ENTREPRENEURSHIP & SOCIAL ENTERPRISE - The Careers ...

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Nov 25, 2013 ... Starting your own business, social enterprise or charity is a career ... Entrepreneurship might suit you if you like being in charge, influencing ...
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Starting your own business, social enterprise or charity is a career option open to those from all academic backgrounds, and who wish to work in any sector of the economy. Entrepreneurship might suit you if you like being in charge, influencing other people, taking risks, making things happen and are adventurous, assertive, ambitious and motivated.

Related briefing:  Freelancing (Individual self-employment around projects or tasks for clients. Doesn’t necessarily involve starting up a business.)

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF STARTING A NEW ENTERPRISE? PROS  Independence to follow ideas and ambitions  Geographical flexibility to suit your life  Control over the environment you work in  The successes and rewards are all yours  Complete choice in the work that you do  Satisfaction in making the impact you want  Opportunities for significant growth

CONS  Often low/no income early-on  No guaranteed salary, sick pay, paid leave  Set-up costs: rent, equipment, insurance etc.  Inherent risks of failure  Can be hard to separate work from home life  Initially, lack of interaction with a big team  Accountability – it’s all on you

WHAT KIND OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT COULD I DO? SOLE-TRADING

STARTING A COMPANY

 No organisation to set up, just register with HMRC as self-employed

 Need to choose a legal business structure (usually as a limited company)

 No need for formal accounts, just keep your own records for an annual HMRC self-assessment form.

 Register with Companies House, file accounts, send an annual return (often involves using an accountant), register for VAT (only over a certain level of takings)

 You keep all the profits, but if you lose money, it comes directly out of your pocket.  Usually used for informal or sporadic work. See our guide to Freelancing if you’re planning to win contracts from clients to deliver work as an individual.

 The general benefit of starting a company is that it protects your assets as an individual: if the company loses money your assets are safe as a director  Company accounts published through Companies House

STARTING A CHARITY OR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE  Different structures to decide upon: a cooperative, a community interest company (a special type of limited company), a charity or charitable incorporated organisation, an unincorporated association or an industrial and provident society.  Some require registering at Companies House, some through the Charities Commission.  Requires same diligence and detail as starting a company

Read more about each at https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/setting-up © Oxford University Careers Service, September 2013, www.careers.ox.ac.uk/entrepreneurs

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WHAT KIND OF SKILLS WOULD I NEED? The following are the kind of skills that are seen in many successful people who work for themselves. Everyone is likely to to be stronger in some areas than others. Identify elements that you might need to improve on, and think about what’s worked in the past to increase your ability in that area:       

Willingness to take risks Ability to work without direction Acceptance of a degree of uncertainty Natural networker Energy Creativity Self-discipline and self-motivation

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Commitment to hard work Passion and belief in your vision Confidence to make decisions Resilience to move past difficulties Ability to learn from problems Adaptability to revise your vision

HOW COULD I GET STARTED? IDEAS FOR HERE AT OXFORD  Join Oxford Entrepreneurs for events, networking, competitions and news and pitching opportunities  Come along to The Careers Service for innovation workshops from The Shed  Access expert mentoring through The Shed, and take the business plan challenge  Volunteer at a social enterprise through Oxford Hub – [email protected]  Apply for The Student Consultancy programme at the Careers Service to build your commercial awareness  Gain work experience in the field, see CareerConnect and Internship Programme

 Talk to entrepreneurial alumni on the Oxford Careers Network via CareerConnect

 Attend local entrepreneurship events (e.g. Connected Oxford’s entrepreneurs drinks)

IDEAS FOR BEYOND OXFORD  Read the Prospects guide to SelfEmployment  Read TargetJobs guide to starting up  Read articles in The Gateway Online (filter by topic: Entrepreneurship)  Read advice and forums on the Shell Livewire site  Research legal structures and more on the GOV.UK start up pages  Search for events in your area (e.g. the Silicon Roundabout meetup in London)  Apply for an internship at a start up (e.g. www.enternships.com)  Apply for a job working with entrepreneurs (e.g. the New Entrepreneurs Foundation scheme)  Attend start up career fairs (e.g. Silicon Milkroundabout in London)

 Sign up for the 10 week Building A Business course at Said Business School

 Register at Make it Happen to access live and archived webinars and mentoring

 Network and talk to people around you to find potential collaborators

 Search for business start up courses in your local area (e.g. adult education centres)

