Gwellwch eich cwricwlwm drwy roi sylw i'r Canllawiau QAA ar sgiliau ar gyfer eich pwnc, ac ymgorffori'r Canllawiau QAA ar Menter ac Entrepreneuriaeth.

Datganiad Meincnod QAA

  • Meddwl rhesymegol a systematig
  • Y gallu i lunio casgliadau rhesymegol a dyfarniadau cynaliadwy
  • Sgiliau effeithiol wrth gyfathrebu gwybodaeth

Ymgorffori Menter

Gall yr offer ETC canlynol eich helpu i gyflwyno'r sgiliau hyn yn y cwricwlwm.

Canllawiau Sut i

Mae'r canllawiau hyn wedi eu dewis i adeiladu sgiliau QAA yn eich addysgu.


The Use of Bespoke Film Content to Engage Learners in Enterprise Support (QAA 7)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Individual Task

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Special

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

7Communication and Strategy

Objective:

  • To provide learners with peer-to-peer advice via digital media.
  • To encourage learners to engage with the business and enterprise support available to them.
  • To provide student and graduate start-ups with experience of communicating via film.
  • To support the promotion and development of student and graduate enterprises.
  • To enthuse, inspire and stimulate ideas amongst students.
  • To bring relevant guest expertise to learners in a flexible and affordable way.

Overview: 

Often, one of the most powerful ways to inspire students as to their abilities and potential can be to introduce them to peers who have already achieved success in business. These are people who are just like them; they look like them, sound like them, have studied the same courses as them, and as such, their opinions and advice carry great weight. However, it is not always possible to facilitate such peer-to-peer engagements, or to maintain such relationships after students graduate.

The production of film content can address this. Short films showcasing the start-ups of students and recent graduates, directed at current students and imparting advice directly to them can be a powerful communication tool. Such films can be made for low cost, utilised in a wide variety of ways, and help to engage many students with the wider enterprise support available at their institutions, or with the enterprise elements within their course modules.

Furthermore, the production of such films serves to develop the communication skills of the students and recent graduates who feature in them, helps to build and maintain relationships with these students and recent graduates, and provides a resource which can help them in the growth and development of their own enterprises.

Film Images

Figure 1: Images from completed films.

Activity:

Planning

  • Identify student / graduate start-ups who you wish to feature in the films. These may be found through existing networks, through programme tutors, or through an alumni service at the institution. Contact individuals to confirm their interest.
  • Identify a company, individual or organisation to produce the films on your behalf, and supply them with a project brief (inclusive of deadlines).
  • To keep costs down to a minimum, and to provide further learning opportunities through the project, this may be set as a task to media / film students at the institution.
  • Films needn't be longer than 2 – 3 minutes in length (such short duration helps them to be maximally impactful, and helps to keep costs and production times to a minimum).
  • Plan the content which you desire for the films to feature. To do this, you can reflect on what you would want the individuals featuring in the films to say to your cohort, should they be in the classroom. (For example, you may wish for featuring individuals to discuss their own personal enterprise journeys, to discuss how they engaged with enterprise support at University, or with a particular project in their degree studies, or to simply recommend some key advice, based on their own experiences as a recent start-up).
  • Produce a simple script / list of questions, and supply to the individuals featuring in the films for discussion and agreement. Supply this to those producing the films for information.
  • Liaise with those filming and those being filmed, to arrange filming times, dates and locations.

Production

  • Maintain contact with all parties as films are produced.
  • You may wish to be in attendance for all filming, to ensure the content produced matches your specific needs (though this should not be essential if all parties have agreed to a clear brief beforehand).
  • If those being filmed have not had similar experiences before, they may wish to receive support and advice regarding their preparation and delivery to camera.
  • Ensure that all necessary documentation (for example, release forms for individuals featuring in films) are gathered at this time. Your institution's marketing / PR department should be able to assist with this.
  • Receive completed digital / hard copy versions of completed films.

