podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Spreaker.
- You should also find our ‘How To Start Something New‘ video (below) very useful…
2. GETTING STARTED
Once you’ve been inspired to start your own business, you should do the following:
- Work your way through our ‘8 essential steps to starting a new business in the UK‘ blog.
- Join our online Startup Week Community for daily inspiration, tips & advice, special offers, deals & discounts, plus monthly networking & events (including Founders’ Friday) inside our private Facebook Group. All new Members are offered a 30-40min 1-2-1 business consultation via Zoom in which we advise them on how to start or grow their business in the most effective way. (A 12 month Membership is just £75 via our Community page).
- Speak to your local enterprise agency to see what other advice & support is available in your area. The best place to find them is by using the searchable directory on the National Enterprise Network website.
- Contact the Business Support / Enterprise Team at your local council to see what other help is available in your area & to ask if they have any special initiatives you are eligible for.
- Book a free appointment with a Growth Hub Connector.
3. FUNDING & FINANCE
If you’re looking for funding to start or grow your business (including grants, loans, public sector bids & contracts, crowdfunding, angel investment or VC investment), we recommend doing the following:
- Visit the British Business Bank website for information on a wide range of funding options to help you start or scale up. (BBB is a Government-owned business development bank dedicated to making finance markets work for smaller businesses).
- See who offers funding & finance on the Growth Hub North East website (or book a free appointment with a Growth Hub Connector).
- Contact the Business Support / Enterprise Team at your local council to see what funding you may be eligible for.
- Look at how you can grow your business with public sector contracts sourced by OPPORTUNI.
- Consider crowdfunding via a platform like Crowdfunder, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowdcube or Seedrs. (If you’re looking to raise investment for your business, we can help fast track your application on Crowdcube by referring you to the team if you email us at paul@newcastlestartupweek.com first).
- If you’re looking to raise equity investment from angel investors or VCs (Venture Capitalists), we recommend registering with CapitalPilot (‘the inevitability rating agency for startups & scaleups’). Once registered you can pay to have an in-depth Rating & 24-page Investability Report which gives you feedback & a score for how likely you are to receive investment & if necessary, recommendations on how to improve. (It’s currently just £150 + VAT for a report but you can receive a special promo code to drop this to £100 by filling out this short form).
- We have great contacts with funders & investors across the North East & wider UK so if you’d like advice on the best funding & finance for you, join our online Startup Week Community first & then we can give you a 1-2-1 consultation, advice & introductions.
4. GROWING & SCALING
If you’ve already started your business & want advice & support on how to grow through better marketing, PR, business development, sales, partnerships, expanding your network & through your own personal development, we recommend you do the following:
- Watch some of the interviews in the Business Growth Advice playlist on our YouTube Channel.
- Become a Member of our online Startup Week Community. (We can then give you some in-depth advice via your 1-2-1 welcome call / business consultation & ongoing advice, support & opportunities inside our private Facebook Group. As a Member you can also give a talk or presentation at our monthly Founders’ Friday event which will help raise your profile & amplify your reach once we share it on our YouTube Channel & social media accounts).
- Read our short blog on how to ‘Save time & effort with free HubSpot CRM‘.
- Take a look at our ‘Advertise with us‘ page for a range of cost-effective ways to market & promote your product, service, event, programme or fund through our digital channels.
- Book your spot on our ‘5 Star Focus Programme‘ (1-2-1 business coaching over 5 days).
- Visit our Plan Digital website if you’d like more bespoke advice & support.
5. KEEP GOING OR PIVOT?
Every Friday, we recommend doing an honest review of how well your week has gone. What worked or didn’t work so well, what can you do more of & less of next week?
We can help you get into the habit of doing this as a Member of our Startup Week Community or in a more in-depth way if you book a spot on our ‘5 Star Focus Programme‘ (1-2-1 business coaching over 5 days).
If nothing else, listen to these words of advice from our good friend ‘David Brent’…