Six students from Eastleigh College recently visited The Bee’s Nest, a start-up business investment programme run by Incuhive, to present their business ideas to a panel of potential investors. Inuchive offers start-up businesses access to office space, mentoring services and investment, and were eager to hear the ideas from the students.
The students had been working on their pitches for over a month before going to Incuhive, and were excited to see what the investors thought of their business plans. Bethan and Zuliza, both studying Travel and Tourism, teamed up with Applied Science student Molly to design a method to combat drink spiking in night clubs.
Professional Catering student Katie plans to open her own bakery in the future, and was pleased with the reaction from the Incuhive investors “I learnt a lot from them in terms of business planning, and they’ve offered to help mentor me to get my business up and running.”
Enterprise Skills students Rowyn and Kaitlin come up with a business idea for an eco-friendly bath bomb company. Commenting on their pitch, they said, “We want to put back into the community. We’d work with charities, give broken bath bombs to homeless shelters, and only use recycled cardboard in our packaging.
“We learnt how to present effectively, by speaking slowly and clearly and standing up straight and not crossing our arms.”
Both Rowyn and Kaitlin have been offered work experience at Incuhive, with the opportunity to develop their business idea even further. They’ve already completed one day, which they really enjoyed: “It was so much fun. We were helping launch a photobooth company, which involved doing market research into consumers and competitors.”
Steven Northam, Director and Mentor at Incuhive, shares his thoughts on working with young entrepreneurs: “The business leaders and entrepreneurs of the future are no doubt hidden away within the college environment, and with our support we can help them accelerate towards their goals.
“The passion and determination of the students we have worked with has been fantastic, and we were blown away with the pitches they put together. No doubt these students will go on to great things!”
Eastleigh College’s partnership with Incuhive provides incredible opportunities for students to develop their ideas, and become influencers of the future!
To find out more about Incuhive, please visit www.incuhive.co.uk and www.thebeesnest.co.uk.
One of Eastleigh College's governors, Councillor Judith Grajewski, has been appointed Local Authority Director of Solent LEP. This Local Enterprise Partnership brings the business community together with the further education and higher education sector to ensure a prosperous and sustainable economic future in the region.
Eastleigh College has been awarded AoC Beacon Status in two areas, in recognition of its excellent support for students, and for the College’s work with employers, providing professional training and delivering skills to help grow the economy.