Course bookings

People are the primary resource of a business and a good business team, with the right skills and experience, is essential. 

This workshop covers how to go about building a business team; what skills to look for; how to approach and negotiate with team members; what to offer them; and how to keep them on board.   It will cover:

• Team skills for success

• Practical aspects for how to build and develop a business team

• Setting up a winning team

In addition, the interactive workshop allows you the opportunity to begin assessing your own team style and skills.

This course relates to domains B2, B3, D1, D2 and D3 of the RDF.

What's my business (or my project) worth?

Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur? Are you trying to raise money for a company? Or are you working with large capital projects? 

This workshop explains how to understand the bit on Dragon's Den when they say 'I'm offering 37.5% of my company for £500,000'. Where do those numbers come from and how are they calculated?

We will illustrate a number of simple valuation methods including book value, market capitalisation, and discounted cash flow and show you how to calculate them using Microsoft Excel. You will become familiar with terms such as net present value, internal rate of return, risk-free rate and risk premium. As a side effect you will also understand more about our current banking and financial crisis!

As well as potential entrepreneurs, this workshop would be of interest to anyone working in areas where large capital projects are planned, costed and valued - architecture, civil and chemical engineering, aerospace, and renewable energy to name just a few.

This course relates to domains B2, B3, C3, and D1 of the RDF.

When establishing a business the financial reporting requirements, and the issue of getting finance, can seem daunting.  This workshop aims to explain clearly what is required.

A clear and concise session which provides delegates with an easy but comprehensive understanding of:

• the reasons for starting one's own business

• methods of communication

• accounts - profit and loss, cash flow and balance sheets

• management reporting

• raising finance

• sources of finance, including a valuable insight into business angel investment in Scotland

• preparing a robust business plan

• structuring your financial package

• meeting your ongoing obligations and responsibilities 

The session draws on delegates own personal experiences to bring the topics to life.

This course relates to domains B2, B3, C3 and D2 of the RDF.

Do you feel equipped for the challenges ahead?

Whatever your career objective, be it continuing in research, moving into a commercial role, entering the public or charity sectors or building and managing your own company you need a broader set of skills and attitudes than those developed through your research.

A new programme, developed in partnership between the University of Edinburgh and two successful female business owners will help you to be successful in the challenging environment we are working in.

This free course, aimed at female researchers, takes place over three days from October to December 2012.  

Day 1
Dates: 8^th October 2012
Location: Room 1.11, Main Library, Central Area
Theme One: Creativity
Creativity is not a mysterious gift possessed by some and envied by others. It is a set of behaviours which can be easily learnt and applied in everyday life. Learn how to boost your own creativity, understand more about the creative strengths you have and develop a strategy to improve your innovative approach whatever work you do and whatever career lies ahead. Leave the workshop with your own tailored creativity toolkit you can use in the following two workshops.

Day 2:
Dates: 9^th November 2012
Location: G37, Patersons Land
Theme Two: Cash
What is your attitude to money and finance? Something scary… or exciting? The initial focus of this workshop will be to explore and understand your own behaviour with money and then to develop the most effective approaches. You will learn how to value and cost your ideas, be they for a business, research project or your own time. You’ll see how money can be managed and explore your own feelings about risk. This is a highly interactive day with practical outcomes.

Day 3:
Dates: 7^th December 2012
Location: Lorimer Room, Old College
Theme Three: Control
Managing a career is challenging. We may not always feel that we can control our environment, the people around us or even ourselves. This workshop will help you to articulate your career vision and work out how to achieve it. We will look at how to work effectively with others to help you secure your vision. Techniques will relate to negotiation, relationship building, self awareness and priority setting.

THIS IS A THREE-PART COURSE - THE SECOND AND THIRD PARTS ARE BEING HELD ON 9^TH NOVEMBER AND 7^TH DECEMBER 2012 AND ARE IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.   PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD ATTEND ON ALL DATES.

*Please note* after completing this form you will receive an automated email confirming your booking, but please note that because of the limited number of places available we cannot guarantee you a place until your application has been reviewed.  Please explain what your enterprise idea or objective is - this will help us allocate places if the course is over-subscribed.

Intellectual property can be a very important business asset when first establishing a company. 

This workshop will allow you to become more familiar with the basics of IP and where you stand in generating an IP, specifically covering:

• The main types of intellectual property

• How are they used and how to protect and exploit them

• Copyright basics

• Patenting and computer programs

• IP in practice; creative uses of IP in the digital age.

This interactive workshop will use case study scenarios to illustrate how IP affects businesses working together and the type situations that will arise with regard to intellectual property rights and software used.

This course relates to domains B3 and C1 of the RDF.

