海角直播

Fuelling the next generation of entrepreneurs at 海角直播

A new start-up is helping students to boost their wellbeing and personal development with its unique product launched through 海角直播鈥檚 FUEL programme.

Semester Student Planner, founded by 海角直播 graduates Nathan Marr and Joe Hilton, designs and produces bespoke student planners which promote personal growth and wellbeing. Not your average diaries, they encompass all of the practical necessities of a planner with additional features on goal setting, reflection, tasks and employability to teach students techniques which will help them to manage their work effectively and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Nathan and Joe, both 31 and from Billingham, launched the business with the help of 海角直播鈥檚 FUEL programme in connection with its business incubator, Launchpad.

The pair of entrepreneurs benefited from design, planning and sales workshops, mentoring, training sessions, and support from experienced industry experts during the seven-week programme, which culminated in them winning funding from FUEL and an additional supporter to help kickstart their business.

Nathan said: 鈥淭he FUEL programme was a massive help; it allowed us to create the foundations 鈥� set up the website, start on the marketing of the product and network, as well as giving us access to funding.

鈥淚t's normally people who have already faced struggles who then need to discover something to pick themselves back up. We want to flip the script and bring it forward by enabling people to learn personal growth and wellbeing skills through a product that鈥檚 easy to follow right at the very start, so it's more proactive rather than reactive.

鈥淲e've used these techniques to great effect in our own lives and we鈥檙e getting really positive feedback 鈥� people are feeling more organised, their wellbeing is improved, and they feel like they're doing more within their lives that they enjoy.

鈥淪tarting so fast, getting the investment - it all happened because of Launchpad, and that鈥檚 why we've based ourselves here. It has great offices and there are loads of other fantastic businesses based here too, which makes it a hive of activity.鈥�

Joe is proud to be making a difference to students鈥� wellbeing and development, adding: 鈥淭he tools we鈥檝e put in the planners for students are exactly what we鈥檙e using in running our business 鈥� setting goals, planning for the future and looking at our next steps 鈥� so they鈥檙e universally helpful.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 put a price on when you make a positive impact on someone鈥檚 mental health and wellbeing. If one student takes this and maximises their potential by improving their mental health and learning new skills to benefit their studies or future careers, that to us is a major win because it鈥檚 intrinsically rewarding.

鈥淭he FUEL programme has been amazing, not just with the financial aspect of the business, which has obviously been a huge help for our start-up, but also with the resources and the guidance that we've had from them as new business owners. We wouldn鈥檛 be where we are now without FUEL, so I鈥檇 definitely recommend it.鈥�

Semester Student Planner is now based in Launchpad鈥檚 contemporary, on-campus working space housed in the Victoria building, which provides access to state-of-the-art facilities as part of the University鈥檚 拢5.6m Enterprise Zone.

Steve Dougan, Head of Enterprise at 海角直播, said: 鈥淭he FUEL programme is dedicated to helping students, staff and graduates to realise their entrepreneurial potential and bring their innovative business ideas to fruition.

鈥淚t鈥檚 excellent to see how Nathan and Joe have progressed since embarking on their FUEL journey a year ago, and we鈥檙e proud to have supported them along the way.

鈥淲e have recently accepted our new FUEL cohort and, looking at the success of previous participants, we are excited to see where their burgeoning businesses will take them with the help of 海角直播.鈥