College host workshops for Global Entrepreneurship Week

@BarnsleyCollege students had the opportunity to take part in a range of virtual workshops with a panel of guest speakers as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, a campaign to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Amongst the guest speakers was Becky Stevenson, an entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in the industry. Becky’s poignant workshop focussed on personal branding and social media. She encouraged students to explore their unique selling points and identify what makes them stand out to others as well as how powerful social media is and how to use it appropriately.

Laura Norman, Owner of Chroma Marketing, delivered an interactive session with students as she told the story of her career growing from an idea to a fully-fledged business. Laura pressed the message that success doesn’t happen overnight and if students are interested in becoming self-employed, they must remain focussed and committed to their business plan. She also spoke about the benefits of a business mentor and how they can encourage you to look at the wider picture and point you in the right direction based on opinions from outside the business.

Laura said: “I think it’s important for young people to get a full picture of the options out there for employment before committing to other things like further study, to make sure that they are picking the best path for them. Having the opportunity to understand more about self-employment should always be part of this exercise, as it might be the option for them to do something they otherwise thought they would never be able to do. Hopefully I have been able to give an insight into how achievable this is, and provide some clarity about what that picture could look like for them.”

Students heard from a number of other guest speakers throughout the week including Teri Ellington, Owner and Director of Ellington Time Piece; Dan Laver, Head of Sales of UnLTD magazine; Elaine Skinner, Founder of Shirty; Elaine Mitchell, Empowerment Coach and Author; and Ben Hawley, Business Start-up Advisor from Launch Pad.

The week’s events were facilitated by Jess Widdowson, Enterprise Team Leader, who added:

“We have had some truly excellent guest speakers be a part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week. This has been a fantastic opportunity for our students to hear about several local, regional, national and even international businesses and consider their own ideas for business start-up. I really hope that students have been able to reflect on their own future careers and how they might be able to open a business in the future.”

Students at Barnsley College have a wealth of support available to them if they wish to set up their own business whilst studying from iTrust, a joint venture with Barnsley Chronicle and The Business Village. Students who choose to receive support from iTrust have access to an array of information and guidance including mentoring from the College’s Enterprise team, The Prince’s Trust, industry specialists and local businesses. The scheme can also provide students with a start-up grant of up to £250 to launch a new business and will continue to support students up to three years after they leave the College.