Small Business Special Interest Group
This Special Interest Group (SIG) was created in 2003 to respond to the needs of the increasing numbers of CIPD members who are self employed or running small businesses as independent consultants and trainers. The Group focuses on the knowledge and skills associated with running such businesses rather than the development of professional knowledge, which is well catered for by other branch and national activities. Its main objectives are:
- to provide a mechanism for sharing knowledge and experience amongst members
- to offer opportunities to develop networking and marketing and business management skills
- to enable members to promote their professional services more effectively
The group meets approximately every six weeks in Theale, near Reading on weekday evenings, although both lunchtime and Saturday meetings have been suggested. All meetings start with informal and formal networking activities. Speakers have been invited for a number of topics, including web pages, public relations, and brochure writing, but there is always an emphasis on sharing, and learning from the wide range of experiences within the group. As members get to know each other's professional strengths and expertise there will be increasing opportunities to collaborate on client assignments requiring greater breadth or resources than can be provided by one person.
Full details of our events are shown on the main Branch website.