Last week we wrapped up Summer Startup, our new series of entrepreneurship and startup business focused sessions which launched in June.
We understand that when starting a business, it can be hard to know where to start, or to know if you’re ‘doing the right thing’. Which is exactly why we created Summer Startup.
With over 230 London Met students and graduates registering to take part, we wanted to give them loads of super practical support over the 6-week series of workshops; whether they wanted to start a business, begin freelancing or simply improve existing skills.
Our enterprise team pooled together their knowledge and experience, and curated the sessions in order to offer valuable tools, knowledge and boost confidence and momentum for students and graduates to turn their ideas into a viable business.
In a recent post-programme feedback survey of Summer Startup, one participant told us “I just loved it. It was well structured and well delivered. The enthusiasm coming from the course leaders’ was palpable and inspirational. As soon as I attended the first session, I was telling others to join because I saw how much of an impact it had on me and my own outlook and understanding.”
While some ideas come to us spontaneously. Most good ones do not! The first session of Summer Startup called “Create Your Own Big Idea” gave students and graduates the opportunity to learn and use design thinking techniques to create great business ideas.
The following sessions dove into the passion, mindset and skills that entrepreneurs need to succeed and how to develop a practical business model, identifying early customers and defining what value a business can offer them.
For any business, big or small, branding and marketing are essential activities. We gave attendees loads of practical tips to help them get started with building a brand that their customers will love. Our in-house content guru introduced students and graduates to a range of amazing (and FREE) online tools to help them accelerate the launch and growth of their businesses.
With ideas nailed down, marketing and branding covered, we ran practical sessions to introduce simple techniques and the skills needed for finding and converting first customers. With most businesses benefiting from a website, we ran a session that looked into how to build your first website, and introduced a wide selection of tools and platforms for website building.
Towards the end of Summer Startup, our final sessions included the vital, yet commonly ignored legal basics like contracts, business structures and intellectual property. And the financial basics for businesses, which answered questions such as “What’s the difference between revenue and profit?”, “How much tax do I have to pay?” and “Do I need an accountant?”
For the final session of Startup Summer, we hosted an amazing Founder “Ask Me Anything” session, followed by a goal setting and next steps workshop. Students and graduates heard from some of the real-world entrepreneurs based at Accelerator, who gave insight into their own startup and business journeys and shared their top tips for success.