| Skip to main content | Skip to navigation | Skip to Search |

[University home]

Careers Service

Web Chats

Upcoming webchats

Enterprise Web Chat: Being Your Own Boss

Date:19 November 2009

Time: 17:00 - 18:00

Details: Are you thinking about starting your own business now, whilst at University? Perhaps it's an idea you have for the future? Maybe you have a great idea for a business but unsure what to do next?

If you're wondering about how to go about starting a business or how to get some useful experience before taking this step, here's an opportunity to ask those questions. Plus, if you want to do something "enterprising" or "entrepreneurial" and are unsure how to go about it our experts will be able to give you some advice and helpful tips.

The Enterprise team will be on hand to answer any questions you have and to encourage discussion between other students who may be thinking about similar career paths. Join us from 5.00pm - 6.00pm on 19th November 2009.

User
Expert
Moderator

Anne Milligan
Hello, welcome to the Enterprise web chat. Tim, you're one of our experts today - would you like to introduce yourself please?
Anne Milligan
Hello, I’m Tim Jones and I head up the undergraduate provision from the Manchester Enterprise Centre. My background is in New Product Development mainly with small companies and start-ups.
Anne Milligan
Hi Dominic, you're our other expert - would you like to introduce yourself too?
Dominic Laing
Hi I am Dominic Laing one of the Careers Consultants here at the university’s Careers Service. Busy working with medical, engineering, computer science, life science, law and management students and postgraduates I also enjoy providing direction to those interested in Enterprise.

Whether it is looking into freelance options, being self-employed, running a business while a student or starting up a new business from scratch I should be able to signpost you to a relevant local expert to support you through the process.
Holden
Hi, my name's Tom. I'm quite interested in the idea of starting a business but I've never did anything like business studies or economics so I wouldn't really have a clue where to start. What good (ideally free) resources are there out there that might be a good starting point?
Dominic Laing
Hello Tom, Thanks for your question. Quite often a good business idea is all you need to motivate you to get started. Our Careers Resource Centre’s self-employment section is a good place to look into your motivation, personal suitability, business feasibility and local, regional and national support organisations. There is a section on our website too; http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/yourcareerop...
Tim Jones
Tom, most of all you need some common sense and a strong commitment to get on and achieve. I see quite a number of students who are wondering if starting a business is right for them. Some have a clear idea of what they want to do, others simply feel that working for someone else is not for them.
Tim Jones
Tom - In a business, part of the interest is learning new skills and solving problems. However, if say, finance is simply not your thing, then you have to get someone else to do that for you.
OwenB
Hello, I have a question. Is it better to put all your eggs in one basket (idea) or try out a few at once? I have tried out some ideas, and more than one is becomming quite successful. In this case is it best to drop one or keep developing both? They are in quite different, but related sectors.
Dominic Laing
Attending Business Start-up events I have heard accounts of successful entrepreneurs who had a few false-starts along the way. Being a "serial entrepreneur" shouldn't be seen as a weakness necessarily. Look at Richard Branson! I would give new things a try.
Tim Jones
Having several things going on at once is quite the mark of an Entrepreneur! When things get busy then you start to need to hire in some staff.
prude
I graduated in BA Economics & Politics back in 2008. I primarily want to know are there any viable oppurtunities for Foreign Students to start off with a Quasi Entrepreneurship?
Dominic Laing
Hi there What's Quasi Entrepreneurship? I need to be clear on what you mean before I respond. Thanks
Tim Jones
If you are worried about the risk of a business, many people start in a very small way to test the idea and how they feel about the business before scaling up, altering the idea or doing something totally different.
OwenB
I suppose my concern is as a student or postgrad, you don't have as many contacts, employees or experience as you might further down the line. So you're really stretching yourself out more when you start out and each may prove a distraction for the other. I would love to take them all forward, but I'm not sure if this is the best move or not.
Dominic Laing
Hi Owen, I see your concern. There are only 24 hours in a day. You do seem to want to develop a number of businesses at the moment. This enthusiasm and ideas generation should be applauded and encouraged. Tim may also have some ideas on how to proceed here.
Tim Jones
Owen - If you need some inspiration about simple business ideas and how others have made them work, you could look at the short cases on Startups website http://www.startups.co.uk/
prude
By quasi-business, I meant that it would possibly be next to impossible for an Int'l Student to set up a business right off following the graduation, hence, in that case what way could he/she carve himself out to create a path to one?
Dominic Laing
Thanks for the clarification Prude. Setting up a business as an international is challenging and requires huge financial resources. I would still encourage you to have your idea checked out by a business adviser. Have you seen the latest regulations on internationals setting up in the UK? A points system is in place; According to the UK Border Agency website (11.11.09) applicants will need 95 points. Individuals will initially need to pay an £820 fee to apply for Tier 1 Entrepreneur category. On the form you will gain points for access to £200,000 (25) which is held in one or more regulated financial institutions (25) and is disposable within the UK (25). You will also need points for English Language (10) (from a majority English speaking country, holding a qualification taught in English or having passed an approved English language test). The final 10 points will be gained with available maintenance funds of £800. The Careers Service website "Be your own Boss" pages for International Students has a link to UK Border Agency; http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/yourcareerop... Check your personal situation carefully. If in doubt please contact the university's International Advisers; http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/internationa... It's still worth pursuing your idea to have it checked out. Give it a go.
prude
By that I meant it would certainly be impossible for a foreign student(me) to establish myself a market right off so which other ways/sectors/genre I could work in - so that they could provide me with a feasible path to a start one off some 6-8 years down the line-Quasi- sort of pseudo.
Dominic Laing
I suppose it depends on how accessible your market is? You need to get some Business Advice on this one Prude. Thanks for your question.
Holden
I tend to have a few ideas kicking about but I've never really persued any of them so I often start to pick holes in them after a while. The main fault in my current one is that it would probably require quite a large amount of investment that I can't afford myself in order to get it off the ground. Do you think it's possible to get decent amounts of investment with a good idea, but little experience?
Dominic Laing
Hi Tom Check out our website for sources of funding and competitions. http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/yourcareerop...
Tim Jones
If you feel you might have a good idea it is better to take it to the next stage. We have several students running successful businesses right now.
Tim Jones
I am happy to follow up one to one via e-mail if anyone wants to discuss their business ideas further
Anne Milligan
Many thanks for your participation this evening everyone. This webchat is now closed. A transcript of the discussion will be available if you've missed any references to documents or websites.

Back to Events

| Skip to main content | Skip to navigation | Skip to Search |