Preparing to start your own business

Made studied for a Masters degree in Project Management at ARU, before founding two educational language schools in Bali. In this blog, he tells us where he found support for his next steps.

Starting a business can be a daunting experience for most of us, and that is what I felt when I started Jembatan Bahasa and JB English, two educational start-up language schools based in Bali, Indonesia. However, my businesses have given me an immense sense of excitement and an array of valuable opportunities of learning.

With preparation prior to starting a business, the scary feeling is less intimidating. After reflecting on my university study, I have picked three major contributors that I feel successfully prepared me to become an entrepreneur.

My Masters programme

Starting a business was a significant project for me, and all the skills and knowledge I gained from the MSc Project Management study at ARU prepared me to manage my business project effectively.

I learnt how to allocate budgets, delegate tasks, and cope with challenges in my business implementation. The classes had a lot of discussions and case studies which allowed me to consider different scenarios and perspectives of projects.

I am especially thankful to my personal tutor who always supported with solutions to any problems through supplying resources and connecting me with the right people.

The Employability Service

Since the beginning of my studies at ARU, I always tried my best to join training sessions from The Employability Service. One thing that still stays with me to this day is to always update my LinkedIn profile. I used to neglect it, but after attending the training, I remember to consistently edit my profile. Sure enough, I have attracted many clients due to my efforts. If you haven’t done anything with your LinkedIn profile for ages, it’s time to polish it up now or reach out to the Employability Service for help.
After drafting my CV, I also booked some one-to-one sessions with the Employability Service team. They gave me useful advice on how to make my CV stand out in a crowd. They looked at all aspects such as the layout, the content and the wording. As an entrepreneur, my knowledge on how to create an effective CV is beneficial for me as well as how to analyse a CV for recruitment purposes.

Anglia Ruskin Enterprise Academy's Big Pitch

I am so glad that I decided to join this start-up competition. I did not make it to the final, but I was grateful to get to Round Two as I got to experience a two-day boot camp in Cambridge. During the bootcamp, I learned so much from business experts on how to develop my business planning, financial forecasting, marketing, people management skills, and pitching skills. In addition to that, I had an opportunity to network with like-minded, young people.

If you are serious about becoming an entrepreneur after graduating, participating in The Big Pitch is a must. You will have a chance to win a grant for your business idea. Even if you do not win, like me, you will learn a lot from the boot camp. As a bonus, it is completely free!

In conclusion, the three things above gave me wider perspectives in the business field. They added tools to my toolkit, so the journey of starting a business became less frightening. For future entrepreneurs at ARU, I highly recommend the last two activities to prepare for your business journey. If you happen to be in the MSc Project Management programme or any of the other business majors, that is great. However, I do believe that any major will help you become an entrepreneur.

By Made Soma

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Author bio: Made Soma graduated from our Faculty of Science and Engineering, majoring in MSc Project Management. After his studies, he went back to Indonesia to start his language school businesses, Jembatan Bahasa and JB English. To learn more about Made, visit his personal blog at www.madesoma.com.