Spark

Spark Award is an 8-week introduction to business start-up. The programme equips you with all the skills you need to kick-start your idea in to reality.

Apply for Spark 2022/23

About Spark

SPARK is for students, staff and graduates of 4 years or under from Oxford Brookes.

Participate in Spark to meet with and learn from experts, successful alumni, and other like-minded people. Being part of it will help you to build and develop your ideas, let you meet fellow entrepreneurs, and receive direct feedback from experts to help you progress.

This step-by-step programme, will guide you as you develop your idea into a real business venture.

Spark comprises EIGHT sessions: a welcome meet and greet, six teaching sessions, pitch practice and live pitches. This eight week online delivery is designed to fit around your studies.

At the end of which you will walk away with:

a clear understanding of your business
a basic business plan
a first stage pitch-deck which will equip you to compete for £500 seed funding.

This is the perfect opportunity for anyone that wants to test and develop their idea in a low-risk way and start to build their network.

Please note: WE ARE A COMMUNITY and attendance is important. Participants are required to attend 80% of the sessions in order to be eligible to pitch for funding at the end.

Case Study

Find out how Daniel Satch is saving the planet and keeping us fit with Belvedere Apparel.

Programme

The following programme runs twice a year between September to November and January to March.

Week one - concept

In this first session we will discuss your business idea and explore the problems it is aiming to solve.

Week two - customer

Customers are at the heart of your business, but do you know who they are? This session helps to identify your customer, understand why they want to buy from you and how to market to them.

Week three - competition

A little competition is good, as long as you know who your competition is. In this session we explore the importance of competition and how to position yourself in a competitive arena.

A small crowd watching a demonstration at an event

Week four - compatibility

In this session we explore the entrepreneurial mindset, asking the question 'why you?' and looking at how to build a winning team for your business.

Week five - contents

Now you know more about your business and what you need to do to make your ideas happen. This session is about confidently planning your first steps into the venture.

A woman stood on a stage giving a presentation

Week six - cash

Understanding finances doesn't need to be a daunting part of setting up a business. Here we explore finances in a simple and direct way and show you what your financial forecast could look like.