Toolkit

• James Lemon, a specialised start-up and travel consultant, will take us through why it's okay to be starting your career or business or taking an idea forward in a downturn and how to innovate through troubled times, whilst still achieving your goals.

• How to set up your business online
  • Building a website
  • Register your business with Google
• Idea generation: how to generate and test business ideas
  • Ideas generation workshop (PDF, 1.6MB)
  • 10 great ways to generate business ideas
  • Six traits Crowdcube sees in successful entrepreneurs
  • How to test business ideas
• Business Model Canvas: develop a model to describe, design, challenge and test your business model
  • Video: 9 steps to creating a successful business model
  • How to use the 1 page business plan - The Business Model Canvas
  • Business Model Canvas toolkit
• Market research: Finding out if your business idea is feasible
  • Market research - the basics
  • Q&A: market research for startups
  • Market research toolkit
  • How to research the market workshop (PDF, 7.2MB)
• Value propositions: Make your business more attractive to customers
  • How to create value propositions
  • Value propositions toolkit
• How to pitch: How to create a pitch to wow even the toughest panels
  • 13 tips on how to deliver a pitch
  • Pitching toolkit
• Building your founding team - workshop (PDF, 4.8MB)
• Telling your story - workshop (PDF, 6MB)

Real stories from Brookes students:

• Case studies

• Project management: how to stay on top of your workload
  • 10 ways to cope with a demanding workload
  • Tips for managing workload
• Financial planning: manage budgets and plan your finance
  • Getting started with financial planning
• Fundraising: grow your business with investment and finance options
  • Using crowdfunding to scale
  • How to start a business with little capital
  • Beginner's guide to grant funding
  • Video: behind the scenes with crowdfunding

• How to create your marketing plan
  • Marketing on a tight budget
  • Building a marketing strategy
• Social media: using social media to boost your idea
  • 8 tips to grow your business using social media
  • Social media toolkit
  • PDF: Instagram strategy guide
  • Case study: Instagram marketing

• Measuring social impact: how to tell if your project is making a difference
  • Advice on measuring social impact from The Guardian
• Social entrepreneurs start-up resources: how to start a social enterprise
  • How to set up a social enterprise in 3 simple steps
  • Advice from gov.uk on setting up a social enterprise
• Social investment opportunities: how to get social investment & support
  • How to pitch your social enterprise to an investor
  • How to attract investment for your social enterprise

• Ted Talks
• The Pitch
• UK Business Forums
• Startup Donut
• Wired UK
• Entrepreneur
• Young Foodies graduate booklet (PDF, 33MB)
  All you need to know about your graduate roles at our food and drink startups.