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autumn, winter 2012 / issue 7 / academic year 12/13
Inside this issue:Employability through enterprise! Make yourself stand out to potential employers
Sector Focus Looking at the Scottish games industry
and creative industries
Unlock your potential! SIE’s new Innovation Programme
The Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) is the national organisation for promoting and supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship in Scotland's universities.
www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue page 2 & 3
Energy Egg Cracks US
Brian O’Reilly, founder of TreeGreen, has ‘cracked’ the US with his innovative ‘Energy Egg’. The inspiration behind his invention was the constant despair over energy costs in his own family home. His children would regularly leave electrical devices on, even when they were not in the room, resulting in high electricity bills. Brian ‘hatched’ a plan to create a device that would combat this problem and so the concept of the Energy Egg was born.
It was evident very early on that TreeGreen had a very promising product. The company demonstrated signs of rapid growth potential, and were invited onto SIE’s Company Acceleration programme where free support and advice was provided. Recently Brian has been in touch with UK retailers John Lewis and Tesco. His most significant success to date happened over the summer, signing a lucrative deal to distribute 100,000 Energy Eggs to stores across the US.
Brian believes that ‘SIE supported TreeGreen with almost every aspect of the business.’ and remains optimistic that his success will continue because for him, ‘…the Energy Egg is just the beginning.’
Jodie vs ‘The Angel’
SIE alumnus Jodie Hughes was a participant on Sky1’s, ‘The Angel’ which aired on the 7th August. Jodie was looking for £100,000 of investment from ‘The Angel’ to help her develop her current business, Adspad.
Jodie is a well-known name at SIE. She was one of our most successful past interns working with the organisation for 3 years promoting entrepreneurship at campus level. Not only was Jodie a successful intern, she was also a budding young entrepreneur with a passion and enthusiasm for new business. SIE recognised this after Jodie
won a category award for our New Ventures Competition back in 2010 for her business: My Health Cards. She has since sold this business to concentrate on Adspad full time.
Jodie performed well on the show, displaying a confidence and maturity beyond her years. Her pitching skills were flawless with ‘The Angel’ commending her for her excellent pitch. Despite Jodie’s best efforts she was pipped at the post in the final task which saw her lose out on investment. SIE are extremely proud of Jodie’s achievement; believing that Adspad will prosper even without an investment from ‘The Angel.’ Jodie is a testament to the fact that success can stem from having an idea and the confidence to believe in it.
A Perfect Pitch as Scottish entrepreneurs prove they have what it takes to compete!
Scotland’s budding entrepreneurs are proving they’ve got what it takes to be the business leaders of the future by being a force to be reckoned with in national and UK-wide business competitions across the country.
Heriot Watt’s Converge Challenge gave students and members of staff from any Scottish University a chance to develop the commercial potential of their inventions.
In June, candidates from across Scotland were given the opportunity to pitch to a panel of judges, who then had to pick their top ten candiates to proceed to the next stage of the challenge. SIE worked with four of the top ten, offering free advice and support to: Tracy Thomson (TigTag Events), Dr Paul Brennan (EoSurgical), Jack Hoy-Gig Ng (Sansible) and Sam Zawadaski (Advancetogo).
Both Sansible and TigTag Events made it to final six and pitched in the final which took place at the end of September.
SIE-supported companies also participated in The Pitch, a UK-wide competition which aims to find the top 80 small businesses across Britain, who will compete to win a grand prize. Four of the companies who made the cut were Scottish businesses who received support from SIE.
One of the finalists is 20 year old Jonathan Lott from UWS. He is currently balancing studying for his Business Studies with Enterprise degree with his own business Appurchase Ltd, a cashless system for retailers. “Jonathan is an entrepreneur in the making, having firmly established an ebay telephone accessory business before starting up Appurchase”, says SIE Regional Business Advisor, Liz Mackenzie. Jonathan will join Joanna Montgomery (Littleriot), Sam Zawadski (AdvancetoGO) and Darren Lester (the CADcube) and compete with other small businesses during October - November for a prize package of £50,000!
Check out the new website!
Have you seen the new look SIE website yet? SIE is a learning organisation and we listen to the students and educators that we work with every day. Our newly designed site makes it easier than ever to find information about our activities and what’s going on for enterprising students across Scotland. Let us know what you think!
www.sie.ac.uk
News
Ignite is published Bi-annually by the Scottish Institute for Enterprise, which receives support from the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
FOR ALL ENQUIRIES: Tel: 0141 330 8793 Fax: 0141 330 8790 Email: [email protected] Web: www.sie.ac.uk
EDITORIAL: Editor: Scott McKellar Tel: 0141 330 8788 Email: [email protected]
CONTRIBUTORS: Dele Adeyemo, Jane Ambrose, Brian Baglow, Marc Cairns, Lauren Currie, Euan Duncan, Adam Gordon, Jamie Hare, Mark Hasting, Tom McGuire, Simone Russell, Dawn Shand, Ann Smith, John Sutherland, Becca Thomas, Gregor White.
