My experience on the Starting Your Own Business module

Srajan Tyagi

By Srajan Tyagi, MSc Finance                                                        

I have always wanted to become an entrepreneur but was not sure if I had the right skills to start my own business. After coming to the University of Nottingham and pursuing my Master's in Finance (2024), I become more  sceptical of the idea of being an entrepreneur. The sheer calibre of students I attended class with, made me doubt myself. 

However, I always believed I could excel in this field by putting hard work into it. I came across Nottingham Advantage Award (NAA) in my first semester and was immediately drawn to the Start Your Own Business module. I enrolled myself and was excited to learn about entrepreneurship. 

First session 

The first session was an absolute eye-opener for me. The amount of knowledge I got from a two-hour class was amazing. I learned that there is a bit of science in becoming an entrepreneur and it is something that can be learned over time. I am not ruthless by nature and not very competitive, but it turns out, you do not need to be that person to become a successful entrepreneur.

The incredible journey of Nils Bergkvist proves that statement true. His entrepreneurial filled me with confidence that a person without obvious entrepreneurial traits can make it too. I am glad I came across his journey in the first class.

Module assessment

I interacted with other students who shared the same ambition as mine. Everyone had some startup idea and some were already working on it. For our module assessment, we had to prepare a short pitch of our idea and present it in front of the class. The range of business ideas presented was so diverse and innovative. I enjoyed that last class because I felt like a part of the community where I could grow and learn so much. 

I presented my idea of starting an export Indian food business to the UK, US, and Australia. I got useful feedback both from the professors and the students. The presentation gave me a much-needed third-person perspective, and I realised I could do so much more with this idea. The whole presentation session was supportive and interactive, and at the end, we exchanged our phone numbers and LinkedIn profiles so that we could stay connected.

My review

I really cannot put this experience into words but my advice to all the new students would be to sign up for this module. It was one of the highlights of my time at the University of Nottingham. I express my sincerest gratitude to Professor David Achtzehn and Janet Wallace for starting this module.  

If you’d like to discover more about the Nottingham Advantage Award and the different modules on offer, log into MyCareer. If you have any questions, contact the NAA team!