autumn - winter 2013 / issue 9 / academic year 13-14

Inside this issue: What’s the Point of a PhD?An insight into what PhD research and entrepreneurs have in common

Sector FocusSocial enterprise explained Scanning Your EnvironmentTips on how to come up with an innovative business idea

The magazine of the

Scottish Institute for Enterprise

The Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) is the national organisation for promoting and supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship in Scotland’s universities and colleges.

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

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: info@sie.ac.uk Web: www.sie.ac.uk

EDITORIAL: Scott McKellar Tel: 0141 330 8788 Email: s.mckellar@sie.ac.uk

Kirstin Hutchinson Tel: 0141 330 8792 Email: k.hutchinson@sie.ac.uk

CONTRIBUTORS: Duncan Thorp, Michael Roy, Euan Donaldson, Liz McKenzie, Anthony Wainman, Dickon Copsey, Gary Ennis

ADVERTISING, SUBSCRIPTIONS & DISTRIBUTION: (Special rates for student businesses). Contact: Evelyn Hynan Tel: 0141 300 8793 Email: e.hynan@sie.ac.uk

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.

It’s a new academic year and we’re brimming with ideas and plans for the year ahead. In this issue, we’ll update you with what’s been happening over the summer and give you a taste of what’s to come from SIE.

The winners of the Young Innovators Challenge were announced in July at our special awards evening. Each of the winners will get up to £50,000 and a year of support to develop their ideas. You can read more about them in this issue, and keep an eye out for video updates from them in the year ahead.

Our business competitions kicked off with Get Enterprising during Freshers. We’ve made some tweaks to ‘New Ideas’, (now Fresh Ideas), and New Ventures to make them even better so check them out and remember to get involved!

So how do you come up with a business idea? That’s where scanning your environment comes in. Liz Mackenzie, one of our RBA’s talks about where you can find inspiration and ideas. Dr Dickon Copsey from Glasgow University also talks about how PhD’s have changed from the traditional academia focus and can now support enterprising ambitions.

Gary Ennis from NSDesign talks about being social media savvy and how you can avoid your social media legacy causing problems after graduation!

Our sector focus this month is on Social Enterprise. We have insights from Social Enterprise Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University, and a young entrepreneur who used his passion for football to help local communities.

Our new team of campus Interns is ready to go and we have an exciting year planned for you. As always you will find the most up to date information on our activities and how you can get involved on www.sie.ac.uk.

Enjoy the issue!

FIONA GODSMAN CEO SCOTTISH INSTITUTE FOR ENTERPRISE.

SIE gives students the opportunity to develop enterprise skills and the chance to start their own business. We want to make enterprise accessible and help you unlock your potential.If you have an idea for a new business, 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 2 & 3

News

The lowdown on what’s been happening since the last issue of Ignite.

It’s been a busy summer here at SIE while we’ve been getting ready for another exciting academic year! We have lots of different competitions and events taking place in the next few months that’ll give students the chance to receive support to grow innovative ideas. You can find out all about them in this issue of Ignite and online at our website www.sie.ac.uk

Our interns are ready to go!

Another year, another group of enthusiastic SIE Student Interns! They’ll be running events and activities on campuses across Scotland as well as managing an SIE Facebook group for their institution where students can keep up-to-date with local activities. They are managed directly by SIE Regional Intern Coordinators who work closely with local educators to ensure there are lots of useful enterprise activities. Look out for their orange SIE t-shirts on campus!

Entrepreneurial Success

Congratulations to all of our budding entrepreneurs taking the next steps in their business! Here are some highlights from this summer;

Craig Johnstone has successfully won £46,000 funding for his e-book business Giglets from the Edge Fund. Giglets publishes illustrated and adapted classics for children and adults, which are condensed into 15 minute long reads to provide modern day appeal. Craig is a Strathclyde University graduate and New Ventures winner.

Chris Ranson was selected as the third place winner in the Innovation Hothouse final which took place in London at the end of September. Chris has created The Ultra-Portable Acoustic Guitar: a guitar that can be dismantled to fit in a small rucksack for travel. Chris is a Glasgow School of Art graduate and New Ideas winner.

Darren Lester has been accepted into the ignite100 accelerator programme; a UK-wide initiative that offers intense mentorship and seed capital of up to £100,000! Formally CADcube, the company has rebranded to create SpecifiedBy which provides a better way to search, share and download building product information. Darren is an Edinburgh Napier graduate and New Ventures winner.

