College hosts its first Business Bootcamp for budding entrepreneurs
06/07/2023In conjunction with Coleg Y Cymoedd and The College Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend College hosted its first ‘Business Bootcamp’, in which keen students were able to attend a schedule of talks and workshops aimed at developing their entrepreneurial skills.
For the past three years, Bridgend College has been involved with the ‘Summer Startup Week’, an award-winning online event delivered by some of the brightest Enterprise and Business minds across the Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) sectors in Wales. This year, however, the three colleges launched their first in-person event.
Supported by Big Ideas Wales, the bootcamp took place over three days from 20-22 June, with each college hosting a day of workshops. Over the course of the bootcamp, college students took part in a carefully curated schedule of sessions which addressed a variety of key entrepreneurial topics, including business planning, marketing techniques and networking.
Bridgend College held their workshops at the award-winning STEAM Academy in Pencoed. The day’s sessions kicked off with Chris Jones, the College’s own Entrepreneur in Residence, who discussed his top tips for business success and drew on the importance of networking. Destiny Kirk from Yellow Hat followed with ‘Marketing 101’, drawing on her experience as both a business owner and a social media and content specialist.
The final session of the day was run by Ryan Stephens, a Mindset and Wellbeing Coach, who talked about his own experience of developing businesses and discussed the importance of developing positive strategies to manage mental health.
Following the three-day event, the participants provided excellent feedback on the sessions. Not only did all students report that they would recommend the Business Bootcamp to their peers, but that the sessions have inspired them to start their own business ventures.
“It was great to welcome so many aspiring entrepreneurs with a wide variety of great business ideas to the first Business Bootcamp. We were delighted that attendees described the three days as ‘informative’,’inspiring’ and ‘motivational’ and all of them said they would recommend it to other learners.”
Ruth Rowe, Entrepreneurship Officer at Bridgend College
The College offers in-house Enterprise provision for students to access, giving them the opportunity to explore their business ideas and receive guidance from an experienced business advisor. Enterprise runs workshops throughout all curriculum areas and is also available on a one-to-one basis.
Learn more about the College’s careers hub and Enterprise.
