School Programme

	Day One	Day Two	Day Three	Day Four
	Setting the Scene	Finding the Niche	Planning Success	Creating Success
09:00 - 11:00	Welcome and Intoduction	Environmental Opportunities	Planning for Success³	Thinking around corners⁵
	Coffee Break
11:30 - 13:00	What makes Entrepreneurs entrepreneurial	Intellectual Property²	Planning for Success	Thinking around corners
	Lunch
14:00 - 15:30	Rain Making¹	Ethical Entrepreneurship	Painting by Numbers⁴	Preparing your Pitch
	Coffee Break
15:45 - 17:30	Rain Making	Social Enterprise Business Model	Painting by Numbers	Pitch to Panel and signposting
	Break
18:00 - Late	Meet the Entrepreneur	Networking	Introduction of Day 4 prep	Closing ceremony

¹ Networking and business development
² Patent, Copyright and Registered Designs
³ The ins & outs of Business Planning
⁴ Finance for non-financial people
⁵ Marketing from A-Z and making it work for you

Day 1: Setting the Scene

An essential part of the entrepreneur school is the formation of a group of like-minded people who will stay in touch well beyond the attendance at the School. This entrepreneur community will have the capacity to gather and share information whilst affording the opportunity for mutual peer support in a sustainable way. Day 1 will therefore consist of exercises to help you learn about each other and each other’s business ideas and lay the foundations for the rest of the School and beyond.

The morning section will consist of introductions and exploring together what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial. In the afternoon we will explore different aspects of networking, business development and generating leads. This includes discussions from the participants’ personal experience and will enable you to identify your strengths and how best to capitalise on these as well as how best to improve areas for development.

The evening will be a structured yet informal networking event where you will have the opportunity to learn first-hand from a number of successful enviro-entrepreneurs and establish initial contact with a range of key players in the environmental sector who will be invited to the event. This event in particular should have a significant impact, as you are able to see and meet like-minded individuals who have travelled the journey you are about to take.

Day 2: Finding the Niche

The second day starts with a review of lessons learnt on day 1. This will be followed by looking in the morning at opportunities created through environmental legislation that has emerged over the past few years and how new start-ups and early start businesses can take advantage of these opportunities.

The afternoon will focus on ethical entrepreneurship and will look at different business models for your new business, including social enterprise.

In the evening we will hear about the importance of protecting your intellectual property, with lots of examples of how businesses have gone about it. At the end of this session you will have a good understanding of the differences between patents, copyright, and registered designs, and where you need to go to receive further help.

Day 3: Planning Success

The third day will kick off with a review of lessons learnt on day 2. In the morning we will be looking at opportunities created by environmental legislation and how best to capitalise on these opportunities.

The rest of the morning and early past of the afternoon is aimed at providing you with an overview of the business planning process and helping you to understand the importance of finance. This will include an interactive presentation on balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, cash flow and financial forecasting, which is often seen as complex and a barrier to start up and growth.

During the evening you will be given the opportunity to prepare for the pitch to be presented on the last day with a further chance to network with other delegates as well as meet with business advisors and mentors who will help you prepare your pitch.

Day 4: Creating Success

The fourth and final day will build on the learning from the previous days and take a closer look at the planning process with a focus in the morning on strategic planning and marketing.

The early part of the afternoon will be set aside for you to meet individually with a number of mentors to help you prepare a project pitch which you will be required to present in the second part of the afternoon. Particular focus will be given to helping you think through the business proposition, how it will create value and how investors will get their money back, as well as how you can best distil that thinking into a clear, concise and compelling presentation. The pitch itself will be a friendly ‘Dragon’s Den’ style presentation to a panel of investors, bankers, accountants and consultants who will critique the presentation, offer advice and signpost to follow-on support. The panel will also assess each pitch against a range of criteria with a view to selecting a number of winners who will receive an ‘enviro-entrepreneur business pitch’ award and prize to be determined.

You will also receive a certificate of attendance and will leave with an action plan and direction of how to turn their idea/dream into reality.