Social Enterprise is increasingly referred to in (and by) all parts of society, the economy, and government – but it can often be unclear exactly what ‘it’ is, and why there’s such interest and excitement about it.
This self-study pack will help you better understand the role of social enterprise in tackling issues and needs (economic, social, environmental, and societal), by giving you a practical guide to how you can form one, and the ways in which they work in practice.
Welcome to the Enterprising Graduate Attribute Pack!
Being Enterprising helps you to:
- Think creatively and come up with new ideas
- Solve problems and find solutions
- Set goals and work to achieve them
- Take initiative and try new ways of doing things
- Keep going when things are difficult
- Manage money responsibly
These skills are useful for your Future Me Plan, your time at University, and life after University. Being enterprising is not just about starting a business. It is about noticing opportunities, taking action, and being confident in your ideas.
If you have your own business, work as a freelancer, or want to learn how to start one, you can speak to the University’s Careers Service Enterprise Team for support.
Work through the activities to learn more about what being enterprising means, read stories from enterprising students, and find out about the support available at the University to help you develop these skills
If you want to work for yourself, it’s important to know if you can make money from your business idea! This Self Study Pack will introduce the fundamental tools you’ll need to understand the viability of your business idea and give you some help in learning how to track your income, understand your tax obligation and plan your business to become financially stable and sustainable.
Even if you find the financial stuff big and scary, this unit will break it down into easy, accessible steps. Business finance is a huge area to learn but don’t worry, this unit will give you the confidence to get started.
When you decide to become self-employed, there are legal frameworks you need to work within to protect yourself and protect the people who you sell your products or services to. You’ll also need to abide by tax rules and regulations set by HMRC.
This Self Study Pack will introduce you to some legal definitions and concepts that might affect you as a new, self-employed business.
Relationships are crucial for success in all sectors but particularly when you are running a business, collaborating as a freelancer or running a side hustle alongside your studies.
In this self study pack, we will explore how to collaborate effectively, how to find get the most of mentoring relationships, how to utilise networks and how to navigate difficult conversations all of which will help you excel in your ambitions.
For the makers, for the artists, for the creatives. This self-study kit will walk you through taking your creative passion and generating income so you can keep being creative and doing what you love.
Manchester Fashion Institute alumni Nicole Broad will share with you how she took her clothing brand ‘the Fruit Moth’ from idea to online store, and into retail. Cotton On Manchester founder Domino Panton-Oakley will then share with you her advice for working with maker markets as well as how to get your artwork into galleries. ‘The Art of Selling’ is designed to help you, whether you already have some creative ideas you need to explore, or if you have a side hustle that could become your creative business.
This self study pack is an introduction to marketing for enterprise, be that a side hustle, freelancing or business you are establishing. Start thinking about how you can successfully communicate your brand to reach the right people.
Marketing is about how to connect with the right people at the right time and tell your story in an honest and authentic style.
We will start by reflecting on your values, ambitions, and motivations to develop a brand narrative. Then look at how to apply this narrative to a variety of traditional and digital marketing platforms to evoke emotion and develop customer trust in your brand.
There’s a common myth that launching a business or side hustle requires a lengthy, formal Business Plan—but that’s not always the case. While detailed plans are useful when seeking funding or investment, they’re rarely essential at the start. What is essential is having a clear, actionable roadmap. In this self-paced course, you'll explore practical project and time management techniques to help you build a step-by-step action plan that gets your idea off the ground. Whether you're dreaming big or just starting small, this course will help you move from planning to doing.
This Self Study Pack will support you to surface your passions and motivations in order to generate and explore your idea. It will then cover testing and prototyping to validate if they could be the basis of a product or service enterprise.
This pack is designed to help you, whether you already have some ideas you need to explore and test, or if you are right at the start of your journey and want to reflect on who you are and what is important to you as a basis for idea generation.
During this self study pack we will guide you in exploring your passions and motivations as well as your skills and motivations to take an authentic approach to idea development and how to turn them into workable business ideas.
Understand self-employment in a more critical way, and develop practical skills related to a future working for yourself.
This Self Study Pack, introduces students to self-employment in the UK labour market today, where the self-employed make up 15% of the labour force. It critically analyses questions around business as well as tax and benefit policies and how they relate to (in)decent self-employment. It also teaches students the foundations of how to become and what it means to be self-employed, including legal formats and accounting requirements to prepare students who want to become self-employed for success. Lastly, it trains the skills and attitudes needed for self-employment: it gives students tools at hand to foster their entrepreneurial skills including the ability to deal with uncertainty and risk, sales and negotiation skills, self-awareness and self-efficacy, and how to build a growth mindset to persevere.
