VentureNavigator Business Communities offer Local Authorities their own geographically focused online

business support community, complete with news, events, discussions, resources and assessments. The

VentureNavigator team has developed a clear understanding of the responsibilities of Local Authorities to

support entrepreneurs and small businesses, including the requirement to provide accessible business support and to gather metrics that inform economic development.

Business Communities

Launched In 2009, VentureNavigator Business Communities, is a new service to help Local Authorities support entrepreneurship and business growth. Once set up, each community acts as a hub for local business advice and resources, attracting new members and making outreach to hard-to-contact groups, such as sole traders, much more cost-effective. Local Authorities can collect detailed information about each business and email all of their community members. With the inclusion of community management tools, meaningful metrics and downloadable reports, VentureNavigator Business Communities provides a simple, off-the-shelf solution to a potentially complex and expensive challenge.

VentureNavigator Business Communities deliver:

An Instant Community – Your VentureNavigator

Business community will be up and running in a couple of days and, as part of the setup, we can invite existing VentureNavigator members in your area to join your community.

An Accessible Business Resource –

Any local business or entrepreneur in your area will be able to join your community online to access business support and resources.

A Forum for Feedback – You can

gather feedback on any issue or topic, using the discussion (Q&A) area or by creating a questionnaire or assessment.

A Voice in the Community – By posting

and responding to comments, you will have a voice in the local business community. By posting news or

emailing the community, you can instantly share your views on important local issues.

A Network of Businesses – As more businesses join

the community, you will be able to build up your database of local business contacts, with detailed information about each one.

Statistics and Reports – By providing an online busi-

ness network, you will have access to statistics and reports, based on usage, preferences and feedback.

About VentureNavigator VentureNavigator (www.venturenavigator.co.uk) is one of the UK’s leading online support communities for entrepreneurs and small businesses. With thousands of active members and many more joining every week, VentureNavigator offers a blend of high-quality resources, news, discussion and interactive business assessments. Launched in 2007, VentureNavigator has earned a reputation as a source of reliable, impartial business advice and has helped thousands of small businesses to grow and succeed.

www.venturenavigator.co.uk/business-communities

Community homepage: Your own community homepage with a unique web address. This page shows the latest activity in your community including your News and Events. Community Manager Dashboard: As a Community Manager you will have access to your own Community Manager Dashboard. This enables you to administer multiple communities.

News and Event Updates: Using your VentureNavigator Community Manager Dashboard, you can post regular news and events to the members of your community. Profiles: Each of your members will have their own personal Profile on VentureNavigator. Group Messaging: Send a message to all of your Community members. This is a great way of keeping your members up-to-date with news, upcoming events and opportunities. Private Messaging: Private messaging between members is one of the most popular features on Facebook and other social networks and helps build community cohesion. Reporting & Statistics: VentureNavigator will provide an administration interface that enables the Community Manager to view and download reports. User statistics can be enhanced by implementing a community questionnaire which helps to identify and target businesses that can benefit from local business support services. Leverage our Existing Community: Once we have created your community, every new VentureNavigator member that lives in your area will automatically be invited to join your community. We sign up thousands of new members every year, so you will benefit from our growing network. Widgets: Our widgets enable you to embed community news, events and discussions within your own website. We can also enable your members to log into VentureNavigator directly from your site.

Questionnaires: Get more detailed information about your members, their businesses and their needs. We can set up a Questionnaire for them to answer when they join your community. Member Upload: When you start your community, we can pre-load it with your existing contacts. Assessments: Once your community is up and running, we can set up Assessments for them. Assessments are intelligent questionnaires that signpost members to local resources. Competitions: Business Plan Competitions are one of the best ways of gathering information about your local business community and generating buzz. Our Competition feature enables you to set up sophisti-cated business plan competitions quickly and efficiently.

Community Management Training: Whilst setting up your community is important, you need to manage it effectively to get the best results. To help get you started we offer a non-technical training session that covers community planning, community management and marketing.

Prices VentureNavigator Business Communities are inherently cost-effective. By using the internet we are able to both reduce the cost of access to services and dramatically increase returns, especially in terms of data and reporting. By using our existing platform, we are able to offer low-cost implementation and provide our customers with the additional benefit of an existing member database. Prices are based on the population size of the Authority and are available on request.

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For More Information For more information or to arrange a demonstration, please contact Emma Hewett, Business Development Manager Tel: 07785 925065 Email: emma@venturenavigator.co.uk

www.venturenavigator.co.uk/business-communities

Community Manager Dashboard

Competition Management