spring - summer 2013 / issue 8 / academic year 12-13

Inside this issue:Playing with a full deck Understand how personality poker can help you in business!

Sector focus Looking at the Scottish food and drink industry.

Managing workloads Some handy tips for the busy entrepreneur!

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

www.sie.ac.ukSpring/Summer Issue page 2 & 3

It’s been all go here in SIE HQ and what an exciting time for us. Apart from our normal busy schedule of hosting workshops, organising competitions, and being on-hand to inspire, encourage, develop and support entrepreneurs of the future; we were asked to manage an incredible new challenge on behalf of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. The Young Innovators Challenge opened on February 16th and gives students the opportunity win up to a staggering £50,000 in funding as well as business support for a year. It all sounds fabulous doesn’t it?

Scottish Sun business columnist and Dragons Den judge, Shaf Rasul certainly thinks so. He showed his support by writing in his weekly column:

“There’s nothing quite like a little bit of healthy competition to get the blood pumping; I applaud organisations that incentivise young people by offering top cash prizes, to not only be creative and business minded, but actually come up with ideas to combat current problems in the Scottish economy.”

Changes to the team!

Because we’re going to be so busy over the coming months, we’ve made some changes to the core SIE team to meet with demands. Duncan Ross, the Regional Intern Coordinator for the West has now changed roles and moving forward will be assisting our Enterprise Programme Director, Ann Davidson as we develop our Innovation Programme further in 2013.

Kieran Smyth will now coordinate all Intern training across Scotland and will be responsible for Interns in both the East and the West. Helen Boyd will continue as Regional Intern Coordinator in the Northern Region.

Innovate your way to 50K!

The Young Innovators Challenge, launched on the 16th February is a competition aimed at finding Scotland’s innovators of tomorrow. 18 - 24 year olds in their final year of training, further and higher education will be tasked with finding a business solution to one of six real life industry challenges. There’s a chance to win up to £50,000 of funding as well as business support for a year.

Participation in the process will give students an opportunity to develop business and entrepreneurial skills and develop an understanding of how to set up and run a business. If you think this challenge could be for you and would like to be involved then the closing date for applications is 31st May.

However if you would like guaranteed help on your business plan from one of our regional business advisors then submit your entry before the 8th April. Why not check out the competition by visiting www.sie.ac.uk/yic?

The Competition Low Down!

The initial round of the New Ideas Competition (NIC) was judged locally at each institution in December and all winners received a prize of £100 from SIE some shortlisted entrants from each HEI were put through to the next stage of the competition. Our New Ventures competition closed on the 25th January with final judging for both competitions due to take place on the 2nd March. A select number of New Ideas and New Ventures entrants were invited to attend our exclusive SIE Start-up day in Dundee on February 9th. Starting off the day with a bacon buttie in hand, entrants enjoyed presentations and workshops designed to help them concentrate and further develop their business idea. 59 confident individuals even took part in our non-compulsory pitching competition at the end of the day. Well done to Chris Ranson of GSA who scooped the £100 prize on offer for his entertaining pitch. (We believe the X-Factor are missing out!)Pictures from the day are available at our facebook page www.facebook.com/scottishinstituteforenterprise

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

EDITORIAL: Scott McKellar Tel: 0141 330 8788 Email: s.mckellar@sie.ac.uk Laura Salmond Tel: 0141 330 8792 Email: l.salmond@sie.ac.uk

CONTRIBUTORS: Lena Bauchop, Blair Bowman, Jennifer Bryson, Mark Greenaway, Laura Hughes, Liz Mackenzie, Tom McGuire, Nicole Perry, Duncan Ross, Graeme Smith, Jennifer Tervit, Sam Zawadski.

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 ndividuals 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.

We’re only a few months into 2013 and it’s already proving to be one of our busiest years yet. As you might expect, we have a packed issue for you with lots of tips, advice and new opportunities.

We’ve been hard at work on a brand new competition called the Young Innovators Challenge. It’s a great opportunity for final year students with a fantastic prize: up to £50,000 of funding for a business idea! You can read more about the competition in this issue.

Whether you intend to start your own business or would just like to learn more to help your prospects after graduating, working with SIE can be a great learning process. Lena Bauchop of Queen Margaret University discusses how being proactive as a student can be the key to success after graduation.

Time management is an important skill to develop and one we can all be guilty of taking for granted. Enterprise Programme Assistant, Duncan Ross, gives his tips for success!

You can also read more about finding the finance to support a new idea in articles on bootstrapping and sources of funding.

This issue’s Sector Focus feature concentrates on the Food & Drink industry. You’ll hear from Aberdeen University’s Blair Bowman (World Whisky Day) and we’re also very happy to have one of Scotland’s best known chefs Mark Greenway who talks about how he got started.

Finally our 2013 Student Enterprise Summit takes place in March and has some fantastic speakers. We hope you’ll be able to join us - it’s going to be an amazing day.

More students than ever are coming to us for help and advice on starting a business. We’re there for you every step of the way.

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.

Winners from both competitions will be announced at our Flagship event of the year: the SIE Student Enterprise Summit taking place on March 13th. (More details about this event on page 4.)

Society Affiliation Programme

We ran the month-long Crazy 22 competition during November as part of our new SIE Society Affiliation programme. Student societies attempted challenges set by SIE with a prize for the society who achieved the most! We would like to thank all who took part in Crazy 22. We will be announcing the winner of Society of the year at the SIE Student Enterprise Summit on March 13th.

