Be Your Brand 2026
Simply Business Club Is Delighted to Partner with Be Your Brand 2026
Join Us at The Village Hotel, Maidstone on 29th September
At Simply Business Club, we’re passionate about bringing business people together, encouraging meaningful conversations and creating opportunities to learn, connect and collaborate. That’s why we’re delighted to announce that Simply Business Club is a partner of Be Your Brand 2026, and we’ll be attending what promises to be a fantastic day for the Kent business community.
Be Your Brand takes place on Tuesday 29th September 2026 at The Village Hotel, Maidstone, with doors opening at 9am for coffee and networking ahead of the main event programme from 10am until 3pm.
Described as Kent’s Biggest Business Mastermind Event, Be Your Brand brings together business owners, entrepreneurs, leaders, managers and professionals for a day focused on business growth, personal development, visibility, resilience, marketing and making valuable connections.
It’s an approach that fits perfectly with our philosophy at Simply Business Club. Business growth doesn’t happen in isolation. It comes from meeting people, exchanging knowledge, hearing different perspectives, challenging your own thinking and developing relationships with people who can become part of your wider professional network.
We’re therefore delighted to be supporting the event, and we hope to see plenty of familiar SBC faces – and meet lots of new ones – on the day.
What Is Be Your Brand?
Be Your Brand is a business event designed to help attendees step away from the everyday demands of running a company and spend time thinking about themselves, their businesses and what could help them move forward.
The theme for the September event is The Power of the Prompt.
Most of us are becoming increasingly familiar with the idea of prompting through artificial intelligence. The quality of the information we put into an AI system can have a significant impact on the quality of what comes back.
Be Your Brand takes that idea and applies it to the way we think.
What are you feeding your mind?
Are you constantly focusing on problems, doubts and pressures, or are you creating the right environment to think differently, recognise opportunities and move your business forward?
Throughout the day, attendees will hear from speakers covering different aspects of running, promoting and developing a business, alongside subjects relating to mindset, resilience and personal development.
There will also be opportunities to network, have conversations and connect with other people from the Kent business community.
Who Is Be Your Brand For?
One of the great things about Be Your Brand is that it isn’t designed exclusively for one particular type or size of company.
The event is aimed at business owners, sole traders, leaders, SMEs, managers and entrepreneurs.
That makes it particularly relevant to people who have responsibility not only for delivering what their business does, but also for deciding where that business goes next.
You might have built considerable expertise in your industry but struggle to communicate that expertise to a wider audience. You could have a great business that isn’t receiving the visibility you believe it deserves.
Alternatively, your business may be growing successfully on paper, but maintaining that success is beginning to take its toll. The constant demands of customers, staff, emails, meetings, marketing and everyday decision-making can leave business owners feeling as though they’re always reacting rather than controlling the direction of their company.
Others may simply feel stuck in a cycle of continually working harder without necessarily achieving the progress they want.
Be Your Brand is designed to address many of these challenges by providing practical ideas, different perspectives and opportunities to think about your business away from your normal working environment.
A Fantastic Programme of Business Speakers
One of the biggest reasons to attend Be Your Brand in Maidstone is the variety of subjects being covered throughout the day.
Rather than concentrating entirely on one aspect of business, the programme explores a range of subjects that can influence both personal and commercial success.
Dr Ant Webb – The Power of the Prompt
Dr Ant Webb will open the main programme and set the scene for the day, exploring the central theme of The Power of the Prompt.
The event challenges attendees to consider the connection between the information we continually feed ourselves and the thoughts, behaviours and outcomes that follow.
It forms part of a wider focus on practical resilience, mental wealth and taking greater ownership of the direction in which you and your business are heading.
David Barrington – Coach, Mentor or Consultant?
Business owners frequently hear that they should seek outside support, but what type of support do they actually need?
David Barrington will explore the differences between a coach, mentor and consultant, helping business owners better understand the different roles and when each approach might be appropriate.
This can be particularly useful for anyone considering bringing external expertise into their business but unsure where to begin.
