Connecting and Collaborating with Local Businesses

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When building a start-up or trying to bring your business idea to fruition, utilising the environment around you can be hugely beneficial for building connections, collaborating with like-minded people and accessing vital business support.

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Worcestershire as a county is a prime location for business growth, boasting £2bn of gross-value-added to the national economy between 2012-2022 and almost 5,000 new business registrations in 2022 alone. ¹  With the vast amounts of innovative and profitable businesses in the area, there are potentially valuable partnerships to be formed. In this article, therefore we will be focusing on how to best connect with local businesses in a way that can lead to mutually beneficial collaboration.

Networking Events

Local networking groups and events are a great way to meet individuals in the entrepreneurial space and strike up connections that may prove to be fruitful. Worcestershire is home to several networking groups across the county that meet regularly such as the Entrepreneur’s Circle, Business Buzz Worcester and Stirling Network Groups. BIPC Worcestershire Libraries provide business support clinics and networking breakfasts at libraries such as the Hive, Worcester, Evesham Library and Malvern Library whilst Women, Who Worcestershire provides a group specifically for female business owners.

Additionally, BetaDen host networking events tailored towards the tech start-up community – notably the Connect Tech and StartUp Social events that aim to bring together like-minded tech entrepreneurs from across the county.

Workshops

Locally run workshops are also a great way to connect and form relationships with local businesses that can help support you in various aspects of business management. Both BetaDen and the Worcestershire Growth Hub run public workshops with speakers from the county on topics such as marketing, artificial intelligence, grant funding and public procurement. Our workshops always include time for networking meaning as well as getting useful support from our speakers you can connect with other entrepreneurially minded guests.

Co-Working Spaces

Co-working spaces are another brilliant way you can connect with other businesses in the area. Providing an alternative to home working and the traditional office environment, the nature of hot-desking and working near other businesses naturally lends its hand to collaboration. Spaces such as The Kiln in Worcester, the home of our Incubate programme offer co-working solutions ranging from £30 to £260 a month depending on the selected package, providing an affordable way to access other innovative businesses in the county.

Accelerator and Incubator Programmes

As well as providing vital business support in the form of funding and mentorship, accelerator and incubator programmes can also be a great way to collaborate with other local businesses whether that is through mentors, fellow programme alumni or the extensive and developed networks these programmes generally have.

For example, 92% of those having undertaken a BetaDen programme have built or will build a network and collaborations. ² The BetaDen Accelerate & Incubate programmes boast a wider network of over 1,300 industry professionals meaning the opportunities for connection are far-reaching for our alumni following their completion of one of our programmes.

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²  https://beta-den.com/about-us/