Over two hundred students received inspirational words of wisdom from some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs at an event launching the inaugural Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) Business Ideas competition last night (Tuesday 4 November).
Sir Ian Wood,
Chairman of Wood Group, University of Aberdeen academic Dr Graeme Paton one of
the scientists behind DRAM a process which uses a whisky by-product to clean up
water, and Mr Alex Barton, a previous winner of the SIE Business Ideas
Competition, provided scholars from both the University of Aberdeen and the
Robert Gordon University with an insight into their thoughts on
entrepreneurship at the event held at the city's Copthorne Hotel.
The Scottish
Enterprise Business Ideas competition invites students studying in Scotland to
submit their business idea to be in with the chance to win cash prizes up to
£2000.
From a new business
or product to a way of making the world a better place, or even an entirely new
invention, students from both universities are being invited to enter the
initial regional leg of the competition before the deadline for submissions on 30January 2009.
Four finalists
from the regional leg will be chosen to compete in the national final which will
take place in March next year. The
finalists will have the opportunity to continue their work with the SIE
Regional Business Adviser, and develop their idea further.
Janice Montgomery,
University of Aberdeen
Careers Service said: "The clear message from the speakers who
presented at the Scottish Institute for Enterprise's
Business Ideas competition launch was to have belief in your business
idea. Don't be discouraged, don't
compromise your principles, know your market, value the people around you who
are able to help, and be prepared to fail but keep going regardless as your
idea may not just have the potential to win the competition, but also be a
hugely successful company in the future."
Supported by
academics from both Aberdeen
universities, the launch was the starting point for a whole range of
entrepreneurial events designed to encourage students to think about business
start up as an alternative to working for others at the end of their degree
programmes.
Future events
include an Enterprise Summit in the Beach Ballroom on the 2nd December which is
open to all students in Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee. Registration
for this event which is also open to interested academics is online at http://summit.sie.ac.uk .
The Scottish
Enterprise Business Ideas competition is open to both
postgraduate and undergraduate students.
Entrants must submit their own details, the idea for their business and
the kind of customers who might be interested in their product or service, on
no more than one page of A4 and send it by email to href="mailto:sie.intern@abdn.ac.uk">sie.intern@abdn.ac.uk</a> before 30 January
2009.
For more
information on the competition visit www.sie.ac.uk
or Janice Montgomery, University
of Aberdeen Career's
Service on 01224 273053 or email href="mailto:j.montgomery@abdn.ac.uk">j.montgomery@abdn.ac.uk</a></strong></p>