Sam Fuszard – Automation Made Easy
Automation is becoming increasingly important for businesses looking to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of time spent completing repetitive tasks.
Sam Fuszard will tackle the subject of automation made easy, helping attendees consider how technology and smarter processes can potentially simplify the way they work.
For busy business owners constantly wishing there were more hours in the day, this could provide some particularly useful ideas.
Richard Woods – How to Get Real Results From LinkedIn
LinkedIn provides businesses with access to an enormous professional audience, but simply having a profile and occasionally posting doesn’t automatically produce results.
Richard Woods will explore how to get real results from LinkedIn, providing insights into how businesses and professionals can make better use of one of the world’s most established professional networking platforms.
For anyone looking to increase their visibility, demonstrate expertise and develop new professional connections online, this should be an extremely relevant session.
Melanie Lee – Where to Start With TikTok
TikTok can sometimes feel like unfamiliar territory for established businesses, but its enormous audience means it is increasingly difficult to ignore as a marketing platform.
Melanie Lee will discuss where to start with TikTok, helping businesses understand how the platform can potentially become part of their wider marketing and visibility strategy.
Kathy Hayman – Getting the Most From a Coach
Working with a business coach can provide accountability, perspective and support, but simply hiring a coach doesn’t guarantee results.
Kathy Hayman will explore getting the most from a coach, looking at how business owners can approach coaching relationships and make better use of the expertise and support available to them.
Richard and Meri – The Power of a Podcast
Podcasting has become an increasingly powerful way for businesses and individuals to share expertise, tell stories and build authority.
Richard and Meri will explore the power of a podcast, including a live demonstration guest interview.
For businesses considering podcasting as part of their content marketing, personal branding or authority-building strategy, seeing the process demonstrated live could provide some valuable inspiration.
Martha King – Never Give Up When Things Don’t Go to Plan
Every business owner knows that things don’t always go according to plan.
Customers disappear. Projects change. Opportunities fall through. Unexpected challenges appear.
Martha King will discuss the importance of continuing when circumstances don’t develop as expected, providing a reminder of the role resilience and persistence can play in business.
Tracey Vince – What Makes Your Website Tick?
For most modern businesses, a website is one of their most important marketing assets.
Tracey Vince will explore what makes your website tick, looking at an area that should be particularly relevant to any business wanting its online presence to work harder.
A website shouldn’t simply exist. It should communicate what you do, represent your business effectively and help potential customers take the next step.
Tim Aker – How You Present Yourself Matters
First impressions count in business.
Tim Aker will discuss how you present yourself matters, exploring an important subject for anyone representing themselves or their organisation in front of customers, prospects and fellow professionals.
Presentation isn’t simply about appearance. How we communicate, behave and represent ourselves can all influence the impression people form of us and, by extension, our businesses.
Rob Hall – Turning Things Around
Rob Hall will share what he took away from working with Dr Ant and how those lessons helped him turn his life around.
Personal experiences can often make some of the most powerful business talks because they move beyond theory and demonstrate what change can look like in practice.
James Gardner – When and How to Say No
Business owners often become accustomed to saying yes.
Yes to customers. Yes to opportunities. Yes to additional work. Yes to meetings. Yes to favours.
But knowing when to say no can be equally important.
James Gardner will explore when and how to say no, an important subject for anyone trying to protect their time, establish boundaries and concentrate their energy on the things that genuinely matter.
More Than Just Listening to Speakers
A strong business event shouldn’t simply involve sitting in a chair listening to presentations all day.
It should create conversations.
Doors open at 9am, providing attendees with an opportunity to enjoy a coffee and begin networking before the speaker programme gets underway.
There are also breaks throughout the programme, creating further opportunities to speak with fellow attendees, discuss what you’ve heard and make new connections.
From a Simply Business Club perspective, this is one of the most valuable aspects of attending events such as Be Your Brand.
You never know who you’ll meet.
