Support for your business

Whatever your organisation needs, we are passionate about helping to support the business community.

DMU graduates are helping Leicester match London for new business success, according to top financial magazine, The Economist. The university is also supporting the growth and development of Leicestershire’s small-to-medium enterprise (SME) community, and is well versed in the issues affecting businesses of all sizes.

Our experience and expertise can add value to companies of any size, so we’re sure we can assist you in some way.

We can support start-up, small and medium sized businesses in the following ways:

• Work space for start-up businesses
• Flexible and industry relevant skills development

• Professional qualifications that can be studied part-time
• Opportunities to access funding
• Recruiting our students and graduates
• Developing an idea

NatWest and DMU Innovation Centre Pre-Accelerator

The DMU Innovation Centre is proud to partner with NatWest to run the Entrepreneur Pre-Accelerator programme.

The programme is designed to give entrepreneurs the power to start, scale and succeed.

It is a fully-funded, intensive course for early-stage entrepreneurs.

The course kicked off in January 2020 with a great ignition event at the Innovation Centre, which introduced the programme and the course content.

The Enterprise and Business Services team have put together a series of workshops to compliment the online programme and provide participants with a space to maximise their learning, network with fellow entrepreneurs and grow their businesses.

The full programme of events is listed below:

NatWest and DMU Pre-Accelerator Workshop 1 – Coworking and Collaboration

26 February 6.00-8.00pm, Innovation Centre

 The first workshop will focus on forming coworking groups, finding common interests and needs to help you to solve your challenges, progress through the course and grow your business.

 Facilitated by Pippa Blessett founder of Exceptional Zebra, an expert in teamwork and collaboration who will guide you through setting up super teams.

 The session will include:

 Collaboration methods to make entrepreneurs more successful

• Creation of perfect working groups
• Techniques to manage a successful working group
• A meet and greet with fellow entrepreneurs 
• Development of a collaborative-working plan

NatWest Fireside Chat

5 March 4.00-5.00pm, Innovation Centre

 An opportunity to hear from local entrepreneurs about their journeys so far, get their top tips and share best practice. With the community coming together, you will also get a chance to network and share experiences.

NatWest and DMU Pre-Accelerator Workshop 2 – Customer First

18 March 6.00-8.00pm, Innovation Centre

 In the second workshop that tracks alongside the online Pre-Accelerator course, we will focus on the most important person in your entrepreneurial journey, your customer.

 Without a customer, you have no business. You might have a series of assumptions about your idea, product or service but without talking to your customers to validate your ideas, they will remain just that…ideas.

 This workshop will be facilitated by Josh Dale, Innovation Centre Manager, who has a background in guiding start-ups through the customer research process in collaboration with big businesses.

 You will learn:

• The difference between customer validation and research
• The difference between your customers and users
• How to ask the right questions to get the right answers
• How to apply your research to develop and improve your business

 NatWest and DMU Pre-Accelerator Workshop 3 – Winning Mindsets for Entrepreneurs

31 March 6.00-8.00pm, Innovation Centre

 The third in our workshop series will help you to keep the momentum through the programme with a winning mindset. You might have discovered that some of your initial assumptions about your business don’t meet your customers’ needs, you might have been trying to get investment unsuccessfully or you might just be burning the candle at both ends.

 Pippa Blessett from Exceptional Zebra is an expert at building winning teams who have the right mindset to succeed.

 This workshop will help you to:

 Discover what makes entrepreneurs ‘different’

• Learn how to develop your mindset to become an ‘empire builder’
• Create a growth mindset
• Become more resilient – bounce back faster
• Find your focus and stay motivated
• Learn practical tools to build your winning mindset
• Meet entrepreneurs and make valuable contacts

 Sign up here.

NatWest and DMU Pre-Accelerator Workshop 4 – Business Viability

Week commencing 13 April - To be announced - keep your calendars clear for the exact date

 We’re just awaiting the details for this workshop but rest assured it will be great!

Pitching Competition – NatWest and DMU

20 April 4.00-6.00pm, Innovation Centre

 An opportunity to pitch your idea to like-minded people and get some valuable feedback. Plus, there are some great prizes up for grabs!

 Celebrate Success

When did you last have the license to reflect on the journey and celebrate the successes. 

 This event gives you that license! Celebrating the completion of your journey, incorporating awards and reflecting on your outstanding achievements.

 The event is an opportunity to:

• Celebrate achievements with your peers
• To learn from a motivational speaker
• Network with the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Contact us

If you are a business looking to work with DMU please contact us on:

T: +44 (0)116 207 8455
E: businessservices@dmu.ac.uk
Request a call back