The University of Westminster Alumni Team and Creative Enterprise Centre (CEC) hosted another two online events of the What it Takes series, titled ‘What it Takes to Start a Successful Digital or Online Business’ and ‘What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur’.
The What it Takes event series features an array of exciting and innovative alumni speakers, who share their experience and advice on a diverse range of topics, focusing on employability, and personal and professional development. The 2020 series is being delivered virtually, with all talks and presentations targeted at current students and recent graduates taking place online.
What it Takes to Start a Successful Digital or Online Business on 12 November invited alumni Dilraj Athwal, Paras Fatnani, and Ethel Tambudzai to speak about how to start an online or digital business, and provide personal insight, advice, and useful resources.
All speakers covered a variety of topics, including their journey from developing to launching an online/digital business, the importance of branding and how to find and retain loyal users and customers, and the tech, digital, media and other skills that have helped them along the way. There were approximately 265 attendees, who were able to ask the panel questions during the Q&A at the end of the discussion.
Reflecting on the event, an anonymous guest said: “The information, advice and insights given are going to be very useful to those of us that want to start our own business, or those who want to offer their services as freelancers.”
The following event on 16 November, titled What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur, held around 220 attendees and involved a talk by alumnus Charles Nasser, CEO and founder of Claranet, a leading IT service provider. Nasser spoke about his beginnings, challenges, learnings, and achievements to provide insight and advice on how to become a successful entrepreneur.
Reflecting on the event, one of the attendees said: “I rarely give ten out of ten, but this was an excellent presentation – sincere and real with valuable insights. I love the fact that he presented himself and his experiences as an entrepreneur.”
The next event, titled What it Takes to Create Confidence and Self-esteem, will take part on the 26 November and there will be more online events in the What it Takes series in Semester Two, starting in February 2021. The Alumni Team will announce the list of events shortly.
Watch some of the What it Takes talks on the Alumni YouTube channel.
Find out more about the What it Takes series.