ADVERTISING, SUBSCRIPTIONS & DISTRIBUTION (Special rates for student businesses). Contact: Evelyn Hynan Tel: 0141 300 8793 Email: [email protected]
The view, advice and opinions expressed within this magazine are those of the individuals therein and do not necessarily reflect those of the Scottish Institute for Enterprise. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or copied without permission.
Welcome to the latest edition of Ignite!
A new academic year and it’s already looking like it’s going to be one of our best yet.
We’re hitting the ground running with our annual New Ideas and New Ventures competitions which you can read about in this issue.
Employability is an important factor when considering your future and we’re tackling that directly in a feature about how engaging with enterprise activities can increase your options and desirability to employers even if you’re not planning to set up a business for yourself.
Like it or loathe it, social media is a part of our lives. Adam Gordon looks at how you can make social media work for you on your terms, whether it’s to increase your employability, or to promote your own business.
For those of you with young businesses or have businesses in development we look at how to work with a lawyer and accountant, what to expect, and how you should manage the relationship.
An all new Sector Focus feature covers the Games Industry in Scotland and opportunities in the Creative Industries. We’ll be continuing this feature in future issues.
Also in this issue we’ll be talking about some new developments in 2012-13. Our new Innovation Programme, workshops to help take you from idea to launch, is already making waves on campuses around Scotland.
Finally CreAction Lab is an all-new activity which we piloted over the summer with the university of Edinburgh. We’ll be expanding CreAction Labs across the country, so watch this space!
More students than ever are working with us and getting a taste for entrepreneurship. We’re here to help you make the most of your time at university and create a more rewarding future.
Enjoy the issue!
FIONA GODSMAN CEO SCOTTISH INSTITUTE FOR ENTERPRISE.
University can be a great time for ideas. If you’ve got an idea for a new business or social enterprise, but you aren’t sure what to do with it, then SIE is here for you, and you don’t need to be a business student. We’ll help you develop your idea and give you lots of advice and support along the way. SIE is here to inspire, encourage, develop and support Scotland’s next generation of successful entrepreneurs.
page 4 & 5www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue
How can social media help you or your enterprise?
You can find out loads about social media and how it will be of use to you online but to make it useful, you need to work out quickly, which elements are for you or your business. Here’s some real world experience.
What’s social media for?
It’s for whatever you want to use it for and the opportunities and boundaries are changing as people utilise it in different ways. It’s changing the way we live our lives from choosing which friends to keep in touch with to deciding what Club 18-30 trip to take.. For the purpose of this article however, it’s for getting you and/or your business better known to the people who might buy you, your product(s) or your service(s). You can use social media simply to raise awareness, to start conversations and influence people, to demonstrate personality, build a brand and create loyal customers.
My view is, the more useful and interesting you are on social media, the better you will serve your business (or just yourself). The concept of ‘USEFUL’ is incredibly important….
Where are your customers?
One big mistake business people and entrepreneurs make is that they think they need to use social media to keep in touch with the people they already know, only. I don’t agree with this. Use social media to make new contacts. Also, don’t automatically be tempted to use all social media channels. They may not all be useful for you. Here’s a simple breakdown:
Almost everyone knows what Facebook is. It’s the site where people display some information about themselves, connect with their friends and family, share photos, personal updates and more. As a marketing channel, Facebook can be very powerful for individuals and companies whose customers are the general public. You can create Facebook ‘pages’ for your service or product and use these to generate ‘Likes’
from other Facebook users. Those who ‘Like’ your service or product’s page are effectively agreeing that they want to know more about your business – events, offers, new products – and when they ‘Like’ your page they have the ability to comment on anything your page does or says on Facebook. Some great examples of ‘how to’ on Facebook include Burberry and Nike. Have a look at their pages and see what you can learn from their style. But don’t worry that I’ve used global brands as examples. Local businesses can create wonderful communities around their service or product using Facebook.
