Startup Weekend  gives you the opportunity to create a business in 54 hours, with global recognition and over £10,000 worth of prizes up for grabs for the winning teams. Startup Weekend have inspired over 45,000 entrepreneurs in 35 countries to date. Do you think you have what it takes?

Tickets are on sale now through: http://newcastle.startupweekend.org/tickets/ where you can get a 15% discount on us by using the code GOLEAN.

Fast Forward Now will be on hand to mentor the teams as they start-up.  If you’re a business owner or business support professional who is interested in mentoring at the event, please contact us for more information on getting involved.

We hope to see you there!

Social Enterprise is a real buzz word at the moment. David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ vision hinges on the development of businesses that look to tackle social needs and create change. But you’d be forgiven for thinking ‘social what?’! The area is fast growing, ever changing and it could be argued that is has come to mean different things to different people.

For me, Social Enterprise is to apply business principles to social problems. Whilst many organisations have a sense of social responsibility, the difference lies in the fact that they are ultimately driven by profits. Social Entrepreneurs are driven by a passion or desire to make a mark, no matter how big or small that mark may be. Rather than profits or surpluses going into a shareholder’s pocket, the focus is on reinvesting profits or surpluses into the organisation’s social objectives. It can also be in the not-for- profit sector, such as trading arms of charities. The important thing to remember is that it still must be enterprising.

Very few social entrepreneurs have the ambition of managing finance, but it is critical to ensure the growth and sustainability of businesses. With the lack of funding available following the economic downturn, many organisations are becoming more creative, trading goods and services instead of applying for grants. Whilst social entrepreneurs have a cause or a mission that drives the business, it must be remembered that the creation of profits or surpluses is an absolute necessity. Take the Grameen Bank, for example. Developed by Bangladeshi economics professor Mohammed Yunus in 1976, the bank pioneered ‘micro-financing’, extending small collateral-free loans for self-employment to some of the world’s poorest people. By 2007, the bank had lent 6.1 billion dollars to 7.1 million Bangledeshi villagers and allowed entire communities to better feed their families, build houses and send their children to school.

The success of the organisation is Yunus’ understanding that growth and good financial management mean that you can give back on an even greater scale. Social enterprises that recognise this make solutions to social problems a real possibility. It allows for creativity and innovation in a time of economic and financial crisis that can foster sustainable growth and create new jobs. Whilst it might be a buzz word, and certainly isn’t a panacea, it’s definitely a step in the right direction. What do you think?

This series of intensive, interactive workshops is designed to give attendees a realistic insight and support in starting a business, including some fantastic guest speakers and networking opportunities.

Thanks to our SFEDI accreditation, participants can work towards a Level 3 qualification in Preparing to Run Their Own Business whilst on this course.  For more information, check out Rise Up’s web page.

Fast Forward Now Ltd are now offering free half day workshops OR online training for those with busy schedules, to allow you to gain a range of mentoring skills and discover how to be an effective mentor. In addition, participants receive:

• One year’s membership to the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE), the official institute dedicated to those setting up, running or supporting businesses.

• A SFEDI approved Certificate of Recognition

• The opportunity to deliver mentoring to any type of micro to medium business

All we ask is that you are either a business support professional, or run/have run your own business. Once recognised as a mentor, you can put as much time in to your new favourite activity, but we’d like it to be at least an hour a month!

Mentoring is a fantastic opportunity to give something back, get personal fulfillment and it can contribute to your Continuous Professional Development. You might even learn a thing or two from your mentees!

Fast Forward Now have workshops organised for the 28th and 29th March at Newcastle University Business School.  To register, please click here.

If you can’t attend one of those sessions, we can offer Online Training, with virtual support from FFN, for you to complete in your own time.  To get your Unique Learner Number, contact us and put ‘I want to learn mentoring online‘ in the box.

Alternatively, if you have a group of at least 10 people, Fast Forward Now would be happy to deliver Get Mentoring training at your own premises or another suitable venue – just contact us!

The best thing about it is we’ve got some fantastic guest speakers lined up to tell their stories of setting up and running social enterprises, and the Student Law Office will be on hand to inform about how they can help local businesses with legal issues.

