Beatbox Agency

Todays #IFB50* is

Business owner: Dash O’Brien
Name of Business: Beatbox Agency

Website address: www.beatboxagency.com Twitter @beatboxagency

 

Tell us about your business:  "I first had my idea of starting a business before going to university.  Whilst I was at LJMU I saw flyers and posters that gave information about the Enterprise Fellowship Programme that was run through the Centre for Entrepreneurship at LJMU. I approached the Centre which led me to attending the EFP programme and by doing this it gave me the stepping stones to starting up my own business. My business Beatbox is providing an integral service to the music and film business with its full range of support including DJ and Live Act Agency, Music Supervision and Consultation, Music Playlists and Branding, Video Filming and Editing and Copywriting and PR."

Who are your customers? Bars, Clubs and North West agencies

What is the best thing about owning your business? Having the freedom to work to the hours you set yourself.

What is your top business tip? Use a trusted accountant!

 

TLC

Today's #IFB50* is

The Touring Local Cinema

Website address: www.thetouringlocalcinema.com

Twitter : @enjoy_tlc

Tell us about your business:   After leaving university I decided to put all of my experience into one company which gave me the opportunity to do something I enjoy. I first met with the Centre for Entrepreneurship team at LJMU, they helped me refine my idea and gave me advice and guidance and prepared me to launch my business. The Touring Local Cinema is focused on providing high-quality service and customer satisfaction - we will do everything we can to meet your expectations.

 

Who are your customers? Care homes, local council and community centres

 Have you employed anybody since starting up? Yes, 2 Staff

What is the best thing about owning your business? Having control and doing something that I really care about

What is your top business tip? "If you really care about something don’t hold back"

 

 

To celebrate the International Festival for Business 2014, the Centre for Entrepreneurship is blogging every day about  graduate businesses that we have supported.

They are our 50 Stars of IFB #IFB50*

Name of Business: Archiphonic www.archiphonic.co.uk Twitter: @archiphonic

Business Owners:  Adam Mokhtar and David Banister

 

Tell us about your business:  

"Archiphonic is an architectural design practice that deals with projects across the UK. I attended a workshop at the Centre for Entrepreneurship called Hunting in Packs and from there I learnt what invaluable services the Centre offered.We then got the support and business advice to helpus start up and grow  our business"

Who are your customers? Private developers

Have you employed anyone since starting up? We contract people when we need to

What is the best thing about owning you own business?  Having full control of the design

What is your top business tip?  Early start and don’t try to cram all work into one day. Leave something for the next day!

John Lewis visits LJMU

Staff from Trafford’s John Lewis Visual Merchandising & Community teams visited the Redmond’s Building recently to lead a cross-curricular visual merchandising workshop with students from the Liverpool Business School and Liverpool School of Art and Design.

Students from the Business & Public Relations, Business Communications and Fashion degree programmes who are participating in two separate Young Enterprise-LJMU programmes came together to attend the workshop. They listened to a fascinating talk about the John Lewis organisation and how the merchandising team coordinate their visual merchandising in store. Students then participated in some activities to try out their own visual merchandising skills, producing a seaonally-themed display for a John Lewis store.

 

Sally Partington, Enterprise Education Officer from LJMU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship said:

“We are very grateful to Carole Hartley and Edd Fearn from the John Lewis team for taking the time to come and share their expertise with our students. Their workshop really got the students thinking about how they can merchandise the products that they are producing for their business and fashion projects to good effect”.

Landbaby entrepreneur shares her expertise with LJMU students

LJMU Fine Art graduate and Liverpool-based independent retailer, Claire Bates, recently visited the Liverpool Business School to share her business and merchandise experience with Business PR and Business Communications students who are currently setting up their own small businesses through the Level 5 Graduate Enterprise module.

Claire graduated from LJMU in 2006 with a degree in Fine Art. Shortly afterwards she started her own business, Landbaby, with support from LJMU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship. Landbaby specialises in selling unique hand-crafted work and one-off pieces by designer-makers and is based at The Bluecoat in Liverpool City Centre.

