Skip to content
Skip to main content

About this free course

Become an OU student

Download this course

Share this free course

Entrepreneurship – from ideas to reality
Entrepreneurship – from ideas to reality

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

Further reading

Grants:
If you live in the UK, you can find more information about grants and other funding schemes at Gov.uk [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . The website also has information about the Graduate Entrepreneur Visa for graduates whose business idea is endorsed by the Department for International Trade (DIT) or a UK higher education institution (HEI).
For those living and working outside of the UK, many other governments also provide funding support for entrepreneurs, such as the EU and Chile.
Crowdfunding:
Find out more about the three crowdfunding platforms discussed in Section 8.3 on the websites for Kickstarter, Seedrs and Crowdcube.
Peer-to-peer lending:
Funding Circle and Thincats are two examples of peer-to-peer lending platforms.
Government schemes for prospective lenders:
The government’ s EIS and SEIS schemes offer tax relief on investments for prospective lenders.
Bootstrapping versus venture capital:
The pros and cons of bootstrapping versus accepting venture capital is discussed in various videos, however this one provides thorough coverage of the issues for one high-scale online retailer.