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If you have a business idea or passion you want to turn into a business, this free programme will help you test and refine your 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 work alongside other entrepreneurs to sharpen your skills, stress test your ideas and establish a market for your business or social enterprise.
You'll also have the chance to win a portion of the £2,000 prize fund to help develop your business further.
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 4:30pm to 7pm.
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 portion of the £2,000 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. She won Croydon Business Awards in 2013 and 2018 and was mentioned in WISE 2020 List: ‘100 Social Enterprise Leaders showing COVID, who is the boss!’
Accessibility
If there is anything we can do to make this programme accessible or comfortable for you, please let us know by emailing ruth.weir@ucl.ac.uk
Dates and times
The programme runs over 6 weeks, with sessions each Tuesday evening from 4:30pm to 7pm.
Booking is closed for this programme.
Location
UCL BaseKX, 103c Camley Street, London N1C 4PF
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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.