Scottish start-ups have the edge!

The Scottish EDGE is a £1 million fund which aims to support and encourage entrepreneurial activity in Scotland. The fund is for ambitious entrepreneurs who wish to establish or grow their business. The businesses which demonstrate the most potential could win awards of up to £50,000. Winners will also receive a package of support from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

We were pleased to see a few familiar faces amongst the participants: Tracy Thomson (Tig Tag Events), Brian O’Reilly (Tree Green), Kristina Macaulay (Global Identity), Michael Corrigan (Coolside) and Paolo Di Prodi with Robomotic. Ahmed El-Rayis (Sofant Technologies) and Andrew Cook (Trans-Atlantic Soccer) Malath Allas (Quartic Llama).

From the names above, Brian O’Reilly made it through to the final of the EDGE competition that took place final on the 12th February. Well done, Brian!

Well what’s been happening at SIE since the last edition of Ignite? The simple answer...LOTS!

If there’s one thing that we at the Scottish Institute for Enterprise are passionate about, it’s helping students to become more entrepreneurial while still at university.

We recognise that university life can be stressful with deadlines, classes’ examinations and of course there’s that dreaded issue of money, (especially in this current economic climate.) But please don’t let that stop you, it is all too easy to think, ‘I will wait until I graduate’ or ‘ I don’t know how to get started’; but if you are willing to work hard then being a student is the perfect time to start a business. SIE are on hand to help you along the way; we provide free advice and support from our business advisors and run workshops, events, competitions to help develop your skills. We spoke to two young entrepreneurs about the benefits of starting a business while at university. Read what they have to say and remember you could do it too!

The Perfect Time!

Being a student is the perfect time to start a business. Studying hard at university is a full time job, but it also provides a huge number of resources for starting up. No matter what industry you are interested in, from interior design to electronics manufacturing there will be highly skilled lecturers and fellow students that are very approachable who you can discuss your business ideas with. The library is your office; it is also packed full of great resources, particularly the subscriptions to trade journals that you can access for free. My business AdvancetoGO, Scotland’s online letting agency was started in an empty university office with a fellow student Bilal Khan who provided the IT skills to get us up and running. The University was a resource rich incubator that got our company off to a great start, helping us to get free legal and accounting advice, while also introducing us to leaders within our industry.

Kill two birds with one stone!

Starting my business while still being at university has allowed me to “kill two birds with one stone”, in regards to learning the appropriate skills to link in with my business start-up. For example, I had to write a business plan for one of my modules, so I completed the two together. Also learning about customer relations and marketing has allowed me to create the best marketing campaigns to suit my business. Being a student allows you to apply to competitions (such as the SIE New Ideas and New Ventures Competitions) and allows you to apply for funding to help develop your business idea. Being able to contact tutors or lecturers for advice was also invaluable for me.

Starting your business at university is a great time to start because you’re still studying, so there’s no real pressure on you to get a ‘graduate job’ whilst at university. Another positive is that you can develop your business model and get feedback on whether it could be successful business or not before taking that jump into self-employment after university.

You will have the chance to meet some young up and coming entrepreneurs and take part in some interactive treats on the day. Our young entrepreneurs’ panel will also be on hand to answer your questions about starting out in business.

Even if you don’t have immediate plans to start a business for yourself, you’ll benefit from hearing what it means to be enterprising and why this skill is valued by graduate recruiters.

• Networkwithyoungentrepreneurs • Gainvaluableinspiration • Learnwhatmakesasuccessfulentrepreneur

from some of Scotland’s best.

Follow the latest developments on:

@_sie_ #SIEsummit2013

page 4 & 5www.sie.ac.ukSpring/Summer Issue

Our 2012 SIE Student was a huge success. Students from across Scotland attended to hear from an excellent line-up of Scottish entrepreneurs including our keynote speaker Jim McColl OBE. You can watch the speaker sessions at www.moviecom.tv/sie.

We’re excited by the return of SIE’s annual Student Enterprise Summit which will take place in Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms on the 13th March.

Entrepreneurs will be on-hand to captivate with their real-life business stories and will also give the audience an insight into their success.

Confirmed Speakers:

The summit is a unique opportunity to learn from people who have done it for themselves. Among our fantastic speakers are Joe Gibbs - Co-founder of  Rockness & Founder of Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival; Shaf Rasul - Founder of E-Net Computers (BBC’s Dragon’s Den); Nigel Eccles - Founder of FanDuel and Tessa Hartmann - Founder of Hartmann Media & Chair of Scottish Fashion Awards.

SIE Student Enterprise Summit 2013

Sam Zawadski, Founder, Advance to go

Jennifer Tervit, Founder, Singled Up

University of Strathclyde’s Nicole Perry talks about what it is like to be an SIE Student Intern.

Life as an Intern…It’s definitely not sitting behind a desk that’s for sure! This internship has honestly been one of the most exciting, inspiring periods in my life. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but coming to university made me shake a little in my boots – constantly being taught about the constantly being taught about risk and the threat of competition made the concept of entrepreneurship seem rather intimidating. Being an Intern for SIE has allowed me to be

in contact with people who break through that fear, and that intimidation – which for me, is the ultimate inspiration. Not only am I in awe of the courage and spirit of these young budding entrepreneurs, I’m also in awe of their creativity, innovativeness and confidence in their ideas. I feel very privileged to be part of the initial process of taking an idea (sometimes a crazy one!) from inside someone’s head to into the real world. So yes, of course it is inspiring to look at the likes of Richard Branson who has achieved so much, but being an Intern has taught me if you just open your eyes you will see future business leaders are all

around you. I am sure that working with these inspirational students who are taking a ‘the leap of faith’ in the business world will give me the courage and strength to break through the fear and uncertainty which entrepreneurship brings.

