SME Accelerator

On Saturday 30^th November, the inaugural SME Accelerator Programme was held in the Hilton Hotel to help fledgling entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. A partnership between the British Chamber of Commerce and the Entrepreneurs Organization, the event included an array of professionals and entrepreneurs to provide inspiration and practical knowledge.

Presentations

Every presenter gave a deeply practical fifteen-minute presentation, filled with resources and useful connections, before five minutes of rapid-fire questions

LiLing representing the Beijing Government introduced Beijing and explained why it was such a strong city for start up growth and how they could support small businesses.

Betty Zhang, Accounting and Tax Manager from Lee and Lee Associates, a leading accounting and business consulting firm, focused on structure, HR and tax.

Jessica Lam, Co-founder of Kaiterra, helped attendees to understand the power of core values and how to develop meaningful values that can last.

Russell Brown OBE, Managing Partner of Lehman Brown, a global business and accounting firm, looked at controlling cash flow, forecasting and leaving the valley of death.

Kit Harford, CEO and Co-founder of Tech Trek, gave essential advice on building a robust HR system that can run cost effectively, avoid risk and utilise outsourcing.

Steven Ducker, Risk Assurance Partner from PwC, a leading professional network of tax services, looked at the common risks facing SMEs and how to prepare for an unknown future

Sophie Su, Co-Founder of Pingo Space, covered everyway that a small company can utilise their team and their clients to make sure every part of the organisation is driving marketing.

Yujun Shao from Westwin, a global marketing consultancy firm, covered the six key areas that any company needs to build effective branding and marketing online.

Julian Fisher, Co-Founder and Partner of Venture Education, looked at value propositions and turning intangible value into tangible assets for a small business.

Ross Parsonage, Senior Consultant from Rouse, an IP services business focused on emerging markets, covered every aspect of IP including copyright, trademarks and patents

Paul Rochon, CEO of Paddy O’Shea’s covered community building and establishing and understanding the core needs of consumers; and how to track and build on these needs.

Claudia Masueger, CEO and Founder of CHEERS Wines shared in detail the core elements that are required for strong leadership and sustainable company growth.

Daisy Shen, Partner in KPMG, a multinational professional services network, described the beauty dance and the key elements to successfully attract investment in China.

We are the feedback of the event?

“The presentations were inspiring, informative and fun.”

 “Today’s presentations were very informative and helpful. I learned a lot. Finding your core values can really help you to make decisions and embracing challenges makes you a better person. I loved the presentations. They were so efficient and effective.” – Claire Hu, Manager of Business Consulting, Lee and Lee Associates

“This was an excellent opportunity for us attendees, we all felt very engaged about the highly relevant and conceived topics. The presenter’s ways of engaging with concrete cases/experience made this a very educational experience. All speakers hit precisely the point that us entrepreneurs wanted to know about. Look forward to the next one!” – Lisha Tang, Co-founder/ China Director, Gotoco

EO Forum

Next, attendees engaged in a 90-minute mini-EO forum to understand the proves that can reveal insecurities, discover real needs, share/learn from experiences and provide a clear path for both personal and professional growth.

“The forum experience was, in my opinion the best part of the day. It is a space where entrepreneurs can share confidentially, without judgement and learn from each other.”

Final Stop

The day concluded with a visit to Arrow Factory Brewing and a final talk of the day (and a beer) with founder Will Yorke who discussed almost everything that had been covered throughout the day as he reflected on his own entrepreneurial journey.

We look forward to seeing a new group of ambitious entrepreneurs next November!

“It’s a super good opportunity to see so many brilliant people from all over the world, presenting unique and effective business ideas. A fantastic group of pragmatic people! I love you all!”– Frank Wang, Founder and CEO, Practical Translation Ltd.

“New ideas. New considerations. New Connections. All of these help with making business in China easier. Great event!

“No matter how much you already know, there’s always something new to learn.” – Sherna, Sole Proprietor, Shanghai Zarina Educational Tehcnology Co. Ltd.

 “The SME Accelerator was a very well organised event filled with an array of knowledgable speakers. I particularly enjoyed the talks on IP and marketing, but my greatest insight had led me to revaluate my value proposition” – Nasim Syed, Co-founder, Mon Soleil International Edudcation and Technology Company Ltd.

“The best event about Entrepreneurship that I have been to. All the speakers were right on topic and so willing to share.”

“The event was spectacular! Great speakers that nicely opened up about themselves and their advice was on point.”

If you are interested in joining the British Chamber, please contact: joyce.chan@britishchamber.cn

If you are interested in joining the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, please contact: eochinanorth@eochina.org