'Make Your Mark - start talking ideas'
The “Make your Mark – start talking ideas” Enterprise
Week 2005 was organised by the Enterprise insight coalition founded
by the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce,
the CBI and the Federation of Small Businesses. The Enterprise Week
consists of a range of events around the UK aimed at helping young
people to turn their ideas into working realities.
The London chapter of Junior Chamber International hosted one of
these business events and three RBSL students/alumni went along to
mingle and network. It was an excellent opportunity where students,
graduates and entrepreneurs gained a realistic insight into the
world and work of entrepreneurs.
A panel of successful entrepreneurs shared their own experiences
of what it has been like to set up and run their own business as
well as the qualities required to be successful. The speakers were:
Robert Ashton, Carissa Mitchell and Richard Parkes-Cordock.
The author of “The Entrepreneur’s Book of Checklists”, Robert
Ashton, started three businesses and sold two of them successfully.
In his presentation he highlighted a few valuable tips for
entrepreneurs: “Plagiarise [not in your coursework, off course… the
editors], do not invent the wheel, follow up a model, do the
talking, promote your product/service; networking (always introduce
yourself first) and never give up”.
Carissa Mitchell (known as “Rissy”) started her own production
company “Queen of Extreme” in 2004. She had words of hope for young
entrepreneurs facing the hardships of rejection: “Being rejected
does not mean you have failed. Accept your own mistakes you will
then be respected. Do not fear anything.”
Richard Parkes-Cordock the author of Millionaire MBA, an 8-week
home study course for entrepreneurs, and one of the UK's foremost
experts on the mindset of self-made millionaires. In his
experience, if you were an entrepreneur you should "believe in
yourself, set up your own goals, self-discipline is crucial; do not
see it as a sacrifice, it is your choice”.
To conclude, Erik Brandenburg, one of RBS London’s third year
students who attended to the event added: “It was an informative
and motivating event, it was encouraging to actually go out and do
something (…)” and he also argued that “everybody can be a CEO and
everybody can have the opportunity to be responsible about their
own raise and downfall and most people are afraid of loosing money
or going bankrupt or being pointed by others”.
It was a great event, and a good opportunity to meet up with a
few of our alumni, some of them budding entrepreneurs themselves (.
And for a fact, we know that some of them accomplished some
successful networking happened that day.
Mariona Centellas
Careers, Placements & Alumni Manager
Page last updated 8/5/2008