Thursday 9th July was the 190th day of the year and also marked only 4 short weeks until the Converge Challenge 2015 Business Plan submission date.
As part of the Converge Challenge comprehensive training programme we invited the top 30 Converge Challenge 2015 participants to attend 1-2-1 business surgery at the impressive top floor Morton Fraser offices at Quartermile, Edinburgh.
During the Converge series we offer hands-on mentoring, rigorous training, business support and networking opportunities to help turn ideas into a reality. This event provided just that! Our budding entrepreneurs had the opportunity to speak face-to-face and confidentially with the Converge team and our superb expert partners:
Katy Conlan and Elizabeth Robertson, Solicitors at Morton Fraser
Geoff Jones, Director at Fearsome
Lauris Kemp, Patent Attorney at Murgitroyd
Stuart McCallum, Director at Baker Tilly
Ewan Morton, Director at Mortonward
Alister Minty, Partner and Founder of the Entrepreneur Business School and Neuehansa Ltd
Each specialist answered questions to shape propositions to help the finalists develop a robust business plan. Thousands of pounds of valuable and tailored advice was provided in a matter of hours!
Participants also managed to enjoy the lovely Scottish weather (yes the sun shone!!) out on the Morton Fraser balcony with spectacular views over to the Pentland Hills and Edinburgh Castle. So inspiration was delivered inside via our team of experts as well as outside by the view!
So what is next for our Final 30?
Our participants now have until Friday 7th August at 5pm to submit their 20-page business plan. This is the same deadline date for the KickStart and Social Enterprise however their submission plan is slightly different.
Each business plan will be assessed by the judging panel and ten will be shortlisted to receive 1-2-1 mentoring for 12 months following the competition. The ten will then be re-evaluated and the final six will be selected to attend the Awards Dinner on September 29th at the Barony Hall, University of Strathclyde. Our keynote speakers are John Swinney, Deputy First Minister of Scotland and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy and Professor David Lane, Founder of SeeByte Inc and Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics, a joint centre between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh.
We wish them all the best of luck!The Converge Challenge Team
Event photos can be found on our Facebook page here.
