Me and a classmate with one of our deliverables.  

A few months ago, when I was choosing classes for my semester abroad in London, I found myself in the position of having an opening for one more class in my schedule. I started scrolling through CEA CAPA’s offerings and came across a class called Business Consulting. I decided to take it as it worked with my schedule and is related to my degree (Business Administration). However, the class has panned out to be one of the most rewarding classes of my college career because of the unique opportunity to work closely with a London business and complete a semester-long project for them. Although I did not know much about consulting before, I have learned a lot about the importance of interacting with clients and doing work in the field, and as a result, my presentation skills have improved immensely.  

My classmates and I working on our project in class. 

A Brief Introduction to the Class 

The class centers around a semester-long project working with a local London business. Each semester is a different business and the brief and set of deliverables are set by the business themselves. My class has been working with a company called DEFY Brands that utilizes AI and a team of experts to produce real-time consumer insights in the food and beverage industry. Their task for us was to explore venture capital firms in the United States to see how saturated the market is and then identify some possible venture capital companies for DEFY to approach. 

The class is only six students (myself included), so it makes for easier collaboration, a more intimate learning environment, and a way to get to know my classmates better. So far we have presented preliminary research to DEFY on venture capital companies and recently presented again on how venture capital firms acquire their industry research. We also discovered that due to DEFY’s smaller size, an incubator or accelerator program would be best for them right now. 

Next Steps 

Our next steps for our final presentation. 

Our next steps moving forward are to present our final deliverable to DEFY in-person at their office. We have found that the American market is heavily saturated, but due to DEFY’s expertise and capabilities, we have suggested that they start by looking at incubator or accelerator programs first. (Incubators and accelerators are programs that support start-ups or earlier stage companies before they approach a venture capital firm so that they have enough credibility, research, and support for when they do choose to advance to the next stage.) 

A business in Camden Market that my group drew inspiration from. 

Gaining Experience in the Field  

The class is also supplemented with field trips that serve as case studies where we apply what we have learned in the classroom and put our consulting skills to use. Some trips we have taken so far include visiting Camden Market, where we split into two groups of three and were tasked with coming up with a business that would be successful in the market. We spent that field trip analyzing the location, the kinds of people visiting, Camden Market’s origins in the seventies, and the current businesses within the market. My group’s assigned sector was fashion and our observations culminated in a presentation on an alternative clothing shop specializing in authentic band merchandise that would succeed in Camden Market.  

An example display from the Victoria and Albert Museum that we critiqued.  

Another field trip we have taken was to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Although you could spend days in this museum, our assignment was to act like consultants looking through the lens of “critical friend” and “trusted advisor.” Consultants are a necessary part of bringing fresh ideas and being catalysts for change. This case study required us to choose one exhibit in the museum to offer advice on how to improve it. My group focused on the Japanese exhibit and created a video highlighting some things the museum did well and other things we thought they could improve on. For example, the museum organized the exhibit in an intuitive way—starting with the oldest pieces and moving newer artifacts toward the end of the exhibit so that as you walk through, it is mimicking the passage of time. Nonetheless, the text, dates, and titles of some items were incredibly small even though there was a lot of empty space. We agreed that to be more inclusive and accessible to those with impaired vision, it would be beneficial to increase the font size. 

Rewarding Experiences 

Ultimately, this class has been a beneficial experience for me. I have learned a lot about what consultants do and how they address issues strategically. The class field trips and lectures really enhance it as we continue to work through our main project throughout the semester. I would recommend this class to anyone remotely interested in consulting because of the opportunity to work hands-on with a local business and gain experience applicable to the working world. The class has given me experience to include on my resume and helped me build my professional skills and presentation skills even more.