Commercial Training for Retail and Creative Businesses

Training programmes designed specifically for retailers, makers, lifestyle businesses, and creative entrepreneurs who want to take a more structured, strategic approach to their business.

Focused on practical, actionable insights, from building your first Shopify store to mastering a 360-degree marketing strategy.

It’s easy for creative business owners to feel overwhelmed. These training programmes are designed to help you cut through the noise and focus on what actually drives growth. From building your first Shopify store to understanding your P&L, you’ll leave with simple but effective guidance with of what you’ll need to keep for business griwth without losing sight of your vision.

  • TARGET AUDIENCE

    Early-stage and growing creative, retail and lifestyle brands who find it hard to balance creativity with commercial performance. This course is aimed at people who have great ideas but struggle with the business side.

    WHAT IT COVERS

    Setting realistic targets around profitability using simple data and market insight to guide decisions. The importance of brand guidelines in supporting consistent growth balancing brand identity with revenue generation.

    PRACTICAL CONTENT

    Attendees will work through a simple decision-making framework during the session, which they keep and can refer-back to after the training. It covers how to prioritise workload and investment, set performance metrics, and balance brand building with profitability, without losing sight of their passion and vision.

  • TARGET AUDIENCE

    Small business owners and makers who want to start selling online but are unsure where to begin.

    WHAT IT COVERS

    An overview of e-commerce models and platforms, with a focus on Shopify, Amazon, Etsy and Faire, along with the costs involved in getting started (setup, logistics, commissions and marketing), fulfilment and operational considerations, and an overview of digital marketing channels. The session covers three key routes to market, Shopify for building your own direct-to-consumer store, Amazon as a marketplace channel for reaching a broad customer base and Faire as a wholesale marketplace connecting independent brands with retail buyers. Each platform is explored in terms of how it works, what it costs, and who it suits.

    OUTCOMES

    Participants will leave with a clear understanding of the online sales channel options available to them, a checklist of steps required to launch online, awareness of key costs and common pitfalls, and the confidence to make informed decisions about selling online.

  • TARGET AUDIENCE

    Start-ups, creatives, crafters, and people who are looking to create a direct-to-consumer channel. This course is aimed at people with no prior Shopify experience.

    WHAT IT COVERS

    The practical aspects of getting up and running on Shopify. This includes:

    ·       Setting up an account and the different types of plans

    ·       Choosing a template

    ·       Uploading products

    ·       Creating Collections

    ·       Setting up shipping and delivery rates

    ·       Shopify payments and charges

    ·       Internationalisation – Market pricing and translation

    ·       An overview of the types of additional apps

    ·       Setting up automated emails

    ·       SEO considerations

    ·       Reports

    ·       Go-Live checklist

  • TARGET AUDIENCE

    Small business owners and makers who feel overwhelmed by the marketing options available to them and want to take a more structured and strategic approach to marketing.

    WHAT IT COVERS

    How different marketing channels work together, how to get customers and how to keep them (acquisition vs retention strategies) and how the channels complement each other, an overview of key channels including social, email, SEO, Google, offline media and events, and how to approach budget allocation and prioritisation.

    OUTCOMES

    Participants will leave with a high-level understanding of the different marketing channels, a structure to build a 360-marketing plan for themselves and guidance on how to build it out, a clear understanding of how different marketing channels work together, clarity on where to focus their efforts, and a more structured approach to their overall marketing activity. They will be able to make informed decisions about which channels to focus on and which may not be right for them at this stage and will be encouraged to use the session as a springboard for further exploration.

  • TARGET AUDIENCE

    Creatives, small business owners, and people looking to set up their own brand.

    WHAT IT COVERS

    This covers what branding is beyond a logo and the importance of building a consistent identity built around the product and target demographic. It looks at how to be flexible and make commercial branding decisions while also ensuring that brand guardrails are kept in place.

    OUTCOMES

    Participants will leave with a full understanding of what makes a strong brand, when things might need to be adapted and the importance of sticking to your set brand guidelines to build a consistent customer base. They will also leave with a template to help build their own brand guidelines and guidance on how to add to this as their business grows.