11 December 2018
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Close to a thousand first year students, across all disciplines, are being taught to be successful entrepreneurs in Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).
Winners of the Business Model Canvas 2018 Final Pitch Event, Moxiphone, pictured with Carole O’Leary, CIT Innovation & Enterprise Manager. Photo at Cork Institute of Technology Rubicon Centre
As part of the module offered to all first years, students take part in innovation and team building activities fostering creativity. They then use these skills to examine the 9 building blocks for setting up a business through the use of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) framework. They are separated into teams where they use their new knowledge to come up with a business idea. They are then afforded the opportunity to pitch these ideas to start-up professionals in The Rubicon Centre, CIT’s incubation centre. Not only do they receive academic credit for their creativity and entrepreneurship they also have the chance to win €500, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, for the best elevator pitch.
Enterprise Intern Sorcha MacMahon, who teaches the Business Model Canvas classes said “Business Model Canvas classes are fun but also informative. There can be a lot of information to take in in one go but the students are always enthusiastic. Business Model Canvas is a safe and encouraging environment for students to explore their business ideas and to be creative. It shows students that even the simplest idea can be turned into a business if you have the right tools, which is what we try to give them.”
Enterprise and Innovation is prominent in CIT, with programmes and events running all year to enhance student enterprise. The Rubicon Centre is instrumental to CIT’s prominence in student entrepreneurship resulting in 6% of 2016 graduates indicating that they were self-employed.
For more information on student enterprise supports and resources visit http://enterprise.cit.ie