When establishing a business being able to present your business and negotiate with customers/investors is crucial.  There are some key elements that influences the audience to 'buy-in' to whatever it is you are wanting to 'sell', and all too often we underestimate how our communication is simply talking with another person rather than really understanding what is going on in their heads

This workshop will cover the strategic elements of presentation skills and allow participants to get a deeper understanding of how people communicate with each other and key skills in how to negotiate with others.  It will take you through:

• How we communicate with others: our talking style; creating a ‘wow’ introduction and ending well, natural speaking and delivery talents, creating content that influences rather than just communicating information, winning the negotiations before the talking starts.

• Understanding others: reading body language, understanding audience dynamics, learning how to create content that influences, Understanding the difference between audience-centred and presenter-centred presentations.

• Practical negotiation scenarios: being customer focussed, teamwork, leadership, handling counter-arguments, what content to include or avoid, individual and team negotiation opportunities during the workshop.

This course relates to domains B2, D1, and D2 of the RDF.

The majority of research is only ever published in patents and an ability to find and understand patents is an essential skill for researchers, and especially important if you are thinking about starting up a business.

This workshop will involve a short seminar, followed by practical exercises using the University's computer facilities to search patent databases, and will explain the basics of patents; where you can find out about them; why you should use them; and how to search for them.

A basic level of IP knowledge is assumed for this course.

This course relates to domains C1 and D2 of the RDF.

Marketing your company is a very important aspect, and is especially important when setting up an establishing a business. This informative workshop will cover the basics of PR (Including online PR) and Marketing, including:

• What is marketing; strategy, business objectives, tactics, budget, customers, market analysis and product.

• What is PR; communication strategy, the key messages you want to get across and how to get them across, making your story newsworthy.

This workshop will give you a greater understanding of how to promote and position your company in the market for success. 

This course relates to domains B3 and D2 of the RDF.

This workshop is aimed at students who are interested in finding out more about preparing a business plan, whether it is for raising finance or as a working tool for the business.  The participants will learn the mechanics of preparing a plan and will also receive handy hints on how to prepare and present the document.

It will be delivered by means of a participative seminar where students will be encouraged to contribute and ask questions during the session.

This course relates to domains C2 and C3 of the RDF.

This workshop is aimed at those intending to start their own businesses, targeting particularly B2B (business-to-business) enterprises, to provide some guidance in the basic skills of selling - oneself and one's product or service.

It will cover:

• the difference between marketing and selling

• how to identify and prioritise potential market sectors for your product or service

• how to develop your proposition (product or service), so your customer can understand 'what's in it for them'?

• features vs benefits - for a potential customer

• how to assess your competitors and identify your own 'USPs'

• how to identify and screen 'prospects' (potential customers)

• how to identify, approach and engage with appropriate contacts - particularly within a larger organisation

• telephone technique, how to get to meet someone you don't yet know

• how to determine whether they really are potential customers - and within what timescale

• how to overcome barriers in the (personal) selling process

• how to negotiate and secure the order

Participants attending this workshop should think about a potential product or service they wish to commercialise. What are its unique selling points? What convinces you people will want to buy it - and from you? How would you set about identifying potential customers? What other barriers do you foresee to successful growth in sales?

This course relates to domains B2 and C2 of the RDF.

This workshop will provide a practical introduction to social enterprise and beyond the introduction will cover three important elements to consider when setting one up:

1. Why should a social enterprise be started and what is its purpose?

2. Who will buy and what are they buying?

3. Who will fund the start up of a social enterprise and why would they?

The session's practical elements will include looking at a range of existing case studies of social enterprise, examining the motivations and requirements of social entrepreneurs and hearing from Edinburgh University postgrads who have started their own social enterprise.

When establishing a business it's important to ensure that what you are doing is aligned positively with the forces of change that are affecting our world. By taking advantage of change, you are much more likely to be successful than if your activities oppose it.

What things are changing our world at present?

Some people say that every problem is really an opportunity in disguise, so what 'unsolved opportunities' are there in the world? 

Are these opportunities only for technology companies, or can musicians, linguists, fine artists, or architects address them as well?

This workshop will:

a) identify some current opportunities and forces for change in the world

b) show you methods for mapping  the "big picture" of your Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment

c) set you some real context-based problems to analyse

Turn Your Good Idea into a Great Opportunity and get a taste of what it takes to bring your business idea to life!

This half-day workshop, brought to you by LAUNCH.ed and the Institute for Academic Development, will cover:

1. Evaluating the commercial potential of your idea
2. Identifying competitors and differentiating yourself
3. Identifying and prioritising your potential customers, and
4. Articulating a compelling business proposition.

This practical, interactive workshop is a perfect taster session for anyone with a business idea or looking to commercialise some aspect of their research.