An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D. has launched the full programme of events for Local Enterprise Week, which is taking place online from Monday, March 1, to Friday, March 5.
More than 200 virtual events are planned by the Local Enterprise Offices around the country, including Local Enterprise Office Laois, and these include training workshops, information webinars and masterclasses with entrepreneurs and experts, designed to help Ireland’s small businesses and those looking to start a new business in 2021.
Organised by Local Enterprise Office Laois and supported by Enterprise Ireland and Laois County Council, this year’s theme is ‘Making It Happen.’
Common topics across the week include starting a new business, resilience and recovery, the green economy, becoming ‘leaner’, exploring new markets, doing business online and the new trading relationship with the UK.
For the first time, Local Enterprise Week also includes ten ‘Spotlight’ events and these are open to every business across the country.
Highlights from Local Enterprise Week will include ‘How to Start your own Podcast’ where businesses will learn how to start a Podcast and use this effective tool to promote their business.
Businesses will learn how to record, edit and upload, along with all the tools needed to start a Podcast in this step by step podcasting workshop, taking place on Monday 1st March at 2.30pm.
Public Relations is a crucial part of any business, now more than ever and in this regard the Local Enterprise Office is delighted to present a one hour workshop on Public Relations.
Aimed at small and medium sized businesses in Laois, the ‘Introduction to Public Relations Workshop’ will offer a practical insight into the most basic knowledge of what exactly PR is, and why it continues to be one of the most effective methods of publicising businesses. Taking place on Tuesday 2nd March at 11.30 am, this workshop is a must for all Laois businesses.
As virtual selling becomes the new normal, this interactive seminar will explore what you can do pre, during and post sales call that will improve your confidence and ability to achieve results remotely.
Taking place on Wednesday, 3rd March, our ‘Getting Virtually Confident’ workhop will focus on how to build a rapport with customers, how to improve engagement on your calls, virtual selling skills and exploring what is important to the customer.
Throughout the week there are also a number of one to one mentoring clinics on digital marketing, finance and business planning, website healthcheck and Brexit advice.
An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D. is officially opening Local Enterprise Week at the first Spotlight event, the Green for Micro launch on March 1st. He said:
“Local Enterprise Week will be entirely online this year, with over 200 events taking place. We’ve all had to do things a little differently because of the pandemic and I’ve no doubt that those participating will find this year’s week just as useful and interesting.
“I know many businesses have really relied on their Local Enterprise Office for advice, training and financial help during these difficult few months.
“Local Enterprise Offices are the point of contact for many of the Government’s grants and training schemes, such as the new Green for Micro initiative, the Trading Online Voucher Scheme and the Lean programme.
“Local Enterprise Week is the perfect opportunity to have a look at what help is available and find what works best for your business.”
Evelyn Reddin, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Laois said: “Small businesses throughout Laois are being severely impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and many haven’t been able to trade fully since last year.
That’s why initiatives like Local Enterprise Week are more important than ever as they showcase all the supports that are available to small businesses and start-ups now. As well as the ten ‘Spotlight’ events, we are offering a full programme of events over the five days of Local Enterprise Week.
Our advice to all local businesses and to those with a business idea, is to have a look at the events taking place by visiting LocalEnterprise.ie/Laois and to book early.”
The ten Spotlight events taking place during Local Enterprise Week are:
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- ‘Benefits of Green for your Business – Launching Green for Micro’ on Monday, March 1st at 9.30am (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Dublin City).
- ‘SpringBack & Step Forward: Building Leadership & Resilience’ on Monday, March 1st at 11am (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Donegal).
- ‘Building The New’ featuring start-ups and innovators on Tuesday, March 2nd at 10am (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Galway).
- ‘Growing Lean: One Small Step or One Giant Leap, Getting Started with Lean’ on Tuesday, March 2nd at 2pm (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Kildare).
- ‘AgriTech Revolution in Farming and Food’ on Wednesday, March 3rd at 9.30am (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office South Cork).
- ‘Creative Connections: Enabling your B-2-B Online Opportunities’ on Wednesday, March 3rd at 2pm (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Carlow)
- ‘Engage for Growth with David Meade’ on Thursday, March 4th at 10am (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown).
- ‘S.M.A.R.Tech for StartUps’ on Thursday, March 4th at 4pm (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Clare).
- ‘Masterclass: Health checking your business for its forward journey’ on Thursday, March 4th at 7pm (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Wexford).
- ‘Trading Online Voucher Information Webinar’ on Friday, March 5th at 9.30am (open to all businesses across the country and organised by Local Enterprise Office Fingal).
Details for events taking place for Local Enterprise Week, from March 1st to 5th, are available at LocalEnterprise.ie/Laois.
Local Enterprise Week is an annual initiative from the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by Enterprise Ireland, local authorities and the Government of Ireland.
SEE ALSO – The full list of events in Laois for Local Enterprise Week
