Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
The purpose of the Business Lab is to provide free advice and guidance to full and part time students (and alumni within two years of graduation), who are looking to develop their business ideas or start-up to help them succeed.
The advice and guidance provided draws on the practices of coaching and mentoring.
The advice and guidance provided covers a wide range of ‘subject areas’ most frequently:
The advice could also be linked to entrepreneurship lectures for those students who take courses of such kind across the university.
It is not a place for counselling or similar.
*this visa scheme is now called the innovator founder visa and requires sponsorship.
Our Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiR) are part of a network of SME leaders that aims to provide students and staff at Leeds Beckett University with access to business knowledge, experience and contacts. As well as providing inspiration and guidance for our students, and graduate start-ups, EiRs contribute their thinking and insights into new programme development, community engagement and knowledge exchange. They act as ambassadors for entrepreneurship on behalf of the business school and are a great source of mentorship to our student entrepreneurs within the Business Lab.
Among the activities undertaken by our EiRs are:
Join the team as an EiR if you wish to make impact on the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The advice is provided by Professor Lebene Soga and appointed entrepreneurship mentors/coaches from the LBS Centre for Entrepreneurship & Knowledge Exchange.
The Business Lab is open to other persons to join and become advisors specifically persons who can offer relevant knowledge, experience and skills within the subject areas. Example, colleagues in the careers team may also be mentors/coaches in the Business Lab. Training will be provided for all mentors to ensure consistency.
The advisor can take on several different roles in the course of advising, depending on the requirements of the student that includes being a coach, mentor, an information resource, a role model and a friend.
The role calls for critical skills including listening, encouraging, drawing out, reflecting back and challenging assumptions, and, as necessary, providing critical feedback on ideas or plans under discussion.
Students can attend the Business Lab as a group or as individuals.
The students can expect their questions to be addressed effectively. An answer might not be available instead the student can expect to be guided to find the answer. Importantly the student can expect to leave with a plan of action.
They can also expect to learn about skills and mindset needed to succeed as an entrepreneur.
