Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Holbrook,, have just finished hosting a three-day entrepreneurial workshop with high-tech entrepreneur, Fabio Zoffi, for their BTEC Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and A-Level Business and Economics pupils in Year 12, providing them with a fantastic hands on experience of modern entrepreneurship.

The workshop titled, 'how to become an entrepreneur in 3 days - by playing' consisted of learning key skills such as, strategic thinking, data gathering & analysis, business model modular construction and operational execution, with 80 pupils in attendance. 

Across the three days the pupils took part in carrying out customer surveys to logo, design, pricing, marketing, product prototyping and much more.

To include more practicality in the workshop Fabio added some general sessions, with two presentations on the possible future scenarios for the global society and the fundamental role of new entrepreneurs; and the concept of 'kidpreneurs', i.e. 'playing' with business models to learn the profession of entrepreneur while having fun with science and technology.

This was also followed with morning 'walk & talk' sessions, where the participants could ask Fabio any questions they wanted, even outside the business context so that he could pass on to them his knowledge accumulated throughout his 20-year career. 

Superyacht Tenders & Toys among entreprenuers

On the final day, a networking breakfast took place, in which several entrepreneurs from the East of England gathered to speak to the students ahead of their working day to provide first-hand experience.

The entrepreneurs included Jenna Ackerly (Events Under Canvas), Josh Richardson (Superyacht Tenders & Toys), and Guy Hocking (Utilize Group). There were also representatives from Anglia Ruskin University Business School.  

As a high-tech start-up entrepreneur, Fabio decided to contribute to the education of the younger generation by speaking at universities all over the world on how new technologies can be used to create successful businesses and at the same time improve the society in which we live. His programme '1 billion entrepreneurs by 2040', teaches how to use technology to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Fabio decided to host the workshop after choosing to enrol his son Federico for a term at RHS, a school he selected on the basis of the very convincing programme and the comprehensive extracurricular activities offered in a fantastic location.

Fabio with RHS students

Fabio said: "Right from the start, already in the online communication, we noticed the extreme kindness and professionalism of the staff and teachers, and this made us clearly decide RHS for our son and gave me the personal motivation to offer the students a workshop.

"I had never thought about teaching younger children. Somehow, in a moment of serendipity, meeting the teachers of RHS gave me the idea for the workshop, which was immediately accepted with enthusiasm by business teacher Sarah Williamson.

"Together with Sarah, we developed the concept of using the business model of a coffee shop - seemingly simple but in reality very complex due to the completeness of its value chain - to have workshop participants (15-17 year olds) create a new product, a drink, from scratch.

"The three days with the students were fantastic and exciting and with Sarah we realised that this workshop model could become an innovative approach to teaching entrepreneurship to the younger generation."

Sarah Williamson, Head of Business and Economics at RHS added: "It was incredible to watch the Year 12 pupils at RHS engage in this special three-day workshop.

"Fabio's comprehensive approach of becoming an entrepreneur in all aspects of life, i.e. developing an entrepreneurial mind and creating your own exciting life experience, not just with business, for example by taking responsibility and leadership about your health, sleep, diet, and critical thinking skills, is a principle that we teach our students daily.

"Entrepreneurship and building resilience in our students is a key philosophy here at RHS so Fabio's holistic entrepreneurial approach fitted perfectly into our ethos.

"I'm thrilled the students left inspired and we hope to host future workshops like this going forward to inspire the younger generation." 

Royal Hospital School info...