Today (21 August) is World Entrepreneurs Day – a day to celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership.

Entrepreneurship is the process of setting up a business. It can also mean becoming a freelancer or developing a social enterprise. It is an opportunity for you to carve your own path, building skills and gaining valuable work experience along the way.

Sussex can support you from the early stages of developing an idea, all the way through to launching and scaling your venture. You can book a one-to-one appointment with a member of the Entrepreneurship team to discuss your ideas and get support.

There are also lots of workshops, events and services for those who simply want to gain skills that employers look for, like problem-solving, team-work, creative thinking and pitching ideas.

Plus, there are a number of funding opportunities available to Sussex students, including the chance to travel to California and pitch your idea to win £10,000 in our Big Ideas Contest this autumn.

Meet our award-winning team

Did you know our Careers, Employability and Entrepreneurship team recently won the AGCAS Supporting Student/Graduate Employability Award 2024 for their Career Lab and Entrepreneurship programme?

Meet the team and find out how they support students in an Instagram video created by one of our student Digital Media Creators!

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Find out more

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, you’ve got an idea you want to explore, or just interested in finding out more, check the entrepreneurship page on the Student Hub.

Video transcript

[Luke Mitchell speaking to camera ] Hi I’m Luke

[Louise Harman speaking to camera] Hi I’m Louise

[Jessica Banks speaking to camera] Hi I’m Jess

[All three team members standing in front of the Student Centre]

[Luke, Louise and Jess] We’re the Entrepreneurship Team!

[Luke] We’re celebrating World Entrepreneurs Day, and if you’re a Sussex student interested in entrepreneurship, this is a great university to be at.

You can access a wide range of free support, from one-to-ones to workshops and funding opportunities.

[Louise] We support everyone: from the curious student starting out to the established founder. Over 800 students access our support each year and many of them are social entrepreneurs tackling critical challenges.

But you don’t have to be developing a business or social enterprise to get involved.

[Jess] By coming to workshops, you can develop key skills that employers are looking for. We also offer internships each summer where you can land a paid role supporting our student and graduate startups.

[Luke] We’ll support you for up to three years after graduation, and you can get involved at any time of the year.

This autumn, we’ll be running drop-ins for the curious and offering funding opportunities. In spring we have Startup Sussex, which is the University’s flagship ideas competition.

We’ve also got Sussex Innovation on campus to support you as your business grows.

[Clip of an Entrepreneurship lanyard with text that reads “Want to get involved?”]

[Louise] Come to a workshop

[Luke] Book a one-to-one

[Jess] Or sign up to our weekly newsletter.

[Text that reads “Most importantly…”]

[Louise, Luke and Jess] Be curious!