Dissemination

  • Share content via appropriate platforms. This could include;
  • Social media (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc.).
  • Virtual Learning Environments (Moodle etc.).
  • To student cohorts at tutorials, lectures and events.
  • You may wish to supply access and permission to the films to the featuring individuals to, for their own promotional purposes, and to disseminate via their own platforms. 

Skill Development:

For students / graduates featuring in films;

  • Experience of communicating via film, with enhanced communication skills to contribute to the continued growth of their enterprises.
  • The opportunity to reflect on their own personal development journeys, successes, failures and learning points.

For learners viewing films;

  • The opportunity to gain insight from the experience of their peers.
  • Greater confidence in their own abilities and potential.
  • A greater awareness of the support available and actions to take in developing their own enterprises.
  • The stimulation of ideas for new ventures of their own.

Resources:

  • Expert support in filming, editing and producing film content is essential in the delivery of this project, as is the support of student and graduate start-up businesses.
  • Examples of films produced at Glyndwr University in accordance with the process outlined in this guide, can be found on YouTube via the following link > https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuqen63XW1XRnepsJzooLJsieB_a_4Cue

References:

Associated Case Studies

About the Author
This guide was produced by Mike Corcoran (www.macorcoran.com). If you would like to contact the author, please use this email address:- m.a.corcoran@outlook.com.

Subject Review through Communication (QAA 7)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Small group (teams of 4-6)

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

7Communication and Strategy

Objective:

  • Ice breaker that encourages communication

Overview:

The activity can is best used as an ice breaker as it is a fun method to start participants communicating – however it can be adapted to test subject knowledge and specialisms that the students have prior to joining class with you, or are gaining during their studies.

Activity:

  1. Buy a large bag of multi-coloured sweets, such as skittles (determine expected number in class and ensure sufficient for each student to have 5 sweets each).
  2. Pass the bag around and ask everyone to pick 5 skittles each (but they're not to eat them ! yet!)
  3. Once they have chosen their skittles, each colour represents a different question, for eg: (Red = favourite hobby, Green = Favourite holiday destination, Yellow = dream job, Orange = favourite memory, purple = wildcard - tell us anything)
  4. Split the group, 4-6 in a team
  5. Each person takes turns introducing themselves, beginning with their name and then a fact for each skittle they have

This can be adapted to bring out subject knowledge or prior learning/experience by making each colour link to a subject theme/study area. This means that the group have to share facts and background with each other on a specific topic.

To bring together their learning you can invite them to present the information they have gained across the team as a flipchart or play to the other groups. This can help you understand the level of prior knowledge as they forfeit eating the colours they cant supply answers for and yet share their knowledge across the full group in the short presentation.

You can also add an element of jeopardy within this by allowing them to trade colours without knowing what the categories are – or even between teams once they know what the categories are.

Skill Development:

Listening and communication skills as well as interpersonal skills are the focus of this task, and it can be extended to develop group presentation skills if you wish to add the extension of a short presentation at the end. This requires them to communicate effectively within a limited time. Debrief this exercise by asking the group to explore their emotions as the task unfolded. It is important to recognise that some group members feel excited by a new challenge, whilst others are concerned by ambiguity (selecting colours without knowing why). Explore the emotions of undertaking this challenge and recognise how they may impact on performance.

Resources:

Packet of multi-coloured sweets, such as Skittles

References:

N/A

About the Author
This guide was produced by SS.

Communication & Emotional Intelligence (QAA 7)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Small group (teams of 4-6)

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

7Communication and Strategy

Objectives:

To understand the importance of developing active listening skills as part of effective communication 

To appreciate the impact of emotions (frustration; anticipation) within communication

To understand the importance of recognising the importance of active listening, using effective listening techniques (which can affect ability to build rapport and gather information in both management situations or when mentoring, counselling etc).