Life as an SIE Student Intern

Nicole Perry, SIE Student Intern for Strathclyde

Starting a business while at university

There’s a real buzz in the air about the Young Innovators Challenge that opened on the 16th February for 18-24 year olds in their final year of studies. Winners’ of this fantastic competition are set to scoop up to £50,000 in funding to develop their business idea plus a year’s dedicated business support.

To launch the Young Innovators Challenge, we hosted Challenge Labs throughout February in locations across Scotland to encourage students to think innovatively. At the Challenge Labs participants watched videos outlining challenges facing Scotland’s key industries, relevant to 5 out of the 6 competition categories (Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy, Built Environment, Textile, Food and Drink) and received lots of help and advice on idea generation.

Don’t worry if you missed out on the chance to attend. You can still enter the competition by watching the Challenge Lab videos.

Participants need to submit their application before the 31st May, however if participants would like guaranteed help on their business plan from one of our regional business advisors then their entry would need to be submitted before the 8th April. If you have already got an idea in mind that does not fit into the named categories then you’ll be pleased hear that you can still apply; there’s also a general category, so providing you have an innovative business idea then you can enter.

Why not check out the competition at www.sie.ac.uk/yic

Tom Hunter gets on board

One of Scotland’s best known entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Sir Tom Hunter is supporting the Young Innovators Challenge. Having risen from humble beginnings selling trainers from the back of a van, Tom went on to become Scotland’s first billionaire.

A champion for entrepreneurship, Tom is passionate about encouraging the young people of Scotland to take the leap themselves.

He said: “Innovation is fundamental to Scotland’s future and we need to be driving that message home to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

The Young Innovators Challenge seeks to really drive new thinking and innovation from our young Scottish people and that’s why I’d encourage every final year student to take a look at it and ask themselves could I be the next one to succeed? Your country needs your innovation, so let’s get going!”

Thanks for the support Tom!

www.sie.ac.ukSpring/Summer Issue

Your future is in your hands, take control!

page 6 & 7

Laura Hughes, (University of Glasgow Business Club)

We all know the current employment market is difficult. We’ve read the newspapers, listened to news reports and witnessed the results of company closures. However, a recent report from the Office of National Statistics indicates that there is light at the end of the tunnel with unemployment levels for 16 to 24 year olds not in full-time education falling, although the number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in full-time education has increased. Similarly, a recent survey by the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services reveals that heads of higher education careers and employability services believe that the graduate labour market is more buoyant than it was a year ago, although significant variations between geographical locations and industry sectors remain.

That being said, with around 80 applicants chasing every job it’s still tough – maybe it’s time to consider other options, ensure you stand out from the crowd and give yourself a competitive edge? Consider other options: Many graduates tend to only target larger graduate employers where the competition for jobs is fierce. A more proactive and less stressful approach is to research industry sectors and employers of interest and to target smaller more local employers directly. They too will appreciate your skills but will value more your proactive attitude even more.

Create a new business: A difficult job market can sometimes provide the catalyst required to take the plunge and make the dream of becoming your own boss a reality. Support is readily available from a number of sources, including the Scottish Institute for Enterprise, which runs regular competitions and workshops to unlock your potential and prepare you for the challenge ahead. Added to the experience you will have gained elsewhere, you will be well placed to just go for it.

Get some work experience: Part-time or seasonal work, ideally related to your chosen field of study, is a good place to start and many employers are flexible, allowing you to fit your work around your studies. At first glance the connection between working in a shop or bar and becoming an engineering or health professional may not be obvious, but it is all about developing your transferable skills – communication and team working are essential for just about any role.

Apply for internships: Many organisations offer internships to penultimate year students - what better way to find out about a sector, company and role! If they don’t, then approach them in a professional manner and ask about potential openings. Some internship, like Third Sector Internship Scotland and Talent Scotland, are paid whilst others, like the Saltire Foundation, offer opportunities overseas. Interns often go on to secure a permanent position within the same organisation because they are already familiar with it, which gives them a head start over other applicants.

Organise some voluntary work: Make good use of your free time, develop your confidence and skills whilst helping others. The vast majority of organisations are only too happy to have you on board and will do their best to accommodate your studies. More importantly, employers love to see students giving something back and are very interested to hear what has been learned from the experience.

Take advantage of opportunities on campus: There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills so put yourself forward. By all means join clubs and societies but get involved and take on positions of responsibility. Think about becoming a student mentor or class representative, or better still, get paid for working as a student guide at university corporate events. All provide ideal opportunities to develop your skills – leadership, time management and organisational ability to name but a few.

In short, the opportunities to develop your skills during your studies and make you stand out from the crowd are endless: grab them with both hands and make the most of them, they’ll look great on your CV! Take full advantage of the support and resources available, for example university careers services and the Scottish Institute for Enterprise – believe in yourself and your own ability, take control and make it happen!

