Worcester Sixth Form College Business students inspired by Entrepreneurs

On Tuesday, 5th November Worcester Sixth Form College students of Business participated in this year’s annual Entrepreneur Day. The event was organised by second year BTEC Business Level 3 students as part of their coursework unit for event management.

The day began with presentations from two successful local entrepreneurs – Katy Rees of Smile Education and David Felton of DE Photo. They gave the students insights into their business journeys, how they got to where they are now and what helped them to persevere. They were joined by Nicholas Bancroft (Business Enterprise Manager, University of Worcester) who informed students of the university’s forthcoming business pitching competition and business start-up event.

Following the guest presentations, students worked in groups on their main task of the day which was to brainstorm and develop ideas for an exciting new theme park ride (purely by coincidence, the same task faced by participants on the BBC’s Apprentice show the following evening!) Having considered unique selling points, and strategies for pricing and promotion, each team presented their ideas to the guest speakers, with the three best groups selected to present back to all attendees. The visitors then judged the shortlisted presentations to decide on who deserved to be the winning group.

The winning team came up with “Ducatti Devils”, a motorbike themed ride. The judges were impressed by the concept which they felt could be a viable business idea. Dylan Chapman was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Day accolade.

Sue Viner, teacher of Business at Worcester Sixth Form College, said: “Some of the best comments from participating students was that they particularly enjoyed mixing with their peers and getting to know them; they also said they found the day a really entertaining experience”