FAQs

Help to Grow: Management Essentials is an online-only, self-guided course designed for leaders and senior managers of small- and medium-sized (SME) businesses, and charities.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials has been developed by SME experts at business schools accredited by the Small Business Charter, and by the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials is funded by the Department of Business and Trade.

The Help to Grow: Management Course was created to help SME business leaders and senior managers develop their leadership skills and unlock the potential of their companies. Following the success of this 12-week course, we have launched Help to Grow: Management Essentials to ensure that all charity and SME leaders and senior managers can access the support and skills they need to grow their organisations.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials has been designed for leaders and senior managers at SMEs and charities. This course covers essential business concepts, and is particularly relevant to micro businesses; those SME leaders and senior managers who feel they are not yet ready to embark on the fuller Help to Grow: Management Course; and anyone wanting a quick refresher on key management strategies and concepts.

The course consists of 17 short videos that will introduce you to the essential business frameworks to achieve your goals. It also includes accompanying resources that will help you reflect on what you have learned in the videos, as well as information on other support available to SMEs.

The videos feature excerpts from interviews with UK business leaders, which were originally produced for the Help to Grow: Management Course, our fuller course. The videos also discuss UK case studies relevant to the topics covered in each of them. They will help you reflect on how you can grow your business.

All our content has been created and is used for educational purposes.

Yes, the course is free of charge. There is no course fee.

There is no complicated application process. Simply fill in this registration form, and then you will be ready to start.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials has been designed for senior decision-makers working for SMEs and charities.

All senior decision-makers working for SMEs and charities are welcome to register. There is no limit to how many employees from the same organisation can register for the course.

You can register for the course by completing this registration form.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials will help you identify your organisation’s strengths and start creating a plan to achieve your goals.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials is made up of three modules, each of them containing a small number of units. Each unit includes a short video and a selection of resources. Once you have completed all of the units, you will only need to fill out a short feedback survey to access your Help to Grow: Management Essentials certificate.

We estimate that it should not take more than two hours of study time to watch all the videos in the course. The course also includes accompanying resources as well as information on other support available to SMEs.

All course videos have closed captions and transcripts. To turn them on or off, click the relevant buttons in the player controls at the bottom right of the videos.

During registration, you will be asked if you prefer to watch the videos in British Sign Language (BSL). If you have already registered and would like to watch the videos in BSL, please use the Contact Us form to let us know.

You will gain access to Help to Grow: Management Essentials as soon as you complete the registration form. Once you filled in the registration form, you will receive an email from [email protected] with a link to the platform.

You will continue to have access to Help to Grow: Management Essentials for as long as the programme is running.

If you would like to reset your password, log out of the content platform and click the ‘Login’ button again. In the new screen, click ‘Forgot your password?’ and follow the instructions.

There is no time limit to complete the course. You will continue to have access to the content platform for as long as the programme is running.

To receive your Help to Grow: Management Essentials certificate, you will need to complete all the course units and fill out a short feedback survey.

You will be able to mark the units as complete after watching the videos in full.

If you have a query that relates to one of the course units, please complete the contact form you will find at the bottom of the relevant unit page.

If your query does not relate to a specific unit, please complete the contact form here.

If you would like to change your email address or your name, contact [email protected].

We will contact you a few weeks after you register for Help to Grow: Management Essentials to ask for your feedback. If we believe you meet the eligibility criteria, we will also invite you to register for the more in-depth, 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course.

The Help to Grow: Management Course is more in-depth than Help to Grow: Management Essentials. It provides eligible business leaders with the opportunity to step back from their business, put together a growth action plan, and start the process of implementing changes to their business and developing their role as leaders. The Help to Grow: Management Course includes 12 workshops as well as peer group sessions and 10 hours of one-to-one mentoring, while Help to Grow: Management Essentials is an online-only, self-guided course.

It is necessary to meet the eligibility criteria and pay a course fee to register for the Help to Grow: Management Course, while Help to Grow: Management Essentials is free of charge and open to everyone.

You can find more information about the Help to Grow: Management Course on the Small Business Charter website.

The Help to Grow: Management Course is a more comprehensive version of Help to Grow: Management Essentials. If you have already taken part in the Help to Grow: Management Course, you could still complete Help to Grow: Management Essentials as a way of refreshing your knowledge of the key topics covered in the fuller course.

You could also invite other decision-makers in your organisation, or the rising stars in your team, to register for Help to Grow: Management Essentials.

You do not need to complete Help to Grow: Management Essentials to register for the Help to Grow: Management Course.

You can register for the Help to Grow: Management Course at any time on the Small Business Charter website. You will need to register with one of the business schools delivering the course, meet the eligibility criteria, and pay the course fee.