19/04/2012
The Grad Factor – An opportunity for budding Cardiff University student entrepreneurs
‘The Grad Factor’ – the first university student digital TV show dedicated to graduate employment and student enterprise & entrepreneurship in the UK is to be screened from April 2012. The show creators are pleased to announce that they will be heading to Cardiff to film one of the shows on 25th April 2012!
The show will visit five different regions, examining differing industry sectors at each. The makers of the show will be visiting Cardiff next Wednesday and will be examining entrepreneurship in relation to the legal sector. As part of its ‘Grad Den’ section of the show, the makers hope to showcase three exciting Cardiff student business enterprises, the most popular of which will have a chance of appearing in a grand series finale in London in June 2012.
If you would like to get involved, please email hello@gradfactor.co.uk. You will need to declare whether you are looking to pitch for financial investment to get your business moving, offering a stake of the company in return – or whether you are already trading and are therefore presenting your product or service for the additional promotion and customer interest and gain the show will provide.
More about the show:
‘The Grad Factor’ – an engaging topical show that will offer students tips and advice on graduate employment, providing new work experience opportunities and live interviews with graduate employers. How graduates get jobs, what firms look for, how to succeed in job searches and interviews, and providing crucial insights into firms across various different sectors. The show will also champion student entrepreneurship providing mentoring and start up support to new student enterprises from around the UK.
‘The Grad Den’ – similar to Dragon’s Den this segment of the show will champion student entrepreneurship. Budding student entrepreneurs will be invited onto the show to pitch their business ideas to a live student audience from a particular region. It will showcase and link local entrepreneurs and local universities and lead onto a Grand Final to be filmed from London where the most popular student entrepreneurs as voted for by the university student population will pitch to a panel of successful entrepreneurs to win investment and mentorship to get their business off the ground.
11/04/2012
05/04/2012
20 days to Spark2012
6 Easy steps | 10 Questions | £5000 Prize
Cardiff University’s annual Idea Competition, Spark2012 will kick off in 20 days time (25 May 2012). This year’s competition will see current students contest for prizes under 3 categories (IDEAS, PLAN & VENTURES) and one prize for the most popular idea as voted by the public.
Students will also get the opportunity to apply and get feedback online for their entries, attend relevant workshops and get support from the Enterprise Team.
Watch the space. Details to follow.
30/03/2012
BBC3 Be Your Own Boss – Last chance to apply!
The countdown to the application closing deadline for BBC Three’s Be Your Own Boss starts now…
Budding entrepreneurs with amazing business ideas have until Sunday 8th April to apply.
Richard Reed, co-founder of innocent Drinks, has up to £1million that he is making available to entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas.
This could be a life changing opportunity. Check out Be Your Own Boss and apply before it’s too late.
Apply for your slice of Richard Reed’s investment fund, up to £1m available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/beonashow/
The application process is open for a limited time so if you’ve got a great business idea apply today!
See our previous blog posts about the show: 13th March & 15th March
Follow Be Your Own Boss on twitter: @BYOBoss_BBC3
Join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Be-Your-Own-Boss-BBC-Three/365962350095405
19/03/2012
Do you make the difference?
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) are recruiting for Summer projects and for Autumn 2012. They need energies students, like YOU! Check out this short video.
As part of SIFE you will have the opportunity to run a real life social enterprise project that aims to help those in need through the power of enterprise. This could be consulting an existing charity on how they can improve their business impact or helping young carers set up their very own business. It’s an excellent way to boost your CV, meet like minded people and network with our sponsors such as HSBC, Waitrose and KPMG and have fun.
Join SIFE today and make a real difference.
09/03/2012
Ignite 2012 – No limits!
IGNITE is a must-do event!
It doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are or what you study because the things you take away from the IGNITE experience are precious.
To name a few:
I learnt to appeal to people in different ways by trying to understand their body language and really engage with their personality. I pushed myself beyond my limits and in the process, “extended my boundaries” – meaning, I made more friends, got more points across, made more money, learnt more things, thought more things and discovered more of me.
IGNITE truly ignited the enterprising part of me and it was well-worth it.
Thank you 
Lalrinngheti Sangsiama – “Lalrin” (Law undergraduate)
Photo by Tin Lok Lee
07/03/2012
Ignite 2012 – A participant’s view
When Ignite 2012 began, I had no idea what to expect but whatever preconceptions I had at that point, is nowhere near the marvellous experience I am left with. The Ignite 2012 24 hour challenge was tough but we all had high hopes to be millionaires by the end of the 24 hours You know what? We might not have made all that cash but I do feel like a millionaire anyway. I have gained friends, had fun, and learned so much about myself, business and networking. It was a very practical, fully packed four days of excitement, feeling nervous, laughter, tears, being brave, afraid of failure, being inspired, working hard as a team to achieve our goals. This experience has given me the confidence to take off my shell and be myself as I was welcomed with open arms. Ignite was a total emotional rollercoaster and I loved it, I came out of it more confident and loved, I am very grateful to The Welsh Government for their support and the organisers for their time.
