THIS is the time of year when most of us start planning our summer holiday — a fortnight on some exotic beach or sailing a yacht in the Med.

But readers hoping to make 2005 the year in which they start their own business, should stick to cooler climes. London, Sheffield and Leeds are the season’s destinations of choice for would-be business people checking into summer schools in search of inspiration and guidance rather than a quick tan. And, just like holidays, there is something to suit all tastes and budgets.

Sheffield University is hosting a week-long school for people wanting to start a business. The fee is £100. This compares with the London Business School (LBS), which is charging £6,000 for its month-long summer school.

Each of the schools has produced a healthy crop of new businesses, from an African airline to a student promotions company in Yorkshire.

“University education does not encourage entrepreneurship. If anything, it hinders it,” said Martijn Mugge, who organises the Sheffield course. “Universities are good at teaching about entrepreneurship but not teaching for it. You can’t tell people the rules of football, for example, and then expect them to play like David Beckham.

“Our course is purely practical. With the help of entrepreneurs we take candidates through the process of starting and growing a business and teach them the skills they need.”

Up the road in Leeds on a five-day course organised by Business Start-Up, delegates will listen to presentations from bank managers, accountants and solicitors on the day-to-day practicalities of starting and running a firm.

“Delegates will learn how to raise money from banks and venture capitalists,” said Siobhan O’Driscoll of Business Start-Up, a government-funded project that helps students.

“They will also learn how to generate ideas and select business concepts; the importance of marketing and PR; how to analyse the market and identify gaps; and how to master cashflow and sales forecasting.”

The chance to learn from people who have actually done it could be the most valuable part of the programme. “Entrepreneurs with businesses at all stages of growth come in and explain how they have overcome certain problems,” said O’Driscoll. “Then they will pose a problem they are experiencing and the delegates will help them to find a solution.

“The companies that take part really enjoy it, but more important than that, they have the undivided attention of 40 or so enterprising minds focusing on one of their problems.”

At the end of most courses delegates get a chance to present their plans to financial backers. This usually takes place in the classroom but at LBS the so-called “elevator pitches” take place in the elevator.

The LBS course is led by John Mullins, an entrepreneur turned academic, who was one of the men responsible for launching a small American clothing firm and turning it into the brand we know today as Gap. The LBS’s tutors and mentors include some of the most successful and influential people in the business world, including venture capitalists on the lookout for ideas to fund.

“The course is designed to promote thorough exploration of a business opportunity in a practical format,” said Mullins. “It allows entrepreneurs to test the feasibility of their ideas through active research in their proposed markets.”

But one of the most valuable components of the summer schools is the hothouse environment created among the students. “In their student life those with entrepreneurial ideas were always in the minority, so they lacked the confidence and inspiration to explore them,” said Mugge. “But when you put them together they thrive.”

O’Driscoll agreed. “The network is the biggest bonus,” she said. “Our courses run from 9am to 9pm but at the end of the day we can’t get people to leave.”

Most courses are oversubscribed and the entry criteria can be tough. Mugge said: “We ask for examples of entrepreneurial activity they were involved in from secondary school. It also helps if they have a business idea.”

The Leeds course charges only £95, for board and lodging. “But candidates have to justify why they should come, and we keep the numbers between 40 and 50,” said O’Driscoll.

While suntans and holiday memories quickly fade, summer schools create partnerships that last as delegates team up to start a company or are introduced to outsiders who become backers, directors or customers.

www.london.edu
www.business-start-up.biz
www.entrepreneursummerschool.co.uk