2015

Meghan Van Portfliet, an student, shares her experiences of how Queen’s encourages and supports young entrepreneurs

When I decided to leave America to study in Belfast, I promised myself that I was going to make the most of my time studying abroad. At the beginning of the first semester, I got in contact with the President of Enactus, who filled me in on the projects that were going on this year. The business advisor from Enterprise SU gave me information on InnovateHer - a women in business group for students. Enactus is a social enterprise society at Queen’s, which uses the entrepreneurial skills of its members to empower others.

I had been heavily involved in volunteering back home, so Enactus was right in line with my interests, and it allowed me to give back to the community I was now living in. The projects I got involved in were Q-Consult and Start Talking. Q Consult is Queen’s University’s consultancy project, which works with businesses and charities to increase their profits through analysing business strategies and implementing changes. This not only complemented my degree by giving me consulting experience, but was a nice way to start building a network and also help some social causes. Start Talking is a student initiative to raise awareness and education for mental health issues in the student community. To engage people and raise funds for this cause, Start Talking sells posters of student artwork on and off campus.

Each year, Enactus UK university students come together to present the projects they have pioneered over the last 12 months. We travelled as a Belfast team to the national competition in April 2015 and I was able to listen to the projects for other universities, which was really inspiring. We made it all the way to the UK final which was a great achievement; Enactus at Queens only has 36 members, yet we were competing with schools that had hundreds of members and much bigger budgets. I was really proud that our team was placed in the top 5 out of over 80 in the UK, and I was really proud to be part of a group that has such a big impact in the local community and abroad. 

I decided to join InnovateHer because I had a business idea that I wasn't sure what to do with. I knew that I was going to have to develop a business idea in the second term for a module, so I thought InnovateHer would give me a head start and allow me to make a few friends. The support for this group was great - they put me in contact with top banking professionals, other female entrepreneurs, marketing and finance experts, and they really supported me through the process of developing my business idea into a business plan. I felt so confident in my business plan that I entered it into several competitions, run by Enterprise SU, and I was shortlisted for the "What's the Big Idea" business plan competition. I made it to the final round of the QUB Dragon's Den, where I had to present my idea to business experts for the chance to win £5,000 to kick start my business. 

This year was so much more than a year of study for me, it was a wonderful year of learning and growing, and I would encourage anyone that comes to Queens to consider getting involved with all the extracurricular activities on offer. I now have some great additions to my CV I have had some unforgettable experiences.

For more information on the International MBA and to apply, please click here.

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