REFLECTIONS TWO WEEKS ON FROM GRADUATING FROM NEW ZEALAND'S FIRST POP-UP BUSINESS SCHOOL

Two weeks ago on Friday 13th October 2017 I was sitting in an auditorium at Porirua's Te Rauparaha Arena. My brain was bursting at the seams with the amount of information that had been given to us over the course of 10 days. My heart had also absorbed the connections, stories and practical encouragement that had been passed on to us. I was part of a new 'us' - the first graduating class of New Zealand's Pop-Up Business School.

What is the Pop-Up Business School?
​From the website: “The PopUp Business School runs inspirational business training events to help people in communities start small businesses and making money doing what they love”. The concept has been run successfully in the UK for 7 years and has been run in New Zealand now for the first time. For me, it is a real-world education environment that teaches practical skills for not only creating and building a business, but also to creating and building a fulfilling life.
I came with a business idea and over the course of the 10 days I had opportunities to test it out in multiple conversations, pitching it to the entire class and even teaching some of the content to my fellow classmates. Two weeks later, I’ve launched my website www.jenyinsights.com to the public (previously I only shared it with friends on Facebook or family members via email), have made my first sale and have had collaborative business opportunities coming from left, right and centre.

My Personal Top 5 Highlights of the 10 days

1. As another participant said, "a lifetime worth of information" was delivered to us about the realities of starting a small business in New Zealand in the 21st century and digital age. I cannot begin to describe how valuable and practical this content was - from learning about marketing, building a website for free, finances, confidence, through to pitching, presenting, project management and negotiating... My brain has not felt so tired by the end of each day in a while!
   
   
2. Memorable catch phrases and principles that keep us motivated: some personal favourites include ‘a little bit and often', 'fail fast and fail cheap...it's the fastest way to learn', 'look at business as an experiment' and 'finished is better than perfect'.
   
   
3. Amazing and relatable speakers that gave up their time to share their stories of starting a business in New Zealand. Rather than hearing the typical examples of Richard Branson starting Virgin or Steve Jobs starting Apple from his garage, we learned first hand from New Zealand business owners (for example, Pat Shephard of the One Percent Collective and Phil of Moana Road) who had 'been there and done that'.
   
   
4. The incredibly supportive and energetic facilitators - Tony, Anna and the website guru team of Terry and Iona. The team blew me away. Truly. Before, during the course, at the ends of each day and weeks after the course finished, they have been energetic, supportive and knowledgeable. Tony amazed all of us with his energy and had us consistently laughing with jokes about his height. Anna inspired all of us with her facilitation ability, knowledge and passion. Terry and Iona were the friendly website gurus who kept us on track with creating our online presences and businesses online. Everyone really loved and appreciated how passionate this team were about helping others to build and grow their own businesses.
   
   
5. A very supportive online community to keep us accountable during the programme and after the programme. Resources, links to our online pages and highlights have been shared and celebrated.

Advice for people thinking of attending a future Pop-Up Business School
It's a no-brainer. For the first 50 registered the 10 day course is free. Yes, you read that right. All you need to do is bring yourself, your energy and something to take notes on (if you don't have a laptop for the 2 days of working on websites, they can even help you sort this out). After that, it's $100 per participant. Even if you were the 51st person to register, you would still only be paying $10 per day to learn invaluable content and to be in an environment with people in similar situations to you. The Pop-Up Business School is an extremely cost-effective, time efficient way of learning how to create and run a business. Rather than going to university for 3 or 4 years and spending thousands of dollars you can invest 10 days of your time to learning incredibly practical, New Zealand-relevant information. Are you sold yet? If not, you can check out their website for more information before you make this life-changing decision.

My hope for the future of the Pop-Up Business School
I'm 100% an advocate for the Aotearoa Pop-Up Business School. I hope that the Pop-Up Business School will become common-place in New Zealand. It is an incredible opportunity for New Zealanders to make their visions come true with access to practical information, skills and local networks. Without Tony's vision to bring this UK concept to New Zealand and without the generous sponsorship and belief of local councils and organisations, the Pop-Up Business School would not exist in New Zealand. So, thank you to Tony and the local councils and organisations who believed in this opportunity and who made it possible.
 
And, allow me to do a little Martin Luther King-esque ending:
I dream of a day where people have the education, tools and skills they need to make their dreams come true and that makes a difference in this world. I've been lucky enough to have the education, opportunities, support networks and mentors who've supported my own dreams and vision early in my career. The Pop-Up Business School has been one of those opportunities that has helped me to make my dream a reality. Now, Jen Y Insights is a reality and I'm so excited to see what happens next. Thank you.
 
Jennifer Young (‘Jen Y’) is on a mission to support a flourishing, thriving and mindful Gen Y (Millennials) in their lives and workplaces... starting with getting 48% of their time back. Jennifer is a mindfulness facilitator, NeuroLeadership Institute trained coach, leadership development consultant and writer. To learn more about her services and projects, go to www.jenyinsights.com ​

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