School Overview

A school takes place over three days.

Day 1: Setting the Scene

An essential part of the entrepreneur school is the formation of a group of like-minded people who will stay in touch well beyond the attendance at the School. This entrepreneur community will have the capacity to gather and share information whilst affording the opportunity for mutual peer support in a sustainable way. Day 1 will therefore consist of exercises to help delegates learn about each other and each other’s business ideas and lay the foundations for the rest of the School and beyond.

The morning section will consist of introductions and exploring together what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurial. In the afternoon we will explore different aspects of networking, business development and generating leads. This includes discussions from the participants’ personal experience and will enable delegates to identify their strengths and how best to capitalise on these as well as how best to improve areas for development.

The evening will be a structured yet informal networking event where delegates will have the opportunity to learn first-hand from a number of successful bio-entrepreneurs and establish initial contact with a range of key players in the bio-technology sector who will be invited to the event. This event in particular should have a significant impact, as delegates are able to see and meet like-minded individuals who have travelled the journey they are about to take.

Day 2: Planning Success

The second day will kick off with a review of lessons learnt on day 1. In the morning we will be looking at three key aspects of intellectual property, namely Confidentiality – the problem of how much they tell and what they keep quiet, Surviving due diligence which is an integral part of any investment, and Patenting strategy – not just patenting inventions but creating a defence for their eventual product. This will be followed by a facilitated discussion on different routes for bio-companies to get to market and as well as exploring different models for bio businesses and how to structure funding propositions in a business plan.

The afternoon is aimed at providing delegates with an overview of the business planning process and helping them to structure a plan for their business.

The evening will offer a formal dinner and guest speaker at the University of Nottingham sponsored by BioCity. This will give delegates the opportunity to network further with people from a wide range of professional services, including investors, patent attorneys, lawyers, banks, accountants and general business advisors. This will be followed by questions and answers, discussion and networking (another opportunity to practice those skills introduced on the first day).

Day 3: Creating Success

The third and final day will build on the learning from the previous days and take a closer look at the planning process with a focus in the morning on strategic planning and marketing.

The early part of the afternoon will be set aside for delegates to meet individually with a number of mentors to help them prepare a project pitch which they will be required to present in the second part of the afternoon. Particular focus will be given to helping delegates think through the business proposition, how it will create value and how investors will get their money back, as well as how they can best distil that thinking into a clear, concise and compelling presentation. The pitch itself will be a friendly ‘Dragon’s Den’ style presentation to a panel of investors, bankers, accountants and consultants who will critique the presentation, offer advice and signpost to follow-on support. The panel will also assess each pitch against a range of criteria with a view to selecting a number of winners who will receive a ‘bio-entrepreneur business pitch’ award and token prize to be determined.

Delegates will also receive a certificate of attendance and will leave with an action plan and clear direction of how to turn their idea/dream into reality.