Twitter is really coming into its own. It’s difficult to understand how it can be useful to begin with because the format isn’t like Facebook. All users have their own profile page, although they are basic, and members are encouraged, simply, to share updates.. and regularly. Your contacts don’t connect with you as such. They follow you because they want to know what you’re saying. And the key to success on Twitter is to gain as many followers as possible for your service or product. So be interesting and be useful. You need to decide whether you are the business or whether the business is what you want people to follow. Last thing about Twitter: this is the most powerful way to find out what’s happening in the world. I started using Twitter during ‘the riots’ in 2011 and was able to find out what was going on more quickly than I was through the TV or radio.
LinkedIn looks like Facebook in terms of the format. Everyone has their own profile which outlines their skills and interests.. professional interests that is. And they use that profile to connect to other business contacts. LinkedIn is where business people keep in touch with each other and meet professionals that might be of strategic importance to them, including clients, prospective clients, intermediaries, people in media, people in government and more. Like Facebook, LinkedIn enables members to start communities. Instead of ‘pages’,
they are called ‘Groups’. Over 1 million LinkedIn Groups exist for school/college/community/employer alumni, for people interested in particular companies and for people interested in particular issues. Most LinkedIn Groups are totally useless in my opinion. That’s because it’s so easy to start a Group and most Group owners haven’t really thought about what their Group is for. However, the 5% of Groups (in my guesstimation) which are useful are incredibly powerful communities. Find out what’s already there and engage in the best Groups relevant to your subject. Or …Start your own (get in touch with me if you’d like my 30-Point Plan for LinkedIn Groups).
YouTube
YouTube is the site you all know as a repository for video. TV channels, pop stars and amateur video-makers create their own channels on YouTube. But what most people haven’t thought about yet is, how can they use YouTube to help their service or product build a fan base? What have you got to share? What will people find interesting? Every reader of this has learnt something new and useful this week…. Share it!
Adam Gordon is Director of WinningWork. He graduated in 1999 from the University of Strathclyde, and has worked at International advertising agency Euro RSCG and well-respected firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers. His company, founded in 2009, works with some of the world’s biggest organisations.
Follow @WinningWork www.linkedin.com/in/adamwgordon/
Making social media work for you
Employability / Career / Starting a Business
www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue
Most now recognise that possession of a degree scroll alone is no longer enough to deem them “employable” when it comes to graduate jobs. Instead they must now participate in various activities to prove their employability to potential employers.
So what makes up employability and how do you make yourself more employable? Employability can be thought of as the knowledge, skills and abilities that employers look for. The knowledge component will flow from a vocational degree subject, or if like many graduates your degree subject doesn’t relate to your chosen career, then employers will use your degree as evidence that you can learn, and will be able to gain the appropriate knowledge over time. Employers in different industries will prioritise different skills and abilities, but broadly speaking all will place some importance on the following categories: self-reliance skills, people skills, general employment skills and specialist skills. The table below isn’t an exhaustive list but introduces how these categories can be broken down further, with some suggestions for activities to help develop these:
This may seem to suggest you should sign up for a wide range of extra-curricular activities in addition to having a part-time job, and doing course work. Remember however that a single activity or interest can cover a range of employability skills and abilities. For example participating in an entrepreneurial activity such as SIE bootcamp could help develop and provide evidence of being competent in net-working, problem solving, and having business acumen.
A good starting point might be to carry out an employability audit on yourself by taking the following steps:
1 Identify the employability skills and abilities employers in your chosen career value most. (people skills are sought after by all) You can find more information about this from looking at careers profiles on web-sites such as www.prospects.ac.uk or www.myworldofwork.co.uk
2 Reflect on what you currently do or have recently done in your course, spare time and work experience thinking about what aspects of employability they’re helping develop.
3 Match these to step 1, identifying any gaps.
4 Consider what types of activity you could get involved in that would help fill the gaps.
Employability through Enterprise
As students start a new academic year in the knowledge they are one year closer to finishing their studies, thoughts often
turn to the issue of graduating and applying for jobs.
page 6 & 7
Employability categories
People skills e.g. Team working, leadership, interpersonal, customer service, communication skills.
General employment skills e.g. Problem solving, numeracy, business acumen, commitment, IT skills, working to deadlines, report writing.