Euan Donaldson has been selected to move forward to the next round of the Scottish EDGE. Euan created First Touch Football in 2012 to create a great first football experience for children that would inspire them to take up the sport. Euan is a graduate from Glasgow Caledonian University.

The Converge Challenge and Converge Kickstart competitions came to an end on the 24th of September with a final pitch and awards ceremony. We would like to congratulate all those who took part! We’re delighted to have supported 8 of the 11 finalists including;

• Kanika Bensal, University of Edinburgh (2nd place Converge Challenge)

• Helen Fisher & Liita Lyaloo Naukushu, University of Edinburgh (3rd place Converge Challenge)

• Tadas Labadus & Renata Pilikinaite, University of Glasgow (joint 2nd Kickstart Challenge)

• Tracey Thompson, University of the West of Scotland (joint 2nd Kickstart Challenge)

• Victoria Hamilton, University of Strathclyde (finalist)

• John Biddlestone, University of Dundee (finalist)

Space-faring graduate featured in Wired!

Tom Walkinshaw (GCU graduate) has been featured on wired.co.uk! After legislative hurdles with his space burial start-up Alba-orbital, he has pivoted the idea and launched PocketQube Shop. The company significantly reduces the cost of satellite production, making them more accessible for universities and research teams. He was interviewed by wired.co.uk about the new venture, and his kickstarter campaign. You can read more at www.pocketqubeshop.com. You can also read about how SIE has supported Tom on the SIE blog!

CreAction Lab at GCU

CreAction Lab is a supportive but challenging group where students and graduates have the opportunity to explore ideas and take steps to move their business forward.

This summer, SIE hosted six CreAction Labs for students and recent graduates at Glasgow Caledonian University. There were nine participants whose businesses included a waste management start-up, a solar energy device, an Oil and Gas procurement company, and a new shoe for NHS employees.

Each week the participants considered what stage they were at with their businesses and through group discussion found solutions to their current challenges. We hope to run more CreAction labs later this academic year.

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

SIE’s residential Bootcamp is designed to help students and recent graduates develop their idea and create a solid plan of action for their business. On top of that, it’s always a great experience with lots of energy and excitement. This year was no exception!

Students met at the University of Stirling in June for three days of workshops and practical activities from SIE, members of the enterprise community, and successful entrepreneurs who covered all the essential skills such as pitching, finance, networking and more.

Speakers included:

• JaneAmbrose(ISCOInspiringFutures)

• NormaCorlette(CommunitiesOnline)

• IainEdwards(Entrepreneurial-Spark)

• AlanMackie(SandlerTraining)

• MairiRudkin(Marks&Clerk)

Feedback was very positive, and SIE would like to thank all of our speakers and the participants for making it such a great experience. You can see pictures from Bootcamp ’13 on the SIE Facebook page and watch videos from participants on our Youtube channel (“SIEmedia”).

The next Bootcamp will take place in summer 2014!

Bootcamp 2013This summer, SIE hosted another successful Bootcamp

for budding entrepreneurs.

page 4 & 5

How To Stop Your Social Media Past #Destroying Your Future

ForafewdaysinApril,17yearoldParisBrown was held up as a positive example. Ayoungperson,doingwell.Thecarefullychosen candidate for the role of Youth PoliceandCrimeCommissionerforKent.

Before she’d had the chance to settle in to her £15,000 a year taxpayer funded role, Paris was out on her ear, plastered all over the newspapers as an example of everything that’s wrong with young people today. She even got a talking to from Special Branch.

All because of things she’d said in her social media past.

‘Stupid, immature, spur of the moment’ was how 21 year old accountant Emma Way summed up her Tweet where she claimed to have knocked a cyclist of his bike on her journey to work. She was suspended from her job and faced a police investigation.

Then there’s Paul Chambers who was prosecuted for joking about blowing up Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster. Anti terror police stormed his workplace. After a 2 year legal fight, Paul successfully appealed his conviction but that Tweet cost him two jobs and made him, for a while at least, in his own words, ‘unemployable.’

The fall from grace these people suffered was bad enough. But what about someone running their own business? When you’ve spent time and effort building clients and your reputation?

With a personal mistake it may be easy enough to lie low for a bit then re-emerge saying you’ve grown up and learned your lesson.

Businesses can’t do that.

And what if it’s not you that posts the catastrophic Tweet or status update, but a member of your team?

