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Explore your entrepreneurial idea

This free 6-week programme will help you start to turn your idea or passion into a viable business or social enterprise. You'll also have the chance to win a share of £3,000.

Overview

Work alongside other entrepreneurs to sharpen your skills, stress test your ideas and establish a market for your business or social enterprise.

For: All students, staff and recent graduates
Location: UCL BaseKX, 103c Camley Street, London N1C 4PF
Duration: 6 weeks (2.5 hours a week) 
Format: Interactive, activity-based workshop

Book for 16 April to 21 May

Who it’s for

This programme is for UCL students who are new to entrepreneurship.

Staff, research associates and recent graduates (within 3 years of graduating) may also take part but will not be able to win the prize money or in-kind mentoring.

You don’t need any experience or a business idea. If you don’t already have an idea to explore, the first session will help you come up with an idea to work on for the rest of the programme.

Eligibility

You’ll need to:

  • commit to attending the first session of the programme and at least 4 of the 5 other sessions 
  • have thought about an idea you want to develop into a business or social enterprise, or have a passion for creating impact in a specific field e.g. health, environment, education, technology etc.
  • show you’re keen to build the knowledge and skills required for a startup 

Businesses already in the Hatchery incubator or endorsed for a Start-up or Innovator visa cannot attend.

What you’ll learn

The programme will help you:

  • develop confidence in your idea
  • explore and test your idea to ensure it's realistic
  • understand who your customers and stakeholders are
  • understand the steps to getting your service or product to your customers
  • understand business basic finance, including cost structures and revenue streams
  • perform market research
  • practise and improve your business pitching skills

What to expect

This programme is held at BaseKX, UCL’s entrepreneurship hub in King’s Cross.

The course runs over 6 weeks with sessions each Tuesday evening from 4pm to 6.30pm.

In the interactive, activity-based sessions, you’ll work through each section of the Business Model Canvas to stress-test your idea, and ultimately create a final pitch deck and presentation of your work.

You’ll receive a certificate of completion and learn about opportunities for developing your idea further.

Pitching competition

In the final session, you'll have the chance to take part in a pitching competition and win a share of the £3,000 prize fund. If you win, you'll also automatically be shortlisted to for our Build programme.    

It’s not compulsory but it’s a great way to practise your presentation skills.

To qualify you’ll need to:

  • attend 5 out of 6 sessions
  • show how you’ve explored and tested your idea

While everyone on the programme is welcome to take part in the competition, only students are eligible to win prize money or in-kind mentoring prizes. If you're part of a team, you'll only be able to win any prize money if the lead applicant is a UCL student.

About the tutors

This programme is delivered by the Phase 1 Enterprise Training CIC’s team of experienced facilitators and entrepreneurs, led by Dr Yuliana Topazly.

Yuliana is a Senior Lecturer at Kingston University, an award-winning social entrepreneur and an experienced business adviser. She’s very well known across the entrepreneurship eco-system, working closely with leading universities and enterprise agencies across the UK to minimise barriers to entrepreneurship.

Accessibility

If there is anything we can do to make this programme more accessible for you, please let us know by emailing entrepreneurship@ucl.ac.uk

Dates and times

This programme has 6 sessions in total:

  • Tuesday, 16 April 2024, 4pm to 6.30pm
  • Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 4pm to 6.30pm
  • Tuesday, 30 April 2024, 4pm to 6.30pm
  • Tuesday, 7 May 2024 at, 4pm to 6.30pm
  • Tuesday, 14 May 2024 at, 4pm to 6.30pm
  • Tuesday, 21 May 2024 at, 4pm to 6.30pm

Book your place

To book your place, fill out the registration form by Monday, 15 April.

Book your place

Location

UCL BaseKX, 103c Camley Street, London N1C 4PF


Filming and photography takes place at our events for promotional purposes. The photographs and recordings will appear on our website and social media channels. If you do not wish to be filmed or photographed, please let a member of staff know on arrival.

Read our privacy notice to understand how UCL Innovation & Enterprise will deal with your personal data.

UCL Innovation & Enterprise reserves the right to make changes to the programme, location and/or speakers without prior notice. Such alterations are occasionally necessary due to circumstances beyond our control.