Overview:

This quick icebreaker session is run as a group activity in an informal environment with all participants sitting in a relaxed state, but working to deliver a result within a time frame. Primarily this "parlour game" seeks to actively explore:

  • Understand the importance of how to listen effectively 
  • How our feeling and emotions can impact on our ability to listen effectively 
  • What methods to use and when would you use them? 
  • How our listening can affect our overall communication 

Activity:

This activity takes no more than five minutes to deliver and needs few resources and is therefore an ideal ice-breaker or pre or post lunch "recharge" activity to embed within a formal input.

To change the course dynamic, and shift thinking, take the lead as the "narrator" and explain that you are having a picnic to which they all are invited but to attend they must bring a contribution to the picnic with them. However not all of them will be able to attend (your fictitious picnic) if the item they chose to bring renders them ineligible to attend.

The premise upon which this works as a "parlour game" is that 

THE ITEM MUST BEGIN WITH THE FIRST LETTER OF THEIR NAME - THEREFORE JANE CAN BRING SOME JAM BUT BRENDA CAN'T. 

However, you can alter this premise to be subject related, and therefore draw out subject based learning as well communication skills (by, for example, asking chemistry students to bring liquids, and making a (silent) premise that are soluble in each other or items that would be connected within an experiment or situation or even industry situation).

Remember to invite each member individually to the picnic and respond to each person individually e.g.: "Jane what can you bring to my picnic" response Jane wants to bring some bread, reply "I am sorry Jane you cannot bring bread to my picnic" etc. as the exercise proceeds some people will be able to attend by just being lucky in what they are bringing others thought might cotton on to the rules other's will not and may get frustrated so make sure you don't go on for too long. When everyone can "come to the picnic" or attend the "industry expo" or whichever scenario you selected, you can need to lead the debriefing session.

It is vital that emotions throughout the game, and across the team, are recognised and the group then explores how when we become emotional, frustrated or angry our ability listen effectively is impaired.

Skill Development:

This can take the form of a relatively short discussion, but will need to explore the learning across the group, and by encouraging everyone to share their story/emotions/feelings.

In larger groups, you can encourage them to share their feelings throughout the experience in small teams before presenting the range of emotions to the wider group. This reduces the perceived risk of sharing emotions across a big group but retains the breadth of emotions and highlights this to the wider group.

It is important to end this group discussion with an exploration of their feelings and frustrations, and what techniques they could use in the future, or in work or study situations to work professionally.

This debrief should explore the importance of active listening as well as how our listening is effected by our feeling and emotions, which can lead to an exploration of wider communication issues such as ability to build rapport, think effectively and manage or support the person we are communicating with.

Resources:

No physical resources, but planned scenario needs to be predetermined if subject based.

About the Author
This guide was produced by Alison Price.

A Compendium of Pedagogies: THE USE OF AN ELEVATOR PITCH (QAA 7)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Individual Task

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Presentation Space

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

7Communication and Strategy

Objective:

The main benefits of this approach are to enable students to pick up the skills to summarise something in a focused and precise way. The outcome is often that they are aware how important lucky opportunities can be in entrepreneurship and to prepare for such opportunities should they occur.

Overview:

An Elevator Pitch (or Elevator Speech) is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds or 100-150 words). The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a venture capitalist to receive funding. Venture capitalists often judge the quality of an idea and team on the basis of the quality of its elevator pitch, and will ask entrepreneurs for the elevator pitch to quickly weed out bad ideas. 

Activity:

In the entrepreneurship educators programme the elevator pitch is used to force participants to think carefully about their personal strengths and to be confident about these by making an explicit pitch. Within the entrepreneurship educators programme it is used to give participants experience of an elevator pitch. The basic approach is to invite individuals to develop their pitch beforehand with a strict time limit (usually 1 to 3 minutes). Participants are asked to compete in front of a panel of judges equipped with agreed judging criteria. Participants are lined up to encourage swift movement from one participant to another and they are timed – a whistle is blown at the end of the time and they must then depart.

