Seminars to inspire you

Successful business owners will give an insight into the creation and development of their enterprises at a series of popular seminars taking place at The British Franchise Exhibition

Successful business owners will give an insight into the creation and development of their enterprises at a series of popular seminars taking place at The British Franchise Exhibition on June 8 and 9 at Manchester Central.

At the Growing Your Own Business seminars, inspiring entrepreneurs will share their experiences with visitors and advise on how to make progress in today's difficult business climate.

Sarah Cross, Managing Director of Uber, will explain why the customer is the most precious asset of any business in her talk The Holy Grail Of Customer Engagement – how to win the hearts minds and wallets of your customers. She will explain why winning customers over has never been harder and how engaging with customers and staff is key to growing a business. Her valuable advice includes creating virtual communities and tapping into customers' social circles to maximise engagement, awareness and revenue.

Sarah set up Uber in 2008 when she spotted a gap in the market for a specialist loyalty consultancy that is independent of technology and combines technical expertise with creative knowledge.

Sissy Rooney, founder of Street Style Surgery, will discuss the process of setting up her business in her talk, Hard Graft And Eureka Moments – how I built my business from the street up.

Street Style Surgery is a business that runs creative workshops for schools and other youth groups across the UK covering fashion, drama and art. To date, Sissy and her team have worked with over 1,000 young people aged between six and 25 for a variety of projects and organisations including lottery-funded projects, charities and schools including Barnardos and Manchester City Council.

Since founding her company in 2008, Sissy has also won many awards and commendations such as UK Young Fashion Entrepreneur 2009 and finalist in the 'Women of Courage' awards.

In the seminar titled The Business of Adventure, Nick Carter, founder of The Adventure Council, will bring to life experiences such as climbing Mount Everest, living with remote tribes in Nagaland and living entirely off the land. He will detail how he then uses these experiences to inspire others to try new activities and explore new areas, including a forthcoming trip leading a group of young offenders 500 miles across Greenland.

The British Franchise Exhibition and The Growing Your Own Business seminars, take place at Manchester Central on June 8-9, opening at 10am each day and closing at 5pm on the Friday and 4pm on the Saturday.