Professional Advice Sessions

The 1-2-1 sessions with industry professionals aim to give personalised advice to you on crucial areas of your business. London Level 2 members are entitled to one Professional Advice session per calendar year.

The sessions run for one hour, scheduled between 10am and 5pm on the days indicated.
To book for these sessions, follow the links below.

Alison Branagan - Ways of Understanding Business

Bookings available on 26 February • 29 April • 30 June

Alison’s session will aim to give you an overview of how your business could work. By working with three topics from the list below, you can select the key ingredients which will help inform your business strategy.

You will be required to select 3 key topics for discussion prior to your appointment from the list below:

1. Where are you now - regarding work, benefits, tax credits, finances, any debt, responsibilities, time, resources, etc.
2. Networks - online showcasing, contacts in the arts world/design industry, and role of professional bodies.
3. Making it work - how can you make money from your proposal, (i.e. research)? Other sources of income, e.g. part-time job.
4. Costing and Pricing - professional rates or fees/managing income steams, bespoke vs manufacturing.
5. Legal issues - IP, regulations, insurance, contracts, licensing, terms and conditions, etc.
6. Money matters - tax issues, business bank accounts, basic financial planning/ money management/ cash flow.

Alison Coward - Networking and Collaboration to Further your Business

Bookings available on 17 March • 9 June

This session will teach how to use social media within your business to create and manage new opportunities, including: identifying your key skills and strengths and potential opportunities to utilise them; developing a strategy to expand your business networks and initiate collaborations; choosing the right social media for your business and using it effectively for networking and self-promotion; and managing collaborative projects effectively using online tools.

Nicole Bachmann - Developing your Business Brand and Selling

Bookings available on 24 March (new date) • 20 October

Nicole’s session aims to show you the crucial areas of developing a business: how to market a small creative business and brand, and the importance of marketing yourself well. She will help you define the key stages in your market planning process so you can implement them in your business.

You can select which area you wish to focus on from the list below:
a) Developing your Business branding,
b) Marketing Yourself,
c) Consultative Selling (how to market yourself successfully and create a comfortable buying environment).

You will be required to bring the following to the session:
1) Your reason for choosing that particular theme,
2) The biggest challenge in the area of that theme,
3) Your objective for the session - i.e. what you want out of it.

Grant Baker - Sourcing Manufacturers

Bookings available on 19 May • 20 July

Grant’s session will help you to develop a coordinated approach to moving your business forward and will give you the tools to create a step change road map. This will help you get on with doing the business of doing business.

Topics covered include:
— Sourcing Manufacturers,
— Working with Manufacturers,
— Product strategy.

Femke Teunen - Selling

Bookings available on 6 October

Femke’s session aims to increase sales and profit by studying how to price your work, market new products and aim for the right outlets, as well as selling techniques and ways to approach buyers and retailers.