Focusing on Careers part one: Entrepreneurs
Published on 7 February 13
The first in our three part Careers special will focus on the help you can find to become a successful entrepreneur
Getting started
The Manchester Entrepreneur Society have organised a conference, ‘What’s Next’ where you can meet successful entrepreneurs and perhaps learn a few tricks of the trade. You can also take a look at their newsletter to find out more about what they do and how you can get involved.
The Careers service and MBS have organised a series of events related to starting a business. With advice from how to get started, how to write successful business plans and getting an entrepreneur Visa for International students.
Ideas Factory is another great event which gives you the opportunity to meet guest entrepreneurs and find out about how they managed to become a success. Take a look at Ideas Factory Events to find out about who will be appearing and when the events will be.
Competitions
Do you have a great idea but you’re unsure about pursuing a career in enterprise? Entering one of these competitions may be the perfect way for you to get a feel for it and possibly win some prizes along the way.
The Venture Further business start-up competition has launched with four categories – business, social, technology and Graphene – and there are prizes of £10,000 and £2,500 in each. All entries must be received by Friday 22 March 2013, so have a look online for details about how to enter.
You also still have time to enter the UMIP app competition for your chance to win an iPad and see your app become a reality.
Would you like to win £400 and a paid internship? If so, the Big Marketing Challenge is just the thing for you. You will be tasked with helping with the launch of Wallpark, the student channel, and by getting involved you can access mentoring and tutoring for the week of the challenge.
Words of wisdom
Many of our graduates have gone on to find great success as entrepreneurs; here are just a few with their stories about how they managed to get their ideas off the ground.
Nikolay, who graduated in 2010, now runs his own business that deals with ethically sourced diamonds. You can find out more about his journey on his blog.
A previous University of Manchester optometry student, Imran, gives an interview, where he tells us about how he got started as an entrepreneur and how his journey has gone so far.
If you’re thinking of entering the Venture Further competition and you would like to know more about what the competition managed to do for the previous winners, you can find out how Matthias and David are set to take on Europe with their award winning business.
If you’re still unsure about whether or not you’re cut out for starting a business, take a look at nothing to lose and everything to gain for an insight into what it takes to make it.