Self-reliance skills e.g. Self awareness, taking initiative, net-working, planning skills, willingness to learn. Specialist occupational skills Specialist knowledge, familiarity with industry soft-ware, languages
Suggested activities
• Part-time work in a shop, bar, restaurant. • Member of an orchestra/band/ sports team. • Committee member • University/college group work • Public speaking/debating • Volunteer mentor, class rep
• University project/dissertation • Exams in music grades, martial arts, dance • Fundraising for a club/charity • Writing for magazine, blog • Voluntary work
• Membership of club/society • Group project • Voluntary work • Attendance at net-working events
• Work placement/experience /shadowing • Degree content • Reading industry journals, research publications • Driving licence • Relevant IT qualification
Jane Ambrose, Inspire training and career coaching
Step 4 is not suggesting undertaking certain activities for the sole purpose of enhancing employability. Of course they could be, but it’s likely to be far more effective and enjoyable to do activities you’re actually interested in. Participating in something new also builds self awareness in terms of your strengths/weaknesses, likes and dislikes – an important part of career planning, and self confidence should also increase from being nudged out of your comfort zone.
Do remember gaining employability is not a case of imagining what you might be good at, based on your knowledge of your personality. For example lots of people believe they would make a good leader but have no practical experience to base this belief on. Employers look for people who are already “competent” in the employability traits they are looking for i.e. people who already have practical demonstrable experience, and from the employer’s perspective past experience is often taken as the best predictor of future performance. They may well test these attributes through competency questions such as “Give me an example of an occasion when your leadership skills were tested to the full?” - very difficult to answer without any practical experience.
The journey towards employability should be an enjoyable fulfilling one, but be wary of falling into the following common employability pit-falls along the way.
• Over-relianceonthepast
Being a school prefect or achieving grade 5 piano in S4, were undoubtedly useful for the UCAS form, however these just don’t cut it for a graduate CV. Sadly many students participated in all sorts of extra-curricular activities at school but don’t continue them beyond. Employability skills and abilities need to be developed not only during your course, but throughout your whole career to maintain your employability.
• Over-relianceononesource
Ideally employability should be demonstrated from a mixture of course work, work experience and spare time activities. Too often students use their course work alone to try and justify their employability.
• Wakinguptoalackofemployabilitytoolate
Don’t put off getting involved in things and gaining experience. Getting a graduate job is competitive so you need to start early developing the right skills. It’s extremely difficult to produce a good application form/CV when there’s a lack of material to go on it.
• Havingtherightskillsandabilitiesbutnotsellingyourself
Lastly some students have done a great job building their employability but don’t manage to convey this on their CV/ applications forms/ at interviews. Make use of your university careers service in this respect. Most have excellent programmes on recognising your skills and abilities, and will help you present these to employers, a crucial part of employability.
For more information on employability and competencies check out www.prospects.ac.uk
page 8 & 9www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue
Start small but think big was one of the key messages at Dare+ which SIE attended this summer
The event aimed at start-ups is an offshoot of the Dare to be Digital programme which is run between June and August each year and hosted by Abertay University. Students form teams of five and compete over 10 weeks to design a fully functioning video game prototype. The teams then showcase their work at Dare Protoplay where 10,000 people tried out the games in just three days. Three finalists are then put forward for the BAFTA ‘One to Watch’ Awards.
Guest speakers at Dare+ included Michael Romilly of Waracle, Mark Hastings of Guerilla Tea and Khaled Al-Hurby of Adamant Studios. Khaled led the first ever student team to be awarded the £25k Prototype Fund to develop ‘Asphodel’.
Each of the speakers emphasised the importance of gamers building their portfolios by using their skills across different markets e.g. visualising high value conservatories before construction. The monies from this would then allow them to spend some time on developing their game ideas and pay the rent meantime.
Many within the SIE network have great ideas but lack the technical skills to realise them. Gamers should get in touch with SIE if they would like to connect with others who are seeking help with developing an app or simply looking for a neat way to visualise their idea.
The Computer Games Sector in Scotland
Scotland’s Computer Games development, research and teaching began back in 1981 with the Dundee-produced Sinclair ZX81. These early days saw Inner Workings in Glasgow, writing games like The Jolly Postman for the PC, and DMA Design in Dundee creating the iconic Lemmings game for the Amiga.
Scotland’s video games industry is mainly Dundee-based, with outliers in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.
The industry has two main routes to employment, and these days you have to be a graduate to get in. Most graduates join as programmer, artist or quality assurance.
You have to be flexible, innovative, creative and skilled. Entry is by consideration of your online e-portfolio.
The second route is via a new-start studio. This is both easy and difficult! Easy, as you can do it NOW. Difficult, as it is hard work, long hours and a learning curve.
It requires the same skillset as an employee, plus a focus on timescales, costs and security. This is best done with a mentor.
If you can create computer games, you are centrally located for the explosion of content for smartphones, Internet and TV. For if you can create computer games - exciting, interactive, visual presentations with soundscapes - you have the skills to create what today’s e-consumers want.
Games Industry - do you dare?
