Entrepreneurship gives you the freedom to become your own boss, but it takes dedication, creativity, and hard work. These entrepreneurial skills are also greatly valued by many graduate employers, so if you set up a business while at university, you may gain money to help with living expenses and some valuable experience for your CV.
During your time at Imperial, you’ll have access to a huge range of events and services to assist in the development of a business idea and foster entrepreneurial skills. A great starting point to explore what’s available to you is the Imperial Enterprise Portal that can help direct you to relevant resources.
There are an increasing number of competitions that offer you the chance to develop or practice your enterprise/innovation skills with the chance to win prizes, mentoring or funding and network with like-minded individuals and experienced entrepreneurs. Visit our competitions page to view a selection of current competition opportunities.
Below is an introduction to some of the major factors you may want to consider if you set up a business and a list of links for further sources of help. Please note that this information is most relevant to UK undergraduate or taught postgraduate students looking to set up a business in the UK. If you are an international student there is further information available below, in particular in reference to visa considerations.
I have an idea - what next?
- Business planning
- Funding
- Registering a business
- International students
- Postgraduate students
- Further resources
Firstly, you need a business idea. This may come from a hobby, your course, or from somewhere else entirely – such as the media or your friends and family. You then need to evaluate your idea according to three basic business principles: feasibility, demand and innovation.
- Feasibility - The most important aspect of your idea is that it must be feasible. This means making sure you have, or can have, access to the right technology, skills, funding, and time to make your idea a reality.
- Demand - An idea only turns into an opportunity if there is an unsolved problem, a need, or a real (perceived or actual) demand from a market. You will most likely need to do some market research to establish this.
- Innovation - A business cannot thrive if every other business is doing exactly the same thing. To stand out from the competition, innovation of some sort is fundamental. The innovation may be small, such as a new method of marketing or operating, or it could be large, such as an entirely new product or service.
Writing a business plan
A business plan is an essential requirement of a modern business. It is a document that you need if you want to approach banks and investors in order to start your business, but it also can be a useful exercise in helping you decide the short- and long-term strategies of the business and to fully realise any shortfalls in skills, funding or research.
A useful introduction for business plans is available on the GOV.UK website.
The Prince’s Trust has also produced an excellent guide and template from which to start.
Protecting your idea
You may need to make sure that no one else is able to copy your idea, especially if it is a brand-new product or invention. These processes, in particular patenting an invention, can be an expensive and lengthy process and you need to decide if protecting your idea or the speed in which you can get to market is more important to you in the long term. The GOV.UK website has some further reading to help you consider what kind of intellectual property protection is right for you.