Thank you all very much,
Nardiah Belal (Biosciences undergraduate)
Photo by Tin Lok Lee
20/02/2012
Ignite 2012 – Be part of it!
Places for current Cardiff University students still available – applications must be received by midnight of Thursday 23rd February.
For further details and to apply visit www.ignite2012.co.uk now!
13/02/2012
Virtual Enterprise Conference 2012
Want to hear about the student who set up GaBoom the UK’s first site for trading video games online?
Or how one man left a promising career in advertising at a top UK firm to pursue his passion for developing ideas and starting business?
Back for 2012, Glyndŵr University’s Virtual Enterprise Conference will host speakers with inspirational web business success stories. The UK wide event, held from Wednesday 22nd – Thursday 23rd of Feb 2012, will focus on the opportunities available for students, businesses and entrepreneurs to develop products and services online
Day 1 of the conference gives you the opportunity to hear from:
Jessica Radcliff – CEO & Founder of GaBoom the UK’s first video game trading website.
Josh Liu – Founder of MinuteBox.com a portal which allows experts to charge micro sums for their advice.
Simon Grice – Serial internet entrepreneur and founder of Belocal a website connecting local people, services and events.
Day 2 of the conference will be held in Second Life, affording the opportunity to explore this amazing virtual world and what it can offer entrepreneurs with a range of guest speakers from education and industry including John Lester, returning for his third year to discuss the changing nature of virtual worlds, Dr David Bozward serial entrepreneur and specialist in mobile communications and John Ulotti a web designer and local small business owner joining is for his first ever conference presentation.
A Cardiff University student’s blog post regarding last year’s event: http://enterprisecardiff.net/2011/03/virtual-enterprise-conference-2011/
Successful applicants will travel from Cardiff to Wrexham by train on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st February arriving back in Cardiff on the evening of Thursday 23rd February. Travel and accommodation costs are covered.
For further details or to apply please contact enterprise@cardiff.ac.uk
10/02/2012
Ignite 2012 – 24 hours to make a profit!
The Ignite programme offers you the chance to become more enterprising, creative, employable and learn more about setting up a business. Using the model of business start-up as a vehicle for enterprise skills development, the programme aims to cultivate innovative individuals who can spot opportunities, tackle problems and work out original and inventive ways to change things for the better.
The event is designed to offer participants a range of experiences and benefits relevant to their professional development. Areas addressed during the programme will include:
• The role of networking
• Techniques for sound communication
• Differences between traditional and social businesses
• Team working skills
• Creative thinking skills
• Appreciate different ideas
• Strategic thinking
• Decision making skills
• The importance of marketing
• Pitching, presentation and negotiation techniques
• The initial challenges of going to market
Ignite is a Welsh Government funded intensive programme which has experienced year on year success. It is a joint collaboration between Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of Glamorgan, University of Wales, Newport and Cardiff University. Fifteen students from each institution attend Ignite, providing a unique opportunity to work with participants from different institutions in this innovative and exclusive context.
Ignite utilises a variety of teaching and learning methods to develop the skills and abilities of participants. Some highlights of the week include workshops on creative thinking skills, tips surrounding personal projection and control, workshops delivered by local entrepreneurs and speakers discussing a range of relevant issues including the hot topic of social enterprise.
Ignite culminates with a 24 hour business challenge. Students will pitch for their seed money in a tough Welsh Dragons Den. The challenge involves going out into the city of Cardiff to put what has been learnt to the test through various negotiation and selling techniques. Participants will be challenged to develop and implement a business idea from scratch, with the aim of making a profit within one day!
What do students say about Ignite?
We had sessions aimed at teaching us how to devise an effective market strategy, after which teams had to give mock pitches for the various creative but fictitious business enterprises each team came up with. It was clear at the end of all these activities that they were carefully devised to teach us various aspects of starting a business, in a way that was fun and unforgettable…we all had so much fun.
David Kemmer Amoda
I decided to stay in Cardiff for an extra week (and a bit) to take part in Ignite 2010. The event is set up by Cardiff Universities with Glamorgan, UWIC and Cardiff Uni students attending. And I will say now that it has been one of the best experiences of my life so far.
Adam Rush
Thanks everyone (especially the organisers) that was a brilliant week, definitely my best experience of Uni so far!
Symon Irving
Details
The event runs from 5pm Thursday 1st March to Sunday 4th March.
For more information please visit www.ignite2012.co.uk or email enterprise@cardiff.ac.uk