First, you have to accept responsibility. Take control of your Twitter past and eliminate what you can using services like ‘DeleteAllMyTweets.Com’ and ‘TweetDelete.Net’. You could also shut down your channel and start over with a new user name or protect your tweets so only people you pre-approve have access. None of this completely removes everything you’ve posted but cleaning things up certainly makes those things you’ve said which have no business benefit far less visible.

Gary Ennis, Founder and Managing Director, NSDesign Ltd

Be wary of your social media footprint

Your comments and activities in a “personal” space as a student, may affect future clients, business partners, or employers, and last longer than you may imagine.

Make sure you’re implimenting all the necessary security filters to prevent a casual search turning up something embarassing.

If commenting on a public news story or article that is integrated with social media accounts think about who might see what you’re posting. What you might say in the pub might not be the kind of thing you would want everyone to read.

Consider using a different account for friends/family where your “personal brand” might not be affected.

Facebook gives you the facility to ‘Limit Past Posts’ and remove your name from photos you’re tagged in. Again, you won’t be able to disappear completely, even if you delete your account it’ll go live again anytime you log in.

Once you’ve minimised your own exposure it’s time to deal with your team. If their facebook or twitter profile includes where they work, then you better believe whatever they say on social media has an impact on your business.

Instead of a clampdown, a harm reduction approach is better. These days, every employee is involved in marketing the business in some way. Encourage them to do it right and use case studies and examples so they understand the consequences when people get it wrong.

If you are updating a business-related feed from your personal computer, use a private browser (like Google chrome’s “incognito” feature) which will force you to re-enter your social media passwords each time and reduce the risk of mixing up the accounts and sending a personal message when you meant to send a business-related one.

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

Some of the biggest ideas started out with someone addressing aday-to-dayproblem.DuringFreshers,ournewGetEnterprisingcompetition asked students to tell us about a problem they face in their everyday lives and suggest a new product or service that would solve that problem. This is a great way to start thinking like an entrepreneur and see the opportunities around you.

If you want to take your idea further, take a look at our main competitions: Fresh Ideas and New Ventures. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge or experience you have of the business world, we’re here to help! We want to help you gain experience and skills that will allow you to turn your great idea into a successful start-up. Whether you win or not, taking part will put you in a stronger position to take the next steps in growing your business, or give you an edge after graduation.

If you haven’t entered a business plan competition before, the best place to start is the Fresh Ideas competition. SIE is looking for entries from students and recent graduates who have an idea and want to explore turning it into a new business venture or social enterprise. There will be five prizes of £500 cash!

The New Ventures competition is for students and graduates who have developed their idea further into a clear business concept or who are already running a business that’s less than two years old. The competition will equip you to move your business forward and achieve its full potential. A top prize of £10,000 is up for grabs!

Our Regional Business Advisors are on hand to help entrants throughout the competitions and beyond. In the past participants have gone on to establish and grow very successful businesses within Scotland and further afield.

For more information on how to enter, visit: www.sie.ac.uk

Kickstartyouridea!

Developyourbusinessideaforthechancetowinfunding with SIE’s annual competitions

page 6 & 7

The winners of the Young Innovators Challenge were announced at the competition awards eveningonJuly11th.

The competition finalists joined selected business leaders, members of the Scottish Government and educators to hear the announcement of the winners, and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship in Scotland’s colleges and universities.

The competition challenged final year students under 25 to come up with an innovation idea for a new business or social enterprise which would tackle a business or social challenge. SIE provided lots of inspiration and help along the way and received an impressive number of high-quality entries.

Blair Bowman (University of Aberdeen) Idea: World Whisky Day World Whisky Day offers people around the world the opportunity to try whisky for the first time, taking advantage of the global boom in the whisky industry which contributes £4.3 billion to the UK economy.

David Townsend (University of St Andrews) Idea: Supporting geothermal energy Supporting Scottish Government targets of 30% renewable energy by 2020, David plans to facilitate and encourage and encourage geothermal energy in Scotland. His vision is to fully assess the potential of geothermal energy in Scotland and locate specific project areas where substantial renewable energy can be utilised.

Laura-Jayne Nevin (Edinburgh College of Art) Idea: Wool & Co. Wool & Co. Is a contemporary yarn boutique promoting wool and knitting to younger generations. The brand has been specifically created to encourage, educate and support young designers. Student designers face a number of challenges sourcing luxury coned yarns, the materials favoured by designers and the industry. Wool & Co will directly address that issue and provide a means of obtaining the materials effectively and easily.

