London 2015 / 16

Course Overview

School for Creative Startups London is the original course that launched the School more than four years ago. Over the years, this unique blended learning course has grown increasingly popular with the success of our alumni. We believe that it is the combination of our accessible and interactive teaching method, world-class trainers and round the clock expert support that differentiates us and gives us our impressive track record.

Each year we offer up to 100 places to creative startups on this intensive part-time course. Across the 12 months, students attend live group training sessions; receive on and offline one-to-one advisor support; gain access to our expert network of Titans of Industry and to our massive online community, which houses our vast knowledge bank and much more. We welcome all kinds of businesses from across the creative sector at all different stages of development. We have no age, location, race or gender preference; we simply seek brilliant budding creative entrepreneurs with heaps of ambition, dedication and creative super powers! To be considered for the programme, simply complete our online application form. Students will be selected based on the combined strength of their application and interview.

Don’t let your lack of confidence eliminate you before you’ve even applied! We accept students on a rolling admission basis, meaning the sooner you apply, the sooner you could be accepted.

Course Structure

SEPTEMBER

BOOTCAMP ONE

10 Question Method

In the first bootcamp, we’ll discuss the importance of having a clear vision for and of your business. We’ll explore business models and help you determine the best route before your idea to the test through Doug’s 10 Question Method. By the end of day 3, your head will likely be spinning, but you’ll have a new understanding of your business and a clear view of the steps you’ll need to achieve to reach your goal. You’ll have the tools you need to make a start on your business plan and you’ll have met 99 other startups to share the experience with.

OCTOBER

WORKSHOP ONE

Logistics & Legalities

With your business model clearly identified it’s time to face the sticky red tape topics that most creative entrepreneurs would rather ignore. Get to grips with registration, licenses, permits, regulations and more. By the end of this session you’ll know all you to need to know about becoming a legitimate business.

NOVEMBER

WORKSHOP TWO

Understanding Your Offer and Pricing It

This session is designed to help you grasp the value of your product or service in order to cost, price and sell it effectively. Mastering the art of pricing is an imperative step to building a solid finance model and creating a brand that speaks to your audience at the appropriate level.

DECEMBER

HOLIDAY CELEBRATION

The Great Startup Challenge

Join staff, students and alumni as we scour the city in teams in search of clues and locations using our entrepreneurial skills and sense of humour. This scavenger hunt will end in a warm pub for additional networking and merriment. You do not want to miss this S4CS adventure.

DECEMBER

WORKSHOP THREE

Bootstrap Budgeting, Cash Flow Planning & Financial Forecasting

While it may not be the sexy part of running your own business, mastering your finances is crucial. Now that you’ve learnt how to price your product or service, we’ll apply that knowledge to understanding net and gross, incomings and outgoings, necessary spending and alternative methods. Learning how to decipher spreadsheets will help you build and apply them to your business so you can manage your money better. Bring your calculator and get ready to overcome your maths fears.

JANUARY

WORKSHOP FOUR

Communicating Your Business

This session is broken into three equally important sections: Branding, Marketing and Public Relations. Throughout the day you’ll develop key skills such as creating your businesses story, building your brand, communicating effectively to your audience, utilising affordable marketing techniques, identifying your newsworthy stories, working with press, and more.

FEBRUARY

WORKSHOP FIVE

Web Fuelled Business

In today’s world it’s imperative that new businesses understand how to utilise the web to communicate and reach new audiences. In this session you’ll apply what you’ve learnt about your brand and marketing strategy, and start leveraging the web and social media to raise brand awareness. During this session you’ll master driving traffic through social media, how to use search engine optimisation to get your site to the top of a search, understanding Google analytics, and writing for the web to build a strong online presence.

MARCH

WORKSHOP SIX

Money, Money Money

In the age of Dragon’s Den every entrepreneur believes that they need external funding to get started. In the last workshop you’ll learn how to identify if or when you really need additional capital, understand what kind of funding best fits your need and demystify the intricacies of accessing it- whether it be from investors, loans, crowd funding or grants. As well as an overview of funding opportunities, you’ll hear from successful entrepreneurs about their real life investment experiences.

APRIL

BOOTCAMP TWO

Pitching, Negotiation and Show & Sell

In the final bootcamp you’ll learn how to perfect your pitching skills, get the most out of 10 minute meetings, become a master negotiator who can close a deal in record time and perfect the art of showcasing and selling your business. Discover how to make the most of sales meetings, press pitches, tradeshows, fairs and Makegood Festival to maximise exposure to your customers and ensuring you put your best foot forward every time.

MAY

MAKEGOOD FESTIVAL

The end of the school year culminates with Makegood Festival - a multi-day creative festival celebrating the work of our entrepreneurs in a truly unique pop-up marketplace that runs alongside a series of professional development seminars and creative skills workshops. Throughout the event, students have the opportunity to showcase their goods and services to press, VIPs, investors, buyers and the general public, putting everything they’ve learned across the year into practice.

Makegood Festival is not an end; it’s just a new chapter worth celebrating. Following your departure from the programme, you’ll continue to maintain access to the community site as an alumni, where you can continue to benefit from the extensive library, e-learning, discussion boards, peer and staff support, as well as being the first to find out about upcoming events and discounted access.

