Enterprise training for 50 somethings and over

Are you aged 50 or over and are you thinking about setting up your own business? Or maybe you just fancy exploring a few ideas and getting some training?

Do you have a hobby or interest in an area you could turn into a business? Do you want a better work-life balance? Are you unemployed, facing redundancy or looking for a change? If the answer to any of these questions is yes then sign up now to this exciting new training course with the Business School at Staffordshire University.

We are offering you the opportunity to participate in a free face to face and online learning course that has been developed through identifying the needs of older workers. Through coaching, mentoring and training provided you will potentially be able to develop the entrepreneurial and enterprising knowledge and skills necessary to set up your own business.

Older woman facing camera behind flowers

We will look at areas such as how to obtain finance for your business and assess its viability. We even look at how to come up with a business idea in the first place, and once you know what you want to do we then guide you through the process of how to set it up. We help you to identify who your customers will be and how to promote your product to them. For those of you who feel you lack confidence we look at how to overcome some of the obstacles and barriers to ensure success.

The first of these courses will commence on 31st January 2018 and will include approximately 40 hours of face to face and online learning over a period of 1-3 months. The training is flexible so that you can choose to study the areas that best suit your needs. Following the training you will be signposted to a range of mentoring and support in the development of your business.

To register your interest in the course, please complete the application form using one of the links below. If you have completed the downloadable application form, please return it to Tom Ward at t.ward@staffs.ac.uk or the postal address detailed on the form. Should you require further information or a hard copy of the form, you can e-mail Tom or contact him on 01782 294902.

Online application form

Downloadable application form

Twitter: @silver_workers

Silver Workers "Use your expertise" logo

Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union and EU flag logo

Project PERFECT and the University of Twente Purchasing Conference

The PERFECT Project, funded by the ERASMUS+ scheme, is developing a pan-European harmonised higher education curriculum for Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM). The Project is Coordinated by Dortmund University of Technology (Germany), and Staffordshire University are working alongside the Universities of Mainz (Germany), Twente (Netherlands) and Lappeenranta (Finland). Regular partner meetings bring together representatives from the different institutions to discuss progress on the different parts of the project and ensure that the outputs of the project are timely and meet the diverse needs of the potential audience for the curriculum.

Members of the PERFECT team recently conducted a series of interviews with individuals at a wide variety of European companies in order to develop understanding of what skills and knowledge are required by PSM practitioners now and in the future. The University of Twente is currently developing a questionnaire to broaden this understanding. This work will inform the development of a robust and industry-focused curriculum that can be used by educational institutions across Europe and also inform in-house training for companies.Project PERFECT Team at University of Twente

Last week Dr Steve Kelly and Tom Ward were at the University of Twente in the Netherlands for a project transnational meeting at which representatives from all the partners were present. The meeting ended with the participants joining the annual University of Twente Purchasing Conference (UTPC), hosted by Professor Dr habil. Holger Schiele. Steve was delighted to be invited give the keynote address to an audience of practitioners, students and academics. In addition, other members of the project team delivered a workshop based on the findings of the project so far. The UTPC was organised by the students of the University of Twente who had designed a superb day, full of a variety of interesting talks and interactive workshops, and a great opportunity for networking. The participants found the work of the PERFECT project interesting and stimulating, and the workshop has opened up further opportunities for collaboration between industry and academia.Project Perfect logo

EU flag Erasmus+ logo

The creation of these resources has been (partially) funded by the Erasmus+ grant programme of the European Union under grant number 2015-1-DE01-KA203-002174. Neither the European Commission nor the project’s national funding agency DAAD are responsible for the content or liable for any losses or damage resulting from the use of these resources.

For further details of the project go to http://www.perfect.lfo.tu-dortmund.de/.

Contact Steve at stephen.kelly@staffs.ac.uk and Tom at t.ward@staffs.ac.uk.

Latest Edition of Enterprising Times

The latest edition of Enterprising Times is now available for you to view. The edition includes celebration photos at graduation, details of courses available in clearing and lots of upcoming events in the autumn.

Cover of Enterprising Times July-August 2016 edition

This will be the last edition of Enterprising Times in its current format. Enterprising Times was established in 2010 and has covered the activities of the Business School, along with the School of Education and the Law School on a bi-monthly basis. It has also welcomed contributions from outside of the university, leading to plenty of coverage of activity outside of the university, locally, nationally and internationally.

The format has served us and subscribers well but we feel that the time has come to move to more dynamic, mobile-friendly forms of communication and dissemination. This blog represents a key means of communication moving forward, and we also have our Twitter feed and Facebook page. Enterprising Times itself will take on a new look from the autumn. Watch this space!

Staff and students in the Business School and the university as a whole are welcome to contribute to the blog. We are also inviting contributions to the blog from people and organisations external to the university. If you would like to contribute, please e-mail your material to Jon Fairburn (Jon.Fairburn@staffs.ac.uk), Tom Ward (T.Ward@staffs.ac.uk) or Louise Robinson (L.S.Robinson@staffs.ac.uk).

We look forward to keeping in touch with you via this blog!

Back issues of Enterprising Times will still be available.