°×С½ãÂÛ̳

Overview

This free 6-week programme will help you start to turn your idea or passion into a viable business or social enterprise.

You’ll work alongside other entrepreneurs to sharpen your skills, stress test your ideas and establish a market for your business or social enterprise.

You'll also have the chance to win a portion of the £3,000 prize fund to help develop your business further.

Who it’s for

This programme is for °×С½ãÂÛ̳ students who are new to entrepreneurship.

Staff, research associates and recent graduates (within 2 years of graduating) may also take part but will not be able to win the prize money or in-kind mentoring.

You don’t need any experience or a business idea. If you don’t already have an idea to explore, the first session will help you come up with an idea to work on for the rest of the programme.

Eligibility

You’ll need to:

• commit to attending the first session of the programme and at least 4 of the 5 other sessions 
• have thought about an idea you want to develop into a business or social enterprise, or have a passion for creating impact in a specific field e.g. health, environment, education, technology etc.
• show you’re keen to build the knowledge and skills required for a startup 

Businesses already in the Hatchery incubator or endorsed for a Start-up or Innovator visa cannot attend.

What you’ll learn

The programme will help you:

• develop confidence in your idea
• explore and test your idea to ensure it's realistic
• understand who your customers and stakeholders are
• understand the steps to getting your service or product to your customers
• understand business basic finance, including cost structures and revenue streams
• perform market research
• practise and improve your business pitching skills

What to expect

This course runs over 6 weeks, with one session each week.

Session will be on the °×С½ãÂÛ̳ East campus, on Tuesday evenings from 4pm to 6.30pm, except the final session which will be on a Wednesday at °×С½ãÂÛ̳ BaseKX (near King's Cross).

In the interactive, activity-based sessions, you’ll work through each section of the Business Model Canvas to stress-test your idea, and ultimately create a final pitch deck and presentation of your work.

You’ll receive a certificate of completion and learn about opportunities for developing your idea further.

Pitching competition

In the final session, you'll have the chance to take part in a pitching competition and win a portion of the £3,000 prize fund.

It’s not compulsory but it’s a great way to practise your presentation skills.

To qualify you’ll need to:

• attend 5 out of 6 sessions
• show how you’ve explored and tested your idea

While everyone on the programme is welcome to take part in the competition, only students are eligible to win prize money or in-kind mentoring prizes. If you're part of a team, you'll only be able to win any prize money if the lead applicant is a °×С½ãÂÛ̳ student.

Accessibility

If you have any accessibility requirements or requests, please let us know in the signup form.

Photography

Filming and photography will take place at this event for promotional purposes. The photographs and recordings will appear on our website and social media channels. If you do not wish to be filmed or photographed, please let a member of staff know on arrival.

Dates and times

This programme has 6 sessions in total:

• Tuesday, 22 October 2024, 4pm to 6:30pm
• Tuesday, 29 October 2024, 4pm to 6:30pm
• Tuesday, 5 November 2024, 4pm to 6:30pm
• Tuesday, 12 November 2024, 4pm to 6:30pm
• Tuesday, 19 November 2024, 4pm to 6:30pm
• Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 4pm to 6:30pm

Read our privacy notice to understand how °×С½ãÂÛ̳ Innovation & Enterprise will deal with your personal data.

°×С½ãÂÛ̳ Innovation & Enterprise reserves the right to make changes to the programme, location and/or speakers without prior notice. Such alterations are occasionally necessary due to circumstances beyond our control.