Skill Development:

Elevator Pitches are commonly used in US Enterprise Education and are often used in business plan competitions. The purpose is to force students to prepare a short and focused explanation of their business should they have the opportunity to pitch it to somebody in an informal situation. It is an encouragement to think out the core of the business and find attractive ways of putting it over.

Resources:

  • A Compendium of Pedagogies for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Professor Alan Gibb and Alison Price - (PDF)

About the Author
This guide was produced by Professor Allan Gibb and Professor Alison Price.

Communication Icebreaker (QAA 7)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Small group (teams of 4-6)

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

7Communication and Strategy

Objective:

To ‘Break the Ice’ and bond a group by learning facts about others within the group.

Overview:

This exercise is an excellent get-to-know-you activity that doesn’t take up too much of your team’s time. All you need is a toilet paper roll (or two depending on the size of the group) (or you can use pennies as another option). Recommended group size is 10-30 people.

Activity: 

Ask everyone to sit around in a circle.

Pass around the roll of toilet paper (or pennies) and tell them to take as much as they think they’ll need from the finite amount/resource presented, without disclosing what the items will be used for.

If your employees ask further questions, simply answer them with, “take as much as you think you’ll need.”

Once that’s done, ask them to count the number of squares they each have.

Going around the circle, each person has to share a fact about themselves (or a revision fact from the course or programme) for every square of toilet paper or penny they took. So, if someone takes 10 squares, they need to share 10 facts about themselves.

Skill Development:

Tip: In order to avoid someone taking 30 pennies or squares of toilet paper, you could set a limit for each item. The facts don’t have to be long or time consuming.
 
This activity is particularly beneficial when new teams or groups meet for the first time as it encourages communication, bonding, and helps the participants learn more about their colleagues.  

It can also be used to undertake revision with a group, by asking them to recount facts, knowledge at the end of a programme or to confirm new learning of any type (including reflections on the task; personal observations about themselves or the team).  

Using this arbitrary method of allocating “comments” means that you encourage all members of the group to speak and engage, and provide and deepen their reflections.

Where learners might struggle, you can introduce trading between members to pass their “resource” to another if they run out of things to say.  This extension requires a reward for those with the most paper or pennies at the end, as they have attracted most resources through their confidence, knowledge or communication skills.

Debriefing this exercise requires the team to explore the emotions of the task (lack of clarity; confidence required; concern as details were released) and be open about how they addressed this personally and overcame these concerns to deliver on the challenge (especially if they were able to trade or work in partnership).  

Resources:  

Pennies/Tissue Paper

About the Author
This guide was produced by Alison Price.

Eich Canllaw Sut i Yma

If you would like to have your How to Guide featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.

We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the How to Guide.

If you have any questions regarding completing the template, please Contact Us.

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Ymgorffori Entrepreneuriaeth

Os oes gennych chi neu eich myfyrwyr ddiddordeb mewn datblygu syniad busnes, dod yn hunangyflogedig / gweithio ar eich liwt eich hun neu greu busnes dyma rywfaint o offer i helpu a hefyd rhai cysylltiadau ar gyfer cefnogaeth dechrau busnes.

Canllawiau Sut i

Mae'r canllawiau hyn wedi eu dewis i adeiladu sgiliau QAA yn eich addysgu.


Pitching to a Financier – Business Pitch (QAA3,4)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Individual Task

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

3Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement 4Implementation of ideas through leadership and management

Objective:

Construct and deliver a focused and precise summary of their business proposal, that is attractive and engaging to a potential financer.

Prepare the entrepreneur for opportunities to present their business proposal, formally and informally, in a short space of time.

Overview: 

An ‘Elevator Pitch’ is a succinct summary of business opportunity for example, 1 minute or in no more than 300 words. The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a potential investor.  This task invites the student to prepare for a minute pitch.

