{"id":17674,"date":"2022-11-21T12:40:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T12:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=17674"},"modified":"2022-11-22T12:37:05","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T12:37:05","slug":"selfie-year-student-my-top-tips-for-launching-a-successful-start-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2022\/11\/selfie-year-student-my-top-tips-for-launching-a-successful-start-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Selfie Year Student: My Top Tips for Launching a Successful Start Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mwinza Mpoha is an International Business Student. He is from Zambia and took his course with a \u2018Selfie Year\u2019 (Self Employed Year in Industry) that he began in September to launch a subscription-based grocery delivery service that he describes as the \u2018Netflix\u2019 for food and drink. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI found out when applying for my course that I could launch my own venture, as a Selfie Year \u2013 Self Employed Year in Industry. \u00a0It seemed really unique to receive support and guidance to run my own venture as part of my degree.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Mwinza launched his business this September<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In my first year, there was an assignment which involved developing a business. I\u2019ve always had an interest in nutrition and the idea of a meal subscription service, based on a consumers very specific dietary requirements came to me. After sharing it with friends, I got excellent feedback and took it took ASPIRE and the in-house entrepreneurs who felt it had potential.<\/p>\n

I am currently researching and planning, thinking about pricing and my web proposition with assistance from Kent\u2019s entrepreneurs in residence virtually, as I am living back in Africa to complete the year. I see the business like a personal chef and nutritionist who preps meals fully and delivers to you based on your specific requirements \u2013 body type, age, your goals and the like. You pay once a month and get everything you need including all the chopping and preparing. I feel I have a great unique USP, particularly in my home country of Zambia, where there is little competition.<\/p>\n

There is a long road ahead, but I am relishing this stage and really excited for the future. I’d like to offer up support and advice to others considering a Selfie Year or launching their own business and doing their own thing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mwinza’s Top Tips for Successful Start Up<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Get feedback<\/h3>\n

Having a good idea isn\u2019t enough when you start a business, if no one actually wants or needs what you are producing. One of the biggest lessons I learned was to take a step back from my own enthusiasm for an idea and ask around to see if others share it!<\/p>\n

Solve a problem<\/h3>\n

A good business solves a pressing issue. My problem was that many people are strapped for time to prepare a healthy meal and obesity or chronic health issues relating to diet are a big deal.<\/p>\n

Planning is winning<\/h3>\n

Within a few weeks I was feeling really overwhelmed. Jon, the entrepreneur in residence at Kent gave me some useful tips of just kind of writing everything down, just pouring it onto a page and splitting it into small taskers to deal with later. It really worked. Questions like: \u00a0What is the best approach? What is the best strategy to now let this thing happen? Should I do this, or should I do that? Never underestimate the time you need to take to plan even if you\u2019re really eager to get started.<\/p>\n

Take the rough with the smooth<\/h3>\n

I think just venturing out on my own was an impressive step, so I try not to chastise myself if things go wrong. Everything is a learning curve and the skills I am gaining along the way are great, whatever the outcome.”<\/p>\n

A Selfie (or Self-Employed Placement) is a Year in Industry option which offers Stage 3 students the opportunity to run their own business. See our ASPIRE page for more information.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mwinza Mpoha is an International Business Student. He is from Zambia and took his course with a \u2018Selfie Year\u2019 (Self Employed Year in Industry) that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":17683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[170949,112454,182027,261701],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17674"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17711,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674\/revisions\/17711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}