Start Ups join Stand Ups at new QM comedy night

Start Up Stand Up – 6.30pm 31 May 2012 in Draper’s Bar & Kitchen

Start Up Stand Up is a brand new event from Queen Mary Entrepreneurs and QM Careers in association with NACUE aimed at inspiring you to either start your own business or work for a smaller organisation.

Start Up companies from East London and up and coming comedians will do short sets aimed at making you think and laugh!

Confirmed are brand new start up Zaawi, established business Tug Search and comedian Marc Burrows with more to be announced!

This event is free but you’ll need to get a ticker which will be available from 10am on 23 May 2012 via
http://startupstandup.eventbrite.co.uk

Take part in a business game with your friends

XING Business Game
Wednesday 12 October 2011
2pm – 6pm

XING is an interactive strategy game where a small team of students go through the decision processes and stages of setting up a new business venture. It doesn’t matter if you want to set up your own business or not – it’s about thinking creatively, being entrepreneurial and working within a team!

This game will feature judges from a range of businesses with the chance to present to them.  You don’t need to have any prior of knowlege of writing a business plan – just ideas and enthusiasm.  AND there is a cash prize for the winning team.

Taking part in competitions like Xing looks great on a CV and is a fantastic way to impress future employers – helping you to stand out from the crowd.

To register for this event Students register in groups of 4-6.  When registering a team one student registers for the whole team, giving the email address and first and second names of all the students on the team.

If you don’t have a group register on your own and we will allocate you to a team.

Send you registration to careers@qmul.ac.uk with “XING Team” as the subject by 5pm on 10 October 2011.

We send them you a reminder email 2 days before, asking for notifications of any drop-outs, so that we can re-jig teams if necessary.

IT and technology jobs in Shoreditch

Did you know that London’s top tech startups are hiring for over 100 technical roles right now? For a fast-track to finding out all about them, get down to the Silicon Milkroundabout event on Sunday 15th May at Bar Music Hall in Shoreditch.

The Silicon Milkroundabout event is hosted by the Silicon Roundabout. The Silicon Roundabout is the nickname for the Old Street Roundabout because of the concentration of British web based companies in the area. This group of 30 of London’s top technology startups are looking for computer science finalists and graduates.

Register at siliconmilkroundabout.com  and take a few hours out on a Sunday afternoon to meet the startups and hear their pitches.

Thinking about setting up a business?

Creative Entrepreneurs is a FREE programme for people who live or work in Tower Hamlets who are thinking about setting up their own business.

Devised by CIDA (Cultural Industries Development Agency) and supported by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the programme will give budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their business concept from idea to draft business plan. Industry experts will deliver 4 days of training in Business Planning, Copyright, Marketing, and Pitching and Presenting.

One lucky participant will also walk away with £500 to help them kick-start their career!

The training programme will finish with a networking event – Entrepreneurs the Next Generation, with a panel of celebrity entrepreneurs discussing how they made their dreams become a reality.

Participants must either live or work in Tower Hamlets to be eligible for this FREE programme.

Creative Entrepreneurs will run from Monday 13 December 2010 – Thursday 16 December 2010. All training will take place at CIDA, Business Development Centre, 7-15 Greatorex Street, London E1 5NF. Entrepreneurs – the Next Generation will take place on 20 December 2010.

For more details, visit www.cida.co.uk, email cidaadmin@cida.co.uk or call 020 7247 4710.

Talk hosted by QM’s Entrepreneur society

The first hurdle that many graduates face when applying for jobs is the application.  As competition for places is fierce, applicants with weaker academic records may get caught out.  According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters, 70% of graduate recruiters do not even look at a degree that is under a 2.1 classification.

