Enterprise Week

Enterprise Week (17-23rd November ‘08) was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week where young people everywhere connected through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as entrepreneurs and innovators.

To promote Enterprise LSEP sponsored various Events in conjunction with Skills for Enterprise and Business Link. The aim was to promote entrepreneurship in Leicestershire and actively engage with young people and any other would-be entrepreneurs. Over 180 people took part in the events throughout the week.

At one of the events held at the Media Training Centre at South Leicestershire College, Entrepreneurs were asked to pitch their ideas to a Dragons Den style panel with the opportunity of winning £100 prize. The event was filmed by a new start-up business and seven Entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to the dragons.

The University of Leicester also launched a ‘Mind Your Own Fashion’ Enterprise Competition for a chance for would be entrepreneurs to get creative. Each participant was given £30 to design and make a prototype fashion accessory and the winning entrepreneur would receive £100 prize from the LSEP. Their designs and ideas would also be displayed in the new John Lewis Store in Highcross Leicester. Students were given workshops on business plans and budget planning to assist them with their ideas.

A further event held at the International College in conjunction with Enterprise Radio, created a platform to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to put forward commercial/social enterprise ideas for development with the opportunity of winning £100 prize funds. Representatives from LACBA, Leicester North West Local Alchemy, LSEP and Skills for Enterprise were on the panel.

A final session during the week was held at the new Cinema De Lux in Highcross for businesses from the Prince’s Trust to learn how to promote themselves effectively. The event called “What’s My Motivation” included workshops on how to improve their pitch to prospective clients and culminated in the groups presenting their pitches to local business representatives.

Finalists from all the events will then be taken forward to a “Grand Final Competition” sponsored by LSEP to be held in March where the opportunity to win a further £1,000 for first place, £500 for second place and £250 for the third prize will take place.

Events Celebrating Enterprise will be ongoing until February supported by the LSEP building up to the Final Competition.

Participants at all events were given one to one mentoring support from Skills for Enterprise and Business Link and the opportunity to network with other Business Entrepreneurs.