Lena Bauchop, Careers Adviser, Queen Margaret University

The SIE Society Affiliation Programme is a way for us to reach out to students with an interest in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, and to give them new skills and techniques they can use regardless of the career path they choose. We’ve had a great first year, with ten societies now signed up from across Scotland. They’ve taken part in workshops, challenges, met other societies and like-minded students from across the country, and even been for pizza together!

We’re looking forward to seeing the programme grow, delivering more value for students who take that crucial step to get involved with their University’s Enterprise Society.

Here’s what the University of Glasgow Business Club member Laura Hughes has to say about the programme:

We were first asked to take part in the Crazy 22 challenge at an SIE affiliation day at the beginning of this semester. It was a great honour to us to not only pilot the scheme but to host it in our very own university where we could showcase our Business Club and our ideas to other, equally motivated business and enterprise societies from all over Scotland. We saw the Crazy 22 as a fantastic opportunity for a bit of team bonding and we couldn’t wait to get stuck in! As well as this,

it was a great excuse to go golfing, make silly fruit faces and have a meal in Zizzi’s! Plus, it isn’t every day you can dress as a granny around campus! I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact that our Crazy 22 was very entertaining and we all enjoyed taking part!

We hope that we can take part in something similar next year and that our club will continue to grow in popularity with the help of SIE as we are all very passionate about both business and entrepreneurship and believe there is a natural link between the two. We are very proud to have been asked into the Student Affiliation Programme by SIE as it has helped us to establish ourselves further and hope this can continue into next year.

Young Innovators Challenge

SIE’s Student Society Affiliation Programme

page 8 & 9www.sie.ac.ukSpring/Summer Issue

As students and recent graduates most of you don’t have savings or spare earnings each month after paying your living costs to fund your business start-up. On top of this, you also have large loans to pay off after graduation making you more wary of applying for any business loans on offer. The economic climate we currently find ourselves in doesn’t help either and the days of the banks freely lending to high risk small business are long gone. So what’s the solution?

The most obvious solution is to go down the trail of business competitions and local grant funding. These are a good option if you fit the right criteria but they can take up inordinate amounts of your time and frequently do not realise the results you had wished for. There are better alternatives that can enable you to acquire not only the resources you need (note that it is resources not cash that you actually require- more on this later) but also have the potential to give you customer feedback and development of your skills as you progress your business.

Welcome to the world of Bootstrapping! The term itself is described as “A self-sustaining process that proceeds without external help.” Traditionally people have bootstrapped by bringing additional income in from external sources to support their start-up funding (i.e. by taking on extra employment) or by selling a quick sell product to bring in required funds. I recently worked with a student who was developing a retail app but was funding it through selling mobile phone accessories on eBay. I also worked with a company who had developed an innovative renewable energy monitor but as they were selling to the public sector, they were finding that payment terms were very long and they needed a quick sell product to give them positive cash flow in between sales. Remarkably they developed a low cost wind logger product over the space of a weekend and took it to market. The results were phenomenal and as well as delivering a product with short sales cycles and short payment terms to the market, they also developed their customer base at the same time within their industry sector.

This method of bootstrapping is not too far away from the Lean start up Methodology as developed by Eric Reis which prescribes that companies (and in particular start-ups) design their products or services to meet the demands of their customer base without requiring large amounts of initial funding or expensive product launches. Originally developed with high tech companies in mind, Lean Start up suggests that businesses should sell their product when it is “good enough” in order to gain valuable customer feedback as they develop the product. For more information on Lean Start Up read Reis’s bestselling book “The Lean Start-up: How today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses”

Whichever method you choose, you will need to decide on what resources you need to start up your business. Are they physical, human, intellectual or technological? Look at who you know and who you need to know to acquire these resources. Could you partner another organisation who could deliver some of your requirements? Could you barter a service with them? A very entrepreneurial young student business woman I worked with recently cut her day to day living costs by using her network and marketing skills to get free haircuts; manicures and coffees by developing her own student referral scheme to hairdressers etc… receiving free services in return for the referral. She did particularly well around prom time! Finally look at what resources you really need to get started as per the lean start up methodology. Do you really need to spend £2,000 to £5,000 on that website right now or could you actually set up your own one initially using www.wix.com or something similar or even just start up a facebook site to start building your community and potential customer base today?!

Whichever method you decide upon, do not ever give yourself the excuse that you couldn’t develop your business idea into a business because you didn’t have the money, you have options!

Top Tips for Bootstrapping

• Keepyourdayjob

• Buildanaudience

• Buildaminimumviableproduct

• Conservecash

• Chargefromdayone

• Sellotherstuffalongtheway

• Lookatcashrequirementsaskeyresources.

One of the main questions I am always asked as a Business Advisor is “where do I find cash to fund my business?”

Liz Mackenzie, Regional Business Advisor, SIE

How do you start a business with no cash?

How often have you heard the expression “opposites attract”? Is it true? In my experience “opposites repel”. If you are not sure about this, think about the time when you had to share living space with someone who had a very different level of tidiness to you!

We naturally surround ourselves with people we like; people who are like us; people who we get on easily with. Working in such a harmonious team can be good for getting things done quickly and efficiently.

However, if your need is to be innovative then it’s not about efficiency. Innovation comes from thinking differently. If you bring many different personalities to a problem, and nurture diverse thinking, you build creative tension. This allows new ideas to emerge and is why diversity is a key driver of innovation.

