Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West's Schools Enterprise Programme.
Local Enterprise Offices provide advice, information and support in starting up or growing a business. With 31 dedicated teams across the Local Authority network in Ireland, LEO offers a wide range of experience, skills and services. LEO also promotes enterprise and entrepreneurship and fosters a culture of enterprise throughout secondary schools.
We have devised an enterprise programme where students set-up and run their own mini enterprises over the course of the academic year. The programme has a junior, intermediate and senior cycle and students in all categories are encouraged to take a business from the idea stage, through market research to production, selling, record keeping, management and finally to writing a comprehensive report.
The students take part in a regional competition and hope to win awards for their various category. A select few are chosen to compete at the annual All Ireland Student Enterprise finals and a number of mini-companies are invited to attend a bootcamp for student entrepreneurs in UCC each year.
Case Studies
1. Citosc – Finalists at the All Ireland Student Enterprise Awards 2016
Citosc all started when Conrad got this great idea to build VR Viewers for the student enterprise competition. He presented his idea to his fellow students, and after a vote they made clear that they did not like the idea and that they were not willing to invest.
In reaction to the vote, Conrad left and decided to set up Citosc with 3 friends, Paraig,Peter & Ryan. They decided to call their product Virtualis. And the rest, as they say, is history
Citosc’s current flagship product, the Virtualis is about bringing Virtual Reality to the masses. Inspired by Google Cardboard, the Virtualis allows anyone to experience Virtual Reality.
The company some recent media attention for the video they created of team member Ryan's gran-aunt experiencing virtual reality for the first time! See here for Irish Examiner Article & video.
