Competition

 

Big Leap Entrepreneurship Competition 2010

The World Skills UK Entrepreneurship Competition has been managed by Striding Out for the last four years..

WorldSkills UK incorporates the UK's premier set of skills competitions for students, trainees and employees. Competitions are a great way to engage, inspire and motivate young people to work towards their personal aspirations. http://www.worldskillsuk.org/

REGISTER FOR THE BIG LEAP COMPETITION

1st Stage - Submit your business ideas and aspirations to us by application - Deadline - 7th May 2010 at 5pm

2nd Stage - In May twenty young entrepreneurs will be shortlised to participate in a 3 day business bootcamps in either London or Liverpool during June.

The Bootcamp provides the participants with a wide range of  new business skills and knowledge to achieve business success. We have guest expert trainers and apprentice style activities planned to create an inspirational and exciting few days for those involved. Previous participants have been very pleased with the experience, and they have gone on to achieve significant business success as a result of what they have learn't. Check out the casestudies below.

Following the bootcamp the young entrepreneurs are provided with one to one mentoring and coaching support.

3rd Stage - The twenty finalists will submit their full business plan in mid-June and the 3 highest scoring applications will be announced as the winners in July 2010. The overall winner with the highest score will receive a cash prize of £500.

The competition is now closed for entries.

Eligibility - The competition is open to young people aged 18-30 who have a business idea and have been trading as a business for less than one year.

The Big Leap World Skills UK Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced in July 2010.

Striding Out is currently inviting educational establishments from the HE and FE sector to conduct Entrepreneurial workshops in preparation for the World Skills UK Entrepreneurship Competiton 2010, to develop and boost the entrepreneurial talent of their students applying. This will give them a better chance of success in their career and the competition.

If you an educational establishment and would like to take part, contact Quinn Simpson  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Winners of 2010

1st Place

Andre Hackett, London Mobile Studios

Andre Hackett of London Mobile Studios entered the 2010 World Skills Competition with the hope of winning.  He also believed that it would be a great chance to gain constructive feedback and see if others could see the potential in his ideas.  

His company provide the whole of London the opportunity to record music through professional mobile studios. Modern technology has made it possible to fit a fully operational recording studio into the confines of a small suitcase.

Andre found the application process extremely simple. The fact that it was so short, forced Andre to express his ideas in the most succinct manner, which he thought was also quite helpful in itself.
 
“The coaching that we received at the boot camp was quite insightful and I feel like I will be better at what I do as a result of it.  I learnt that there were quite a few gaps in my knowledge that need to be addressed such as marketing and branding.
 
As the overall winner I have no complaints. My team and I really worked hard on our business plan which was worth 50% of the marks, so even if we had not won I would be quite happy with the fact it forced us to really finish off our business plan.

Now we really hope to take advantage of the coaching available, and the title that we have won. We have our eye on a few other awards but most importantly we will be spending a great deal of time growing the business”.

2nd Place

Misha Terrett, Natrali

Misha Terrett entered the World Skills Competition 2010 because she was really serious about her business idea and wanted to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible.  She was ready for a new challenge!

Misha has designed a makeup range for young people.  Natrali not only makes them look and feel more beautiful, but is pure enough to sleep in, so it is healthy too.

 

“The boot camp was really fun, challenging, and a great learning curve!

We had interesting tasks, one was to research the smoothie market and come up with a new smoothie business.  The other was to research the new Barclays Cycle Hire and come up with an additional service.

I learned that business can be really fun and was over the moon to come 2nd place.  I had no idea it was me! 

I hope to launch officially within the next few months.  In the meantime I will be doing previews of my products in local beauty shops and pharmacists!”

Joint 3rd Place

Viviane Williams, Wakeup Campaign

Viviane Williams entered this competition to showcase her business idea 'Wakeup Campaign'. She also knew that she would have the opportunity to be at a boot camp with other entrepreneurs so thought it would be a perfect chance to meet new people and work in teams.

