Henley Summer Start-Up Boot Camp 2023

Hosted by Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship and led by the Rebel Business School, the Boot Camp is a hands-on, week-long course for University of Reading and Henley Business School students, staff and alumni, along with students from Henley Business School partner institutions and local budding entrepreneurs from across the Thames Valley. The goal of the Boot Camp is to help participants learn about starting and setting up a business from scratch.

The Boot Camp is completely free and will give participants the confidence and skills to start a business and made money doing what they love by covering the key points for any aspiring entrepreneur, from building a website to generating sales.

The Boot Camp is generously sponsored by the Westcoast Group, a Berkshire based privately held company distributing leading IT brands such as HP, Dell, HPE, Microsoft, Lenovo, Apple and many others to a broad range of resellers, retailers and office product dealers in the UK and internationally. Westcoast is the largest privately owned company in the Thames Valley. A big thank you to Westcoast.

The Boot Camp will be held from 19-23 June 2023 online via Zoom. The full run through of each day is as below:

Monday 19 June

10:00am - Five Ways to Start for Free, Part One

11:05am - ‘How the Boot Camp Can Benefit You’ Talk

11:20am - Break

11:40am - Five Ways to Start for Free, Part Two

12:45pm - Lunch

1:30pm - The Quickest Way to Start a Business

3:00pm - Optional Networking Hour

4:00pm - End

Tuesday 20 June

10:00am - Sales and the Dark Art of Marketing, Part One

11:20am - Break

11:40am - Sales and the Dark Art of Marketing, Part Two

12:45pm - Lunch

1:30pm - Growing your Business Quickly

3:00pm - Optional Networking Hour

4:00pm - End

Wednesday 21 June

10:00am - How to Make a Great Website for Free, Part One

11:20am - Break

11:40am - How to Make a Great Website for Free, Part Two

12:45pm - Lunch

1:30pm - Websites, Taking Payments and SEO

3:00pm - Optional Networking Hour

4:00pm - End

Thursday 22 June

10:00am - The Quickest Way to Find Customers, Part One

11:20am - Break

11:40am - The Quickest Way to Find Customers, Part Two

12:45pm - Lunch

1:30pm - Social Media Explained

3:00pm - Optional Networking Hour

4:00pm - End

Friday 23 June

10:00am - Legal and Finance Panel

11:20am - Break

11:40am - The Legal Bit: Tax and Company Structure

12:45pm - Lunch

1:30pm - The 12 Rebel Principles

3:00pm - Optional Networking Hour

4:00pm - End

In addition to the above programme, there will be speakers throughout the course, including experienced business advisors and past Boot Camp attendees.

Applications to register your interest in attending are now open. To apply for a place on the Boot Camp, please register here.

Please note that as there are limited spaces on the Boot Camp you will be asked to submit a supporting statement to explain why you wish to attend and the business idea you are looking to develop in 100 words or less. After you have registered your interest, you will be informed within approximately one week whether your application to attend was successful.

The Boot Camp is led by Simon Paine and Halima Salim, the co-founder and CEO and Alumni Support and Facilitator for the Rebel Business School respectively. Simon launched the Rebel Business School in 2012 to help entrepreneurs find a better way to start a business, without debt and without formal business plans. Since then, the Rebel Business School has gone on to help over 7,000 entrepreneurs in four continents to do more of what they love.

Simon is an experienced entrepreneur and facilitator of creative problem solving, challenging leaders and entrepreneurs to think and operate differently. He has worked with global brands such as EDF Energy, Servest, Microsoft, BBC, Selfridges, Ramsay Healthcare and British Airways, helping senior leaders to deliver maximum positive impact.

Halima supports Rebel Business School alumni once they complete the course and has many years of experience both participating on and facilitating on courses to help build new businesses. She also has her own business teaching English as a second language to women from all over the world.

Your information will only be shared with Henley Business School and the Rebel Business School for the purpose of running the event. The course is being offered free of charge to participants by Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Henley Summer Start-Up Boot Camp 2023 is led by the Rebel Business School.

Henley Summer Start-Up Boot Camp 2023 is generously sponsored by Westcoast.