Are entrepreneurs born or made? Are they natural high achievers striding out alone on their risky missions or are they people with good ideas who learn the skills needed to start a business?
It’s a question often asked, but one that is becoming increasingly redundant as the world moves on from the idea of the super-rich, hero entrepreneur to a broader concept of the entrepreneurial spirit.
“Nowadays we find students, even those who don’t come from family business backgrounds, who are naturally innovative and connected. They are very ambitious and their own knowledge and information channels them towards entrepreneurship,” says Veejay Mistry, a senior careers adviser at Regent’s University London. “They realise that at least 98% of companies are small or medium-sized.”
“Students today are more likely to work collaboratively and seek out support – almost equipping themselves to be entrepreneurs. Universities can help to foster this entrepreneurial spirit through real-life projects, networks and pitches to employers. They can also encourage innovation and the sharing of ideas across disciplines,” adds Mistry, who works in The Hive, the university’s specialist careers and business hub. It’s designed to provide students with the support and space they need to get their businesses off the ground.
Within The Hive is a student-led consultancy that goes out into the business community to find projects that need doing, putting employers in touch with students and alumni who can provide what they need. “I was working with a student studying media who was looking for a production internship,” says Mistry. “Our student-led consultancy group were looking for someone with this skillset via The Hive, which is a great space to match talent with live projects. Pairing them up was a success for both parties: the student was offered an internship and the project went on its way.”
With 12 staff and three full-time advisers, it offers careers and startup advice and 12 work spaces for entrepreneurs. Matthias Feist, employability and student enterprise manager, says The Hive was established to provide a collaborative space to build a community of innovative entrepreneurs pursuing their individual dreams together. “Students seeking careers guidance receive it in a real working environment, preparing them for the workplaces they will encounter. Alumni and students who work on their own businesses build a community of entrepreneurs that help each other. Students get to work with clients and develop entrepreneurial skills. And students and graduates seeking internships are surrounded by those who can offer them.”
Meryem El hayani, one of The Hive’s first regular visitors, uses it for help with her business plan and advice on handling social media. While studying for a master’s degree in management, she realised there was an opportunity to sell culinary Argan oil, traditionally and sustainably produced and consumed in a small region of south-west Morocco. “The oil is 100% pure with a unique, nutty flavour, and its health benefits have been widely reported. The kernels are cracked open by hand by local women,” says El hayani, founder of Hayani Ltd.
She never considered becoming an entrepreneur until she came to Regent’s, and it was the university that inspired her to start her own business. El hayani had been working for a marketing company for nearly two years when she decided to go back to university. “There was nothing wrong with the job – it was a good experience and not without challenges, but I felt I could be doing so much more,” she says.
“But I lacked confidence and I don’t think I could have achieved what I have without the support of the tutors and the team at The Hive. When I talk about it I get emotional because of the way people have had such faith in me and helped me to build my business.”
Places like The Hive are perfect for fostering connections between students, providing hubs for ideas, creation and innovative thinking. It’s skills like these that have enabled alumnus François van den Abeele, who has a BA in international business, to create an enterprise that is not just successful but also sustainable.
A few years ago, he started reading about the millions of tonnes of plastic dumped in the ocean every year – and his company Sea2See was born. It reclaims thousands of tonnes of fishermen’s plastic nets and rope from the ocean and turns them into fashionable sunglasses made in Italy. With orders flooding in from around the world, he has expanded into regular glasses as well. Each pair uses about 10kg of ocean plastic, collected in containers around the ports and sorted by hand.
“The advice I would give to today’s students is to do something that makes sense, to get involved in something that makes an impact,” says van den Abeele, who was born in Belgium but now lives in Barcelona. “In the optical world, an industry worth billions of dollars, there’s no sustainability built in. Many people want to do something, but they don’t know what. Wearing glasses made of trash is pretty cool. It makes a statement and raises awareness about the way plastics are strangling ocean life.”
Life has also taken an exciting new turn for Megan Van Beveren, too, who graduated last year with a distinction in her master’s degree in management. From helping to run her mother’s cleaning firm in Santa Barbara, California, and running her own holiday lettings business, she is now heading up Magnetic Arcade, a games studio in London.
“I chose Regent’s because I was interested in switching to a different industry – I wanted to do a business course, but one geared to entrepreneurship,” she says. “It all really came about with our final project, which was making a full business plan for a startup. It was exactly the practical approach I needed.”
She is working on a new game using virtual reality that she believes will appeal to a wider audience than the world of dedicated gamers. Bringing out a new game in such a crowded, fast-moving market is a risk but, as an entrepreneur, it’s one she is willing to take.
• This article was amended on 12 June 2019.
