New Year; New Direction
If this New Year you’ve resolved to take a new direction professionally or academically there are plenty of universities who can help you seize the moment. While once the academic year - and thus university courses - always started in the autumn, the new semester system offered at increasing numbers of higher education institutions means there’s no need to wait and you can sign up for a degree course with a February – or even, in some cases, May start date.
Amongst the 370 or so courses that Thames Valley University (TVU) is offering with a February start date this year is a Foundation Degree (FdA) in Enterprise & Entrepreneurship: Business Start-Up. This novel way of supporting new businesses and would-be entrepreneurs through their vital first two years offers participants on the programme the chance to study and run their businesses at the same time with teaching input geared towards acquiring the knowledge, skills, behaviours and competencies required to create a successful enterprise.
Rosemarie Lambert is the foundation degree’s Programme Leader. “There is ongoing advice and support from tutors and mentors as well as mutual support from other course members,” she explains. “The camaraderie, community and mutual support of this type of environment is very helpful.
“The emphasis is on learning by doing, and everything is grounded in the reality of starting up your business. We assess the course around how the business has progressed and on how the entrepreneur has responded to the challenges she or he has faced. ”
Joanne Hobdell is one of the students who is currently benefiting from taking the course. Joanne, 44, who works under her maiden name Larney, was a photographer for agency H Tempest for nearly 12 years before deciding to branch out and set up her own business.
“I became increasingly frustrated by the constraints on my creativity, the inflexibility of working for an employer, and earning such a low percentage of each job,” she recalls. “I completed a year-long contemporary photography course in 2007, and then set up my business and handed in my notice early in 2008.”
Joanne, a mother of six children aged between 15 and 25, acknowledges this was a huge step for her as her earnings are an essential part of the household income. “I quickly found self-employment a lonely business,” she says. “I worked a lot harder; was a lot poorer - but a lot more fulfilled.”
To up her game, Joanne enrolled on a ‘Women in Business’ course, run by her local authority, Hillingdon in west London. “This introduced me to the power of networking and also made me realise that it wasn’t enough to be a good photographer; I lacked many of the business skills that I needed in order to be successful,” she says. “When I was told about TVU’s Enterprise & Entrepreneurship foundation degree it appealed to me because it was an in-depth business course aimed at people like me in the early stages of business.” “Before Joanne started the degree, she completed a short essential business skills course at TVU and has implemented aspects of the course into her business to improve procedures and streamline her office.
“The presenting skills section of the course also improved my confidence,” she adds. “I was recently one of the speakers at the Hillingdon ‘Women in Business’ course, which is something I wouldn’t have attempted before.
“So far as part of my foundation degree we have been looking at how we study and manage our time. We have also looked at personality types and how this affects the way we do business. I’ve learnt skills to help me run my business efficiently; and one-to-one mentoring has helped the business grow. Networking is an effective way of doing business and is actively encouraged.”
Although the Foundation Degree in Business Start Up can be achieved at the end of two years there is the possibility to “top up” to an Honours Degree in year three. The course content has been carefully selected and developed to be practical, underpinned by academic theory and includes the following topics: aptitude and skills development, essential IT for business, planning and financing your business, marketing and web design, legal, social and ethical issues in business, communication for business, managing business operations, enterprise and business development and leadership: enhanced management skills.
“I was concerned that I would be out of my depth as I hadn't studied for some time,” Joanne admits. “However, there is so much support from TVU and Future Skills that I’m confident of completing the course and hope to top up to a full degree. I hope to achieve a greater understanding of business, a higher level of education and learn how to present myself professionally.”
www.tvu.ac.uk» www.jolarneyphotography.com»
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