My Experience with the “New Enterprise Development” module – Peter Killalea

Upon returning to DCU from INTRA to complete my final year of studies I was excited to see what additional expertise I could gain from the modules being offered. Whilst all my modules have granted me invaluable practical experience in their own regard, the module which has taught me the most about functioning as a team and the tasks involved with creating a good/service is “New Enterprise Development”. The purpose of this module is for 5 students to create a concept for a good/service and then after thorough research and effort as well as the creation of a marketing campaign, the students pitch their product to four investors in the same fashion as Dragons Den.

The Ideation process was incredibly interesting as it involved all members of our group collaborating and pitching concepts from energy drinks to help with hangovers to software to assist with proper stances and form for exercises in the gym. After accumulating 20+ potential ideas for products, we then discussed the practicality and potential market for each as well as which we felt most passionately about as a team. After this lengthy discussion, we determined that we all felt most attracted towards a product that helps alleviate feelings of anxiety through natural scents/fragrances.

An incredibly beneficial aspect that NED provides in terms of experience in the market research students must conduct themselves. I can recall our group personally researching mental health statistics for Ireland as well as conducting primary research in the form of surveys and polls. We also had to examine the feasibility of this product which involved the finance students within our group calculating the costs of production. Other students and myself were tasked with reading academic studies into mental health and natural scents effect on stress levels. We then evaluated this research to determine whether our product had the potential to make a profit.

After completing the ideation process and feasibility research, we were then tasked with creating the marketing campaign for our product, which as a marketing student was both the most rewarding and equally the most interesting section of the module. When determining the marketing strategy for our product, we were taught how it was important to understand our target market and to utilize traits within our campaign that they could relate to. Given that our target market was college students, and the topic of mental health is so commonly stigmatised, we believed a more light-hearted approach was best. We were then able to film and edit the ad for our product which was even more advantageous experience. Having the responsibility of organising the marketing aspects of our business and getting an insight into what type of work I can expect after graduating was incredibly rewarding.

Ultimately, New Enterprise Development is a module that will give practical experience like no other module and yet another reason why I would recommend studying Business in DCU to anyone currently considering it.