Birkbeck’s aspiring entrepreneurs attended the third event in this year’s Pioneer programme, to learn how to grow a business with minimal resources from those who’ve done it.
On Saturday 12 January, Birkbeck’s Pioneer programme continued with over 120 students attending a morning of interactive talks from two successful entrepreneurs on lean business. Having gained tips and advice around innovation and ideation in session one, followed by different types of entrepreneurship in session two, students started to get actions in place to move their business ideas forward.
First up, Carlos Saba, Co-Founder of The Happy Start-up School took students on a journey to finding purpose in their business ideas, after a quick meditation session to get us all focused. Mindfulness and happiness are two areas that weaved their way throughout Carlos’ talk and it was clear that students related to this approach when thinking of their business ventures ahead of them.
Students were set a challenge to think about their ‘Happy Value Statement’, a tool included in the organisation’s Stop Dreaming Start Doing e-course, which is about “communicating what you do in the terms of solving people’s problems or making their lives better.” Carlos reiterated the importance of being more customer focused to help students get a clearer idea of the real value they are offering.
Part two of the session welcomed Julie Creffield, Founder of global fitness movement Too Fat to Run and award-winning blogger, author and life coach, to share her start-up story in successfully bootstrapping her business. Julie’s session provided a great follow on from Carlos, giving students practical examples and advice on getting their business started and beyond with minimal resources.
The big message of the day was to Think Bigger; aiming higher than you initially thought of and setting the bar beyond what you think is possible. Julie works with organisations globally to think bigger, behave better and make more of an impact and this message spurred students to take action after the workshop, ready to push forward with their ventures.
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 February with a hands-on pitching workshop.
