Getting Started

General

Like all entrepreneurial ventures, your SIFE Chapter is probably starting from scratch.  This note provides some basic ideas on how to establish and manage your chapter but it is important that you also consider the culture of your institution and the student body and make adjustments accordingly.

We do not suggest that ‘one size fits all’ – just the opposite – SIFE should be ‘tailor-made’ to match the demographic figure of your university and your local community.  In fact, we would be grateful if, as you develop and implement your own particular solutions, you email feedback and progress reports to us so that we can improve the ‘Aussie’ start up guide to be published on our web site.  All contributions will be acknowledged and count for the purpose of competition as a SIFE project.

The Seven SIFE Steps

• Step 1 – Obtain university affiliation
  Go to the student association or union at your university and find out what is required to start a club or society.  Formal affiliation will have many benefits, including financial assistance and banking facilities, help to get organised, to plan and run meetings, a web page and other help to publicise your organisation across the whole university and insurance for your activities.
• Step 2 – Build your chapter (see SIFE Clubs)
  You will need a minimum number of students to register as a club. You will also need to find a member of either academic or general staff to accept the official appointment of SIFE Australia Faculty Advisor to act as a mentor to your teams.  You must also gain the support of a minimum of two local business or public sector executives to form the nucleus of your Business Advisory Board.
• Step 3 – Register your chapter with SIFE Australia (see Registration Forms)
  When you have completed step 3, you are ready to register your chapter with SIFE Australia.  On receipt of satisfactory evidence that you have met the criteria, SIFE Australia will pay a Registration Bounty of $100 to assist in the further development of your chapter membership.
• Step 4 – Develop your membership, management & communications strategies
  Recruiting a diverse group of motivated students is critical to your success.  Brainstorm a list of the ways you have found out about other activities on campus and imitate the most effective and least costly; use campus resources such as notices on bulletin boards and university-wide emails.
• Step 5 – Devise, Develop & Deliver your projects (see SIFE Projects)
  The ‘engine room’ of all your activities and the principal way you will derive benefit from the program lies in your choice and execution of quality projects.  You will have to come up with ideas, possibly write a proposal, recruit people to implement it, secure funding and resources.
• Step 6 – Document, Evaluate & Report your projects
  ‘The job’s not finished until the paperwork is done’.  And, more importantly, this is the method by which you measure yourself and are measured by others at the National Competition.  In the ‘real world’ of the market economy, companies are judged on the basis of their reported results.
• Step 7 – Celebrate: recognise effort, reward success and have fun
  Thank the people who help your teams.  While a plaque is nice, a simple and sincere letter is not as expensive but is no less appreciated.  Include teambuilding and bonding activities as a break: all work and no play is not fun.  Humour or physical activity recharges your batteries.