Short topic workshops to help business

Photo / Thinkstock

More than three-quarters of business owners want easier access to expert training help, but value for money and time away from the business remain issues, according to recent research.

A survey by business growth centre The Icehouse and BNZ has led to the development of a range of short, topic-specific workshops, designed to help small businesses.

BNZ Partners director Anthony Healy says making business education accessible to the largest segment of the business sector is critical to improving the overall performance of the economy.

"We identified that we must provide a way for business owners to access the skills they need to grow their business without taking them away from the day-to-day running of the business," Healy said.

The workshops are designed to cater specifically for the operational needs of SMEs, says The Icehouse chief executive, Andy Hamilton.

"The workshops cover a number of topics that business owners have told us they are challenged by including finance, HR, sales and marketing to governance, leadership and many more," he said.

The training workshops will be offered in three formats (90-minute web seminars, workshops of 2 hours, and two-day workshops).

The Icehouse/BNZ research surveyed 580 businesses and found that the main areas business owners felt they needed expert assistance were retaining and acquiring customers (44 per cent), cashflow funding (41 per cent), and recruiting staff and improving performance (36 per cent).