 Use the books and resources on starting a business at The Careers Service

 Do your market research; gather data and evidence to prove why your concept works

 See a careers adviser to discuss options and ideas in a confidential environment

 Write your business plan  Explore start up accelerator programmes schemes, (e.g. Entrepreneur First, Emerge VentureLab, BetaFoundry, Y Combinator)

© Oxford University Careers Service, September 2013, www.careers.ox.ac.uk/entrepreneurs

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WHERE COULD I FIND FUNDING TO HELP ME START UP? Before bidding for funding, make sure that you’ve developed your business plan and polished your pitch – you’ll need them! The following are resources to help you learn about and search for funding opportunities. Also see the links for accelerators above.    

https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support-finder - Clear, official, searchable database of funding opportunities for those at all stages, and working in any area. http://www.shell-livewire.org/business-library/funding/ - Overview advice and information to help search for any form of funding http://www.startuploans.co.uk/ - Government backed start up loans News of funding resources is added year-round – in 2012-13 the university offered grants of up to £15,000 for staff, students and alumni building social enterprises. Keep an eye out for more in early 2014.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ON A STUDENT VISA YOU CANNOT START UP OR BE SELF EMPLOYED If you are an international student from outside the European Economic Area and here in the UK on a student visa you are not allowed to set up a business or to be self employed (see further guidance from UKCISA on what kind of work you can do during your studies). This also means that you cannot take freelance work (for example as a translator/interpreter) where you would have to invoice the company or client for the work that you do. If you get offered freelance work you should ask the company if they can offer you a contract as an employee (even if a temporary or ‘zero hours’ contract, which means that they do not have to guarantee you work every week). If you do work on a self employed basis you will be committing an immigration offence. This could lead to a refusal of future visa applications or removal from the UK. AFTER YOUR DEGREE International students who have completed a degree in the last 12 months are currently able to apply for a Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneurship Visa. The UKBA have given the University of Oxford 10 of these visas to grant each year, plus an additional 10 for MBA graduates. www.careers.ox.ac.uk/visas There are also additional visa routes available for entrepreneurs on the UKBA website; these require higher levels of finances that you need to prove you have access to.

RELEVANT EVENTS For full details of events, check the What’s On section of our website and log in to CareerConnect. There are general talks about translation and interpreting in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms. The Shed Every Wednesday in termtime, 5-7pm, The Careers Service. Regular innovation workshops, challenges, endorsements and support. See more at www.careers.ox.ac.uk/theshed. Entrepreneurs Festival (UK Trade & Investment) 4-6 September 2013, Manchester http://www.entrepreneursfestival.ukti.gov.uk/ Event aimed at recent graduates or finalists, with lots of advice, support and inspirational speakers.

© Oxford University Careers Service, September 2013, www.careers.ox.ac.uk/entrepreneurs

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Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford 24/25 November 2013, Said Business School Invitation only, register interest at http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/entrepreneurship/programmes/ Silicon Milkroundabout Start up tech firm job fair– usually around May, London, http://siliconmilkroundabout.com/ VentureFest Advice, funding and networking, Said Business School, June http://www.venturefestoxford.com/

RESOURCES AVAILABLE OXFORD CAREERS NETWORK (OCN) The OCN on CareerConnect (www.careers.ox.ac.uk/ocn) is a database of Oxford alumni who are willing to be contacted about their career. Read their case studies for behind-thescenes insights into an organisation or occupation, and contact them for more advice and information.

For advice from the UK government on starting your business: Business Link Helpline 0845 600 9006 Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm

BOOKS The following books are available to read in our Resource Centre at 56 Banbury Road:       

Start your own coaching business, Entrepreneur Press and Monroe Mann Start it up, Luke Johnson How to write a Business Plan, Brian Finch The one page business plan, Jim Horan Brilliant Business Plan, Kevan Williams Brilliant Employability Skills, Frances Trought Velocity, Ajaz Ahmed & Stefan Olander

USEFUL WEBSITES If you do decide that entrepreneurship is for you, do explore the excellent support services available, many of which can help you to grow your knowledge of business elements and support you with funding, competitions, opportunities and training. IF YOU’RE CURRENTLY OUT OF WORK  

The Princes Trust and Bright Ideas Trust both support those aged up to 30 who are currently not in work and interested in starting up. New Enterprise Allowance is a new government scheme to support those starting up who are currently unemployed.

