The Cass MBA Perspective: Entrepreneurship

It might seem counterintuitive to start a new business when the economy is struggling. However, a recession can actually be the ideal time for launching a company. In fact, many well-known and successful organisations were born during an economic slump. Companies born in a recession include Microsoft, FedEx, GE and Hewlett Packard to name but a few.

At Cass we recognise the importance of investing in start-up companies and supporting entrepreneurs in their quest to grow their enterprises into the most successful ventures. The Cass community are eligible for support from the Peter Cullum centre for entrepreneurship and our MBA students have the option to study new venture creation. 

The Peter Cullum Centre for entrepreneurship is at the forefront of entrepreneurship and grew from the vision of Peter Cullum, a high profile Cass alumnus and the founder of Towergate Insurance. The Centre, created in 2009, is one of the largest of its kind in the world and brings together the skills, experiences, and networks of successful entrepreneurs, financiers, and business leaders. The Cass Entrepreneurship Fund is a £10 million venture fund providing start-up and early stage capital to the most promising and ambitious companies across the Cass Business School community. In doing so, it helps Cass entrepreneurs to bring innovative new products and services to market, and helps accelerate business growth.

As part of our MBA programmes, students have the option to undertake the New Venture Creation elective. This provides students with knowledge and understanding of the entrepreneurial and innovation agenda, the need for innovation and all aspects of the new venture creation process including feasibility testing, marketing financial forecasting and securing finance. At the end of this they will be able to produce a comprehensive business plan covering the first three years of the commercialisation of their business idea.

In this issue, we hear from a range of entrepreneurs about their experiences of starting their own businesses, and how Cass has equipped them with the skills to succeed. Susan Cooper, founder of Accutrainee discusses how the centre for entrepreneurship and her Executive MBA have supported her in establishing her business offering law firms an innovative solution to efficient resource management of their trainee solicitor needs. James Clark, from the Cass entrepreneurship network discusses the network at Cass and the benefits they provide to entrepreneurs in the early stages of their business development.

I do hope you have been inspired to join us for our MBA Leadership series, focusing on entrepreneurship on Thursday 26 January. 6:30 – 9:00pm at Cass Business School. The evening will be a wonderful opportunity to discover more about what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur, and how to turn your idea into a reality with an MBA from Cass Business School.

Congratulations to Peter Cullum, who has recently been awarded a CBE in the Queen's New Year's honours list.

Happy New Year and wishing you a very successful 2012.

Roy Batchelor

Associate Dean of Cass Business School

An incubator for entrepreneurs

Since launch in July 2009 The Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship has worked with nearly 200 nascent and established entrepreneurs and business owners across the Cass network to help them develop and realise their business vision.

Through our unique annual New Venture Creation Programme we blend the knowledge and resources of a premium Business School with the skills and networks of successful entrepreneurs, financiers and business leaders, and focus them over 5 days on the needs of emerging businesses. The participants so far have ranged from Cass EMBA students through to a nominee from The Princes Trust and the annual winners of a national competition run by The Federation of Small Businesses.

For more established businesses, often with under-developed potential, we have developed an innovative agreement with Your Business Your Future (YBYF) for delivery of their new Better Business Programme exclusively in conjunction with Cass. This Programme is an evolution of the highly acclaimed Business Growth Programme which Gerard Burke (the founder of YBYF) ran at Cranfield for over 600 owner managers including notable success stories like Tristram Mayhew of GoApe. Gerard is now a Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass and many of his past participants such as Tristram have become active supporters and contributors to the new Better Business programme.

In The Centre itself we have physically incubated new businesses ranging from reputation analysis firm Alva (which is now based in its own offices in Hatton Garden) through to Inscribe; a business run by Cass undergraduates supplying notebooks to University students across the UK. Finally, for the best of the best, we have so far committed over £1m of early stage capital from the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund to 5 exciting new businesses (including Alva) in sectors spanning digital media through Cloud Computing to legal services.

The team in The Centre love meeting entrepreneurs and are ambitious to use the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund to put Cass quite literally inside many more high potential businesses from across the Cass network. You can find out more about what we do at www.cass.city.ac.uk/pcce.

The last word should perhaps go to Izindi Visagie, a recent MBA graduate, who is currently working with us in The Centre….

“During the course of my full time MBA at Cass I became interested in pursuing a career in Venture Capital and decided to switch from my previous career as a solicitor. As a step to further these aspirations I started an Internship at The Centre in July. Working closely with the investment team at the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund has given me excellent exposure to sourcing, evaluation, completion, and monitoring of venture capital deals and has fuelled my own enthusiasm to assist entrepreneurs and their businesses. I have found The Centre for Entrepreneurship to be a fantastic resource for Cass alumni in that it provides advice and assistance for all Cass entrepreneurs and funding for the most promising businesses.”

Nick Badman, Chair.

Centre for entrepreneurship

Supporting new entrepreneurs every step of the way

Susan Cooper launched her own business, Accutrainee, in September 2011 offering law firms an innovative solution to efficient resource management of their trainee solicitor needs. She feels Cass and the Centre for Entrepreneurship really helped her take a huge personal and professional leap of faith.

One of the last electives I chose on my Executive MBA programme was the ‘New Venture Creation Elective’, through the Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship. I can’t really overstate how much this helped me achieve what I’d always wanted to do – set up my own successful business. 

Firstly, it brought together everything I’d learned during the two-year MBA programme, and helped me make sense of all the things I’d need to consider when setting up Accutrainee – like funding, a tight business plan, attracting the right people to join us, and getting the marketing just right.

Secondly, it was an invaluable introduction to an incredible support network of other entrepreneurs with experience of setting up successful businesses. People from different sectors and industries, all willing to share their knowledge and help put what I’d learned into a real-world context. Knowing I could call on them for advice was invaluable, and I’ve established a vital network of business contacts and friends as a result.

The MBA, and in particular the New Venture Creation Elective, also got me in touch with Nick Badman, Chair of the Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship, and Jane Reoch, Investment Manager for the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund which recently invested in Accutrainee. Both Nick and Jane have been incredibly supportive throughout, making the whole experience a lot less daunting than it otherwise would have been.

The whole Cass experience has been instrumental in giving me the support, knowledge and confidence to take a huge personal and professional step forward. I can’t recommend it highly enough for anyone looking to set up their own business.

For more information on Accutrainee, visit www.accutrainee.com