Susan Paez, Founder of A Cuerpo, a business which provides Spanish theatre performance and workshops to educate children, was developing a new business model to develop an online platform to support language learning. Susan requested a student to explore the market to find the viability for this new product. International Finance and Investment MSc student, Ravi Chauhan, was well equipped to support the business with this research.
Susan explained her reason for requesting support for her business from an ECP student: “As a one-person business it is difficult to cover all the skills that are required to run a business, and also there is only a certain amount of time in a day. I wanted to test the market and find out if there was an appetite for my business model.”
Susan also said “Ravi spoke to me, found out what I needed, created a questionnaire to study the market, implemented it and used this, along with further research, to write a report. This report was really useful to me as it compiled data that determined the business was viable and audience wants and needs.”
Of his project, Ravi said “I decided to conduct an array of different research avenues such as open and closed questionnaires…taking part in the ECP was difficult but I had to make sure I asked the right questions in order to progress with the report. Realising that I had created a game changing new business model for this new start-up company was most enjoyable.”
Susan said “I would definitely recommend other organisations to take part, there is nothing to lose and a lot to gain. My experience has been excellent and it has exceeded my expectations”
Raka Garg, the Academic Supervisor assigned to support the academic aspects of the project, said “both student and host were equally committed and engaged in the project. Ravi brought in his unique perspective as well as business insights and research capabilities to address the project objectives…and Susan very engaged and forthcoming in working collaboratively with the student”
The ECP was so successful that the host has requested another student to continue working with in our current cohort.
Can you company also benefit from research conducted by a postgraduate student? Contact us on ecp@dmu.ac.uk to find out more and learn how you can take part.