Personality Poker is a fun yet effective way of understanding personality styles and how they drive, or block, innovation. Using playing cards, it is a fast, high-energy game that helps you better understand what makes you tick! Played in a group, it’s a great way to also learn how others think and understand what motivates them.

Created by Innocentive’s Chief Innovation Evangelist, Stephen Shapiro, the game was inspired by observing highly optimised Formula 1 Pit Teams at work. Its aim is to optimise the performance of innovation teams by building in diverse personality mixes or innovation styles, ensuring teams are playing with a full deck.

Which innovation style is most like you?

• Doyoulovefactsandprinciples?

• Doyoucravenewideasandexperiences?

• Doyoudelightinplanningandtakingaction?

• Areyouapeoplepersonwhotakesrelationshipsseriously?

In other words, are you a spade, diamond, club, or heart?

Knowing your style helps you understand how to capitalise on your strengths – to play to your strongest suit – and maximise your contribution to the innovation process.

My strongest suit is diamonds. I love new ideas and I continually seek out new experiences. I also enjoy meeting new people and love helping people achieve their goals in life. So, hearts is a secondary style of mine.

So I make my strongest contribution to teams when it comes to generating novel solutions and making sure other team members are encouraged and engaged.

However, innovation is not just about new ideas, whatever business you are in. The innovation process begins by choosing what to work on. Deciding on what meaningful challenge to work on, or what project would be of greatest value requires the effective use of data and facts. This is where the data driven spades excel. Spades are great at researching and analysing.

Once the challenge is defined, the next step is to generate ideas and solutions. Breakthrough solutions require out of the box thinking. This is where diamonds are in their element.

Next up is implementation planning and this is where clubs excel – setting milestones, managing budgets and hitting deadlines.

Personally, I hate having to follow plans! I find them restrictive and energy draining and, like oil and water, I am least likely to mix with people who like to do things by the book. So, when I am working on a venture the first person I recruit into the team is a club – the person you like the least is the person you need the most!! Not only does the club personality bring complimentary skills but probably more importantly they challenge my thinking and build creative tension.

So where does the 4th innovation style, hearts, fit into the innovation process? The answer is all the way through. Hearts make sure that the people aspect of any venture is a well-oiled machine. Their empathy, compassion and communication skills are critical for dealing with morale issues, increasing motivation and building engagement. Not just within the team but with all of those who may be engaging with the venture: customers, suppliers and key partners.

What is the relevance of the innovation process and innovation styles for small business owners?

Starting and growing a new business involves constant innovation. Your product, service and your business model will require repeated development and refining.

Fuel up your innovation engine by building a diverse team around you and nurturing the creative tension that comes from playing with a full deck.

Tom McGuire, Regional Business Advisor, SIE

It’s on the

Cards!

www.sie.ac.uk page 10 & 11

Sector Focus

Spring/Summer Issue

Blair Bowman, University of Aberdeen student and Founder of World Whisky Day

Mark Greenaway, Chef Patron Jennifer Bryson, Business Development Director Food Innovation at Abertay www.foodinnovation.abertay.ac.uk

Food and DrinkBuilding 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 budding start-ups to comment on the opportunities available to students and graduates.

In this edition of ignite, we take our cue from one of the sectors featuring in the Young Innovators Challenge and focus on the growing Scottish Food and Drink Sector.

Blair Bowman, Student and Founder of World Whisky Day speaks to SIE about the Food and Drink Sector.

What made you interested in starting a business in the Food and Drink Sector? In first year at university I attended a Freshers Fair. There was a whisky society stall looking to recruit members to become an affiliated society. At the time there were only 2 members, so when I put pen to paper to sign up I automatically became society secretary. Knowing nothing about whisky at the time I had to learn fast. I was put in charge of creating whisky events. My role meant that I was responsible for building connections with individuals in the whisky distilleries of Scotland. Amazingly the whisky sector is a small circle of people so I learnt fast. This is where my passion for whisky came from.

When did you have the idea for World Whisky Day? I was actually in Spain at the time when I came up with the concept of having a dedicated day to celebrate whisky. Initially, I never realised that it could be a business, but people like Dawn Shand (SIE’s local Regional Business Advisor) helped me to understand it had the potential to be a commercially viable business.

What would you say to students who were interested in starting a business in the Food and Drink Sector in Scotland? Scotland is in a unique position, because of some of the fantastic produce we have. For example in China, they would rather import Scottish salmon than use the salmon swimming in their own rivers. Scotland is one of the largest Food and Drink exporters in the world so anyone starting out in this

sector will benefit from the iconic image and perception that we have in this industry.

I would encourage anyone looking to start a business to: believe in your idea, surround yourself with people willing to help you and simply to go for it!

Mark Greenaway, renowned chef, business owner and participant on Great British Menu met with us to discuss what it is like to work in the Food and Drink Industry.

What made you decide to become a chef? I was raised in a family where my mum would sometimes have to cook about 3-4 meals at dinner time to accommodate everyone in the household. Eventually, when I was about 14 she tired of this and told us, “Either take what you’re given or cook your own.” Making scrambled egg on toast and other simple foods when I was much younger seemed fun; I enjoyed being in the kitchen and I always felt I was quite good at it.

Back when I was at school, the date birth determined whether a school leaver left education in summer or later on in the year. My date of birth meant that I had to stay on in education until the December. I had no real desire to remain in school, so I decided to go to college; I wanted to pursue a career in food.