THE WINNING GRADUATES

The winners receive up to £50,000 of funding to help develop their business ideas and a year of dedicated businesssupport.We’llbefollowingeachofthewinnersovertheiryearofsupportandkeepingyouup-to-date

on their progress – look out for regular video updates on www.sie.ac.uk!

Michael Yiin Shih Jie (University of Edinburgh) Idea: A new solution for combating microbial corrosion in oil pipelines. Oil eating micro-organisms can damage oil drilling equipment by producing corrosive biofilms. Building on research undertaken during his studies, Michael’s research & development business will provide consultancy and microbial testing services to oil and gas companies. His company will produce formulations (a combination of bacteriophages, biofilm disrupting chemicals and polyphenols) that can disrupt the biofilm safely without impacting the environment or damaging the equipment.

Victoria Hamilton (University of Strathclyde) Idea: VH Design Victoria plans to create VH.Design, a university spin-out specialising in the design of user-centred personal protective equipment (PPE) using a new force reduction technology which she developed herself. Her first product is an innovative kneepad, the “raptor kneepad”, which she developed at university. It offers increased comfort, protection and greater flexibility than conventional equipment.

Young Innovators Challenge

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

FormanydoctoralstudentsandacademicsthePhDprocessis viewed primarily as an academic apprenticeship. In this respect,myownexperiencesofstudyingforaPhDwerenoexception.EveninthefinalyearofmyPhD–researchingtheGermancomedycinemaofthe1990’snoless!-IwasstillintendingtoapplyforalectureshipandmyfellowPhDstudentsand supervisors all expected that this would be the route that I would follow.

To the very end of my PhD I enjoyed the research process, developing research questions, designing projects, testing and analysing results, and disseminating my findings through conference papers and publications. The only problem was that by the end of my PhD I just wasn’t that interested in the subject anymore – no disrespect to German comedies!

As a result, when a job came up in a schools-based widening participation programme I had been tutoring for, I decided to put my academic career “on hold” and explore what appeared to be a more practical application of my research skills and knowledge.

Interestingly, in this departure from the academic career path the PhD is often seen as leading to, I was far from alone. In fact, in 2007 only 23% of doctoral graduates entered research roles within higher education institutions (Vitae, What do PhDs do?, 2009). An additional 14% took up university lectureships.

What’s the point ofaPhD?

The changing face of PhDs and the link with entrepreneurship

page 8 & 9

That left 63% of UK doctoral graduates entering jobs outside academia. The dilemma for the majority of PhD graduates, as it was for me, is how do you successfully sell yourself to a commercial or non-academic employment sector in which you have no previous experience?

The key breakthrough for me came when I started to recognise the intra- and entrepreneurial skills inherent to the PhD and the broader research process, in general. According to Vitae, the UK researcher development organisation, an intrapreneur is someone who engages ‘proactively in processes which lead to successful implementation and exploitation of ideas’ and who does so from within an organisation. The key attribute of the successful intrapreneur is an ability to ‘proceed with persistence and determination throughout the process, no matter what obstacles or difficulties are in the path’. In all of these respects, the successful intrapreneur has much in common with the successful entrepreneur, who applies their creativity, problem solving and innovation to establishing a business.

What intra- and entrepreneurs have in common with PhD students is their ability to generate, research, test and implement innovative ideas - products, in the case of the entrepreneur - before disseminating them to their peers through conference papers or publications - selling them to market, in the case of the entrepreneur.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these intra- and entrepreneurial skills are just as useful to doctoral graduates who pursue careers within academia as to those who apply their research skills within the broader commercial sector. Increasingly within higher education there is a need for researchers to take into account the knowledge exchange and commercialisation agendas, whilst simultaneously contributing to organisational innovation, growth and competitive advantage.

In all of my professional roles to date this ability to generate creative and innovative ideas and solutions, and to rigorously research and test these ideas before implementation has been absolutely key. Combined with a certain degree of resilience, determination and the ability to develop my ideas with little external support and within extremely tight budget constraints – all of which are skills I acquired through the PhD process – I feel better equipped to work within the increasingly intra- and entrepreneurial marketplace that we now inhabit.

It has been of little surprise to me in my current role as Employability Officer within the University of Glasgow’s College of Social Sciences to discover the number of our PhD students who go on to become serial intra- and entrepreneurs. One example of a PhD student who successfully made the transition to CEO of a bioscience company is Margaret Anne Craig, from Clyde Biosciences, a University of Glasgow spin-out company which intends to speed up the process of finding effective medications for patients.

