If you are thinking about starting a new business, want to build your entrepreneurial skills, or have an idea but don’t know where to start, then the Careers & Employability team can help you.
Starting a new enterprise might seem intimidating, but it’s something that can be achieved. Take a look at this series of real-life stories featuring current students and recent graduates who have successfully launched their own businesses, to you get inspired.
Tom: Terrazze
Tom is a Business Management student and runs clothing brand Terrazze.
My business is Terrazze UK, a clothing brand that I started with a friend almost a year ago, just before coronavirus hit the UK. The pandemic made us re-evaluate whether it was the best time to launch a business, so instead I used my time in lockdown to build a website and set up the foundations of the business. Our aim is that once all the foundations are in place, we will be able to launch the business and our products.
The brand takes inspiration from football fashion that was popular in Britain in the 1980s, known as the casual subculture. Terrazze will focus on emulating the quality of the designer brands, but at much more affordable prices.
I am currently taking part in the Design Your Future Programme through the university. The sessions have been really helpful, and it is great to hear from industry experts about the different aspects of running a business. I think once I have completed the course, I will be much more confident in developing my business.
Read Tom’s full story here.
Angel: Empathy.co
Angel Maldonado graduated from The University of Liverpool with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems. He is the CEO and Founder of Empathy.co.
I am the founder and CEO of Empathy.co. We are makers of Search and Discovery products within some of the largest ecommerce brands of the world. Studying IR and decentralised computing led to the ideas behind Empathy.co and its success.
It was whilst studying at Liverpool that I discovered distributed computing, decentralisation, chaos theory and was it was the support I received through my work on designing over networks that lead to the foundation of my company Empathy.co.
Read Angel’s full story here.
Phoebe: Fair to Look Fabulous
Phoebe is a MSc Marketing student and runs start-up beauty brand “Fair to Look Fabulous”.
Fair to Look Fabulous or FTLF for short is a beauty brand that does exactly what it says in the name! It’s all about making customers look fabulous whilst being fair to the planet, to animals and your bank account with strictly vegan and cruelty-free products that are packaged in recyclable materials and affordably priced.
From a young age, I loved makeup and as I got older I wanted to be my own boss and run a cosmetics brand. I got the opportunity to do this in my final year of university as a module of the course.
Fair to Look Fabulous was created with the aim to decrease packaging waste and animal cruelty in the beauty industry and after pitching to investors I was awarded £300 to make it into a reality. I invested the money in product materials and packaging supplies and initially launched with a range of vegan false eyelashes in March 2020 (unluckily just before the pandemic hit) and in October 2020 launched a vegan brow soap too, which has been a huge success.
After graduating, I wanted to improve my marketing skills and was awarded the ULMS future leaders scholarship to study at the University of Liverpool.
I have been running FTLF alongside my studies and in December I was presented with another opportunity to pitch to a panel of judges associated with the university and Santander as part of The Entrepreneurship Awards. From this, I was given £500 for Fair To Look Fabulous which is set to be invested in growth and marketing.
Read Phoebe’s full story here.
Enterprise isn’t just about running a business, although that can be a large part of it. It’s also a collection of activities that provide you with an opportunity to challenge yourself by learning new skills, both personally and professionally.
Take a look at the Careers & Employability Enterprise Hub for information and support to help you develop your skills and turn your ideas into reality.