Stage 2 student Mercy Adeniji took part in this step-by-step programme guiding students through the process of starting a business through a series of interactive and practical workshops.
The finalists have been chosen for this year’s Business Start-Up Journey pitching finals and include Mercy Adeniji a second-year Economics student studying Economics with German. Mercy’s start-up plan is a vegan e-commerce platform to connect vegan business in one place.
A panel including ASPIRE Project Officer, Rebecca Smith, and ASPIRE Investor in Residence, Karen Winton, selected nine student business ideas to go through to the virtual competition which will be held on March 31 on Zoom.
Other start-up plans include swimwear, a nutrition and fitness app and a portable light ring. Students who will take part in the contest come from Kent Business School, Economics, Sport and Computing and were chosen from a strong field of candidates.
Mercy will prepare a 5-minute pitch for the judging panel to assess, then in a live Zoom competition, she will present a two-minute elevator pitch and face questions from the judges.
The winner of the pitching competition will receive £1000 to help start their business, with two runners-up prizes of £500 each. While the judges decide on the winners, finalists and the audience can compete in a quiz with the chance to win £100 to spend at selected ASPIRE start-up businesses.
“The confidence that has grown within me, knowing that other people are excited by my ideas and believe in them is something that I would never have got without the Aspire team.” – Mercy Adeniji
Previous Business Start-Up Journey finalists have gone on to run successful businesses, including KBS alumnus Vasu Sarin, founder of medi-tech company TabCare, Politics graduate, Tobi Kolawole-Olutade, founder of RR Collective, Ruth Vanderfaille, co-founder of Real Brides and Esther Asaolu, Jelikatu Kamara and Fatima Kamate, co-founders of Shady Beauty.
The Business Start-Up Journey is a step-by-step programme that guides students through the process of starting a business through a series of fun, interactive and practical workshops.
Workshops run mainly on Wednesday afternoons to fit around academic study. The early workshops focus on finding and developing ideas by problem-solving and focus on the Sustainable Development Goals for inspiration – looking to find solutions to some of the huge challenges facing the world.
The programme also looks at how start-ups can and prototype their ideas and moves through the stages of getting ready to launch a business including finance, marketing, investment, pitching and presenting techniques.
Alongside the workshops, there is the opportunity to get one-to-one advice from the ASPIRE’s team of entrepreneurs in residence.