Jakub's Fantasy Map World

Wow... it's been a while since I have made a post about how things have been getting on with my business idea... but I am back again, and it is time to present to you my experiences of attending a few events from the Ipswich Thrive programme! There is loads of fun to be had in both the events that I had attended, and so I hope you will read through the whole post to the end.  About Ipswich Thrive Business Week Ipswich Thrive was a series of events that revolved around celebrating the successes of local business and encouraging entrepreneurship and professional development in the area. Ipswich Thrive was organised by Ipswich Borough Council, with events taking place between the 10th and the 18th of March 2025 at a wide range of venues across the Ipswich area.  Over 20 different business and careers services, and government departments were involved in running the events contained within the programme, including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the University of Suffo...

Well, here we are then - the year of 2024 has come to an end with even more amazing things being achieved in relation to my business idea than last year - firstly, getting a chance to visit the British Library over the summer on four occasions to explore historic map designs, to getting going with some summer craft fairs and making my first sales, and securing some funding for my business idea. To celebrate the end of the year, I would like to provide a summary of the enterprise-related events that I have been to at the University of Suffolk, and elsewhere in the run-up to the Christmas break. Trust me, there are many exciting things that I have to show you this time round! Enterprise Festive Bootcamp - late October to early November 2024 For those who don't know what my previous posts on the bootcamps are all about, I would like to give a little introduction as to what the Bootcamp is all about. So, the Enterprise Festive Bootcamp was a craft-fair focused bootcamp, that was compos...

Yes guys, I am back again with a reflective post... it is about time that I briefly shared with you my experience of attending two craft fairs and trying to sell some fantasy maps!  So, the business selling adventure started with a trip to the Felixstowe Craft Fair on the 25th of August, and I must say that the craft fair contained some unexpected surprises that had started quite some time before the sales could even begin, with the leisure centre Wi-Fi being unreliable to connect to, affecting the vast majority of sellers at the fair, meaning that they have had to rely on mobile data to take card payments, or otherwise, were only able to take cash. My first sale from my business came just before 12 noon, when one family decided to snoop around my stall and was interested in my work. Now, I was engaging them in the usual talk about the maps that I had made, until the mum decided that they wanted a map of the Kingdom of Ventura and Lorentia and offered to pay me with a £20 note. Pro...

It's official! I am coming on here to announce the news that I have reached a very big milestone in my life - I have now officially become a business owner! It's been a long and difficult journey at times to get to this stage, but working the last 18 months on this business idea has also allowed me to discover something that would give me a huge sense of worth and purpose in my life, something that I originally had never thought about when I graduated from university in October 2022. At this present time, I am currently focusing on getting my reach out at craft fairs - the fantasy map idea has gained a lot of popularity at the University of Suffolk Christmas Fair eight months back (famous novelists included), and so I felt that this would be the best way to attract new customers to my business before deciding whether to open up an online shop - I am most certainly looking forward to opening that side of the business when the time comes!  And speaking of craft fairs, I will be p...

It's back, and it's more wilder than ever... yes, that's right - it's time to present to you the Make a Difference Bootcamp Grand Finale post from June 2024! As you may or may not know, the Make a Difference Start-up Bootcamp is a series of sessions revolving around social enterprise start-ups that are run by a talented Enterprise Team at the University of Suffolk, consisting of Amy Volkert, the University's Enterprise Manager, and her helper Hannah Page - which if you are new to here, will have made regular appearances on this blog.  The June 2024 Bootcamp consisted of eight sessions focusing on ideation, marketing and financial planning, starting on the 18th of June, and culminating with this session on the 18th of July, where eight Bootcampers competed for the chance to win a share of £2,000 of the prize money. Without further ado... let's get to it, starting with the lead up to the pitching event! The event's prelude Now as is the usual theme, I could no...