Business incubator- Introduction

The Leeds Metropolitan business incubator offers support and assists us in establishing and growing our business through tailored programmes. Four workshops were organised for the business students:

Marketing (1&2)
Accounting
Sales (1&2)
Solicitors

We have been asked to critically evaluate on our experience in starting/growing our business using the theory from the workshop and discuss what we have learnt and the impact these workshops have had on starting/growing our business.
I have discussed these points below for each workshop.

Accounting

Accounting

Our first workshop in the business incubator was accounting. The workshop’s aim was to teach the business enterprise students how to do business accounting. The workshop focused on some of the main areas of accounting:

Different company structures were expounded and how these should be registered
Why we need to keep records (this was important to know so that we can avoid getting into trouble legislation wise e.g. being charged for not paying the right amount of tax
Basic records
VAT
Income tax rates
Key dates

I have some understanding of business accounts from my previous qualifications and felt that this workshop refreshed my knowledge and heightened my understanding further.
With the help of the workshop notes, I feel I have learnt a lot through independent research building on top of the basics which I learnt from the workshop. Handouts were very useful, we could look back at these when needed. However, the session could have been better organised because personally I think the structure and teaching style was not too good.
I think the subject could have been covered better:

· If the workshop was led by examples of company accounts, this would give me a better learning experience because I learn better through visual learning
· Some exercises to do which would help us ensure we are on the right track and would also give us an idea of how to create accounts for our own company, so if we made any mistakes the accountant could have corrected them and there would be no unanswered questions left

“Tell me and I’ll remember for an hour, show me and I’ll remember for a day but let me do it and I’ll remember forever”.

· A list of accounting stages could have been provided with the workshop notes so we would know each stage we have to go through when working on accounts in our own business this makes learning easier and teaches us better practical skills to start with
· The accountant went through a lot of information; this was not relevant for beginners. It would have been better if there were secessions for beginners and developers so beginners don’t get confused with what they need to know and what they need to do. The accountant should have known a bit about each business student so he knows at what business stage they are at and what kind of information and help is required by them.
· The presenters tone was low and dull; he did not change it throughout the workshop. This was a bad learning experience; it put me to sleep and did not motivate me at all, therefore this workshop was different from the marketing and sales workshops because they were more practical. However, the accounting notes were good and I believe the workshop could have been improved with a bit of humour
· Different teaching styles could have been used for this workshop. Auditory teaching is getting too boring as it is too common. I am a visual learner and believe information could be learnt better through this technique

Visual/Spatial Intelligence
‘Ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.’
(Liz Bogod. 1998. Ldpride, learninf styles.
Available at: http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm#Visual%20Learners.
(Accessed 17th April 2008)


The workshop has taught me some new things and has helped me develop to some potential. I was provided with a good opportunity to develop my knowledge further; it also provided a point from which to set off. The knowledge is helping me to contribute to my personal and professional development; I have also used my previous skills and knowledge to put things into practice by doing some independent research and used the workshop notes to produce some rough estimates for my own business. (See slides above). Starting up the accounts for my business was not too difficult because it is at a start up stage and they are only estimates, so I think I managed this task quite well at this stage. It was a good practise for the future as I will have to manage the accounts myself to keep a track of my business.
I think the lecturer went through a lot of detail explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each company structure and the law for these; this was pretty useful as it helps decide which company structure will be the best to opt for my company and what kind of books I have to keep for the records e.g. sales day book. This makes it easier to keep a track of what goes on in the finance section of the business.
I do not have natural accounting skills but do wish to improve these in the future, and I believe they come with practise. However, I have some basic accounting skills and I can build these over time. I have good research skills so I could do some research and practise to build my accounting skills. The workshop did not teach me any new skills but just heightened my knowledge.
In the mean time I believe I have the ability to handle my business accounts quite easily because it is only at the start up stage.

