Sussex University Event: Enterprising Engineers [kwiqq]

Posted on | February 5, 2008 | 2 Comments

Looking at the university enterprise societies  at Oxford, LSE and Cambridge I feel that University of Sussex has a special place, because of its emphasis on both business and social Entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurship is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society.

I think Sussex has a long way to go to truly showcase its entrepreneurial talent. US has shown its entrepreneurial flavour at several occasions: top spot at the MAD Ideas competition, actively supporting Shell Technology Enterprise programme, forming a students Enterprise society: Ilumus and Enterprise Thursday. To spread the word around, Jon Markwell Sussex University Alumni Entrepreneur is organising an event : Enterprising Engineers. You don’t have to be technical just curious about starting a business.

Venue: Medical School Lecture Theatre, University of Sussex
Date: 21st Feb 2008
Time: At 5.30pm
Fee: £0.00

[Sign Up: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/business/1-3-1-1-3.html ]

What do I get: Free Beer/Food + opportunity to learn how to make Billions

Speakers:

Ian Ozsvald – ShowMeDo.com – Online Video Tutotials
Lincoln Smith – www.iolab.co.uk – Response Time Measurement Devices
Raj Anand – www.kwiqq.com – Social Networking Software
Neil Purssey – www.firecoltd.com – Fire Safety Equipment

My Thoughts on Entrepreneurship at Sussex

I think we are not actively informing students about entrepreneurship at our uni. As a result many, including myself, whilst at university never felt that was/is a feasible option. Graduates are bombarded with corporates trying to employee them, tempting students with attractive salaries. Here is my list of advantages of being in a Job and own business (entrepreneurship)

Advantages of working for others

1. Brilliant salaries, nice way to pay off those student debts
2. 9am – 5pm limited and defined working hours

Advantages of being an Entrepreneur

1. Salaries are not very high initially but you are guaranteed satisfaction. In a year or two when you look back you are truly proud of your achievement
2. As an entrepreneur you don’t fear redundancies. There is nothing like a stable job (yes no 9-5 job is stable..one day you will be sacked ), as an entrepreneur you control your salary and ambitions.
3. Life is exciting. You’ll never feel that you are repeating a task, everyday is a learning experience.
4. Within a year or two you will learn several skills. I heard an entrepreneur say once “I feel like 1/4th Lawyer, 1/3rd designer, 1/5th Business Development expert, 1/3 Marketer after working for myself for a year”

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Tags: YoungGraduates, Sussex University, Enterprising Engineers, beer

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