The technology used at Clyde is based on collaborative research which cuts across biomedical sciences and engineering disciplines at the University. Margaret Anne, with her experience in the lab and interest in business, was the ideal person to take on the role of setting up and managing the new business. She was awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship, which provides funding and training for one year, which gave her the space and time to fully concentrate on the business. (Further info www.clydebiosciences.com)

Another entrepreneurial PhD alumnus (this time from the University of Stirling) is Kirsten Kearney. After her PhD in German and Scottish Cultural identity (and having lectured in Culture at the University of Glasgow), Kirsten returned home to Northern Ireland, where she worked for a variety of Arts development organisations. She then went on to become Chief Executive of the Educational Shakespeare company; a role which allowed her to combine her twin passions of the arts and social justice. Kirsten has had to become an expert in everything from running a charity to finding funding and working with board members and the media. She is now helping to set up a social enterprise with former prisoners, based on their knowledge of braille. (Furtherinfo:www.esc-film.com/)

Recognising the number of doctoral researchers who have gone on to become entrepreneurs, Vitae has now established a database of doctoral entrepreneurs (Career profiles of doctoral entrepreneurs, 2010). It is perhaps not surprising that the majority of doctoral researchers featured in this database cite the confidence, resilience, and creativity, instilled in them by their doctoral training, as well as their ability to innovate and test their ideas, as key to their current success as entrepreneurs.

Clearly, the idea of the PhD as a simplistic academic apprenticeship is now largely outdated. My own experience has taught me that it is increasingly important to build awareness amongst our doctoral students of the transferable intra- and entrepreneurial capabilities that they are developing as direct result of the PhD process. By so doing, we maybe able to support a new generation of doctoral graduates capable of meeting the challenges of a highly competitive and dynamic higher education landscape who are also capable of creating a social and economic impact far beyond the confines of academia.

Dickon Copsey, College of Social Sciences Employability Officer, University of Glasgow

‘In all of my professional roles to date this ability to generate creative and innovative ideas and solutions, and to rigorously research and test these ideas before implementation has been absolutely key.’

Building the “big picture” and identifying the trends and opportunities in the different Scottish industry sectors can be a great starting point for any budding innovator looking for inspiration or a graduate looking to research the job market and align their skills to its requirements.

To help with this task, Ignite has been focusing on a number of key sectors, bringing together successful businesses, academics and young entrepreneurs to comment on the opportunities available to students and graduates.

In this edition of Ignite, we look at something applicable to most sectors and which we are often asked questions about: social enterprise.

Duncan Thorp, Policy & Communications Officer at Social Enterprise Scotland speaks to SIE about social enterprise.

It sometimes seems that everyone’s talking about “social enterprise”. But what exactly is it?

The quick definition is: Any business that exists specifically for a social and/or environmental purpose. That purpose can be anything, from recycling computers, providing social housing, employing disabled people, running a leisure centre for young people or making chocolate and donating all the profits to charity.

If you’ve heard of The Big Issue, Kibble, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op, Glasgow Housing Association, Divine Chocolate, the Eden Project in Cornwall, The Grameen Foundation, in the Basque Country or the Homeless World Cup - then you already know something about social enterprise!

What we’re talking about is businesses set up with a firm remit to try and change the world in some way, by improving people’s lives and our environment. We’re not just talking about private sector businesses that sometimes donate to charity, for example. The social entrepreneurs behind these innovative and exciting businesses are driven to make things better. While making profit is a sustainable way of fundraising and profit itself is good - they get up in the morning to invest in their social purpose.

It’s not an easy option but anyone can choose to set up a social enterprise and some of the most exciting new projects are by younger people, in schools, colleges, universities and the world of work. There’s a lot of support available for those who are thinking of setting up a social enterprise. You might want to set up as a worker co-operative, a registered charity and company or a Community Interest Company. There are many options out there. As we move to a new type of economy and society - where we put people and planet first - it’s time to embrace social enterprise.

Michael Roy from Glasgow Caledonian University has a wealth of experience on social businesses and entrepreneurship on the ground and at a policy level. He spoke to us about the opportunities and challenges for social enterprises in Scotland.

What opportunities are there in Scotland for social enterprises?