The second best thing?  It’s totally FREE!  Here’s some more info:

Date:     Thursday 23^rd February 2012

Time:     Registration: 6pm

Presentations: 6.15 – 8pm

Networking (including drinks and nibbles): 8pm – 9pm

Venue:   The Great Hall, Sutherland Building, Northumbria University (http://tinyurl.com/6s3toty)

Cost:      Free

Social enterprises are a growing, worldwide movement of businesses that look to tackle social problems, improve communities and enhance people’s life changes.  The Coalition Government has committed itself to creating a greater role for Social Enterprises and the ‘Big Society’ vision hinges on this.

Doing it for our Community, hosted by Northumbria University Law School, in conjunction with Fast Forward Now Ltd., will bring together individuals and organisations that are actively making the North East a better place.  Speakers from a wide variety of local social enterprises will share their experiences, achievements and aims for the future as well as some revealing insights into the challenges of setting up and running a social enterprise.

The event will include presentations from:

Nationally acclaimed and multi-award winning Social Enterprise, Tyne Gateway Trust, which was established to support communities and employers to work together to address family and child poverty.  Tyne Gateway’s social and economic mission is: ‘To unlock the potential of local communities to build their own enterprising and innovative pathways out of poverty that raise aspiration and transform lives’.  Hear from Jill Baker and the Community Entrepreneurs delivering this mission.

Cross-cultural, community music project Crossings, a project that brings together asylum seekers, refugees, local and international musicians to collaborate on the development and performance of their music.  Its aims are to promote integration and community cohesion by providing a platform for refugees, asylum seekers and the local community to collaborate through the arts.  Hear from Lucy Fairley and some of the Crossings members.

Jam Jar Cinema CIC, winner of the Social Entrepreneurship category of the 2011 Blueprint Awards.  This innovative and modern social enterprise has the aim of improving access to arts provision in the North East outside of the City Centre.  The business is due to open its first venue in April 2012 with a further three venues scheduled to open over the next two years.  Dan Ellis will update you on his journey so far.

Students working in Northumbria University School of Law’s award winning Student Law Office.  Several students will be giving real-life examples of case studies they are working on.  Delegates will have the opportunity to hear about the free legal service available to members of the public including a number of local and national businesses, social enterprises and charities. 

To register for the event, just sign yourself up at our Eventbrite page.

http://www.doingitforourcommunity.eventbrite.com

Oh, and p.s… if you think someone might be interested, please free free to invite them along too!

SFEDI Awards is a branch of the UK sector skills body for enterprise, and are the Awarding Organisation for Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. Their suite of Enterprise qualifications is applicable to the Qualifications Credit Framework which means that our learners can now (if they like!) get a recognisable qualification in many aspects of enterprise and entrepreneurship.

We like to think we’re a bit of a dab hand at offering enterprise training and workshops, but now we can also offer certification for the hard work our learners put in, adding extra value to our services.

We’ll be updating the website shortly, but in the meantime if you have any questions please get in touch or leave us a comment.

Angie: portrait of a successful woman from the North East from Santiago Laserna on Vimeo.

In this video, a production team interview Angie to find out what makes an entrepreneur.  What do you think?

Fast Forward Now glammed up this week for Blueprint 2011, the North East Universities business planning competition held at the Hilton Gateshead.  Jessica McLean, our Training Director and owner of Garbeau (www.garbeau.eu) took to the stage to reveal the winner of the Creativity and Design Awards.  Garbeau was a sponsor of Blueprint this year, having been a finalist in 2008 and winning £5000 for the presentation of its business plan.  She did a great job!

It was a fantastic night for FFN – Mohammed Miah, one of Tyne Gateway’s Community Entrepreneurs, was runner up in the Social Enterprise category for his business Hear-u-Clear, an interpreting/translating service.  Dan Ellis, director of Film Central and previous Business Enterprise student, won the Social Enterprise award.

It’s always a pleasure to see people we have worked with getting recognition for all of their hard work and effort.  As always, we’ll be working hard this year to instill enterprising attitudes in individuals, some of whom we hope to see on the stage in 2012!

Number of business opportunities: 140

Fast Forward Now has worked for over seven years with students at a leading North East University and has designed, developed and delivered all the teaching on this module where scientists develop a business plan to commercialise their science idea.  Many of the business plans in this module have been shortlisted or won prizes in the University’s business plan competition.