The person sitting beside you could become a customer, supplier, collaborator or referral partner. They might know someone you’ve been trying to reach, have experience of a challenge you’re currently facing or simply provide a completely different perspective on an idea you’ve been considering.
Sometimes the most valuable part of attending a business event begins with a conversation you weren’t expecting to have.
Why Is Attending Business Events So Important?
Running a business can easily become all-consuming.
There are always customers to look after, emails to answer, jobs to complete, invoices to send and problems requiring attention.
That makes it tempting to look at a business event and think:
“I haven’t got time.”
But occasionally getting away from the day-to-day running of your business can be exactly what you need.
Events give you an opportunity to stop working in your business for a few hours and start thinking about it.
A single idea from a speaker could change how you approach a particular challenge.
One introduction could develop into an important professional relationship.
A conversation over coffee could introduce you to a service capable of saving your business considerable time.
You may discover a marketing approach you haven’t considered, recognise an opportunity to automate part of your workload or hear somebody describe a challenge almost identical to your own.
Even if you return to work with just one genuinely useful idea and one valuable new connection, the day could have a lasting impact.
Expand Your Business Network
Naturally, we couldn’t talk about attending Be Your Brand without mentioning business networking.
At Simply Business Club, we continually encourage businesses to expand their professional circles.
If you only ever speak to the same people, attend the same meetings and operate within the same network, the opportunities available to you can become limited.
Events introduce new people into that circle.
They provide an opportunity to reconnect with people you already know while also meeting professionals you might never otherwise encounter.
Importantly, you don’t need to approach every conversation thinking about making a sale.
Ask people about their businesses.
Find out why they’ve attended.
Discuss the speakers.
Share ideas.
Ask what challenges they’re currently facing.
That’s often where the most interesting conversations begin.
Simply Business Club Is Proud to Be a Be Your Brand Partner
We’re delighted that Simply Business Club is partnering with Be Your Brand and supporting an event that encourages business owners to connect, learn and develop.
There is a natural alignment between the two communities.
SBC has always believed that business becomes stronger when people communicate, exchange knowledge and support one another. Networking can open doors, but its real value comes from the relationships and conversations that develop afterwards.
Be Your Brand adds another dimension by bringing businesses together around a programme of learning, personal development and practical business insights.
For us, that’s something worth supporting.
John Turner of Simply Business Club said:
“We’re absolutely delighted for Simply Business Club to be partnering with Be Your Brand. There is so much value in bringing business people together to share ideas, learn from each other’s experiences and make new connections. The speaker programme covers some incredibly relevant subjects for today’s business owners, but I’m equally looking forward to the conversations that will happen throughout the day. You never know where one introduction or one new idea might lead, and that’s exactly why events like Be Your Brand are so important.”
What Could You Take Away From Be Your Brand?
The organisers have designed the event around three broad outcomes: practical resilience, growth mastery and ownership tools.
Attendees will be encouraged to think about managing stress and developing greater mental resilience while also exploring modern drivers of business growth, including social media, podcasting and digital visibility.
There will also be an emphasis on taking ownership of business results and identifying the actions that could help people recharge, refocus and move forward.
Add to that the opportunity to spend several hours surrounded by other ambitious business people, and there should be plenty to think about on the journey home.
Be Your Brand 2026 – Event Details
Date: Tuesday 29th September 2026
Doors Open: 9am for coffee and networking
Main Programme: 10am–3pm
Venue: The Village Hotel, Castle View, Forstal Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 3AQ
Free parking is available for event attendees, with visitors required to register their vehicle at reception.
Get Your Tickets Now
If you’re a business owner, sole trader, entrepreneur, manager, SME leader or professional looking for fresh ideas, useful business insights and the opportunity to meet more people from across the Kent business community, we’d love to see you at Be Your Brand 2026.
Come along, hear from the speakers, join the conversations and make the most of the opportunity to step away from your everyday routine and spend some time concentrating on you and your business.
And, of course, make sure you come and say hello to the Simply Business Club team while you’re there.