Student Enterprise

BBC3 are looking for entrepreneurs with fantastic business ideas who want funding!

Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks, has an investment fund of up to £1million that he is making available to entrepreneurs with a fantastic business idea or perhaps a business they’ve already got off the ground.

12 years ago Richard started his business with his two university friends, Adam and Jon, but it very nearly didn’t get started because they couldn’t find an investor. Today, Richard wants to give the next generation of Great British entrepreneurs a helping hand in getting started. He’s looking to meet 500 businesses to invest in.

To apply to take part in this exciting new BBC3 TV series, you need to be over 18 and will have either started a small business or have a great idea that you really want to follow through with.

Look out for updates on twitter @BYOBoss_BBC3.
Visit the BBC3 website for further details about the programme.
Visit the programme website to apply.

A prime opportunity for 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!

The show will visit five different regions, examining differing industry sectors at each. The makers of the show will be visiting Cardiff on the Wednesday 25th April 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 enterprise@cardiff.ac.uk stating ‘Grad Factor’ in the email subject heading, with your contact details and a brief overview of your potential enterprise pitch.

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.

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

The Cardiff Award

Are you interested in developing your skills and seeking opportunities that will enhance your CV and make you stand out from the crowd?

There is a new employability Award that has been developed by the Careers and Employability Service, the Student Union and industry called the Cardiff Award This Award recognises and rewards the efforts of students who undertake extra-curricular activities and work experience; not only that it develops, skills, self-confidence and professionalism. Those involved will REALLY stand out from other students and will have the ability to sell themselves to future recruiters. The Award is a unique scheme and places are limited to just 150 for the academic term 2012 – 2013.

To find out more watch this short video:

The Award is currently in its pilot phase and has a number of students from across the University School involved, here’s what some of them say:

“The Award has highlighted the key skills employers desire and need you to have as a graduate. It really prepares you for the world of work, giving you chance to practice skills, such as teamwork and problem solving, in active workshops, and gives huge support along the way. The Award has been a brilliant opportunity to develop the skills I already had. If you want to further your career, network with top employers, and enhance your CV, then get involved”
Helen Cameron, 2nd year English Language & Communication

“The Cardiff Award provides me with great opportunity to really make the most of and emphasise my extra-curricular activities to employers. It’s the best thing Cardiff University has ever done!”
Natalie Crawford, 2nd Year, Business Information Systems

Applications are open now! The team are recruiting for the next academic year.
The deadline for applications is Friday March 30th.

You get the opportunity to meet the Award team at the Work Experience Help Zone on Thursday 23rd February, 11am – 1pm in the Humanities Cafe, if you can’t make this then please e-mail your questions to cardiffaward@cardiff.ac.uk

You can follow us on Twitter too: @cardiffaward

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity!

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

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!

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

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

Impress lots of entrepreneurs

Capital Cardiff is annual event with the aim of connecting the local business community. This year young people are being offered the opportunity mix with local firms in a one off challenge to solve a real business problem. Employers and entrepreneurs will be on hand to support development and cast their eye over the next generation of gradate talent in a workshop.

To enable the student and entrepreneur mix, Student Enterprise Cardiff will be hosting a one off workshop that will test the aptitude of students in being able to make a difference. Employers desire graduates that can solve problems. This workshop will allow students to demonstrate their problem solving and innovative capacity (in front of those that they may want to impress!)

We are now looking for capable individuals to represent themselves in a one off challenge. Do you have what it takes? Register now or talk to one of the team .

Date: Wednesday 29th February
Time: 2-4pm

Creative Thinking, 11am today

Employers are looking for graduates who are able to offer lateral thinking and new ideas to their business. Today’s 11am workshop aims to define innovative thinking, offering practical steps to generating new ideas. If you’re interested in becoming more innovative in your approach just turn up at the SDU, Students’ Union for 11am. This activity is eligible under the Cardiff Award.