For the past few months, the respective enterprise societies have been busy getting going. And this week we got together to discover what they’ve been up to at an event hosted at Barking and Dagenham.

The morning began with an introductory speech by Andre Campbell. An ambassador for the Damilola Taylor Trust and a member of the Channel 4 Education Advisory Board, Andre founded the Spirit of London Awards, dubbed the “community Oscars” for young Londoners, and Enfuse Youth, a transformative career development organisation.

Andre’s speech stressed the impact that Kingston Entrepreneurs, of which he was President, had on inspiring him to fulfill his entrepreneurial capabilities. The auditorium thundered with applause and the audience was left in awe.

Next up, John Gay of Barking and Dagenham showcased the college’s enterprise achievements over the last few months. Jon says, “I believe our Enterprise Learners become extra motivated and dedicated when they are working on a live project”.

There have been many projects rolled out to fulfill external and College briefs. For example, “Graphic design learners” designed and produced the Barking and Dagenham college logos, signposts and the Higher Education Prospectus.

Yvonne Haywood then took to the stage to outline Westminster Kingsway’s achievements. A group of students beat over 60 entries to win the top prize (£600) at the Market Maker Competition held at the Institute of Directors (IoD) as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2011.

The IoD remit was to come up with a business idea to improve services or products already in the market. The Westminster Kingsway students, aka “OnPoint”, came up with the “Motorvator”, a portable battery operated drink blender with a rotating inner compartment to dissolve powder sediments in protein shakes. Asif Hussain, a team member, said, “We now have the opportunity to pitch to real investors and I’m excited as to what the future might hold”.

Pat Carvalho then highlighted Harrow’s accomplishments. The student-led society initiated the £10 challenge, where participants were given a tenner and encouraged to stretch the value further. The event engaged a range of students and spurred their creativity. Two students have also started to run a student-led gym, which charges a nominal membership fee in order to be self-sustainable.

The morning’s inspirational talks were rounded off with a session of networking and mingling amongst the colleges’ students, teachers and enterprise coordinators. Best practices, ideas and successes were shared and audience members left inspired to crack on with more enterprise initiatives.

To book your place at this event, and gain insights privy to industry leaders and management consultants in the industry, please fill in your details and answer the questions as thoroughly as possible. Places are limited to 36 per event so book early to allow us to consider your application.

Please note that there are three separate events available, each running from 2-6pm.

• Tue 21/02/12 at Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus (Electrical and Electronic Engineering Building 509A, SW7 2AZ0)
• Wed 22/02/12 at University College London (Wilkins Garden Room , WC1E 6BT)
• Fri 24/02/12 at King’s College London, Strand Campus (K0.18 , South Range 3, SE1 8WA)

Signup HERE

This opportunity is available to all students not just from imperial. The perks – apart from the obvious CV points – opportunity to meet like-minded people and ability to interact with our sponsors (which will most likely give you an advantage if applying for an internship at the firm). Those who are involved will also be able to participate in the event itself, subject to their role on the organizing committee. For more information please visit the imperial entrepreneurs website.

They will be holding an event for student entrepreneurs on Young and Emerging Healthcare Businesses to be held on 1 March at the new GlaxoSmithKline R&D facilities in Stevenage. If you are interested in attending this event please contact us for a student discount code. Further information and programme can be found here

Entrepreneurship is the keys to sustainable economic and private sector development in Africa, as growth accelerates on the continent, it generates with it new opportunities for investment. When it comes to future global investment strategies, Africa is high on the agenda for investors and entrepreneurs. The continent has become a more attractive investment destination over the last decade and is expected to sustain it’s long term investment potential.

The conference will bring together government representatives, business leaders and entrepreneurs, to explore several aspects of entrepreneurship and economic development in Africa. The discussion will reflect on practical experience, real success and future prospects for growth and opportunity in Africa. Further promises to stimulate thoughts and action with a view to promoting further trade and investment in Africa’s dynamic economies. Tickets here

Sadly, Nike nailed that one.

But the key to being a successful entrepreneur is just getting out there and doing something.

If you’ve got an idea, bring it to life.

And that’s exactly what engineer, Vala Halldorsdottir, and economist, Sesselja Vihjalmsdottir, did.

