NTU Enterprise

NTU Enterprise delivers programmes that support Nottingham Trent University students and graduates to:

• Develop entrepreneurial skills
• Explore self-employment and freelancing
• Start and grow businesses

We work across areas within Student Enterprise, such as the NTU Start Up and Graduate Enterprise Programme, to inspire and develop business leaders.

NTU Enterprise works with businesses in the community to provide events, workshops, and opportunities.

We also provide access to NTU workspaces at the Dryden Enterprise Centre and Antenna.

Our spaces are part-funded as business incubation spaces. This means we're here to support student and graduate start-ups and businesses, alongside NTU colleagues and key external partners who share our objectives.

NTU students and graduates involved in our programmes are able to access our space, alongside NTU colleagues who support business development and knowledge exchange.

External businesses are also users of our spaces and pay commercial rates to access membership and room hire.

We support our communities through:

• Student Enterprise activities
• Student and Graduate Start-up support and mentoring
• Access to a network of business experts
• Specialist workspaces like the Dryden Enterprise Centre and Antenna
• Community events and networking

Currently, we provide support to community groups such as:

• Female Founders Club
• DEC Connect
• Enterprising Ashfield
• Enterprise in Refuge

The first NTU Enterprise Impact Report was published in 2023 and documents activities between June 2021 – December 2022.

In the face of challenges such as Brexit, the document showcases the inspiring and positive journey of the NTU Enterprise community -from opening the Dryden Enterprise Centre (DEC), a state-of-the art innovation centre in the heart of Nottingham, to changing the development and delivery of support to businesses.

In total, our achievements for this period include:

• Seeing £9.6m of investment generated by the business community
• Being awarded £25k in grant funding to students and graduates
• Helping to create 48 new businesses
• Placing in the top 15% of podcasts shared globally.
• Growing our Student Entrepreneurs Club to 456 members, and 219 sign ups for the Freelancer Club, respectively.

I don’t know where to start?

Your first real focus should be to have a very clear idea of your product or service offer (how will your website, leaflets clearly describe what you offer or do) and then equally a clear idea / description of your intended target audience. A product or service offer targeted at a paying customer is essentially the DNA of any business.

If you are a member of the City Library you can get access to the Cobra Database which provides factsheets on a comprehensive range of topics relating in regard to starting  and running a business

Is my business idea a good one?

Your potential customers will ultimately decide if your business idea is a good one because they will either buy it or they won’t.

Your first job is to test this by developing a version of your product or service that you can set up and try out on your  customers as quickly and cheaply as possible so that you can find out whether your intended target audience are likely to buy.

Do I have to set up a Limited Company to start a business?

That is one way to start a business but the simplest way to get started is to register as self-employed

What does it mean to be self-employed?

It means working for yourself rather than a specific employer, managing your own time and tasks. Ultimately, you are responsible for paying your own tax and National Insurance.

What types of business structures are there?

• Sole Trader: The simplest method, acting as an individual owner being "self-employed"
• Freelancer: Often a sole trader, providing services to multiple clients
• Partnership: Two or more people co-running a business.
• Limited Company: The business is a separate legal entity from the owner but as a director of the company you have legal and reporting responsibilities.

I am side hustling / freelancing / trading but I don't make much money, do I need to register as self-employed?

If you earn over £1,000 in a tax year (April 6 to April 5) from self-employment, you must register with HMRC and submit a Self Assessment tax return.