Wakeup Campaign is a Social enterprise striving for equality, development and sustainability
in both the developing and developed countries, raising awareness by stimulating and awakening
people’s social consciousness by using engaging techniques such as; role playing, design activities,
craft workshops and selling tool kits. What makes Wakeup Campaign distinctive is that it uses art/design as an engagement tool to discuss development issues, rather than the common stereotyped imagery of poverty being seen on TV.

“The boot camp was a good experience. It was very much like the apprentice and I love that show. It was good working in teams, thinking on the spot, and speaking to the advisors in Striding Out.

I learnt valuable communication skills, enjoyed working in a team and pitching.

I was really happy about coming third. I have only just started my business whilst studying for my
Masters degree, not making much of a profit as yet so being put into a position where people have had their businesses for a couple of years, making a profit and still coming third I am really pleased.

I have a couple of months left until I finish my Masters at Goldsmiths so I hope that all goes well. I intend to really develop my Wakeup Campaign social enterprise. I have loads of ideas, designs incorporating branding, marketing, graphics, jewellery concepts and more which is in development so I hope I can put them onto the market for people to enjoy very soon”.

 

Zoe Robinson, Think Style

Zoe Robinson thought the idea of taking part in the boot camp was really exciting and looked like a great way to challenge herself. She also saw it as a good opportunity to improve her business skills and pitch as well as gaining a greater understanding of how to develop a marketing plan.

Zoe’s company, Think Style, is a personal style and image consultancy specialising in ethical fashion. Helping make consumers aware of ethical issues in the fashion industry is a big priority for Zoe, and if people know they can look super stylish, feel their best, and be ethical at the same time, then she feels that her job has been done! 
 
“The workshop on the third day was focused on the 'pitch' and understanding that potential investors, customers or partners are buying or investing in you just as much as your brand. I'd previously been nervous at the idea of pitching, feeling that I had to come across in a certain way, but through the work we did with Quinn, I understood that being myself and being comfortable with my 'pitch' is vital.

As this was the first time I've done my business pitch I was very happy to have received a Bronze Award. I was equally excited that my team members got a Bronze and highly commended as we'd really enjoyed the process together and it was great that it paid off.

 I've already started work on some new market research and have been telling everyone about how I feel I've benefitted from the great coaching advice from Quinn. I plan to work on refining my pitch so it really encapsulates why I started my business, what I want to achieve and how I hope to achieve it.
 
I'm looking forward to staying in touch with Striding Out and other entrepreneurs from the boot camp - hopefully some of us will have the opportunity to work together. I've also just been asked to write for a new ethical fashion magazine and have been accepted into the Courvoisier Future 500 so lots of exciting things are happening.

 It was an extremely valuable experience and I learnt a lot from the other members of my team and the rest of the group. The tasks were more tiring than I expected (something to do with running around London in 30 degree heat!) but we were really proud with how our ideas developed and what we came up with. The workshop with Quinn from Striding Out was really inspiring and great fun - I wish it could have been longer!”
 

 The Big Leap Entrepreneurial Competition is run in partnership with UK Skills as part of WorldSkills UK.

The world's largest international skills competition aimed at young people. WorldSkills UK incorporates the UK's premier set of skills competitions for students, trainees and employees. Competitions are a great way to engage, inspire and motivate young people to work towards their personal aspirations.  http://www.worldskillsuk.org/

 Business in the Community is supporting our Big Leap contestants by providing specialist mentors to help them develop their business skills and acumen.

 

 

The Big Leap is also supported by the British Library, Business and IP Centre, who is provided the training venue and market research training for the participants.

 

 

Future 100

  

Are you a successful and responsible entrepreneur?

Striving to improve the economy, environment and society?

At Striding Out every year we search for talented young entrepreneurs aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in progressing a responsible business venture. TO FIND OUT MORE  CLICK HERE