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Start up bromley

Business Support for aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs

Free workshops hosted within your local Borough of Bromley Libraries

London libraries are transforming the way ideas grow into successful businesses. In partnership with the London Borough of Bromley and the British Library’s Business & IP Centre, Start Up Bromley will aim to develop a community of new and existing business owners, which is free to join and open to everyone.

We offer insight and access to resources – including workshops, events and walk-in consultations – to help you imagine, start or develop your business. 

Your free support package

Start Up Bromley Membership

  • Provide opportunities for aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs to meet and build networks of support, sharing updates on their entrepreneurial journeys
  • Encourage peer to peer sharing of resources, including contacts, skills, space, time and information to support the development of each others’ businesses
  • Enable members to learn from successful local start ups, established businesses and other professionals associated with the start-up ecosystem

British Library Webinars and Workshops for Small Businesses

Topics include:

Reset, Restart, a series of webinars designed to help you transform and future-proof your business through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 

Full-day workshops (currently delivered online), giving you practical support at the earliest stage of your business development: Browse the full list here: bl.uk/bipc 

Business Lounges

We offer a Business Lounge in Bromley Central Library as well as smaller Business Lounge facility in Orpington Library which allows a safe and secure business environment for small business and start ups to work from. Additionally, we can also offer small rooms for hire, for private meetings with clients, professional advisors and so on.

Regular Meetings for Members

Start Up Bromley’s dedicated Business Support Manager will hold regular meetings for group members, focussing on specific topics of relevance, or feature special speakers. These meetings could be held remotely using zoom or Teams, or, where possible following government guidance, face-to-face.

1-2-1 Support Sessions

These will operate throughout the year giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to discuss particular challenges they are experiencing, ideas, business model plans.

Information Support

All our Bromley Libraries have a good range of business information resources and we will deliver individual sessions to help you understand how to use relevant resources effectively, from the library or from your own home.

Start Up Bromley Showcase

Throughout the year, we will hold events to showcase local small businesses and their products.

Additional Business Support and Advice in Bromley

Business Support and Advice

Business Start Up

Libraries

Latest Events

Welcome and Introduction to Start Up Bromley

Thursday 27th May 2021
10.30am - 11.30am

Welcome to all budding entrepreneurs and new businesses! Join us on Lifesize at 10:30am Thursday 27th May to talk business ideas & support.

 Register

Loretta Awuah

Loretta Awuah is leading the delivery of Start Up Bromley and is the main point of contact for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs to access business support in your local library.

Passionate about social equality and inclusion, Loretta has over 6 years’ experience in developing and managing partnerships with corporate, public and third sector organisations which enable disadvantaged groups to access employment, pro-bono and educational opportunities/experiences.

Loretta is part of the Start-ups in Libraries programme where she has already been supporting aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs primarily in the borough of Greenwich turn their business goals and ideas into reality through workshops, 121’s, webinars, training sessions, opportunities to test business ideas and much more. 

Democratising access to entrepreneurship represents another significant area of interest she hopes to be able to positively impact on, as she builds a start-up community in Bromley.

What to expect from the workshops

Workshop 1 ‘What next for my business idea?’

Explains all the fundamentals of using the BIPC’s and your library’s resources to protect your intellectual property and develop a strategic roadmap for your business. 

Workshop 2 ‘Getting ready for business’ 

Find out how to set up your business and avoid common start-up pitfalls in seven easy steps in this high energy and practical workshop.

Workshop 3 Marketing Masterclass

Join our Marketing Masterclass to discover how to determine and reach customers for your new business venture.
This practical workshop will break down and simplify the marketing strategies and processes you need to succeed. Including; Customer profiling, Good & Bad marketing, Your strategy for growth, Marketing and sales.

Showcasing your products

We can support your business and its products at a dedicated business show case. Here's an example of a christmas marketplace event delivered in Greenwich: 

Start up Bromley welcomes a wide range of businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs looking to receive support, build networks, test business ideas and much more. Business sectors can include but not limited to:

  • Catering businesses
  • Professional services / consultancy
  • Social enterprises
  • Charities
  • Fashion / textiles
  • Creative media / publishing
  • Education
  • Health / social work
  • Construction / manufacturing / engineering
  • Retail
  • E-commerce
  • Cosmetics / beauty
  • Arts and crafts
  • Jewellery

Register your interest and we’ll be in touch: