This 90 minute session will give you the unique opportunity to use a bespoke business development tool created by CENTRIM: The Centre for Change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management at the University of Brighton. The tool is called an Innovation Audit, and it is designed specifically for you to self assess your business and innovation needs, and during the session you will be led and supported through the process by our Innovation Advisor team.

The RISE Innovation Audit is a helpful self assessment tool for business owners and leaders to enable them to reflect and evaluate on all important aspects of their business in readiness for a new innovation – be that improving an existing product or service or creating something entirely new.

It is a valuable opportunity to step back from day to day operational issues, and give your business an objective health check at this point in time. The aim is firmly about identifying and prioritising your challenges, opportunities, and the actions needed to progress.

The RISE innovation audit tool will explore all core strategic areas of your business;

* vision

* people

* marketing,

* sales,

* operations,

* finance

* and innovation

Why is this important?

Without this assessment you might miss some of the key research and development areas you need to explore prior to investing more time and money into a new idea. Your innovation audit overall score and assessment will be confidential, but we will invite you to share your thoughts with peers in this group session to help benchmark and to help your self assessment.

The self assessment tool

The tool will be sent to you as a template in advance, where you can semi complete information about your business on the first page. Our Innovation Advisors will guide you through the rest during the session. At the end you will have your own personalised report with an infographic reflecting strengths and areas for development. This can be used to create actions that can be discussed in 121 follow up meetings with the RISE team.

Top tips and referrals to expertise

The team (and perhaps your peers) will be able to share additional tools to help you take a deeper dive in some areas, give advice on where to get more information or partners that can help or someone might have a useful contact or two to share.

How to prepare

We want the business health check innovation audit to be as beneficial and productive for you as possible – everyone will be at different stages, with different priorities; as we said above, your idea may be just that, an idea, or it may be more developed. To help prepare we recommend (only if appropriate), that you consider having supporting information with you such as:

* List of key decision makers involved in your new idea or innovation

* Budget, time frame and proof of any Intellectual Property protection

The Innovation audit has a state aid value of £216 but is free to you at point of delivery.

Click here for the RISE T&C’s

Click here for the RISE FAQ