According to the First Minister in a speech he gave in February 2012, Scotland has “the best environment in the world for social enterprise.” Scotland has a very well developed and highly sophisticated support infrastructure, built up over many years. This provides considerable opportunities for Scottish social enterprises to network, collaborate, and to have an influential ‘voice’. The Scottish Government, even in these tough times, have been very supportive of social enterprise development in Scotland and there are a number of programmes available around the country to help get your social enterprise off the ground, and then to grow. For example, the Social Enterprise Academy, our partners in delivering our postgraduate qualifications in social enterprise, is respected internationally for the quality of training and development they offer to aspiring and experienced social entrepreneurs. In short, there are any number of opportunities for support that are probably not found, concentrated in one place, anywhere else in the world.

What advice would you give students who might be thinking about starting up a social enterprise?

The same advice I would give any student wishing to start up any business: get to

know your market extremely well, who your competitors are, work out what niche you are going to fill, how you are going to do so, and then (and this is the important part) work out who is going to pay you to fill that niche!

Social enterprises often work in areas of state, or market, failure. There is often very good reason why markets fail, and getting to the bottom of why the state has not plugged a particular gap might make interesting opportunities open up. But selling goods and services to the public sector is a very difficult task, even for people very experienced in business: you have a plethora of hoops to jump through to satisfy public procurement criteria. Just because you are a social enterprise does not mean you can cut any corners to gain access to contracts. Remember, too, that you will be competing against people who can probably out-compete you in terms of price alone. While the public sector is supposed to choose suppliers based on much wider criteria than that, the reality is that price constraints are a very high concern for the public sector just now. It might be better thinking about how best to penetrate further down the supply chain, and approaching larger companies who might, themselves, be looking to gain public sector contracts. It is becoming more and more popular, particularly in Scotland, that specific clauses are inserted into public sector contracts requiring large companies to benefit the community in various ways, including working with local social enterprises. A specific example of that was Unity Enterprise picking up the contract to supply catering to those working on the infrastructure development for the Commonwealth Games.

What challenges are social enterprises facing at the moment?

The same challenges facing all businesses: lack of customers! Not only is the economy still very sluggish, but funding from Government, particularly in the form of grants, has dried up due to the austerity measures. What grant funding IS available is very competitive to obtain. The flip side to that is that if you are able to gain a contract or grant funding then that will set you apart from the competition and will be looked at very favourably by customers and potential investors alike.

Social Enterprise

www.sie.ac.uk

Sector Focus

Autumn/Winter Issue

How you can change the world!

Euan Donaldson is a student at Glasgow Caledonian University and a successful social entrepreneur with First Touch Football.

What made you interested in getting started as a social entrepreneur?

From having my first taste at coaching football in secondary school I had loved it! On starting university  I wanted to continue coaching after having came across a variety of talented young people who possess that electric enthusiasm for football than you cannot help but appreciated.

For me, such people make coaching such a rewarding experience and is the main reason I decided to start First Touch. I’m sure anyone would agree that the feeling of making a positive difference in a young player’s life is priceless!

When did you have the idea for First Touch Football?

From building up my own view of how football should be played and taught I had decided the best way to get this across and to also benefit local communities was to create a great first experience to football for young kids in order to inspire more to take up the sport.

I wanted to create a positive training environment delivered by enthusiastic coaches who shared the same goal where kids are encouraged to try new skills, where it is OK to make mistakes so long as they learn from it and to celebrate improvement regardless of how small.

Surprised by the lack of coaching offered for kids under the age of 7 years I had decided to focus on the younger age group.

What would you say to students who were interested in starting a social enterprise?

Do something you are passionate about, if you are starting a social enterprise then it has to be something you have a drive for and you should iron-out exactly why you are doing it. Always strive to do better.

“Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard enough”.

I am not the most talented entrepreneur in the world but I can guarantee you will struggle to find someone who does not work as hard as me.

Be ready for hard work and good luck!

page 10 & 11

DuncanThorp Policy and Communications Officer, Social Enterprise Scotland duncan.thorp@socialenterprisescotland.org.uk www.socialenterprisescotland.org.uk

EuanDonaldson Glasgow Caledonian University student and social entrepreneur www.firsttouchfootball.co.uk

MichaelRoy Glasgow Caledonian University

Autumn/Winter Issue

Health Care Look to Health providers, health insurers,

pharmaceuticals, medical technology and medical devices. Assess and question processes used and look for trouble spots. What problems are there for users; providers; suppliers, and customers? Some of the best ideas I have seen in my role with SIE have come from nurses, podiatrist and physiotherapists. Working within the health service in their placements these students are constantly introduced to problematic areas of the health sector in their day to day activities.

