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.<\/p>\n
The finalists have been chosen for this year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
A panel including ASPIRE<\/a> Project Officer, Rebecca Smith<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, Economics<\/a>, Sport<\/a> and Computing<\/a> and were chosen from a strong field of candidates.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The winner of the pitching competition will receive \u00a31000 to help start their business, with two runners-up prizes of \u00a3500 each. While the judges decide on the winners, finalists and the audience can compete in a quiz with the chance to win \u00a3100 to spend at selected ASPIRE start-up businesses.<\/p>\n “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<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n The Business Start-Up Journey<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 looking to find solutions to some of the huge challenges facing the world.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Alongside the workshops, there is the opportunity to get one-to-one advice from the ASPIRE\u2019s team of entrepreneurs in residence.<\/p>\n