Start your own business

Trinity promotes a culture of entrepreneurship, and provides a lot of support to students with business start-up ideas through the Launchbox , Blackstone Launchpad and Innovation Academy programmes, as well as developing an Innovation and Enterprise Hub. As a result, Trinity graduates have founded more venture-backed companies than graduates from any other European university over the last 12 years, according to research by Pitchbook. If you are highly motivated, love putting your ideas into action, and have a great idea, starting up your own business could be for you.

Benefits of starting your own business

You can be your own boss
You have flexibility of work life balance such as choosing when to work and when to prioritise other significant activities.
You can pursue and develop your ideas and passion.
You are in a position to choose people you would like to work with who will share the same vision and values.
You can challenge yourself with new opportunities.

Things to consider before starting your own business

Insecurity – money may be slow to come in and hours will probably be long. There may be a negative impact on your lifestyle particularly in the beginning because you might not have enough money or time for holidays or other luxuries.
Support with key tasks that you are not familiar with may be harder to find and you will need to 'buy in' services that come with the job in a paid environment, such as hiring an accountant to help with filing tax returns.
The personal and social support - an important aspect to job satisfaction overall - may also not be present, particularly in the early stages.

Starting out

A successful entrepreneur needs to be a Manager, a Salesperson, an Entrepreneur, an Administrator and a Worker, a Learner and a Thinker. Different businesses require a different balance of these skills and in the early stages of developing your business you will need to be comfortable doing many of these different roles as you develop your concept, recruit staff, sell to customers and manage projects. You may be able to get training through your Local Enterprise Office to gain the skills you feel you need.

What you need: your business plan

A strong business plan is essential to starting-up, gaining support and success. Your business will help you to clarify your ideas, and is essential if you are looking for investors. It should provide details of how you are going to develop your business, when you are going to do it, who is going to be involved, the potential market, and how you plan to manage it financially.

Your plan should include:

An executive summary: The overview - funders may well make judgments based on this section alone.
A short description of the business opportunity - who you are (and what your track record is), what you plan to sell or offer, why and to whom.
Marketing and sales strategy - why you think people will buy and how you plan to sell to them.
Your management team and personnel - your credentials and the team's skills.
Operations: Premises, facilities, IT.
Financial forecasting: translate the plan into figures.