During their native Iceland’s depression in 2008, Vala was made redundant and Sesselja struggled to find a job after studying in the US. So they started up a board game company. It became hugely successful and the girls were so high on life that they wanted to help others feel the same way.

So they turned filmmakers to explore the question – heard time and again – “What makes an entrepreneur?” Armed with a video camera and an EU grant, Vala and Sesselja toured the US and Europe to learn what makes the start-up scene in different countries.

The girls knew nothing about filmmaking but were determined to learn on the fly. They took a few basic lessons from a friend and then travelled to New York, San Francisco, London, Copenhagen, Berlin and Stockholm. They chose these cities simply because they had friends with whom they could stay for free. The film relied heavily on bootstrapping.

They interviewed 90 leading young tech entrepreneurs about their stories to find out the vital ingredients in start-up success. Amongst the profiles are founders behind some of the biggest names on the internet, including Zach Klein of Vimeo, Alex Ljung of Soundclound, Kristian Segerstrale of Playfish and Drew Houston of Dropbox. Not only do these interviews probe their stories and daily lives; they explore what makes their minds tick.

The documentary – The Start Up Kids - also surveys the different resources, attitudes and environments influencing young entrepreneurs. From Venture Capitalists, such as Ben Tompkins of Eden Ventures to journalists, such as Mike Butcher, Editor of Techcrunch Europe, a range of dealmakers is showcased.

Making the film, much like starting up a business, involved treading crazy paving. Vala and Sesselja attracted enough EU funding to cover the filming but had to wait before going into post-production and promotion until they had raised enough money via Kickstarter. The reception was overwhelmingly positive: Not only did they receive the funding; they were overwhelmed by a variety of help pledges – from sub-titling in Japanese to promotion in Africa.

Since it’s impossible to include all the material in the documentary, the project will be accompanied by a website, which will pull together the tips and advice – such as how to employ people and how to find funding – into bite-size chapters.

The aim of the film is, of course, to inspire. To help young people to build something and achieve great satisfaction from knowing it’s theirs. To motivate people to dare to dream but to realise it. To awaken the entrepreneur that’s within us all.

And the incredible journey has certainly enthused the girls themselves, who are also developing a new start-up. Kinwins is a mobile application that turns your whole life into a game. Thanks to making the documentary, Vala and Sesselja feel like they have absorbed the entrepreneurial outlook.

For them, entrepreneurship is not about rules or theory, it’s about the “just do it” attitude.

We’re linking to Vala Halldorsdottir and Sesselja Vihjalmsdottir live at NSEC this weekend. Join us!

It’s for every entrepreneur who has a website or for anyone who is thinking about launching a website.

It’s for every small business that wants to grow revenue, get more clients and lower their costs.

These bootcamps are FREE. Why? Because the good folks at BIS (Department of Business Innovation and Skills), School for Startups, Yell and others have come together to do their bit to help small businesses in the UK. But the bootcamps are limited in space and people will be accepted on a strictly “first come-first served” basis. Signing up early is strongly advised. When we ran this event in Wales it sold out in less than 3 days. To sign up please visit the following website www.webfuelledbusiness.com

Here are his top tips

1) Beg, steal & burrow!

When starting a business’s and money is short, ask your family and friends to invest in you. You usually just need a few thousand pounds. Try and find cheap office space to get off the ground in business don’t be afraid to go out and ask. If your afraid to pick up the phone thenyoull never make

2) Work smart

Don’t take your time for granted. Set up your goals of what you have to achieve and work around those goals. Learn about polyphasic sleeping (sleep 4 house a night and take a nap in the afternoon) you dictate the rules. Sleep is nice but sometimes you may have to make sacrifices

3) Pivot

This is a big word in startups. If you have a goal you can’t always go in straight line you may have to pivot multiple times to get there

4) Find good people

When you start a company don’t be egotistical, you are the visionary so find who compliment you. Build a fun atmosphere in the office and give people responsibility early on so they feel part of the startup.

5) Take notes

Not just in lectures, but in terms of your own thoughts. Make sure your notebook is around you all the time. e.g this is how Virgin Atlantic started, Sir Richard Branson took notes on how the airline industry was operating and eventually felt he could do something better. You don’t need to pick original ideas but you may find ways of doing things better. If an idea does come to you try and think of the numbers and profits to make that idea succeed.

