School for Santas

Here is a great example of skills training to meet a seasonal need, which was reported on the BBC website yesterday . A visit to santaschool.co.uk will enable you to register for one of the latest training courses.

Run in association with Dumfries and Galloway Council, Stuart Thompson is, for the second year running, offering a training course which has a very specific objective - to ensure delivery of unforgettable, quality experience to children of all ages. The training at Mabie Farm Park near Dumfries aims to help people take on the role in places like shopping centres and children’s parties and the website says that the training syllabus includes the History of Santa, voice training, costumes, make-up, roleplay etc. They also take bookings for personal home visits and reindeer hire - and the website is very carefully worded to ensure that the integrity of ‘the one and only Santa’ is maintained.

It is a spin-off of a business called Heatherbank Promotions which is an Entertainment Agency for Parties & Events, and strikes me as a great example of entrepreneurial product development!

Rated: (3/5), based on 2 reviews

Entrepreneur takes advantage of the postal strike

As the turkeys at the Royal Mail officially vote for Christmas, entrepreneurs are quick off the mark spotting opportunities to build a business from the Royal Mail’s dissatisfied customers.  Here is a terrific video which is packed full of full with key business studies terms - even though it only lasts just over a minute!

Rated: (5/5), based on 2 reviews

4 minutes with Stelios - insights into entrepreneurship

A lovely four minute interview by the excellent Working Lunch team with Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou provides loads of useful insights for business students. This would make an ideal lesson starter for any lesson on risk-taking and the factors that drive entrepreneurs to act the way they do.

V-Water - from start up to exit

The market space for enhanced water is getting crowded! Sales of ‘smoothies’ are down by more than fifty per cent this year but the volume of enhanced water bottles being bought is proving more resilient to the recession. And the growing amount of shelf space in the supermarket aisles given over to the likes of Firefly, Vitamin-Water, Just-Juice, Vitsmart and V-Water is testimony to the high margins these products generate. Chris Coleridge, co-Founder of V-Water gave a relaxed, entertaining and thoughtful presentation on the growth of his business to the Eton College Entrepreneurship Society on Thursday night. A large audience - fortified by a generous sample of the six flavoured drinks on offer - grilled Mr Coleridge on his business after he had taken time out to explode five myths about start-ups.

Meet the Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009

Terrific news from the O2 X Awards last night.  Rajeeb Dey was named as the winner of the O2 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the prestigious annual national small business competition, the O2 X Awards. The award recognises the new generation of young entrepreneurs who are making an impact in today’s challenging economic climate.

A good friend and supporter of tutor2u, Raj is a fantastic entrepreneurial role model with a bright future.  And you can meet Raj in person at the Business Teacher National Conference in London on 18 June 2010 when he provides us with insights into his business strategy and style.

Emma Jones to speak at the Business Teacher National Conference 2010

Great news for colleagues planning to attend the Business Teacher National Conference 2010 on Friday 18 June 2010.  Emma Jones, the inspirational entrepreneur behind Enterprise Nation, has kindly agreed present a session at the conference…

Entrepreneur video - an interview with Fraser Doherty

A terrific interview with good friend of tutor2u - Fraser Doherty - on Smarta this week. Well worth showing as part of AQA (GCSE Unit 1 & BUSS1) and Edexcel (GCSE Unit 1).

Born in the Storm - 4 Start-ups One Year On

A year ago, BBC Newsnight Scotland profiled four fledgling start-ups where the entrepreneur concerned had decided to launch a business in the eye of the financial storm.  How have they got on?

Is a recession the perfect time to launch a technology start-up?

Entrepreneurs love economic downturns.  So now should be a great time to be launching a start-up business, provided that the business model is viable…

Icing on the cake for entrepreneurs

This niche market is growing at 50% per year and is attracting dozens of business start-ups in the UK…