Special Features

In addition to our renowned live teaching and one to one support, the course is packed with unique special features making it worth its weight in gold.

THE ONLINE COMMUNITY
Students on the course gain a lifetime membership to our purpose built online community, which in addition to loads of super helpful content, houses our current students, alumni, Titians of Industry and Business Advisors. The site also includes:

A vast library, full of a never-ending supply of helpful articles
Course materials, audio recordings, slides and worksheets from each session
Discussion boards
Events calendar
Recommended resources
Templates
Special offers
Student profiles and emails
Alumni and Titans of Industry directory

Our team spend a good chunk of time watching the community answering questions, writing articles and providing general assistance to our entrepreneurs.

THE TEXTBOOK
The School for Creative Startup textbook, How to Start a Creative Business: The Jargon Free Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs is an invaluable resource for any creative with a great business idea, but is particularly useful as a guide for those on the course as it largely chronicles the live teaching. Written in plain English, without the dense text and technical jargon of other business books and illustrated with visual cues to help the message stick, our practical advice is accessible to all and corresponds with each teaching session. Real-life case studies are interspersed throughout from Titans of Industry such as, Tatty Devine, Paul Smith, Time Out and LoveFilm, which expand upon the practical advice and bring it to life. A top seller on Amazon.com since being published, this book is a must have for any aspiring creative entrepreneur.

“The book is clear, concise, useful and motivational. I discovered a lot of things I didn’t know about, even though I would consider myself business savvy. Highly Recommended!” - Me4sunny on Amazon.com

THE TITANS OF INDUSTRY
The Titans of Industry programme is unique to School for Creative Startups and is a truly invaluable resource. The Titans are an amazing collection of nearly 200 experts from across the creative sector and beyond. This brilliant network supports the course in a variety of ways from guest speaking appearances, one to one advice sessions, small group lectures and much, much more. The Titans, range from familiar faces such as Loyd Grossman, Sophie Cornish and Paul Smith, through to lesser known, but no less important experts in areas of HR, law, sales and the rest. Our students are able to unlock this wealth of information to assist with specific issues in the second term of the programme through our member’s site.

MAKEGOOD FESTIVAL
Makegood Festival is a wicked multi-day urban festival celebrating creativity and entrepreneurship. The event features a truly unique pop-up marketplace, which will host nearly 400 emerging creative businesses and runs alongside a series of expert talks and creative skills workshops. Taking place at the end of May, selected students have the opportunity to showcase their goods and services to press, VIPs, investors, buyers and the general public, putting everything they’ve learned across the year into practice. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to launch your new business in a supportive environment to a huge and varied audience to test your market, get feedback for your offering and field wonderful new opportunities. Visit www.makegoodfestival.com for up to the minute details about the festival.

Criteria

We welcome all kinds of businesses from across the creative sector at all different stages of development. We have no age, location, race or gender preference; we simply seek brilliant budding creative entrepreneurs with heaps of ambition, dedication and creative super powers!

No prior business experience is required but to be considered for a place on the course, however, to be considered applicants should have either, a well-researched viable idea that they are committed to seeing through and the creative skill to realise it, or an already active early stage creative business.

Ideal candidates have some experience trying to sell creative work professionally and have done market research. This ensures the class will be filled with people ready to get a solid business up and running.

Applicants will be judged based on the following criteria:

The quality, uniqueness and innovation of the creative product or service
The readiness and potential for startup success
The need for the education and support provided on the course
The commitment and dedication both to the startup and to the course
The combined quality of the application and interview

The Application

Simply fill in our online application form, telling us all about you and your business or idea to be considered for a place on the course. Once your application has been reviewed you may be invited for an interview with our selection panel. Following interviews, applicants will be notified as to the status of their application. The interview will take place in our Somerset House Offices in London or via Skype.

School for Creative Startups has a rolling admission policy. This means the sooner you apply, the sooner you can interview and secure a highly coveted place on next year’s course. We don’t wait until a deadline to start accepting students, as it’s not about comparisons, rather each student is judged on his or her own merit. This means our limited spaces can all go before our deadline. So basically the sooner you apply, the better off you will be.

Tuition Fees

School for Creative Startups has a rolling admission policy. This means the sooner you apply, the sooner you can interview and secure a highly coveted place on next year’s course.

The amount you save is determined by how early you apply and secure your place.

Keen Bean:

March – April

Tuition fee £2250

A massive SAVING of £1250

Early Bird:

May – June

Tuition fee £2800

A huge SAVING of £700

Saved by the Bell:

July – August

Tuition fee £3500

Monthly payment plan:
To help make fees more manageable we now offer a payment plan, which runs across the duration of the course.

Students will pay a 25% deposit to secure their place on the course and will start making 9 equal monthly payments upon the start of the course in September, until May. Please note there is a 10% administration fee for this service.

Applying with a co-founder(s)?
Many startups are run by co-founders or multiple partners and we find those who train together tend to succeed together. We welcome businesses with a maximum of 3 co-founders to attend the course together at a discounted fee of £1750* for each additional co-founder.

*This offer does not apply to scholarship recipients.

Additional funding options:
Information and advice on possible funding sources, include organisations such as the Professional & Career Development Loans through the National Careers Service, the Paul Norman Trust and the Growth Accelerator Programme.