Angels Den Blog

It’s been quite some time since you were forced to wear short trousers, do detention, or suffer PE on a Thursday morning with 20 other shivering eight-year-olds, so why, now that you’re a big strapping 20-, 30- or 40-something, should you seriously consider going back to school? Scientia potentia est, as the Romans might have put it (although of course it was Sir Francis Bacon who actually did, in Meditationes Sacrae in 1597), is the answer you were looking for, or as we now paraphrase it, “knowledge is power”.

Whether you are starting a new business, expanding an established venture or selling a going concern –ok, pretty much at any point in the life cycle of your business – it is advisable to take a little time out of your busy schedule to learn something new. It keeps the grey matter firing on all cylinders and enables you to keep up with the latest means and methods to stay ahead of the competition and make your business a success.

Business should be fun, rewarding and challenging for an entrepreneur, so we know that something has gone very wrong when a report published by Ofsted shows that, although thorough, far too many business skills courses are considered “uninspiring”. The Government has been pushing economic and business courses for the last 25 years in an attempt to have us all fuelling the future of our little island nation, so why are some teachers still more focused on the curriculum than the innovation behind business?

There is no doubt that today we are more of a nation of entrepreneurs than ever before, although this may have more to do with TV shows like Dragons’ Den permeating the public consciousness and making us all aware of the potential within us than the Government’s education policies. Whatever the reason, I know that we’re all better off for it.

Although more recent, the influence of Angels Den is growing, and as the spotlight of public interest starts to shine on our achievements, we are doing all we can to help entrepreneurs succeed with their businesses through education as well. In January 2009, in partnership with UCL, LSE, Cass Business School and the British Library, we are running an exciting new interactive seminar called “The Essentials of Business Funding”, which looks to help young businesses make preparations for presenting their ventures and ideas to investors when looking for business funding. We have made it our mission to strip back the mystique of business success and make it accessible to anyone with an idea and the determination to see it succeed.

To find out more about this seminar and Angels Den in general, visit our website at www.angelsden.co.uk. We’d be delighted to see you there.

Source:
Business education lessons need to be more ‘inspiring’ and ‘hands-on’, says Ofsted