Turn your idea into reality with Venture Out from Manchester Business School
Published on 11 October 12
No matter what course you're studying, here’s your chance to win a £500 cash prize and and take your ideas to the next level.
The University’s annual enterprise ideas competition Venture Out has launched, giving you the opportunity to win a cash prize to turn your idea into a reality. Aimed at students across the University, judges are looking for ideas that will have an impact on the lives of others and the world in which we live.
There are three prize categories - Venture Out Business, Venture Out Social and Venture Out Technology.
There are three cash prizes in each category:
1st - £500
2nd - £250
3rd - £100
The closing date for entries is Tuesday 27 November and winners will be announced at an awards ceremony early in December.
Previous successes
Following the competition, Hiren Odedra went on to have international success in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge with his ethical coffee shop business idea, Coffrica. Hiren said: “The Venture Out competition helped me to polish my idea and make it realistic.”
Fellow 2011 finalist and current Master of Enterprise (MEnt) student, Christina Rehana Taylor, commented: “The competition gave me a lot of confidence and allowed me to consolidate my ideas to give me a clear vision about what I wanted to do.”
Details of Christina’s success since her involvement with the Venture Out awards can be found here.
|
Andrew Jervis, creator of PieBoy clothing, is also a previous winner of the Venture Out competition. Andrew went on to further success by winning a further £1,000 in the Shell LiveWIRE competition and he is now recognised as one of the nation’s top young entrepreneurs. Andrew’s current project, PieBoy clothing, has become a great success and has garnered lots of interest with flash mobs descending on campus during Welcome Week. To find out more about PieBoy clothing you can follow their page on Facebook. |
Ideas Factory
Struggling to come up with that groundbreaking invention? Not a problem, we have also launched Ideas Factory – a series of weekly events featuring successful entrepreneurs who will share details of their entrepreneurial journey.
The events will inspire you and give you the opportunity to ask questions and network with the entrepreneurs and other enterprising students.
There’s free lunch and refreshments too.
For more information about these sessions including the timetable of events and speakers, click here.
Ideas Factory guest entrepreneur sessions
On Monday, 15 October at 12.30pm we welcome Jayne Lawton, Founder and Owner of Grobox Gardens, who will be sharing details about how she went from her initial idea to building a successful business.
Jayne is a trained horticulturist with the Royal Horticultural Society and a qualified horticultural lecturer. Through her time lecturing partially sighted students, Jayne identified a gap in the marketplace for a designer growing box product with a collection of handpicked scented plants.
Jayne has been awarded:
- British Female Innovator of the Year 2006
- Packard Bell Independent Working Mum of the Year 2006
- Orange Business Innovation of the Year 2006 - Highly commended
- Grazia / O2 Female entrepreneur of the Year 2007 – Finalist
- National Packing Awards for Design
Ideas Factory is our weekly session for students interested in enterprise and entrepreneurship and gives you the opportunity to network with successful entrepreneurs and fellow enterprising students.
Full event details and registration information can be found on the Manchester Enterprise Centre website.
Getting started
Struggling to come up with that groundbreaking invention? Not a problem, you can visit one of our drop in clinics, with expert help available for any problems you might be facing.
You can also look for inspiration on Twitter - tweet @Venture_Out with your problems that need solving. By doing this, you will also be in with the chance of winning a prize, given to the most interesting dilemmas each week.
Further information
For further information about Venture Out, Ideas Factory and other enterprise activities, visit www.mbs.ac.uk/mec or search ‘Manchester Enterprise Centre’ on Facebook.