Top tips for start-ups

Newcastle Business School student Rachel Horton speaks about her passion for enterprise activity and business ambitions.

What is it like to study on the Entrepreneurial Business Management (EBM) programme?

The programme is the most entrepreneurial course you will ever find. It is a team based learning journey with no lectures or seminars; you teach yourself and you teach each other. You are coached to grab opportunities and run with them fearlessly. It has made me more knowledgeable, a more entrepreneurially minded individual and transformed me into a team player. Work based learning like the EBM programme is fantastic but it is a rollercoaster at the same time.

What would you like to do in the future?

I’m currently working on a business called "Clean Shakes" with two other EBM students, Poppy Brookes and Alice Webster, and I hope that its progression and success will continue after university. I also want to help motivate others into entrepreneurship through mentoring and within further education. Ideally, I'd like to complete a Masters and then potentially a PHD so I can empower other female entrepreneurs and students with my practical experience and academic learning.

What advice would you give to those looking to get involved in entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is exciting and full of challenges. I’ve always had one ambition and that was to have my own business, so I would say listen to your heart. Also, don’t wait for the big idea because you’ll be waiting forever. Make sure you challenge everything; nothing around you has to stay the same. Most of all, work hard as this is often the biggest barrier to entrepreneurship.

To find out more about enterprise and innovation at Northumbria go to www.northumbria.ac.uk