Sector FocusOver the next few issues of Ignite, SIE will be looking at some
of the industry sectors having considerable impact on the Scottish Economy.
Dawn Shand, Regional Business Advisor, SIE [email protected]
Dr John N Sutherland, School of Computing, University of West of Scotland
Gregor White, Director of Academic Enterprise Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education Institute of Arts, Media and Computer Games Abertay University
Mark Hastings, Managing Partner, Guerilla Tea, [email protected] www.guerillatea.com
Brian Baglow, Scottish Games
Please check out www.scottishgames.net
Bringing together industry experts, academics and young entrepreneurs, our aim is to highlight some of the key trends and opportunities and provide some” big picture thinking” for students wanting to set up their own ventures or looking to find graduate careers in these sectors.
With the gaming industry reputed to be worth millions to the Scottish economy, and with 2012 being the Year of Creative Scotland, we have chosen the Games and Creative Industry sectors to launch this new feature.
We are grateful to all our featured contributors for sharing their views and experiences. We would also like to hear from you! If you have any views you would like to share, please email these to [email protected] and we will feature these in a future SIE blog.
Over the last three or four years the skills and knowledge that graduates need for a successful career in computer games development has changed significantly. This change has been driven by the changes in the profile of development studios in the UK sector. Until quite recently graduates would prepare themselves to work in highly specialised roles in a team of fifty, sixty or more developers, and studios were recruiting graduates with highly developed skills and knowledge in a specific discipline.
Now that two thirds of UK studios are small independent developers that publish to the casual market graduates must be able to fulfil a number of roles within the studio. As well as having core specialist skills, games graduates also need to be entrepreneurial; over half of the developments studio in the UK are less that three years old. They must to be able to communicate well as developers are now also likely to be business developers and marketeers, and be able to work in teams across disciplines.
Anyone considering studying for a degree in any aspect of computer games development should target courses that offer the opportunity to work on games development projects in multi-disciplinary teams.
Scotland does a lot of things very well. Science, engineering, renewable energy, culture and creative arts, tourism, food and drink, biomedicine – there’s a lot celebrate.
Fewer people are aware of the country’s expertise in videogames. From the very earliest days of the industry, Scotland has been a leader in innovative and original games.
Back when there were a mere five companies, Scotland produced blockbusters such as Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto. As the industry evolved, the country took advantage of the new technologies, platforms and business models to continue innovating and creating new experiences.
Mobile gaming, digital distribution, casual games, social networking, the app markets and new non-dedicated devices have all allowed Scotland’s developers to build ever more diverse forms of digital entertainment.
There are well over 100 games companies in Scotland, working on projects for every conceivable market. We have the experience, the expertise and the community.
Scotland is also a world leader when it comes to education and support for the interactive market. Four of Scotland’s universities are creating games-specific graduates and entrepreneurs who want to build their own business.
The unique Dare to be Digital competition, which promotes new talent, endorsement and support from the government mean that Scotland’s future within the rapidly evolving world of interactive entertainment is only going to get brighter.
Welcome to the world of tomorrow. Today.
It used to be that Games Development meant tens, if not hundreds, of developers and million pound budgets and nothing else would do. The market for this type of game still exists of course, but it remains as closed as ever to new and small companies. Fortunately the casual and mobile gaming markets have opened the Games Industry up to greater competition and created new opportunities for start-ups. Combine this with the new development technologies available at low, and even no, cost and it has never been easier prototype, develop and release commercial products.
My company, Guerilla Tea, spun out from the University of Abertay in Dundee a little more than a year ago and the process of setting up couldn’t have been simpler. Actually running a successful business is a different story, but setting-up is low cost and very easy.
The Games Industry has always been a highly competitive market, and despite the changes it’s gone through this hasn’t changed. Students and graduates hoping to start their own company need to know about more than just developing games, a keen understanding of business and the market is absolutely crucial. There’s a certain skillset necessary to make a game, but it takes more than that to run a Games Company and students need to be aware of that.
Pidgin Perfect was founded in 2010 by Dele Adeyemo and Marc Cairns after working together during their Masters studies at University of Strathclyde. A year later Becca Thomas officially joined the flock and three of us set out to redefine our roles as young architects by specialising in different forms of community practice.
We don’t see ourselves as a traditional architectural practice so much as a creative studio, combining imagination, technology and craft to help build better communities for everyone. Since our formation we have been developing new ways of working with a broad range of clients across the architectural profession, education, government, local community and arts organisations.
At Pidgin Perfect we think that in the current economic climate, creative graduates have to be flexible. A creative education provides graduates with a wide range of useable skills. If we, as creative practitioners, can resist the temptation to fixate on the title of our degrees, we can instead think differently within the context of creative practice about how and why we want work.