OTHER USEFUL SITES     

http://oxfordhub.org/socialenterprise for social enterprise support and ideas

http://www.oxfordentrepreneurs.co.uk – University start-up group and incubator http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/centres/skoll/education/Pages/seatoxford.aspx - Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship open lots of their resources to the entire student body http://www.startupdonut.co.uk/ - Advice, information and an adviser search http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/ - social enterprise body for the UK

© Oxford University Careers Service, September 2013, www.careers.ox.ac.uk/entrepreneurs

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    

http://www.startupbritain.org/ - government-backed website to encourage entrepreneurship http://www.thomsonlocal.com/resources/small-business-startup-guide/ http://www.shell-livewire.org/ - advice, community, awards http://steveblank.com/ - entrepreneurship blog from teacher and lecturer http://thestartupmagazine.co.uk/ - UK based blog for new entrepreneurs

GENERAL RESOURCES CAREERS ADVISERS Sometimes you just need a little help – whether it’s feedback on your CV, preparation for interviews, or figuring out what to do next. Our Careers Advisers have direct experience in a wide range of sectors (e.g., in banking, medicine, consulting, teaching, charities, research and many more). Each has a special interest and shares their knowledge, so that any adviser can help you with your initial enquiries. We offer up to thirty-six 15 minute 1:1 sessions every day between 10:30am and 4:30pm (and later on Thursdays in term time). You can book these online on CareerConnect. Some extra sessions run in departments, colleges and Exam Schools. Our new Career Lounges run every day; you can drop in and discuss anything from assessment centres to applying for internships – see our website and newsletter for further details. In the vacations we can also give advice by phone or Skype. See www.careers.ox.ac.uk/advice-sessions. . THE CAREERS WEBSITE www.careers.ox.ac.uk contains a wealth of advice and information, including all of our career briefings; guidance on deciding what career is right for you; statistics on what recent graduates have done after leaving Oxford; application advice - including sample CVs and cover letters; and our blog with daily updates of careers news. CAREERCONNECT The password protected area of our site is your portal to browse upcoming events, to book workshops and advice sessions, to download books, and to search for jobs and internships (almost 8,000 opportunities were advertised during the last academic year). To find out more and log-in, see www.careers.ox.ac.uk/careerconnect. THE RESOURCE CENTRE At 56 Banbury Road you can browse our collection of careers books; read the latest sector periodicals; take away leaflets, booklets and brochures from national careers publishers - and meet with Careers Advisers. We’re open every weekday, except university and bank holidays, generally 9am-5pm, with a 10am start on Thursdays, and a 7pm finish on Thursdays in term time. To check opening times, see our website (www.careers.ox.ac.uk). E-NEWSLETTER We email everyone a weekly newsletter in term-time - giving a summary of the next week’s events by sector, further study opportunities, special events, fairs, highlighted job of the week and hints and tips on how to boost your CV. There’s always something for everyone, so watch your inbox!

SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK Join us at www.facebook.com/oxfordcareers to get reminders of our major events straight to your newsfeed, as well as last-minute news from employers.

© Oxford University Careers Service, September 2013, www.careers.ox.ac.uk/entrepreneurs

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TWITTER Want to know what those in your chosen field are talking about? Use Twitter to listen in on the conversation, find out about opportunities or ask questions. Start by following us at www.twitter.com/OxfordCareers to get careers related news and tips, and check out our lists to find a ready-made batch of interesting Twitter feeds for your chosen field. Twitter is also a great way of demonstrating your interest in a sector - there’s a reason it’s called ‘micro-blogging’! Search, be polite, ask for help, say thank you. For some suggested people to follow, see our list at: https://twitter.com/OxfordCareers/entrepreneurship/members LINKEDIN If employers search for your name and university, a LinkedIn page ensures they find what you want them to know. It’s a place to showcase your skills and qualifications, and to get publically recommended by those you’ve worked with. It’s also a phenomenal research tool to find people to contact, and learn about the background of those in your ideal job. We run a regular talk on how to create a profile on LinkedIn, and how to use the site to network. If you already have a profile, join our group: www.linkd.in/OxfordCareers.

© Oxford University Careers Service, September 2013, www.careers.ox.ac.uk/entrepreneurs

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