Marketing-1&2

In marketing secession 1 we were introduced the definition of marketing and its process. Other marketing topics covered were:

o Market research
o Marketing environment
o Consumer behaviour
o Consumer/business environment
o Target markets






Marketing secession 2 focused on:

o Designing marketing strategies:
o Cost leadership
o Niche
o Differentiation
o 7p’s of marketing (marketing mix)

This workshop was quite interesting as the marketing processes were described in diagrams, therefore I found the tutor pretty creative and enthusiastic. He co-operated very well throughout both marketing secessions and I quite enjoyed his lectures.
I have studied marketing in general before but this workshop combined theory and practice, it was a bit practical which motivated me.
However providing us with some other business concepts e.g. marketing processes carried out by other businesses would always be very useful to give us some ideas of real experience.
Workbooks were given which were very well structured. After each topic discussed we were to jot down our own business ideas, these were extremely useful and good way of learning.
The first topic discussed was market research. My marketing research ideas were put into practise e.g.
Talking to family and friends help me brainstorm better ideas
I have used observational research, observing competitors business, how they promote their products and I have decided to use some of the most popular and cheapest advertising methods such as posters, magazines and leaflets. The logo, name and label for my brand and magazine have also been designed (See green logo above).
I feel the workshop has helped me build up my ideas. Without the workshop I might have struggled with the practical work e.g. market research. I made a good start with the help of the workshop and gained some useful information. Read upon the marketing topic before and the knowledge gained from previous years helped me during the workshop and when gathering data for my business.
I feel if I had already started my business I would have asked some questions to improve on it, and would know what kind of questions to ask. I think I could have listened to other people’s questions or read upon some case studies to find problems which are likely to occur in small businesses and ask the solutions for these problems, this would help me take more part in the workshops. However, this is something I could improve on if I take part in any other workshops in future. I should assess my participation skills and my performance, these are important skills to develop as a self employed. I need to study the workshop notes in more depth and get in touch with the workshop tutors if I do not understand anything.


Sales-1&2

We had two sales workshops. They aimed to teach the business enterprise students the following points:

(Sales 1) Practising how to sell our business idea and how to spread the message.
The sales process
Developing lists of suspects
Generating prospects
appointment setting
(Sales 2) Developing selling skills:
Presenting your business
Address the concerns
Close the sale
Managing the process

The sales workshop was used to practise how to sell our business ideas; I learnt the technique to spread the business message. Each point during the workshop was discussed in a good style. For each point we were given 5minutes to put down our ideas and practise them. It was a good start as this was a different teaching method and there were a lot of tasks involved. Completion of the tasks was very useful as it was a good way of learning and making the best of the workshop. This is because the workbook notes were helpful when I looked back at them to put things into practise. Spreading the business message technique taught at the workshop was effective in gaining customers. The workshop built my techniques; I also applied some of my own practical skills. The plan was to first start selling to people we know. I spoke to a few people I knew and showed them samples of my products; they were very impressed and wanted me to design products for them. I had one order from a friend, so I managed to sell a dress which I designed for her (see printed receipt for evidence). My message to the customers was:

“Hi, I’m Alisa; I have my own clothing business and I design quality eastern clothes for young females, I tailor products according to customer needs and I also have some designs which you could choose from. I sell casual wear, work wear and special occasions wear at competitive prices, here are some samples of my products. Would you be interested in buying any of my products?”

I think I coped well with the situation and was asking questions to keep the ball rolling. I had a good experience of customer contact; I developed my communication skills further, learnt more about getting in contact with the customer and dealing with them. I read more on this to understand the situation in detail.
This workshop taught me more skills and knowledge than any other workshop. As it was more practical and the marketing points were discussed in detail with examples applied to complicated points to make them easier to understand.
The tutor wanted ideas from everyone. We had to put down our own ideas but some samples of how to introduce ourselves and the business should have been provided, this would have been more useful to give us a rough idea of professional business messages. The workbook was a good way of starting us off with our ideas but to improve on this the lecturer should have added examples for each task to be done to make it easier for us to start off, I struggled to complete some of the tasks in the handbook because the questions were a little confusing.
The lecturer was great; he displayed a confidence in speaking and listening. He combined theory and practise in the workshop to make it sound more interesting. This was helpful as he gave us an idea of how to develop our business message, what to include in the introduction of the message and how to speak to the customer. As a beginner this was a good start for me as I sat down and put some ideas on paper.

