Have you considered ‘jumping off the cliff’, emulating the likes of Lord Sugar, Sir Richard Branson and Mark Zuckerberg and going solo when you’ve completed your studies?
“An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.” Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn
A recent survey of 1,002 graduates by PolicyBee suggests students feel they do not receive enough information about freelancing and starting their own business from their university. The results, illustrated in the handy infographic (click here for enlarged version), suggests that while 80%* of graduates said they have considered becoming self-employed, only 12% felt they were given enough information by to consider it as a viable employment option upon completion of their studies. A staggering 62% said they hadn’t been given any information on it at all.
Coventry University, however, is well placed to buck this trend. May I introduce, theEnterprise Hub, which many of you may have spotted situated next to the Ellen Terry Building. The Enterprise Hub works exclusively with students, staff and alumni to actively promote help, guidance and support to create sustainable enterprises that have genuine social impact.
They offer a range of different support workshops, as well as access to loans, grants and funding. Why not pop along to one of their fortnightly Enterprise Café sessions and talk to the team and network with likeminded people from across the university? The Enterprise Hub also hosts regular workshops on different topics to help you get your business idea off the ground. So whether you’re thinking of being a freelance photographer, journalist or setting up that mobile design studio app, get in touch with the team and they can help you get things off the ground.