Activity: 

Invite the entrepreneur/small business owner to prepare a 3 minute pitch for their business The challenge for many entrepreneurs is how to describe their proposal in such a short space of time and what aspects of their business model and plan to focus on. A useful approach is to use Sahlman’s recommended four critical factors.

The People

Who’s involved?
What are their mission and aspirations?
What skills, know-how and experience do they have?

The Opportunity

What will the business sell?
Who are its customers?
What problem is it solving?
Why is it better than existing solutions (competition)?

The Context

What’s the bigger picture?
What trends e.g. economic, social, technological, political affect the business?

Risk and Rewards

What are the main risks?
How can they be mitigated?
What are the potential financial, and other, rewards?

Entrepreneurs/small business owners should be given time to prepare their pitch, either working independently at home or within a training programme. In a group situation this should take no more than 20 mins.

Entrepreneurs should then be invited to pitch their business with a strict time limit. This can be done in a number of ways depending on the environment, for example,

  • For a small number of entrepreneurs, invite them to line up to encourage swift movement from one to another
  • In large groups, invite entrepreneurs to move around the room to meet other participants who they do not know and pitch to each other
  • In large groups, participants are invited to pitch to their neighbour, or others at a table/in their group
  • In a competitive environment, where entrepreneurs are invited to pitch to an expert judging panel.

Skill Development:

This activity helps the entrepreneur to focus how they think about their business and provides a safe environment in which to develop their communication and presentation skills, whilst refining their business pitch. 

It can help the entrepreneur /small business owner effectively present their business proposal in both informal and unexpected situations and confidently to a potential financier.  Repetition of this type of exercise builds confidence and expertise.  

To provide formative experiences of pitching, before any assessment, you can create sub-groups within which the students pitch to each other, giving and receiving constructive criticism, before conducting the final presentation.

Resources:

VC Pitching

About the Author
This guide was produced by Alison Price.

Defining your Customer Base (QAA4,5)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Individual Task

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

4Implementation of ideas through leadership and management 5Reflection and Action

Objective:

  • Develop and demonstrate their understanding of their customers, by describing their characteristics and motivations.

Overview: 

This activity should be undertaken individually by the entrepreneur, then to be discussed with the business development provider or peers in a group situation.  Asking the entrepreneur to explain their answers will help them to deepen their understanding of their customers, help to identify where there are information gaps and therefore what additional market research may be required.

Activity: 

Instructions

Invite the entrepreneurs / small business owner to consider their customers and to describe them in terms of each of the following categories:

  • Demographic, who are your customers?  What is their typical profile in terms of age, gender, income, employment status etc.? 
  • Geographic, where are your customers and where do they buy your products / services?
  • Psychographic, what’s important to your customers? What are their values and aspirations; what kind of lifestyle do they have? 
  • Behaviour, how often and when do your customers buy?

And then describe what the benefits the product or service brings to customers.

My customers …..

The benefit of my product / service to my customers is …..

Skill Development:

By developing analytical and reasoning skills within entrepreneurial learners, it is possible to test assumptions and explore research findings with a clear context of start-up.  This activity focuses upon the understanding of the potential customer and requires research and reflective skills.

About the Author
This guide was produced by Lisa McMullan.

Defining the Marketing Message (QAA3,7)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Individual Task

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

3Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement 7Communication and Strategy

Objective:

  • Develop their own ‘marketing message’ – content that can be used to describe their product / service that will inform customers about what it is; inspire them to make a purchase by explaining the benefits the product / service offers; and provide details of how to engage so that the customers knows what to do to make a purchase.

Overview:

The focus of this task is to develop a well-constructed marketing message which describes the benefits of a product/service to customers.

Activity:

Instructions  

Invite the entrepreneur to complete the ‘Message Matrix’ below to describe their product or service:

Inform

What is it you are selling?

Inspire

Why should the customer buy from you? 