6) Cash flow

Manage your cash flow carefully (the phrase “the cash is king” is truer than ever in startups) sometimes you can hold on to cash a bit longer, push the boundaries and be resourceful and often that gets you further

7) Investors

Investors are not just about money, look at the kind of people that are investing in you and what else they can bring in the table. Ask yourself how much help you’ll get.

Network

This is the biggest lesson many young entrepreneurs learn. Once you have that network it’s amazing what you can do with it. Put your connections together, be clever and know who you want to speak to when you get into the room.

9) Take risks

Risk = reward but be careful how you manage that risk. Weigh out the risk and ask yourself what happens if everything completely goes down the pan.

10) Passion

Whatever you do be passionate about it. You need to be passionate about what your changing in the world – this is his most important tip.  The passion will drive you through the tough times.

This blog is maintained by Homam Al Bahrani, Community Engagement Officer for London. It’s designed to let you know about entrepreneurship events and news for the region.

You can browse through this blog for NACUE events and announcements, or read up about what university and college societies are up to.  I would like the blog to have your input, so if you have announcements, articles, reviews or events coming up and want to reach out to a wider audience, then please do email me with details.  Alternatively if you’re an entrepreneur and want to connect with university students/alumni then do get in touch also.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Homam

www.balloonkenya.com

“I really don’t know what our children are going to do when they finish school.  They’ll have to find work but there are no jobs here. I’m afraid some will end up back on the streets…”

This is what Betty, the manager of an orphanage of 115 children in Kenya said to me.

In the summer of 2010 I made a 6-week trip to Kenya to conduct research for my Masters thesis interviewing members of the various communities that fought in the 2007-08 post-election violence. What struck me the most was the impact of poverty and unemployment on Kenyan society.

Poverty played a central role in political violence; it was only the poor fighting. Some were being directly paid by elites to fight. Most were fighting for a better and more prosperous life for themselves and their families.

But it wasn’t just the direct results of poverty on the violence that were so troubling. It was the much wider influence – the anger and disappointment of the current generations and the fear of what future generations will do. I had heard the Kenyan Institute of Policy Analysis describe the situation as a ‘ticking time bomb’, but this phrase only took on real meaning when I had the conversation with Betty.

One perhaps surprising result of widespread unemployment is the entrepreneurial nature of the younger generations. Because there are no jobs available everyone is forced to sell something – second hand cloths, mobile phone top-up cards, tourist merchandise – this is the only way to survive. Through talking to many of these young men and women what was also inspiring was their future ambitions, ideas for future businesses and ways of expanding their current ventures.

But time and time again I heard about the same barriers. Banks and Microfinance Institutions won’t lend to start-up businesses as a matter of policy. So the poor are trapped in a situation unable to turn plans into reality.

I left Kenya with a strong belief that the most useful thing anyone can do is to support young Kenyans to start businesses. As a way of building peace and harmony in the country, to enable people to achieve their ambitions, to raise the standard of living. Guidance, encouragement, and eventually funding must be provided to create new businesses that provide jobs and tackle poverty.

When I returned to England in January 2011 I realized that similar problem exists in England. While the 22% youth unemployment in the UK isn’t anywhere near the 50% level in Kenya, young people here certainly experience the same problems. Jobs are scarce and especially in the social and charitable sector opportunities to build practical skills in entry level positions have all but disappeared, forcing many enthusiastic and talented young people with good intentions to settle for uninspiring careers that simply ‘pay the bills’.

And this is where BalloonKenya comes in. Clearly creative models for employment generation need to be introduced because the old methods aren’t working. We all need to be proactive in tackling this issue. At BalloonKenya we are working with young people to develop practical solutions and we have developed a model of support, mentor and fund young people to start businesses in both Kenya and the UK.

You can apply for our 2012 programme here. We will be taking 12 young British men and women to Kenya for 12 weeks to work with over 200 Kenyan youths to create sustainable new ventures that provide jobs and improve community wellbeing.

We’d also be fascinated to hear from others around the world who are pioneering new creative models to help young people into work.

Click here to download more information, then visit www.balloonkenya.com/apply to submit your application!