Freshers’ Week is back. Seventeen and 18-year old students are descending on the campus from all directions. New post-graduates are mingling in the student bars. And we’re madly trying to print fliers and get our website up to date.
I’m at work early this morning to pick up 500 fliers that we’re hoping to hand out over the next couple of days. We’re giving out a couple of modest cash prizes to induce students to register with our new website, and we’re trying to sign up at least 300 new students to our mailing list. All told, it would be excellent if we could reach 2000 incoming students this week.
Phil told me the other day that while he was at school, it never even crossed his mind that he could start a business, or work for himself. He didn’t think about freelancing or consulting, or working for a startup.
There are probably hundreds more students entering the University this year with just the same mindset. It’s not a bad mindset, but Phil describes it sort of wistfully, as if he might have made different choices if he had thought about entrepreneurship earlier.
That’s just the message we want to give to other students. Armed with SIE’s brilliant new “I’m an entrepreneur” posters, LAUNCH.ed beermats, chocolate coins and loads of other branded goodies, I’m off to spread the joy of enterprise.