The common thought that enabled the students to come up with new ideas is “there must be a better way to do this.”

They have questioned the way things are currently done and have an expectation that their jobs or the patient care can be improved upon. A student nurse that I have been working with for some time now and who is currently putting together a licensing deal with one of the top 3 global medical device companies is a great example. She was appalled when working in the plaster room to find saws being used to remove plaster casts. The stress caused to young children through this archaic process really upset her and she determined to find a solution. The solution she found had been totally overlooked as a possibility by the medical device companies who make the plaster casts…they were too close to their product to see that there was an alternative solution to removal of it.

Roads and Infrastructure Another industry that offers great scope for

new opportunity is Roads and Infrastructure where outdated and slow processes are still being used. Why is it still the case that roads are closed off for weeks without one workman picking up a tool? Why does all work have to be done in busy summer months rather than in quieter winter months? If the technology is there to mend pipes thousands of miles under the ocean;

I wish I had a £1 for every student who has approached me about a new way to promote club nights or a new graduate recruitment platform…. I could definitely give up the day job! All these students are in the right space for idea generation. They have taken the first step to innovating by finding something that annoys them and have looked at ways of finding a solution. As students and recent graduates, you are in the perfect space to generate ideas – you are at a “thinking” time in your lives with your brains open to exploration and new concepts. It’s the perfect time to get your creative juices flowing and come up with

big brilliant new ideas!

So where do you start?

Idea generation always begins from one of two preliminary stages. You can look out with yourself to your external environment; or you can use yourself as a starting point by looking at what interests you and what activities you undertake that might be open to innovating in. At SIE we call this “Scanning the environment to find a hunch.” Scanning your environment lets you look into the future much like an early-warning radar and helps you to understand better all external forces as well as highlighting opportunities and threats.

External Environment

1. Established Industry Sectors For the seed of an idea to grow it

requires fertile ground to germinate in so start looking for your hunch space by looking at industry sectors that are lacking in innovation. Good examples are Health Care; Roads and Infrastructure; and the Housing Market.

www.sie.ac.uk

Scanning your environment!

why can’t we use similar technologies to enable us to mend our roads throughout the year? What impact is climate change having on our roads with warmer and colder extremes on tarmac meaning our roads are crumbling and pot holed?

Housing Market The Housing market is also ripe for

innovation. Why do we still use hammer and nails which need to be individually hammered in by a tradesman when other solutions are available? Why has the bathroom not changed in 50 years? A pet hate of mine is using public toilets! There simply must be a more hygienic way than a plastic toilet seat and a pull handle flush that spreads germs and contamination by users. My first business was in the DIY and Garden Sector at a time when garden centres sat firmly within the home improvement sector. The external environment showed a growth in the elderly population who had both cash and time in abundance. Dobbies and other garden centres developed their businesses around this by providing destination garden centres with coffee shops and gift centres for this growing customer segment.

2. Young Industry Sectors Renewable Energy

Fledgling industry sectors such as alternative energy require new ways of thinking and are in desperate need for young brains to follow up their hunches and look to new solutions in this rapidly growing sector. Two final year students I am currently working with found their hunch space in the small to medium wind sector and are looking to apply an existing product to this area to produce more efficient turbine power. By taking some core physics principles and re applying them to this industry sector, they were able to find their Big Idea.

How do I come up with an Innovative Business Idea?

page 12 & 13

Liz Mackenzie, Regional Business Advisor - Glasgow & West

Internal Environment – Your skills; your hobbies; your friends; your family

1. Family I recently asked my mother what bothers

her and she said she wishes someone would come up with a safer and more stable ironing board. She has burnt both herself and her carpet on separate occasions through knocking her iron over and wishes someone would find a solution to this everyday household task. This is not something that has ever troubled me so not something I would have thought of but given that we have an ageing population with ageing eyesight – I think she may have a hunch worth exploring.

2. Hobbies Another student I worked with looked to

develop a product that would help her performance as an adventure racer which is a multi-discipline event involving the two key disciplines of running and cycling. Her patented invention saved valuable time in the transition stage between the running and cycling. Although this market was niche, she then explored the external environment to look at where else her product could be applied and found that commuters had a similar problem with changing footwear that although not time dependent, still provided the problem of carrying spare shoes to work.