My business evolved from a number of volunteer projects during my 3rd and final year of studying Visual Communication at Gray’s School of Art.
I have always wanted to combine my creative skills with teaching. I worked with a number of schools, experimenting, learning and gaining research and experience. I led a series of animation and design workshops and developed a new product, flickaphonics. To transform my product from a project to a business, I worked through the Starter for 6 business programme and attended the SIE Bootcamp to learn the business skills required. To get a product to market has proved to be extremely hard work and time consuming so although I still aim to take flickaphonics to market, I now work on a self employed basis as an animation and design workshop leader and also lecture at Borders College. There are many opportunities for students in the Creative Industries but the key to success is all about being pro-active, hard working and having the determination to never give up in achieving your goals.
I’ve been filming my friend’s weddings and other occasions for over a decade and a few had suggested starting up a company and doing it full time. After meeting my partner Rachael and having similar ideas it seemed like the perfect time to make the leap and incorporate which we did in February 2012 when Paving Stones Media was born. Both of us come from a creative background and have experience in the TV industry and I think the combination of skills works well.
Individually we’ve worked on projects with charities and education bodies and we’ve plans to move PSM in that direction. However I really do love filming weddings as it’s a real live event and there’s a lot of goodwill towards you. The only way forward in this climate is to get stuck in with a mixture of creativity and hard work and that’s the path we’re taking. There are opportunities around so keep your eyes open to find your niche.
The Creative Industries
Sector Focus (cont)
The economic and environmental crisis is deepening and it is seems the time is now to reinvent and redesign many aspects of our lives.
Politicians cry out for the redesign of society, and push businesses to innovate their way out of this double dip recession. This readiness to embrace change even radical change coupled with advances in science and technology, is unearthing a new breed of designers.
Designers who are a force for good and tackling wicked, social problems rather than fuelling consumers consuming. The most important and vital tool these designers have is the attitude and desire to re-think things so we can make an even more profound difference.
This area of design is rapidly growing and does not have a name that has stuck Social design. Service design and social innovation is among the winners but these words are losing credibility at a time when they are needed most. At Snook we humbly admit that these words and approaches are nothing new what’s new is how it’s implemented and pulled together.
Designers have a more holistic world view, and context has a higher priority. The most important contribution we make is in creating concrete solutions. Designers are taught to create. When designers go from problem to solution they are indispensable.
Just as Britain produced engineers to forge the Industrial Revolution, the information revolution is being at least partly driven by designers. I can’t think of many skills that will be more useful in the coming years than a mastery of prototyping, digital tools and the presentation of ideas and complex information across all media.
Working from their studio in Glasgow, Snook was founded in 2009 by Lauren Currie and Sarah Drummond who embarked up on their career as product designers, and continues to trail blaze service design for the public sector in Scotland. They now employ 8 people on site and work with their international network, The Snook Ensemble, made up of ex-civil servants, film makers, social workers, sociologists and several designers. The theory is that their combined skills and an interdisciplinary approach will produce more potent and sensitive solutions to complex social problems.
A design education even a basic one equips you with many of the skills that will prove invaluable in a conceptual and information-based, digitally rooted global culture. Use your analytically trained brains and empathy as observers of the human experience o work in business, health and government.
Design is a way of solving problems. There are problems to solve in every facet of our society so creative graduates we need you and lots of you.
If you want to know more, contact Snook www.wearesnook.com
www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue page 10 & 11
Lauren Currie, Co-Founder & Director of Networks, Snook www.wearesnook.com Project Director, mypolice.org Blogger, redjotter.wordpress.com Twitter, @redjotter www.twitter.com/redjotter
Simone Russell, ‘Createaspace’, Scottish Borders
For more information please visit the website: www.createaspace.org.uk or email [email protected]
Marc Cairns, Dele Adeyemo and Becca Thomas, Directors, Pidgin Perfect
Please find further information on our website: www.pidginperfect.com
Jamie Hare, Paving Stones Media, www.heartfeltfilms.co.uk
page 13 & Bwww.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue
The New Ideas Competition is aimed at students who have an idea for a new business or social enterprise and are ready to take it further. The New Ventures Competition is for students who have a well-developed business plan or who have already launched a business
There are lots of business competitions out there, but what makes SIE’s approach unique is that the process of taking part is specifically designed to help you develop your idea and take it to the next level.
