BUSINESS: Sites we like - The British Library Business and IP Centre

Inspiration, practical examples, comprehensive knowledge, relevant information, easy to understand advice, answers, questions, models, templates, success stories, ideas, next steps - these can be found on the best of the many business blogs and websites offering guidance and support to small businesses.

Here's one in an intermittent series of reviews of sites we particularly like.

British Library Gate Shadow
The British Library Business & IP Centre (BLBIP)
Photograph by C.G.P. Grey, www.cgpgrey.com

Who are they?
Did you know that amongst its vast treasure trove of historical books and documents - a copy of the Magna Carta, Shakespeare's Folios, the draft score for Handel's Messiah, the lyrics of the Beatles' songs - the British Library also houses a forward looking business and intellectual property (IP) centre?

What's their objective?
Drawing on the UK's most comprehensive collection of business and intellectual property databases and publications, the BLBIP aims to 'support entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses from that first spark of inspiration to successfully launching and developing a business'.

What do they offer?
The BLBIP offers support in four areas:

    * Market research
    * Business planning
    * Business networking
    * Protecting your ideas

What's best about them?
Online you can browse videos of celebrity speakers, such as Alan Sugar, Sarah Beeny and Doug Richard sharing their experiences at the Inspiring Entrepreneurs events.

If you can, visit the Library in person to benefit from free clinics covering marketing, legal, IP and ethical business issues. Or, what I'd most like to do (if I wasn't 200 miles away), attend a range of fantastic events and workshops, many of which are also free.

November's events include workshops on SEO for small businesses, trends, building an outstanding online brand, knowing your market, business basics, making it as an entrepreneur, a beginner's guide to intellectual property, a beginners guide to business finance ...

... and from 15-19 November, Global Entrepreneurship Week which is all about meeting the right people to take your business forward. There'll be speed mentoring offering the opportunity to talk informally with business experts and successful entrepreneurs during the days dedicated to Women's Enterprise, Social Enterprise, Innovation, Boosting your Business and Business Basics. In the evenings two special events are planned, a Creative Networking Evening and Question Time for Entrepreneurs with a panel featuring BBC Dragon Deborah Meaden, Mydeco and Lastminute.com's Brent Hoberman and designer Cath Kidston.

Where can they be found?
Online at the British Library Business & IP Centre.

A short walk from St Pancras and King's Cross Stations in London at:

British Library Business & IP Centre
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB

Check this page for details of opening times and how to get a reader's pass.

If you are able to go along to any of their events, please let us know - we'd love to hear your thoughts.