The lecture notes were not clear, they were quite brief and diagrams were very difficult to read because of the small font (see sales 1&2 notes from the business incubator). I contacted the business incubator manager Jonathon to forward me all the workshop notes but he did not get back to me. All the notes should have been forwarded to all group members without asking. I was not pleased with the service.
I made use of the workshop which indicates attention and interest. However, I used my own skills to do further research and improve the selling techniques because the lecture notes were no use after the workshop when I had to look back at them as they were difficult to read.


Solicitors

The topics discussed in the solicitors’ workshop were:

Business basics
Control in your business
Intellectual property rights
Other legal considerations

The solicitors’ workshop discussion topics were not exactly relevant for beginners. As a beginner during the start up stage we need to concentrate more on building our business than producing excellent designs which need to be protected.
The differences between companies were explained but points which were relevant to us were not discussed in depth, so from my point of view I think 70% of the workshop was no use.
The intellectual property rights were discussed in much detail which I believe majority of the business students would not need at this stage. However, these notes were good and we might need these at some stage of our business. I have read upon business law and feel I have gathered much better and useful information e.g. on health and safety:

‘3.4.5 Health and safety

All people at work whether they are employees, employer or self-employed are affected by health and safety legislation. The legislation also affects the health and safety of general public who may be affected by your work activities either on or off your premises. If you employ 5 or more people there must be a written statement of health and safety policy.
Managing health and safety effectively reduces unacceptable toll of suffering that accidents and ill health bring.’

(“ANON” class notes. Park lane college Health and safety. Distributed 3rd November 2005)

The solicitors notes on this topic were very brief (see below) he explained them very briefly as well when this topic was suppose to be discussed in a bit more depth, as it is a important topic for us.

• ‘Other issues
• Health and safety - necessary licenses or certificates
• Environmental consents and licenses’

Other than these I don’t think I have gained anything from this workshop. Over the past two years during my business degree I have learnt a lot more through independent research which I did for my assignments.
To improve on this workshop the incubator manager should have got in contact with the students to ask which topics they would in particular want to know about business law.
I know some about business law and felt that there was no need for this workshop unless it is improved dramatically to give us valuable information.
I have also been to the business enterprise show where I gained extremely useful information about all business areas within two hours or less.
The presentation of the accounting workshop was poor but the notes were very good; and the solicitors’ workshop presentation was ok but the notes were very poor.

Conclusions

The business incubator has provided the business enterprise students with the help of the workshops; but if we are to start a good business we need more than just workshops. We need help to take actions and make a start. Creativity is needed to deliver a message that grabs attention and leads to action.
My objective was to achieve success through these workshops. I have a bit more understanding of what is involved in a business and the workshops have slightly changed my thinking.
I would rate the sales and marketing workshops very good. They were very useful event though the diagrams were not clear we have the workbooks to look through for help when needed. I believe I got more out of this workshop and not the others, and they were the ones I needed to know more about.
Overall I don’t think this incubator helped me a lot. It did not push me to move forward or offered any other help to the enterprise students e.g. other notes on starting our business, shows we can attend, other places to go to which would be useful, websites, leaflets etc. Extra notes or tips for starting and running new businesses are what we need.
As I have attended the enterprise show in Leeds, comparing this to the incubator I would say it was more than a lot of help.
I think the individual meetings at the incubator were more helpful as I had a chance to discuss the exact topics I needed to talk about, and the particular questions I had in relation to my business.
Other useful learning methods which I prefer and which could have been used to improve the quality of the workshops are:

Watch videos
Try things out until something works
Practise (do something until you get it right)
Follow instructions
Discuss with others and ask for their feedback on what you do