We welcome to the guest blog today rising star Rebecca Pick who will join more than 650 delegates and 8 other inspiring speakers at our Elevator Conference 2015 taking place at the AECC on Friday the 20th of November 2015.
Rebecca is the Founder and Managing Director of Pick Protection. Pick Protection is bringing to market a revolutionary personal attack and lone worker alarm. The alarm is now in the final stages of product development and testing. Rebecca founded the company whilst studying a Marketing and Enterprise Honours Degree at the University of Strathclyde.
Starting your own business can seem like a daunting - and sometimes quite scary – task, but in truth many people start their own businesses every day, many of whom have no business qualifications or prior experience in running a business. Anyone has the ability to become an entrepreneur, all you need is an idea that you are passionate about and a plan to see it realised.
When I started Pick Protection in 2014 all I had was an idea that I wanted to provide a better way to protect people who are vulnerable to attack, the first product will be our Personal Guardian attack alarm which will launch in early 2016 and is an effective alternative to what is already available on the market.
There are many helpful resources that can offer assistance and guidance for the budding entrepreneur and the first thing that I would recommend anyone to do is to check out the resources on the Scottish Institute for Enterprise website. They have a team of business advisers that are willing to meet with people that are looking to start their own business and offer guidance. Personally I have found their experience and assistance to be invaluable and the advice I received from them still comes in handy.
Through the SIE you can also enter competitions geared towards entrepreneurship, these competitions can be a handy source of early start-up funding and they also provide excellent networking opportunities.
Another helpful resource when just starting out is the Business Gateway which has offices located around Scotland, again they serve as a valuable resource of information and experience from which you can learn, they run workshops that can help develop your business skills and have a comprehensive website that contains useful information and you can also apply for a grant which will help you early on.
One thing that any student should take into account are the resources available at their own university, as a student at Strathclyde I had the benefit of assistance from the Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network which is just one of the centres available for Entrepreneurial related help there. The SEN provided me with office space and a start-up grant of £500 which helped me to get the business started. Most universities in Scotland will have resources available to students, it is something that I highly recommend any students take a look at if you are starting a business.
Elevator is a valuable resource for those in the North-East of Scotland, they provide the Business Gateway functions to Grampian and Tayside and if you are in those regions it is going to be one of the organisations you’ll want to contact. The Elevator Programme takes entrepreneurs through an intensive 20-week accelerator Programme designed to maximise the participant’s potential and offer insight into becoming investor ready and expanding your business to global marketplaces. They also run networking events and offer assistance to already established businesses looking to grow.
If you have not yet booked your place on the Elevator Conference 2015, you can do so HERE and check out the full line-up for the day.
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