Even if you don’t win the top prizes or category prizes, you’ll be in a stronger position by the end of the experience. Supporting activities designed to help our competition entrants
include Start-Up Day and our Intensive summer Bootcamp. Our regional business advisors will be there for you every step of the way and can work with you to develop your business during the competition process and beyond.
Previous SIE competition winners have gone on to success in the BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’, Sky One’s ‘The Angel’, secure significant
funding elsewhere, and are continuing to grow their companies successfully. This could be how it all starts for you.
With the new Academic year underway it’s time to think about taking part in SIE’s annual competitions.
Competition time!
During Freshers we’ve been encouraging everyone to get a taste of enterprise with our Wild Ideas Competition, where we’ve asked students to tell us their craziest ideas for a new business and win £250 from SIE.
Now it’s time to think about our main competitions: New Ideas and New Ventures.
Working with your Lawyer
Ensuring your idea is protected is essential for effective commercialisation and gives potential investors the confidence to provide the capital to take your product or service to the next stage.
First and foremost, an idea itself is not enough – it is the expression of that idea and who owns it which is key. The expression of the idea i.e. the concept will be the primary asset and USP of the legal entity that commercialises it. Very often this will be a limited company, a useful vehicle for the investment of capital as well as shielding the directors from potential liabilities going forward. There are different legal structures e.g. partnerships or joint ventures which might, in some circumstances, be more suitable.
It is essential to focus on what can be done to protect your concept from imitation or theft and to maximise the commercial opportunity. This protection will constitute your intellectual assets (“IP”) and can be in many forms, the most common of which include copyright, trade marks (to protect a brand), design rights and patents (to protect an invention).
The first step on the path to effective protection of your IP is to identify the component elements of your concept and the ways in which these can be protected.
Written materials will be protected by copyright and a brand can often be protected via a trade mark. If your concept is capable of industrial application it may be possible to apply for a patent.
Such legal protection will give the business identifiable, quantifiable and valuable rights. This is where the opportunity for commercialisation arises. Commercialisation of your concept can be facilitated in a number of ways. The simple route may be a straight up sale to another business (saving it the cost of research and development. Alternatively there are a variety of licensing models which can produce a steady income over a period of time.
You also need to be aware of the pitfalls young entrepreneurs and businesses face which are not just funding related. If you were or are working for a company or studying at a university when you formed your idea, you need to check who has rights to the IP.
We often advise entrepreneurs who have cultivated ideas on equipment belonging to their former workplace or collaborated with colleagues on parts of the idea or concept which have muddied the waters in terms of IP ownership.
Despite these hurdles, there still exist great opportunities and the government is increasingly incentivising IP commercialisation with various tax reliefs and grants. Even if your ducks have not been swimming in perfect unison to date the right type of legal advice at an early stage can help your idea take flight as a beautiful swan.
How do I choose an accountant?
You will need to be able to trust this person implicitly. A good accountant will get inside your business to understand your aims and objectives. He or she should bring insight and expertise on all business issues, and you should be able to communicate with him or her easily to build up a relationship which will last for many years.
How to work with an accountant
You will need an accountant to at the very least to prepare accounts and a tax return. If you are a limited company, those accounts are filed with the Registrar of Companies and you also need to submit a corporation tax return as well as a personal tax return.
Accountancy fees are based upon time spent on your affairs. So that the cost of this is minimised you should keep your records in an orderly way and at the very least:
• Keep all bank statements, purchase orders and receipts
• Maintain a record of all income and expenditure, either by use of a spreadsheet or an accounting software package, and
• Keep a record of all sales
If you reach the turnover limit where you are required to account for VAT, you will prepare a VAT return and the records mentioned above are the minimum that should be kept. Ensure that you set time aside on a regular basis to be your “accounts” day.
You should be able to establish each month what your business bank balance is; how much you owe and how much your customers owe you. As your business grows, management accounts should be prepared to monitor the financial performance of the business regularly.
What additional help is on offer?
As your business grows, the need for additional expert advice may surface. An accountant can also provide assistance with:
• Bookkeeping and VAT returns
• Payroll
• Management accounts
• Tax planning
• Business plans
• Obtaining grants and other finance
• Assurance services
Your first meeting with an account should be informal and FREE! Ideally you should ask:
• What services can you offer?
• What qualifications and experience do you have?
• How much will it cost and can I pay this monthly?
• What can I do to help keep the cost manageable?
• Can you demonstrate how you will become a trusted member of my business support team?
Ann Smith, Senior Manager, Business Services, French Duncan Chartered Accountants
Accountant
Euan Duncan, Partner and David Gallagher, Associate of McClure Naismith LLP.
