Issues in marketing enterprise initiatives within a university culture and framework

Enterprise initiatives come in a number of guises but, whether they are grant-funded or a commercial aspect of a university's business, the key driver is output. This usually means numbers ‐ of students, of businesses, of ideas developed and sold, of financial gain and reputations made. A critical element impeding progress to the successful development of enterprise is marketing. This is something of a misnomer within organisations as amorphous as universities. The ability to develop products and services and to market them effectively to what should be a captive audience can prove even more trying than dealing with the mountain of paper work that accompanies most, if not all, enterprise initiatives. This paper describes the difficulties experienced by Business Start-Up@Leeds Met in marketing enterprise at Leeds Metropolitan University, lessons learned and the future direction in terms of marketing approach.