I was of the generation that when you left school you had to pay ‘dig money’. Being at college meant I had no income, so with no internet I got out the yellow pages and started to contact hotels. Eventually I was lucky and got my first job. When I decided to become a chef, it was because I was interested in food; there were no Gordon Ramsey or Jamie Oliver expose shows when I was growing up, only Delia Smith. Back then, I thought it would be a case of starting about 11am and finishing at a reasonable time at night, of course the reality is that’s not the case, it takes hard work and long hours.

What motivated you to have your own restaurant? I, like every other young chef in the industry had dreams about climbing the ladder with my main goal being that one day I would own my own business. Every step that I climbed I wanted to achieve more. I began to notice

things that I would have done differently if I were in charge and the urge to ‘be the boss’ was the biggest motivator for aside from my love for food. The reality is, the higher you get

on the ladder, the less you get to showcase your skills; it becomes more about people management and less about the food. This was a big learning curve for me.

What is your biggest achievement so far? Definitely owning my own restaurant has to my biggest achievement to date.

Has TV and Social media helped the Food and Drink Sector in Scotland? TV has done so much for the food and drink sector. Documentaries have helped educate the wider public; they have even helped to change legislation. Social media is really an excellent PR tool. It helpings me to make connections with people that otherwise I wouldn’t be able to. I am a personal fan of twitter, I can engage with people who have visited or are about to visit the restaurant. Twitter is a good business tool, but I am not a fan of following celebrities.

You were on Great British Menu 2013, how was that? It was a fantastic experience. It helped me to gain exposure as it is a prime time BBC2 show. This year the show is actually raising money for Comic Relief so it was great to be a part of that. The great thing about the Great British Menu is that chefs actually cook their own style of cooking within the brief that we are set.

The show asks that chefs interpret a brief and create innovative food, how did you find this? This years brief was arguably one of the toughest yet. The brief was to create a 3 course meal that celebrates comic relief through food. Both comedy and food are very subjective. Take for example Frankie Boyle, some of his comedy is very controversial and may offend some people, but he also has a massive following. It is the same with food. Someone may like salt in their food, some may hate it.

The way I interpreted the brief is that I wanted to create very serious food surrounded by laughter. Comic relief is not all about comedy and I wanted to showcase this in what I produced.

Finally, what would you like to say to inspire future students looking to start their own business in the Food and Drinks sector? Don’t try and do it too quickly. It takes a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication. I would tell the future generation not to give up; you never make mistakes in life, only decisions. Without decisions you would never get anywhere!

Jennifer Bryson Business Development Director of Food Innovation at Abertay, gives us an insight on what students should consider if they are looking for a career in the food and drinks industry.

Can you tell us a bit about the food and drink manufacturing industry? Students may be interested to know that food and drink is the largest manufacturing industry in Scotland and that there are good career prospects for those employed in it. There are many sectors within the food and drink industry, from bakery to whisky production and jobs include food technologists to production managers. Any graduates wishing to be employed in this industry will find a range of job opportunities available to them and for anyone looking for an interesting and well-paid career it is second to none. The Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) website is worth a look at  for really useful information on careers.

What are employers looking for in an employee? Some employers are looking for experienced recruits, but how are graduates expected to gain this experience if they are not given the chance to gain it? A recently graduated individual will quickly become a useful member of staff but maybe not immediately.  But also it is important that students and recent graduates demonstrate to employers that they possess key skills needed. Whilst studying students should work on their personal development, e.g. putting theory into practice, using their knowledge and skills innovatively, whilst at university because this will stand them in good stead once they graduate.

What sort of feedback have you received from employers who have recruited a graduate straight out of university? At first, an employer may be hesitant recruiting a graduate because of their lack of experience, but if they do employ a graduate then they will quickly benefit the employer by the range of knowledge and skills they can contribute.

What is the biggest challenges facing students? Some employers’ may not fully understand what is studied by students while at university on food related courses.

There’s sometimes a belief that a degree is primarily theoretically based; this is common misconception as in reality food and drink related degree courses also contain practical, industry focussed project work. The more industry involves itself with university the more the university and the student benefits. As a result of some feedback from industry universities like the University of Abertay Dundee, in collaboration with industry, have developed new courses for both undergraduate and post-graduate students. Students graduating today with Food and Drink related degrees will, in the longer term,  make a difference to the industry in Scotland.

Final Thoughts There are really good opportunities in this industry if you’re prepared to work hard and focus on what will make you an valuable employee.

page 13 & Bwww.sie.ac.ukSpring/Summer Issue

Lots of students manage to do just that, and I’ve put together some thoughts on what I think can make the difference… Juggling your coursework, a job, and a social life doesn’t always leave much time to run a business… or does it?

Managing Workloads

Duncan Ross, Enterprise Programme Assistant, SIE

page 12 & 13

MANAGE

You must meet your important commitments and deal with critical issues as they arise.

1 URGENT IMPORTANT

LIMIT

These activities should be enjoyed and not overly indulged. Use these activities to minimise your stress.

4 NON URGENT NON IMPORTANT

IMPORTANCE

UR

GE

NC

Y

1. Important Vs Urgent

Being busy doesn’t always mean that you’re being effective. One of the most important skills I’ve learned over the past few years is prioritising.

