Course description
The Entrepreneur Experience Programme – iUK Academy
Our Entrepreneur Experience programme is designed for UK and international graduates looking to acquire the essential skills, knowledge and work experience to begin their entrepreneurial journey in the UK.
Our programme is the ideal pathway for international graduates wishing to set up innovative business in the UK under the Start-up or Innovator visa programmes. If you have a business idea, our comprehensive programme will help you determine whether your idea is innovative, viable and scalable and prepare you to meet the criteria and apply for visa endorsement in the UK.
The Entrepreneur Experience Programme equips you with a set of core essential entrepreneurial skills and competencies, preparing you to take your innovative business through from idea to execution. The programme is designed specifically for those looking to successfully start, sustain and scale a new business in the United Kingdom.
Our unique programme also includes a four week virtual internship at a successful UK SME. By combining experiential learning with the entrepreneurial process, you will have the opportunity to apply your acquired knowledge, skills, and judgment in a real world environment and make connections to drive forward your career.
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Suitability - Who should attend?
Who’s it for?
Our core teaching modules are taught over 8 weeks by successful UK entrepreneurs and market leading industry experts. Whichever sector you are looking to enter, the Entrepreneur Experience covers all aspects of starting and growing your business, from initial idea validation through to finding advisors and exploring financing options.
As part of the programme, our unique four week virtual internship placements allow you to gain hands on experience and learn the secrets to building a successful company and will help to accelerate your eligibility for the UK’s business visa categories.
Once you have completed the core teaching modules and the internship, you’ll have the knowledge and experience to apply for Startup or Innovator visa endorsement with the option of choosing ongoing mentoring and support through our Milestone Mentoring Programme.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
Upon completion of the Entrepreneurial Experience, you will have everything you need to know to launch your own successful startup business in the UK. You will be able to:
- Evaluate the opportunity for your business idea and determine the ideal business model required to bring the idea to market
- Identify your ideal target audience and develop a top-level marketing and communications strategy to launch your new product or service
- Evaluate and put together your early stage management team and grow your network
- Understand the key issues to be aware of when setting up your business in the UK and the roles and responsibilities for business owners
- Gain a solid understanding of financial management for your business
- Learn the different ways to raise finance for your venture and how to negotiate with investors
- Master the techniques of creating a successful pitch and secure investment
- Apply your learning to real world situations through work experience
Training Course Content
Week 1: Developing Viable Business Ideas & Models
- Learn how to evaluate your business idea and bring it to market.
- Develop a high-level strategy for your business and the ideal business model
- Beat the competitors who are playing in your chosen space
- Identify your value proposition and the activities required to deliver it
- Use a business canvas to innovate and pivot your business model
Week 2: Going to Market
- Developing a top-level marketing strategy is critical to success. Learn how to:
- Understand your user’s needs, experiences, behaviours and goals
- Create reliable and realistic representations of your key audience segments
- Plan the optimum messaging and channels to deliver those messages
- Nurture the customer experience by mapping across different channels
Week 3: Thrive Sustainably as a Conscious Entrepreneur
- What does it mean to be a Conscious Entrepreneur? Learn how to:
- Consciously create your path of success as an entrepreneur and leader
- Decide your purpose, values, vision, mission and how your business will fit into your life
- Build awareness in the 5 foundational areas: strengths, weaknesses, mindset, personality preferences and self-sabotage tendencies
- Kick-start your unique personal and professional development action plan
Week 4: Find the Right Startup Team
- Running a successful business depends more on who you have. We’ll teach you how to:
- Reflect on the capabilities, skills, mindsets and experience you should consider for potential team members
- Consider a co-founder partnership
- Approach common problems with hiring and understand hiring methodology
- Discover the importance of an ‘inner circle’
- Discover best practices to increase the quality and size of your network exponentially
Week 5: Accountancy and Tax Consideration
- The UK encompasses a highly regulated environment and there are key issues you should be aware of. With respect to living and setting up a business in the United Kingdom, we’ll cover:
- Personal tax and related areas
- Business affairs, including setting-up a limited company in the UK, compliance requirements and the details on various business taxes
- Effective financial management of a company and business, including financial statements, business plans, budgeting & forecasting and related matters.
Week 6: Legal Considerations to Start a New Business
- Learn the roles and responsibilities of business owners when starting a new firm, what regulatory standards they must meet, and other legal issues:
- Company formation, including types of business,registration and issuing shares
- Directors’ and shareholders’ roles and responsibilities
- Company Management
- Key Agreements
- Protecting IP
- Regulatory & Compliance
Week 7: Managing Investment and Fund Raising
- Learn the different ways to raise finance for your venture, when to do this, what documentation is required and how to ensure you are well prepared to negotiate effectively with a potential investor
- The different types of investment
- Traditional sources of financing
- Alternative sources of financing: overdrafts and loans, angels, business grants etc.
- Investor terminology and key documents: due diligence, terms sheets etc.
- Finance rounds: seed, growth, A-E, preparing for exit
Week 8: Create Your Pitch
- Learn how best to go about a fundraising process and how to present and put together an Investor Pitch.
- What to consider before taking on investors
- Different types of investors and their advantages and disadvantages
- What a fundraising process looks like
- When to raise funds and how much
- How to value your business
- How to tell a story using the story arc
- How to shape your messaging for potential investors
Weeks 9: 12 Work Experience
- Apply your knowledge and skills in practice in a virtual internship at an established UK SME.
- Placement in an industry relevant to your business idea
- One-to-one mentoring by your supervisor to discuss projects and progress
- Flexible with the option of 2-4 weeks
- Flexible hours of work and project timelines
- Valuable networking opportunities
Course delivery details
- 8 week live online classroom workshop sessions taught by entrepreneurship experts.
- Four week virtual internship at a successful UK SME
- Insights and advice from industry experts and Founders
- Support and feedback from peer group and mentor forums