Lawyer
Choose your professional advisors
For more information on how to enter, visit:
page 12 & 13
www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue page 14 & 15
Core Modules
Module 1: Creativity and Innovation Incorporating SIE’s Ideas Lab
Module 2: Creating value and crafting your opportunity Making the leap from idea to opportunity
Module 3: Planning your New Venture Get ready to launch
Specialised Modules
These modules are designed to focus more on the “entrepreneur” and the development of the skills and knowledge needed to launch and sustain a new venture. However, many of the skills and areas of expertise they covered have great relevance for enterprise in general and for the development of good employability skills.
• Protecting your Idea
• Understanding Business Finance
• Developing your Selling Skills
• Building your Networks and how to Network
• Developing your Marketing and PR
• Perfecting your Pitch
For the latest Innovation Programme dates, see the SIE website: www.sie.ac.uk
The programme is an active schedule of workshops with a strong focus on action, learning by doing and fun. You will experience first-hand some of the thought processes, decisions and actions of an entrepreneur, learn what is meant by innovation and enhance your perception of your own ability to innovate within yourself.
Participating in the programme will contribute towards your professional development, complimenting the technical skills and knowledge you gain from your studies. You will get a thorough understanding of how innovation can convert this existing knowledge and skills into ideas that can be developed into products and services with real economic and social impact. Useful whether you ultimately decide to make the leap from an idea to your own start-up, or take this way of thinking to a graduate career.
SIE will be running workshops from the programme across Scotland: keep an eye on the SIE website for the latest dates. All students attending SIE’s workshops will receive a certificate of attendance to confirm their involvement in the Innovation Programme!
Individual modules from the Innovation Programme can also be delivered bespoke for a specific degree course or across several facilities within a University. They can be tailored to allow for a number of formal assessment methods including presentations, group reports or reflective essays. Educators interested in running bespoke modules for their students should contact Ann Davidson, Enterprise Programme Director: [email protected]
The aim of this programme is to transform students into energetic and resourceful entrepreneurial thinkers. Spurred into action to set up their own venture or confident in their ability to realise their potential for a future employer.
CreAction Lab!At SIE we are always on the lookout for new ways to help Scotland’s students become successful entrepreneurs, so we visited the world leading entrepreneurship educators at Babson College to understand more about their CreAction Programme.
So what is CreAction? Well, Babson College had studied the behaviour of serial entrepreneurs to understand how they did it. CreAction or creative reasoning is a way of thinking and making decisions quickly in an unpredictable environment. It’s all about taking a small step, evaluating the results and taking another small step towards your goal.
We loved it and decided to make it happen here in Scotland. SIE’s CreAction Labs provide a supportive setting where you can work on these small steps with a group of like-minded peers. So not only do you move your business idea forward, you also help others get clear about what they need to do.
Our first CreAction Lab was launched in Edinburgh in July 2012 and quickly attracted a talented group of entrepreneurs who were looking for support to get their business idea off the ground. Feedback has been very positive and we plan to extend the programme to selected universities during 2012-13.
Tom McGuire, SIE Regional Business Advisor, Edinburgh & East
“Something every start-up should experience to collect their thoughts and start taking action.”SIE CreAction Lab participant
www. .ac.uk/creactionlab
For more information on a CreAction Lab near you, visit: NEW
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Innovation Programme 2012/13
www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue
Aberdeen and North
Regional Intern Coordinator (Aberdeen and North) Helen Boyd | [email protected]
Robert Gordon University [email protected]
UHI: Inverness College [email protected]
UHI: Perth College [email protected]
University of Aberdeen [email protected]
University of Abertay [email protected]
University of Dundee [email protected]
University of St Andrews [email protected]
Glasgow and West
Regional Intern Coordinator (Glasgow and West) Duncan Ross | [email protected]
Glasgow Caledonian University [email protected]
Glasgow School of Art [email protected]
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland [email protected]
University of Glasgow [email protected]
University of Strathclyde [email protected]
University of the West of Scotland [email protected]
Edinburgh and East
Regional Intern Coordinator (Edinburgh and East) Kieran Smyth | [email protected]
Edinburgh College of Art [email protected]
Edinburgh Napier University [email protected]
Heriot-Watt University [email protected]
Open University in Scotland [email protected]
Queen Margaret University [email protected]
University of Edinburgh [email protected]
University of Stirling [email protected]
scottish institute for
enterprise
Get in touch with your local SIE Intern!
Find us on Facebook: Scottish Institute for Enterprise Twitter: @_sie_
Visit www.sie.ac.uk for a full list of enterprise events and register your details to access additional resources and support.
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