Do you work from a to-do list? I do… I have three. One is for work, one is personal, and one is for my music project. It’s the only way I can keep things in order. Smartphones are great for managing to-do lists, but how do we know what to-do to do??

The goal when prioritising is to avoid being a slave to urgency and to keep focused on the bigger picture.

Here’s a great method for managing your lists; Draw four boxes and put your critical tasks into one of four boxes depending on its importance and its urgency.

Clearly you should prioritise tasks that are both Urgent and Important (Box 1). Deadlines for funding applications or your dissertation should take priority over everything. Even sleep!

However, the most important box on this chart is Box 2: Not Urgent, but Important;

These are the goals, strategies, plans, and general things that really matter to you. These are also the things that it’s easy to neglect because they aren’t urgent. Testing your business idea on a focus group or building new relationships with potential partners might fit here. And don’t forget to phone your Gran…

Box 3 is a dangerous space, as things that are urgent can often seem important when they’re not! Try to minimize these activities as they are often time consuming and can leave you asking ‘where did the day go?!’ Practice your delegation skills to remove workload from this space.

Box 4 is the space where you can treat yourself. Facebook, shopping, and watching TV should be reserved for moments of down-time.

4. Protect your idea for peace of mind

For whatever reason, if you want to wait a while to begin working on your idea, what protection do you have in place?

While it’s very difficult to own an idea, you can own certain parts of an idea. Google don’t own the idea of search engines online, but they do own some serious technology, as well as a strong brand.

One student we worked with had a great business idea, loads of products and a strong brand… but no website!

Buying a domain name is really easy – there are loads of sites that will sell you the domain name for between £3-£20 per year. If you have an idea for a product or service then why not buy the domain name now? At the very least it might ensure that you don’t forget all about your entrepreneurial dreams once those job offers start rolling in.

Putting your mind at ease can allow you to give your full attention to other tasks without worrying about things that are out of your control. My mantra: What I am doing right now is the most important thing I can be doing. This helps me to stay focused on one task at a time.

If you’re planning on being the next James Dyson, your idea is more technical in nature, and you think you may need to patent your designs, then why not make an appointment with one of our brilliant advisers? We have free business advice for all university students in Scotland, with a designated adviser for each region. They can help you decide on the best course of action and can often put you in touch with some great contacts.

2. Emails: How urgent are they really?

I’ve met student entrepreneurs who say that most of their time is spent replying to emails. Although it is important to respond to emails, it’s really important to manage your expectations. Think about this: when you send an email what is an appropriate time to wait for a reply? One minute? One hour? One day? One week?

Personally, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to wait a day or two to hear back from an email request. Sometimes longer if you’ve asked for something that isn’t likely to be at the top of somebody’s priorities! If you need an urgent response you can always call…

So why not put specific time aside for dealing with emails – once in the morning and once in the evening perhaps? This leaves the rest of your day free to work through that to-do list.

Another thing to consider is that when you to respond to an email you don’t necessarily deal with the issue; you often invite more dialogue, further emails, and more work. Don’t be a slave to that refresh button – stay focused on your important tasks.

3. Your idea – is right now really the right time?

Our advice is simple – Action Trumps Everything. This is taken from Babson College, and it’s something you’ll hear us say often. Ideas are great, but you need to test them, and there’s really no time like the present.

Websites and surveys can be done quickly and cheaply these days, and we’re here to help you with any contacts and advice you need. That said, sometimes your business idea will feel like a huge job to be done, and it probably is, so could you combine a stage of your business development with part of your university course?

Great entrepreneurs are great at spotting opportunities and making situations works to their advantage. I’ve seen student’s base entire projects on their own business ideas, and not just business students. Is there upcoming coursework that could be applicable to your idea? After all, if you’re spending time researching something, it could be worth more to you than just a good grade.

AVOID

Manage these tasks by cutting them short, rejecting requests and prioritising more urgent tasks.

3 URGENT NOT IMPORTANT

FOCUS

These tasks are CRITICAL to goal setting and ultimate success.

2 NOT URGENT IMPORTANT

It is important in the early stages of any business that it is adequately funded. Having enough money is crucial for the success of a startup and insufficient funding is one of the top reasons why new businesses fail. Finance can come from a variety of sources, some of which are not immediately obvious, and others which may require some early stage selling and negotiation skills.

What Do You Need to Attract Funding?

It is important to prepare a business plan in support of your business idea. This does not need to be a sophisticated document but should set out clearly:

• yourbusinessidea

• theaimsofthebusiness

• thefinancialrequirements

• whyyouareideallyplacedtosucceed.

A business plan is also a good discipline and future reference tool for you.

Financial Projections

Entrepreneurs often underestimate the amount of funding required. Ideally, you should prepare three years worth of monthly profit & loss, cashflow and balance sheet projections in order to identify your funding requirement.

It is important to understand the difference between profit and cashflow. For early stage businesses in particular, cashflow is vitally important. Whilst the early stages can be crucial, don’t assume that once you start trading and are showing a profit that you are now on easy street.

Customers may take a month to pay you whilst, as a start-up, suppliers are unlikely to offer any credit. You will therefore be paying all of your costs in cash. This ‘working capital’ requirement can often cripple early stage ventures.