Whilst professional skills are key, academic excellence is an extremely important part of your skill set and your  employability. “How On Earth Do I Get A First?!” is an inspirational event brough to you by Queen Mary Entrepreneurs Society as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Five  graduates who achieved 1st class degrees will be sharing their experiences on Wednesday 17th November at 3pm in Peoples’ Palace PP2. This motivational talk will show you how to acienve the best degree possible and you will learn  insider tips and tricks about how you can improve your academic and transferable skills to set yourself up for the best career possible.

For more information, please visit the Facebook event page. To attend register here.  For any other inquiries, please email QMEntrepreneurs@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: This event is organised by Queen Mary Entrepreneurs Society, not by QM Careers.

Thinking about freelancing – tips from a former QM student

Freelancers sell their work or services by the hour /  day / project and can have a number of different clients, rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer. This style of working suits certain industries such as the arts and the media. Example roles include writer, performer, TV producer and interpreter.

Here are some top tips on going freelance from former QM student, Basil Ballhatchet, who now works as a freelance translator.

1. The timing is dependent on the specific individual – if you have just graduated and have conceived an original idea for a business, you may want to start straight way.  However, you may want to wait until you have built up experience in a specific area before you start on your own.
2. Make sure that you have savings that will allow you to survive for at least six months without earning any income. You may find it takes time to find clients or to set up a business/accounts or to receive your first revenues from clients.
3. Try to have a couple of clients lined up when you go freelance. You may even be able to start while you are still in permanent employment. Make sure you keep a record of additional income and pay tax on it. You don’t want tax issues at a later date.
4. Before you go freelance (if you don’t have any potential clients), research the market properly to understand whether there really is any demand for your services and how best to market such services.
5. Find a good accountant, preferably through family or friends and have a chat with them soon after you start, so that you understand how to deal with taxing your income and keeping accounts on a regular basis.
6. Plan your finances: try to save at least 40% of your income each month. You will need to pay for your first year of tax and the following nine months in one go, so you have to plan ahead.
7. Plan your work and if possible build a network with other people offering similar services. You may find in some cases that you are unable to take on all the work that you manage to attract and you can refer the client to another supplier like yourself.
8. ALWAYS be honest with clients if you cannot take on all the work and propose such alternatives. If the client agrees to the alternative supplier, you have managed to both demonstrate your reliability to a key client and have also helped out another freelancer. You will find out in time that other freelancers will also generate work for you.

For further information read our handout on  Entrepreneurship: Self-Employment, Franchising and Freelancing.

Would you like £10,000 in new product development support?

Would you like access to £10,000 worth of new product development expertise and prototyping?

Do you have a portfolio of great product ideas?

Are you looking to start your own business or expand your current business based on one of these ideas?

Would you like to showcase your work at the London Design Festival?

Metropolitan Works is looking for innovative product ideas to take through the development process, from the drawing board to realisation for London Design Festival 2010.

Six individuals will be offered the unique opportunity to receive full guidance and expertise through all stages of the New Product Development process culminating in the prototyping (where applicable) and showcasing of those products selected during the London Design Festival.

Applicants must be based in London and graduating this year, or alumni of one of the universities listed below:

› Goldsmiths, University of London
› London Metropolitan University
› Queen Mary, University of London
› Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
› London Southbank University
› University of East London
› The University of Greenwich

To qualify as an entry you must also participate in a free two-day new product development seminar hosted by Metropolitan Works, taking place on the 17th and 18th of June 2010. At the end of the second day the winners of the competition will be announced.

The deadline is Monday 7th June 17:00. If you are sending by post we recommend that you use recorded delivery to avoid any disappointment.

To enter – please contact Jodie Eastwood at j.eastwood@londonmet.ac.uk

Global Enterprise Week

Have you ever thought about starting your own business? Well now is the time to put your thoughts into action, as this week (16th-22nd November) is Global Entrepreneurship Week. Special events and competitions are taking place  to inspire you, help you to unleash your enterprising talents, and turn your business ideas in to reality.  For further information, along with advice and resources available year round see http://www.enterpriseuk.org

Leaflets and information resources about starting your own business are also available in QM Careers.