When looking for a hunch space in your internal environment, it’s okay to look at niches as they can often be applied to bigger markets in a different way.

3. Skills and experience I am currently working with a recent

graduate who found his hunch space in the music and travel space. A keen guitarist and traveller, he found it annoying that he couldn’t take his guitar as hand luggage with him when travelling and as a product design student has endeavoured to find a solution. By combining his skills, his passion and his experience, he has come up with a new patentable travel guitar.

Coming up with a Unique Idea

You can either start from the outside in by scanning your external environment to come up with a hunch or you can start from the inside out looking at you and your personal environment and challenges. Both should be explored and combined together will make up your unique innovative DNA. You are at a time in your life where your mind is primed to absorb knowledge and where you have the freedom and time to explore new environments. Take advantage of this and get out of your comfort zone, explore your passions and Innovate!

Digital Services Whilst there is continual innovation

through online media such as blogs, social networks and e-commerce; young innovators usually overlook the emerging and increasing need for content for digital services. Think about the need for new information; new products; and new services in this area.

3. Other Countries Another way to come up with new

ideas is to look to other countries such as the States for ideas. Several years ago I went to Toronto and stayed with a friend there for two nights in order to “get out of my box” and search for new ideas. Walking down the street I spotted a giant Cupcake stand in the bakery which only sold cupcakes. I then went to the bookshop which had a table totally committed to cupcake books. My next stop, the local deli for lunch was of course full of cupcakes too. This was just before cupcakes took off in the UK!

4. |PEST – Political, Economic, Social and Technological When looking at the external environment

you can further innovate using PEST. At SIE we have developed a number of workshops around idea generation where our hunch space looks at care of the elderly (the social environment) and how the government is looking to assist with care (the political environment). The current Economic environment has created an opportunity for short term loan companies to spring up such as Wonga.com as well as having an impact on Tourism and an increase in the “staycation” market. All these areas are valid starting points to look for new ideas in.

A final update from “Team Scotland”, the Scottish students who we sent to the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship in Boston this summer to take part in the MIT Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator programme. The MIT GFSA is a milestone based accelerator programme in which 14 teams from around the world work on their new ventures guided by experienced entrepreneurs.

The programme teaches teams to observe market opportunities and funnel the focus of individuals in order to build a business that would be sustainable from the ground up.

Our team is made up of four engineering students who have a shared goal to innovate the world of sport by using specialised materials and pioneering manufacturing techniques. We created the company ALPrint with the aim at make engineered fabric structures for the sports industry. Our current focus is on designing ski boot inserts that are created by means of a 3D printer and scanner.

As crazy as an idea may sound, brainstorming on the whiteboard walls of the Martin Trust Centre to design and build the first iteration of our prototype at a machine shop has become a daily reality here. We have been granted an amazing opportunity allowing us to build ideas from scratch. Not only do we have access to world class labs, we are also pushed to be ever more adventurous, sending fewer emails and knocking on peoples’ doors instead. The human side to project is immense. People are incredibly compassionate and collaborative while being hard working, driven and ambitious.

Guest speakers come along twice a week to talk about their experiences and share their knowledge. World renowned

entrepreneurs such as Mitch Kapor (founder of Lotus Development) have dinner with us all in a classroom, talking about their life path and how they learned from their failures.

The biggest challenges for our team so far have been adapting to the fast pace of progress made possible at MIT and learning to fully utilise all of the resources made available to us. When we first arrived, we were unsure what resources would be made available to us and how our ideas would be received by the MIT community. We discovered our initial idea Project S.W.A.P would require a lot of funding and technical skill from the user to function but we successfully conceived the idea of ALPrint within the same week. Six weeks later we have built our new idea from the ground up and are a week away from a working alpha prototype and incorporation in the UK.

Adapting to this extremely fast paced project development rate has not been easy. With new project tasks starting every day it can be difficult to manage task workflow. This often leads to 15 hour work days and rescheduling of priorities as our project timeline compresses. MIT’s vision and campus that never sleeps helps to drive us through the long working weeks. You can work late, take a break with countless societies that meet at all hours, or simply walk on Memorial Drive to view the beautiful dome.

We are extremely grateful for the opportunity that has been given to us and will continue to do our very best to create and share as much as possible from our work at MIT.

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

“TeamScotland”atMIT

Anthony Wainman, Heriot Watt University graduate & co-founder, ALPrint

page 14 & 15

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

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