Potential Sources of Funding

Once you have an idea how much funding you require, you should look at all of the potential sources of finance:

• Ownresources–savings,personalmortgagesetc

• Familyandfriends–equityorloans

• Earlystageequityfunders–includesangelinvestors

• Crowdfunding–alternativetotraditionalequitywherebyalargenumber of funders contribute small amounts either for equity or for discounted products/services once you are operational.

• GrantfundingfromScottishEnterprise–RSA,SMART:Scotlandinnovation grants.

• PrinceofWalesYouthBusinessTrust–assistancewithbusinessplans, loans and grants.

• UKSteelEnterprise–equityandloans

• Banks–traditionalrouteforbusinessesbutmoredifficultinthecurrent climate. Banks are often more willing to consider providing finance once you can demonstrate a track record.

The above list is not meant to be comprehensive but should hopefully provide some pointers. In reality, the required finance will probably be made up through a ‘cocktail’ of funds, that is, a mixture of all or some of the various types listed above.

In recent years, given the decreased availability of credit within the economy, the funding environment has changed with a greater concentration on public sector sources and other less formal sources such as crowdfunding. It is likely that such sources of ‘softer’ funding will play a greater role in financing business growth for entrepreneurs for the foreseeable future.

www.sie.ac.ukSpring/Summer Issue page 14 & 15

Funding a Business in the Early Stages

Graeme Smith, Senior Manager, Corporate Advisory French Duncan Corporate Advisory

Success Story Edinburgh & East Edinburgh College of Art alumnus Helen Fisher is definitely a name to look out for in the future. Since graduating in 2012 with a degree in Product Design from Edinburgh College of Art, she has since joined Edinburgh based design consultancy - Cramasie. In addition to her full time job, Helen is focused on developing her own products and new business - Helen Fisher Design Limited. In November Helen scooped the Best Pitch Award at the Santander Pitching competition. Helen is an enthusiastic and self-motivated person, with a passion for design and inventing. Read what she has to say over at the official SIE Blog: scottishinstituteforenterprise.wordpress.com/

University of Edinburgh student Sam Zadawzki is a young entrepreneur that we continue to work with. He won two great awards at the end of 2012: ‘The Pitch 2012’, and ‘Shell Livewire’s, Scottish Young Entrepreneur of the Year’12 award.’ We believe this is not only a brilliant achievement for Sam; it is also encouraging news for both SIE and the University of Edinburgh. We look forward to seeing what he can accomplish in 2012.

Sam also impressed participants at our exclusive Start-Up Day on February 9th in Dundee, when he agreed to be a guest speaker at the event. He spoke candidly to student entrepreneurs about the realities of starting a business, and the challenges he faced with his own new business: www.advancetogo.com/welcome/

Success Story Aberdeen & North University of Aberdeen student and founder of World Whisky day Blair Bowman has recently launched the branding for his business and is confident that this will help his new start-up. Speaking with Blair, he wanted to thank Edinburgh based Wolffe Design for their help in designing the brand.

Robert Gordon University alumnus Robert Hoving has been speaking to SIE recently and updated us on his recent business growth. Scottish Rugby international Tim Visser has now joined the company. Robert believes that ‘Tim will make a positive impact to Shirt by Hand.’ If you are interested why not check out what he has to see in his blog. (see next column)

Robert Gordon University (Grays’) student Carolyn Murdoch has just heard some fantastic news and couldn’t wait to let us know. She has just been informed that her children’s fashion accessory is now a finalist in the Gift of the Year 2013 competition. What brilliant news; we wish Carolyn every success and hope she wins. Good luck!

Catch up with both Carolyn and Roberts information over at the SIE Blog: scottishinstituteforenterprise.wordpress.com/

Success Story Glasgow & West University of Glasgow alumnus Jonathan Service won the Starter for 6 product design category for generation glow; a product that offers interactive lighting merchandise for entertainment and marketing purposes at live music events. He has won £4000 to help take his product, Generation Glow to market. Jonathan kindly agreed to speak to SIE about his business. A case study will be available very soon, so you can find out more about his business: Generation Glow.

Regional Success Stories

www.sie.ac.ukAutumn/Winter Issue

Aberdeen and North

Regional Intern Coordinator (Aberdeen and North) Helen Boyd | h.boyd@sie.ac.uk

Robert Gordon University rgu.intern@sie.ac.uk

UHI: Inverness College uhiinverness.intern@sie.ac.uk

UHI: Perth College uhiperth.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Aberdeen aberdeen.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Abertay abertay.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Dundee dundee.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of St Andrews standrews.intern@sie.ac.uk

 

Glasgow and West

Regional Intern Coordinator (Glasgow and West) Kieran Smyth | k.smyth@sie.ac.uk

Glasgow Caledonian University gcu.intern@sie.ac.uk

Glasgow School of Art gsa.intern@sie.ac.uk

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland rcs.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Glasgow glasgow.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Strathclyde strathclyde.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of the West of Scotland uws.intern@sie.ac.uk

 

Edinburgh and East

Regional Intern Coordinator (Edinburgh and East) Kieran Smyth | k.smyth@sie.ac.uk

Edinburgh College of Art eca.intern@sie.ac.uk

Edinburgh Napier University napier.intern@sie.ac.uk

Heriot-Watt University hwu.intern@sie.ac.uk

Open University in Scotland ou.intern@sie.ac.uk

Queen Margaret University qmuc.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Edinburgh edinburgh.intern@sie.ac.uk

University of Stirling stirling.intern@sie.ac.uk

scottish institute for

enterprise

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