Enterprise or Being Entrepreneurial?

Next week has been designated “Enterprise Week”, a national (in fact now global) celebration of all things enterprise related – and before you switch off and click on the latest PhD Comic strip* instead, I’ll try and convince you that even if you don’t have your own business idea gestating in the back of your mind, “enterprise” may still be for you.

Not Just About Setting Up Your Own Business

I’ll be honest, I’m always a bit ambivalent about promoting the constant flood of “enterprise” activities at the university, as they can often appear to be solely focused on the nuts and bolts of setting up your own business based on academic research. Whilst there is certainly an interest in being your own boss amongst some postgrads, the barriers to starting your own commercial enterprise based on your research or studies can seem overwhelming if, say, you’re in the sciences, with no funding behind you and a student loan or mortgage to pay back.

However, even if you’ve never thought of setting up your own business, “being entrepreneurial” is highly valued by lots of employers. If you enjoy thinking up new ideas and overcoming the challenges of testing or implementing them (sounds a lot like postgraduate research to me), finding organisations where you’ll be able to use these skills to the full will probably make a big difference to how satisfied you are with your job.

Organisations where entrepreneurs can thrive can exist in many settings. I’ve worked for a great free-wheeling, California-based, hi-tech global corporation which I thought was very enterprising – until I came to work at the Careers Service and discovered what it was really like to casually mention an idea and within days, have a new service or project off the ground with managers keen to know when it can be launched, rather than squashing your creative enthusiasm.

Convincing Others That You’re Entrepreneurial

Employers don’t need you to sit Masters level exams or write a disseration or thesis for them, but they do need the skills you’ve acquired by going through these processes. However they’re often blinded to the fact that you have these valuable skills because you’ve gained them in a non-commercial context. Therefore, adding one or two “enterprise” activities to your CV can dispel the myth that postgrads don’t understand the real world or lack commercial awareness (a consistent finding of surveys of employers’ views of postgraduates).

So, the Careers Service, the Manchester Enterprise Centre and a range of business organisations in Manchester are organising a series of one-off events to introduce you to running your own business or being enterprising in someone else’s organisation, as part of Enterprise week. Have a look and even if you don’t want to be your own boss (just yet), think about taking part to show others that you know the value of being entrepreneurial.

Meet Entrepreneurs And Those Who Can Support New Businesses

Finally, in addition to the university events, another major Manchester event which caught my attention was Business North West, a free two day business exhibition and conference on 19th/20th November, at Manchester Central. It’s definitely not a jobs fair but if you’re interested in business in general, there are some high profile speakers like Stephen Haines, the founder of Facebook, Dennis Turner, Chief Economist at HSBC and Max Clifford, the PR guru. Looks like the tickets are free as long as you register – worth a good look.

* OK, if you’ve lasted this long, now you can get your fix of PhD Comics …