Key dates<\/h2>\n
Wednesday 21 October: Launch event\u00a0 with keynote speaker Dr Mick Jackson, founder WildHearts – Business for Good<\/strong><\/p>\n Be inspired at the launch of this year\u2019s Business Start-Up Journey where we welcome serial entrepreneur, Dr Mick Jackson, founder of WildHearts<\/a>, a multi-million-pound group created with the sole aim of using their pro\ufb01ts to help humanity.<\/p>\n Backed by leading corporates and global business leaders, to date WildHearts has transformed over 1 million lives globally; from empowering women and girls in low-income countries through education and finance to providing free entrepreneurship training for young people across the UK, with their multi-award winning entrepreneurship training programme, Micro-Tyco.<\/p>\n At the launch, you will also hear from student entrepreneurs talking about founding their own businesses and learn more about the University\u2019s flagship student start-up programme.<\/p>\n Saturday 24 October: <\/strong>Bootcamp 1 \u2013 The ideas hack <\/strong><\/p>\n Dive into our ideas hack where you\u2019ll work with other students to find ideas using the Sustainable Development Goals as inspiration.<\/p>\n Develop key skills using Design Thinking techniques that help you to fully understand what users want and how to unlock the innovation in your ideas.<\/p>\n Wednesday 28 October: <\/strong>Workshop 1 \u2013 Problem-solving for start-ups <\/strong><\/p>\n The best businesses solve problems for their users or customers. In this interactive workshop, we learn together how to pull problems apart and see how our start-up can really make a difference in solving the world\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n Wednesday 4 November<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 2 \u2013 Spotting trends, using the market <\/strong><\/p>\n Business success lies in studying emerging trends and learning how to use market information to stay ahead of the curve and spot the next big thing. In a 50-minute group challenge, develop a business proposition using market information and forecasts.<\/p>\n Workshop 3<\/strong> – <\/strong>New technology, new ideas <\/strong><\/p>\n What inspiration can new technologies provide us with when starting a business? How can we create sustainable start-ups using cutting edge apps and other tech?<\/p>\n Explore the opportunities of the circular economy to deliver innovation in your business and create a positive impact on the planet.<\/p>\n Workshop 4<\/strong> – <\/strong>Who is your customer? <\/strong><\/p>\n Learn how to build and use customer personas to refine your idea, define your marketing strategy and develop your business idea to meet your customers\u2019 needs. In groups or individually, create a customer survey to generate feedback.<\/p>\n Wednesday 2 December<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 5 \u2013 Creating a Prototype <\/strong><\/p>\n Understand how to create a Minimum Viable Product to test your idea. In our 50-minute challenge, work in a group to take raw materials and create your own prototype.<\/p>\n Wednesday 9 December<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 6 \u2013 Build your pop-up website <\/strong><\/p>\n A simple website is a low-cost way to showcase your business idea and get feedback from users. In this hands-on workshop led by the Kent IT Consultancy (KITC) you\u2019ll be guided through creating the perfect platform to test your ideas and reach your customers.<\/p>\n Wednesday 27 January<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 7 – What can you learn from your competition<\/strong><\/p>\n Analyse competition in your market to understand their strengths and weaknesses and uncover the innovation to differentiate your business.<\/p>\n Workshop 8<\/strong> –<\/strong> Build your marketing strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n Understand how you can create compelling content using social media and other channels to reach your customers. Learn how to write a media release and create a video to showcase your business.<\/p>\n Wednesday 10 February<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 9 \u2013 Google Masterclass: How to write for social media<\/strong><\/p>\n Join the search engine giants to learn how to interact with your customers to promote your business online.<\/p>\n Followed by a practical session in which we implement the strategies to boost your start-up.<\/p>\n Wednesday 17 February<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 10 \u2013 Know your start-up finance<\/strong><\/p>\n How do you build to break-even and then profit?<\/p>\n Understand how to price your business, your start-up costs and cash flow.<\/p>\n Saturday 20 February<\/strong>: <\/strong>Bootcamp 2 \u2013 Building your business plan<\/strong><\/p>\n In an in-depth practical workshop, you\u2019ll be guided in how to put together a compelling business plan with the ASPIRE Business Model Canvas especially focussing on sustainability and inclusion.<\/p>\n Wednesday 24 February<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 11 – What do investors want?<\/strong><\/p>\n Have you got what it takes to walk into the dragons\u2019 den? Find out what investors are looking for in start-up businesses and how to build an investible business.<\/p>\n Wednesday 10 March<\/strong>: <\/strong>Workshop 12 \u2013 Build your pitch<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn which slides you need in your pitch deck to impress potential investors.<\/p>\n Create the perfect pitch telling a compelling story.<\/p>\n Saturday 13 March: Bootcamp 3 \u2013 Get pitch perfect<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn the best tricks and tips for presenting an outstanding pitch to potential investors.<\/p>\n Build confidence in public speaking with fun games and exercises.<\/p>\n Wednesday 17 March: Workshop 14 \u2013 Making sales<\/strong><\/p>\n Face-to-face, on the phone or online, however, you plan to reach your customers, you\u2019ll need to convert interest in your business into sales.<\/p>\n Wednesday 24 March: Workshop 15 – Be brilliant at networking<\/strong><\/p>\n In a hands-on session, learn how you can use networking opportunities effectively \u2013 face-to-face and online \u2013 to promote your startup.<\/p>\n Create professional social media accounts to promote yourself and your business.<\/p>\n Wednesday 31 March: Pitching finals and showcase<\/strong><\/p>\n Selected student entrepreneurs have the chance to pitch their business to our panel of expert judges and win \u00a31,000 to develop their business.<\/p>\n Everyone is welcome to join the showcase and celebrate the Business Start-Up Journey programme.<\/p>\n For more information email\u00a0ASPIRE@kent.ac.uk<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Business Start-Up Journey is an inspirational programme which brings student business start-up ideas to life and develops your entrepreneurial skills. This 15-week co-curricular programme … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":4657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54,169048],"tags":[164122,164121,169090,151477,165985,397],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4654"}],"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=4654"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19981,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4654\/revisions\/19981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kent-business-matters\/files\/2020\/06\/Mick-Jackson-2-300x167.jpg\")
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