Business Advice Aberdeenshire

Businesses come in all shapes and sizes. In Scotland, 99% of all private sector businesses are small to medium size enterprises – and they provide an estimated 1.1 million jobs*. What could you add to that mix?

Scottish tourism businesses and the fantastic work they do make up the lifeblood of our industry. The world-class standards of our accommodation providers, visitor attractions, visitor/experiences, restaurants and other businesses are why Scotland attracts so many new and returning visitors year after year.

There are plenty of examples of successful entrepreneurs and ideas. You may find reading them sparks your own imagination and inspires you to seek out and build your own enterprise – whatever its size! Students have great ideas for ventures and with a bit of perseverance and support, turn them into successful ventures.

Business Gateway Aberdeen City and Shire is your gateway to free expert local assistance and advice. There are many ways we can help you, even if starting up still seems a way off. Our website is a great place to begin: we offer a business plan guide to download when you’re ready, market reports as well as handy online guides and articles, video tutorials and podcasts. Take part in our webinars to hone your start-up skills – from how to handle the legal requirements to getting your market research right. Plus use our Planning to Start tool to guide you through the essential steps of starting up. It takes just 10 minutes to complete and then we can then use the details you give us to create your action plan, complete with links to relevant information and support. We’ll also recommend free webinars to help you hone your skills and may refer you to relevant support from our partners. A business adviser from your local office will also get in touch to see how else we can help at this stage and signpost you to a wide range of other support across Scotland. With our help, you could be in business sooner than you imagined. Enterprise Business Centre Broomiesburn Road Ellon AB41 9RD 01538 787393 Crichiebank Business Centre, Mill Road Port Elphinstone Inverurie AB51 5NQ 01224 968 789 Enterprise Business Centre South Harbour Road Fraserburgh AB43 9TN 01346 454712 Burnside Business Centre Burnside Road Peterhead AB42 3AW 01779 867 254

From start-ups, SMEs to major international corporations there are numerous local and national organisations that can offer business support. Both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils provide a range of support and advice for local businesses from those starting out to social enterprises and successful international organisations. Find out more about available support:

Develop your business idea or boost your existing business with LINA online The Library Innovation Network Aberdeenshire (LINA), which has been developed in partnership between Live Life Aberdeenshire library service and RGU, is continuing to offer business toolkit workshops online. Prior to the Coronavirus restrictions, LINA’s co-working spaces and workshop programmes were held in the following libraries: Peterhead, Banff, Fraserburgh and Macduff. Additional programmes were due to be run from Turriff, Rosehearty, New Pitsligo, Strichen and Cairnbulg. All free learning programmes are now available online. LINA Online Business Toolkit Workshop For those interested in starting a business or scaling an existing business this online standalone workshop will help develop your entrepreneurial skills. The workshops will focus on the knowledge and mindset needed to accelerate your ideas, providing you with a toolkit of skills from marketing and viability to pricing and problem solving.

Aberdeen based startups and entrepreneurs take note - here's the lowdown on key startup support and help available where you are... Away from established startup hubs like London, the support for setting up a startup in the UK isn’t always so clear. It’s not a lack of support, just a quieter ecosystem that takes a little more work to unearth. We want to help with this by highlighting what some cities, which might not spring immediately to mind at the mention of ‘startups’, have to offer. Remember when we said that we were touring the UK in no particular order? Well, we’re going back to Scotland today to have a look at startup support in Aberdeen!

Should you join over 10,000 businesses and start and grow your business in this up-and-coming Scottish city? Startups.co.uk, the UK’s leading independent, online resource for anyone starting and growing a business. Established in 2000, we are the UK’s largest, longest serving, and most comprehensive small business advice platform, covering everything you need to know to start, buy, run, or sell a business. You can read more about our track record on our Wikipedia page.

We invest in research and innovation to enrich lives, drive economic growth, and create jobs and high-quality public services across the UK. We are transforming tomorrow together.

Economic Development within Aberdeenshire council exists to benefit business and communities and all those looking to find out about Aberdeenshire or relocating to the area.

The Department for Business & Trade helps businesses export and grow into global markets. We also help overseas companies locate and grow in the UK. Our services are provided in over 100 markets throughout the world. We are passionate about what we do. Thats why we constantly review our services in light of customer feedback and the impact they offer, which means theyll vary from time to time.

Digital Buddha is an independent business created to promote the graphic industrys in and around Aberdeen. I am hoping to become a bridge between local business and all forms of web and print media, while ensuring that the right customers are put in contact with the right people within the industry. Digital Buddha has no business partners so no sales or commotion is paid, just a list of the best designers, developers and marketing in Aberdeen, along with the will to help get local businesses the best service for their budget.

Renowned as a Global Energy Hub, Aberdeen is a vibrant, entrepreneurial region in Scotland's North East, home to a unique mix of business opportunities and specialist skills across various sectors including energy, technology, life sciences and food & drink. More than 20% of Scotland’s top business are located in this region which is taking great strides to ensure that it continues to compete on a world stage; the Aberdeen City Region is in the midst of a transformational journey designed to drive an economic renaissance, bringing benefits to the region, Scotland and the UK overall now and for generations to come. More than £10 billion of public and private infrastructure investment is due to be delivered before 2030, marking an exciting time to be part of a genuine world-class business location. The Aberdeen City Region is primed for business and the Invest Aberdeen team is on hand to welcome you here.

Prowess is the online hub for women-friendly business support, inspiration and information. Our vision is an environment where women in business can flourish. Be inspired Prowess is full of stories and shared experiences from women who’ve made their own way in business. Everyone has a story to tell. And women who are thinking of starting a business – and those looking to grow – say there aren’t enough stories of real women in business out there. In our recent survey 43% said they wanted to read more experiences and case studies from ‘real’ women in business! Read them here, or submit your own here.

Elevator is one of Scotland’s leading social enterprises dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, start-ups and high growth businesses. Elevator works across Aberdeen City and Shire and Tayside to help facilitate the start-up and growth of new and existing businesses. Team Elevator currently engages with over 3,500 start-up businesses and assists around 1,800 organisations to grow annually with advisory support. With the launch of its Centre for Entrepreneurship in Bridge of Don, Elevator aims to support an additional 200 start-ups per year through stimulating interests in launching and growing businesses, as well as welcoming global talent onto the Elevator Accelerator Programme accelerating businesses. Elevator will launch a second Centre for Entrepreneurship with Accelerator Programme in Dundee in late 2016. Elevator supports the entrepreneurs, business leaders and employees of today and tomorrow by providing expert business advice, teaching entrepreneurship and enterprising behaviour.

Would you like you to know how your business could benefit from digital upskilling? Training, guides, tutorials, workshops, 1:1 advice and consultancy – all for free.

The Scottish Rural Network website is your one-stop-shop for news, events and information about rural development. We can help you connect with other people, communities, organisations and businesses across rural Scotland and beyond.