What’s your name and what do you study?

My name is Chris Johnston, and I am currently in my third year of Business Management with Placement

What is your business called and what is it for?

My business is called Nunterei. I currently offer newsletter sponsorship for businesses. Therefore, I essentially become a very specific marketing manager for businesses as I go in and find around 10 newsletters that would be related to the product or service that the business sells. Next, I would speak to whoever oversees sponsorship at the newsletter, negotiate pricing and then go in and work with the newsletter to create the ad itself.

I am also currently getting back into selling ads for media companies that would have multiple newsletters.

What made you decide to do a year in enterprise rather than a placement year?

I always had the desire to do something myself, in school I was always running Instagram pages to make a little bit of money, and I loved the process of creating something myself. I remember on the Introduction Day at the start of first year I heard that the business school was considering introducing a year in enterprise as part of the placement program and I knew that was the only thing I would even consider doing.

What have been your highlights of the year so far?

For me, it has to be all the amazing founders that I have met over the year. It has amazed me how many people are happy to give you their time just because you have the desire to build something. Through just asking for people’s time on Linkedln I’ve spoken to founders that have sold their start-ups for $100 million and above which has been incredibly inspiring.

On the other end, everyone I met through QUest was incredible at the start of the year. Everyone was in different positions at the start of their journey and had so much drive to do well, you could feel the passion and the encouragement in the room every time.

Have you faced any obstacles during your year in enterprise and how did you overcome them?

When trying to start a business I would say you’d be extremely lucky to even go a day without some sort of obstacle. The biggest one I have experienced though was figuring out who my customer is and what they want. What I am building changes almost on a weekly basis as early on in business adaptability is vital. I also think not changing for every idea your potential customers ask for is important too, you need to give the market something that it needs but you must remember you can’t give the market everything that it wants.

What have you learned so far in your experience?

So far, I have learnt that you need to be willing to jump into everything head on and not be shy to put yourself out there, it only takes one person to change the projection of what you are doing so speak to everyone. At the start of my year, I was terrified of jumping onto a call with people, now nearly every day I am jumping onto calls with people not necessarily with the intention to sell, but with the intention to build relationships and try learning even one small thing.

I have also learnt that failure is your best friend. So, there is no point fearing it. How I see it now is the more you fail the more you learn. Obviously in the moment it feels terrible but if you can step back and take how you feel out of it, you’ll learn quickly and get better. I’d recommend watching those videos of AI learning how to get the fastest time in those racing games. The AI just does it over and over and over until it figures it out as its not fear of failing and then gets the best results quicker than a human.

What advice would you give to a student thinking about applying for a year in enterprise and what advice would you give to a student starting out on this route?

Do it! I have spoken to a few students in the year below who feel scared about doing the year in enterprise as they feel if the business doesn’t work out they’ll have less of a chance of a graduate job. To that I have to say it will make you more employable if you give it your all, as in my opinion you are learning 100 times more than any placement could ever give you. In the past year I have learnt how to make a website, how to utilise AI, some coding skills, how to write engaging copy, and nearly everything you could learn about marketing. Along with a million other things. Simply by perusing the year in enterprise, I have actually been offered the option of a salaried job in the future with someone that I have just started doing work with. In short, just go for it there is much higher upside with the same downside as every other student.

The advice I would give for anyone who is starting out on this route next year is to embrace every opportunity provided to you. Personally, I regret not taking fully advantage of the QUest program at the start of the year and not trying to meet as many people as possible at the start of the year. So, stick your head in and just give it your all and don’t be shy of making mistakes.

 

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