Business Fulcrum has been offering our "Business Mum" Service to Universities since 2005. This is often put in place to support start up students who achieve university funding - recognising that some professional handholding with regard to the whole marketing process and the challenges of starting a business considerably complements the money! Like anything the proof of the pudding is in the eating - for example 2007 saw three students as finalists in the Winchester Business Excellence Awards.
The mentor has been extremely valuable. Jane Buswell has advised us on areas concerning public relations, publicity and marketing, as well as breaking down the whole process of setting up a company into manageable short term tasks. Having the support of a mentor allows us to reflect on our business and re-focus on particular areas on a regular basis. At current this is a huge asset to the company.
The Business Mum Service is complemented by marketing talks and lectures as well as marketing training via our successful Sorted! Marketing and Motivation Workshop. This is much appreciated by staff and students alike:
I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the workshop and how much I came away having learnt about marketing and myself!! I have been a master at delaying tactics but having attended Sorted!and being shown how to break things down into more manageable chunks, the task feels much more approachable, and I feel motivated and enabled enough to actually put things on paper.
Your workshop really did exceed my expectations, not least because we seemed to cover such a wide-range of issues. I thoroughly enjoyed your style of presentation and am still infected by your enthusiasm. Thank you.
Amanda Smallbone
If like Winchester University, you are looking for an experienced mentor to complement your University's
initiatives of supporting students into self employment please contact us.