Engage

What should the customer do next? Ensure they have all the information they need

     

By sharing and discussing their Message Matrix with a business development provider or fellow entrepreneur, the ‘Marketing Message’ can be refined and developed to ensure that it is clear, understandable to a wider audience and that key information is not omitted.

This activity can be undertaken for different groups of customers as a slightly different message may be needed for each.

Skill Development:

By working in groups, or through watching each other present their work, students are able to learn further and deepen their own work.  It is useful to draw any presentation or discussion session to a close by asking what they now wished they had done, or what they are now going to do, in order to ensure there is action from learning.

Competitor Analysis: SWOT Analysis (QAA2,3,4)

Group Size ? 1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any

Individual Task

Learning Environment ? 1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special

Any

QAA Enterprise Theme(s) ? 1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
8.) Digital and Data Skills

2Opportunity recognition‚ creation and evaluation 3Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement 4Implementation of ideas through leadership and management

Objective:

To create a clear understanding of their competitors, using SW analysis.

Overview: 

A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for analysis, when actions and conclusions are drawn from it.  

Activity: 

Instructions

Invite the entrepreneur / small business owner to identify their key competitors (at least 3), and list the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Examples of strengths and weaknesses for a bicycle manufacturing business,

Strengths 

  • Reliable products
  • Well respected brand 
  • Competitively priced
  • Focussed on specialist market 

Weaknesses

  • Limited capacity to produce 
  • Outdated methods of production
  • Lack of marketing expertise
  • Low profit margin

Consideration should then be given to each of the competitors, and compared with the entrepreneur or small business owners’ view of their own business.

  • What can be learnt from the competitors’ strengths?  
  • What can be done better than the competition?
  • Are there any weaknesses that can be exploited?

This analysis can then inform what approach the entrepreneur / small business owner takes to developing their own business and to understand how they can best create or sustain a competitive advantage.

The key to using SWOT is now determine a course of action from this analysis.

Students can be invited to present their work and comment to provide constructive criticism, which is future focused.  

Skill Development:

By placing a clear focus on future action, rather than analysis, this will build skills of evaluation, decision making and judgement which lend themselves to action.  

About the Author
This guide was produced by Lisa McMullan.

Eich Canllaw Sut i Yma

If you would like to have your How to Guide featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.

We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the How to Guide.

If you have any questions regarding completing the template, please Contact Us.

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Adnoddau Ychwanegol

Gellir dod o hyd i Astudiaethau Achos o Arfer Da

yn llyfryn Academi Addysg Uwch (2014) Gwella Cyflogadwyedd trwy Astudiaethau Achos Menter Addysg 

Adnoddau Cychwyn Busnes (BOSS)

Mae BOSS yn sefyll am y Gwasanaeth Cymorth Busnes Ar-lein, a ddarperir gan Busnes Cymru. Mae'r gwasanaeth hwn yn darparu cyrsiau dysgu ar-lein i helpu pobl sy'n meddwl am, neu mewn gwirionedd, ddechrau busnes, sydd eisoes yn rhedeg busnes neu'n chwilio i dyfu eu busnes.

Syniadau Mawr Cymru Mae’r ymgyrch Syniadau Mawr Cymru yn rhan o wasanaeth Busnes Cymru, a gynlluniwyd i gefnogi'r genhedlaeth nesaf o entrepreneuriaid ifanc yng Nghymru.

Pecyn Cymorth Menter Greadigol Nesta

Mae ein pecyn cymorth adnoddau menter yn cynnwys dulliau a roddwyd ar brawf a dulliau a brofwyd ar gyfer addysgu sgiliau menter i unigolion creadigol sy'n meddwl am sefydlu busnes. Ar gael i'w brynu - gyda mynediad at adnoddau yma http://www.nesta.org.uk/sites/default/files/cet_worksheets_case_studies_and_tutor_notes.pdf