For the first time, business.connected has welcomed founders and business owners to in-person workshops, taking place across London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Since launching in 2021, business.connected has helped more than 800,000 small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) improve their skills by embracing new technologies.
Prior to September, this milestone had been achieved purely by way of online support, such as free access to e-learning modules and expert-led webinars.
This autumn, however, Vodafone has hosted its first in-person workshops, with more than 120 attending three business.connected Academy events, delivered by Vodafone Business in partnership with Enterprise Nation.
As part of a mission to upskill 1 million small businesses by the end of 2025, attendees witnessed a range of talks and panels on topics such as digital branding, social media and artificial intelligence (AI).
I think, when it comes to choosing a tool, there is something about longevity, because what you don’t want to do is have to switch it up every so often. With things like email [marketing] you’ve got to think about some of the technical stuff behind it, like warming up an IP address, which you don’t want to be doing over and over again.
Have an AI tool that deeply understands your business, beyond the surface level. Ask it to ask questions about your business and then respond to them in depth, so you can get tailored insights you previously had to engage experts for.
With social media, it’s not necessarily about being quick, it’s about building a community and finding people that love your brand, love your product, and love you for what you do…Social media is the point where you can come as yourself…and really represent who you are in order to build a customer base.
As a founder, time to yourself to think and learn is rare. So today felt like a luxury, 80 founders in one room, sharing experiences, swapping stories, and brilliant insights. It was a joy to sit, reflect and learn from everyone around me
“Being an entrepreneur is very lonely. I’m always at home creating content, so it’s been great to come here and speak to likeminded people, and to have people signposting stuff that I had never even thought about – helping to cover my blind spots.”
