Students continue their entrepreneurial journey with the Pioneer Programme 

Successful and aspiring entrepreneurs joined together to discuss how to grow a business and the value of authenticity.

On Saturday 1 December, the second session of Birkbeck’s Pioneer programme took place where students gained valuable advice for their business ventures from a range of entrepreneurs. Students heard from a successful freelancer, social entrepreneur as well as a specialist in growing businesses to learn about the various types of entrepreneurship.

Steve Folland, freelance video and audio producer and host of podcast ‘Being Freelance’, shared tangible guidelines for getting your first client along with his advice when starting out. He shared his experience in growing his freelance business and told students to be bold, keep meeting new people and always have a marketing focus among a plethora of other top tips and tricks.

Social entrepreneurship has proved a popular arena among Birkbeck students and Adeseye Lawal-Solarin shared his experience in setting up Young & Giving, an online platform using AI match individuals with mentors. Adeseye spoke about the importance of authenticity and the value of having advisors to support you along your journey. Entrepreneurship is a challenging route and being able to talk through the difficulties and gain thoughts from peers and advisors was a key piece of advice discussed.

The third talk of the session came from Clwyd Probert, CEO and Founder at Whitehat, who delivered an insightful session on growing a business with an effective inbound strategy. Blogging, sharing ideas and creating interest were among Clwyd’s top tips for students to enhance their ventures. A crucial discussion point was around dealing with setbacks and Clwyd advised students to ensure they gave themselves the headspace to deal with challenges that will inevitably arise.

After some fruitful networking and conversations around the different types of entrepreneurship presented, students got the chance to get their questions answered in an information-packed panel discussion. Kicking off with the topic of resilience in business, panellists revealed their key recommendations and reflections having been through the process in starting and growing their businesses. The ultimate advice? Keep pushing forward, step back to look at the context of situations, and make sure you are looking after yourself along the way.

The Pioneer programme, in partnership with Santander Universities, takes students on a journey to develop their business ideas and their entrepreneurial skills. The monthly workshops continue in the New Year.

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One thought on “Students continue their entrepreneurial journey with the Pioneer Programme 

  1. Adiel

    I am from Ravensbourne university in their business hub and started my business a few years ago, I got my inspiration from a similar model like this in our university. They should encourage more people to start their own business. Good job!

    Reply

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