107 local potential business startups attended the first ever Startup Portsmouth Summit and took the first steps towards becoming their own boss.

On Saturday 9th May 2015, over 100 local prospective entrepreneurs took time out of their weekend to consider how they might start their own business and become their own boss.  They attended the very first Startup Portsmouth Summit to hear from business leaders and experts about the important issues when starting your own business.

This free event was put together by the Business and Enterprise workstream of the ‘Shaping the Future of Portsmouth’ group working in partnership with the City Council and the University of Portsmouth’s Business School.

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20 local companies created the marketplace with 1-1 conversations taking place around marketing, retail finance and business support in the City to name a few.  In addition to the marketplace, local business professionals delivered a series of repeating parallel sessions where successful business owners presented on topics such as running a social enterprise, succeeding in the service industry, getting personal support, marketing your business, the City’s vision for business support and more.

Prospective business owners gave their thoughts on the conference. “I am here to learn about marketing, websites and mentors” said Adam Lane (local entrepreneur). “Because I am on my own and I don’t have any business partners . . . to have that extra backup is very very valuable” said Susan Turner (Startup Entrepreneur)

The summit also included networking and one-to-one space as well as a questions wall.

The summit is the first outcome from the Startup Portsmouth project.  Startup Portsmouth is an initiative that aims to provides advice, direction and guidance to startup businesses in Portsmouth.  It brings together businesses, educators, support organisations and online resources to provide advice and guidance through its website: startup-portsmouth.co.uk . All of the questions asked at the summit are going to be incorporated in to the main Startup Portsmouth website when it launches in July 2015.

Find out what Startup Portsmouth is all about and what local people thought of our event online at our youtube channel.