She told the story of her start-up journey and provided students with a valuable insight into how to merchandise a product effectively and creatively with her first-hand experience of the independent retail sector.

Lynne Robertson, Start-up Manager for the Centre for Entrepreneurship, “We are very grateful to Claire for taking the time to come back to LJMU to talk with our students. The fact that she had students lining up to speak with her at the end of the session about their own ideas demonstrates how positively she was received.”

Any LJMU student with a business idea can receive free business advice and support from the Centre for Entrepreneurship www.ljmu.ac.uk/startup

 

 

Claire Bates from Landbaby meets students from student startup Babynature

 

Students bring the ‘Hammer Down’ at art auction

A group of enterprising students from the Liverpool Business School recently held their inaugural art auction in Liverpool City Centre.

Set up as part of a level 5 module at the Liverpool Business School, and run in conjunction with Young Enterprise & LJMU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, Hammer Down was set up to represent early career artists by selling their work at invite only auctions.

To develop their auctioneering skills they were coached by local auction house Adam Partridge Auctioneers & Valuers, the Liverpool saleroom based in the Baltic Triangle creative area of the city. Well known for his appearances on Flog It, Adam generously shared his gavel skills with the Hammer Down team, enabling them to work with their buyers and get the best prices on the night for their artists.

Erin Furlong from Hammer Down commented:

“Our first auction was a great success and over 90% of works were sold on the night. We feel that this shows that there is a demand for work by early career artists in the city and our auctions seek to provide a platform for this. We hope that this will be the first event of many.”

Anyone interested in attending future events, should follow Hammer Down on twitter for details @HammerDown7.

Photo: Students from Hammer Down at the auction

Student trade fair success

Budding entrepreneurs from the Liverpool Business School promoted their businesses at a Trade Fair this week at the Art & Design Academy.

The event involved nine groups of Level 5 students, currently studying on the Graduate Enterprise module, pitching their businesses to trade fair guests at their stands.  Businesses represented at the fair were:

•                    Scrumptious Students - a mobile device app which provides a variety of recipes directed at students who are on a budget

•                    Scouse Cosmetics - specialise in beauty products for achieving the ‘classic Scouse aesthetic’

•                    The Teabox Company - a specialist tea distributor offering a variety of premium leaf teas

•                    Brolly Dollies - a company that caters for the needs of commuters and tourists arriving at travel hotspots during rainy weather

•                    When in Rome Clothing Company  - a company which produces quality T-Shirts with unique designs from around the globe

•                    City Style - a company which designs umbrellas, unique to Liverpool, offering a stylish compliment to the city

•                    Phenomenal Hoodies - a company which produces customizable hoodies for the student population

•                    On the Box - an independent film screening company based in Liverpool

•                    Hammer Down – a company which organises art auctions with work by emerging young artists

Over 60 guests attended the fair - both from within the university and externally.

The Graduate Enterprise module, delivered by Janet Farrow and Chris Taylor in the Liverpool Business School in conjunction with Young Enterprise and the LJMU Centre for Entrepreneurship, gives students a real-life experience of turning a business idea into a reality . The use of volunteer business mentors provides students with the opportunity to network with the Liverpool business community and develop valuable employability skills.

Andy Firr from Young Enterprise commented:

''This was a fantastic event, and all students were a credit to themselves and the University. The professionalism and enthusiasm that students shown whilst talking with guests and members of the public demonstrated just how far they have all come in just over six months. ‘The Teabox Company’ will now go onto represent LJMU at the National Young Enterprise Start Up Final. There is the possibility of them going all the way to a European Final to be held this Summer in Belgium, competing against the best of Europe's young entrepreneurs!''

Any LJMU students interested in starting a business can receive free support and advice from LJMU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship (see www.ljmu.ac..uk/startup for further details and contact information).

Students from 'Scrumptious Students' by their stand