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Archive for the ‘Young Enterprise’ Category

Share your business knowledge and experiences

Posted in Young Enterprise on November 15th 2009 | No Comments

As some may know, I chair the Area Board for Young Enterprise covering the Northampton and Daventry area. One thing never ceases to amaze me is the shortage of people willing to volunteer their time to share their knowledge and expertise with the Entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

So why should anyone in business work with Young Enterprise? It doesn’t matter whether you are self employed, the manager of a large corporate business, or employed. It only matters that you have some experience of working in business, and are willing to share that knowledge. The students who take part in Young Enterprise are willing to learn from this experience, and the energy the volunteer picks up from these students is difficult to put into words. Quite obviously I recommend everyone gives it a try.

There are both Primary and Secondary School programs available, so for those who are only able to spare a few days here and there then look at the Primary Programs. Working with children in a primary school for a day or two is a true eye opener, especially as you start to see them “get it” as you deliver the educational program. At the Secondary School level the programs such as the Company Program generally run for a few months, but you and the students learn so much more. The students run a real company for around 6 months, deal with real money, and have the chance to go onto European Awards. The satisfaction a volunteer can get from seeing the students they work with go on to earn real money, overcome real challenges, and win awards is fantastic.

If you are based around Northampton or Daventry and would like to know more about volunteering for Young Enterprise please ask me for more information. Once you’ve experienced volunteering for Young Enterprise you’ll want to do it again, inspiring young entrepreneurs is very rewarding.

A date for your diary! – Sunday 6th December, come to the Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Northampton and visit the Young Enterprise trade fair on the first floor. You’ll see for yourself what the Young Enterprise Company Program is all about.

Support The Young Enterprise Awards

Posted in Young Enterprise on February 25th 2009 | No Comments

YOUNG ENTERPRISE COMPANY PROGRAMME
In the Northampton/Daventry Area of Northamptonshire we have 9 schools running 11 companies for one academic year. The students or achievers as we like to call them, who run the companies, are aged between 15 to 18 years old. Each company is selling a varied range of products and this year they have been involved in very successful trade fairs.
Its competition time and these 14 companies will be attending a showcase evening hosted by the Northampton/Daventry Area Board at Grendon Hall, Grendon, Northamptonshire on Monday 30th March 2009. At this event the companies will be competing for prestigious awards in the following categories:-

  • Best Company
  • Runners Up x 2
  • Best Trade Stand
  • Best Sales/Marketing
  • Best Product/Service
  • Best Presentation

We are looking for companies like yours to be involved and to support and present one or more of the awards.
The costs are £500 for the Best Company and £250 for the remainder. In return we guarantee to include your company’s name on the relevant trophy, ask you to present at the event itself and include your company logo on the programme, the power point presentation which will be shown in front of all the attendees at the event and in our press releases.
Of course we understand that in these difficult times businesses are finding it difficult but these achievers are our future business men and women and we need to support them as much as we can, so please give this matter your serious consideration and try and support us if you can.
Young Enterprise is a registered charity and is non profit making organisation. If you would like to see more then visit the website www.young-enterprise.org.uk.

Alternatively please contact:
Robin Neighbour Development Manager Northamptonshire Tel 01832 270407
E mail robin.neighbour@yeem.org
Marion Gould Development Manager Northamptonshire Tel 07794 478931

E mail marion.gould@yeem.org

Judging the Young Enterprise Awards

Posted in Young Enterprise on May 5th 2008 | No Comments

Last week I was asked by a nice chap called Robin Neighbour from Young Enterprise to be a judge for the Daventry and Northampton Young Enterprise Awards. Of course I was more than happy to do so, and am happy to say I will be happy to do so again.

I found this event extremely valuable to be involved in, and gave me a great insight into the minds of our future generation of Entrepreneurs. I also enjoyed the fun debates with the other judges, who me being me I often disagreed with. Particularily because they generally came from a corporate background and I came from a more Entrepreneurial background, and this is part of the problem with the UK’s economy when the Government base their budgets on corporate policy.

The best example came about when trying to decide who the final three should be. I wont go into any more detail than that because it wouldn’t be fair to expand any further.

We had narrowed the decision down to 4 companies. Two were unanimous, but the last two I thought one and the other two judges thought another. They felt company C should be in the final three because they had made a lot of profit exploiting a small market in their school, but I felt company D should be shortlisted because they had a niche market and a more sustainable business model. However company D had not made as much profit as company C.

Tough call perhaps, but do we award people for making a quick buck without considering the long term consequences? Is this the sort of Entrepreneurial culture we want to develop? Personally I do not think so, I believe we should develop a more calculated and thought out economy where long term consequences are considered where businesses, and our environment, are more sustainable. We don’t want our future run by a load of fly-by-nights. We want job security. We want stability. We want a future that will last, even if the profit margins aren’t as high as perhaps they could be, so long as it is sustainable.

I’m pleased to say I argued my case well and the other judges agreed with me!

Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs

Posted in Young Enterprise on March 29th 2008 | 1 Comment

Those who know me personally, or have read this blog for a while, will know that I firmly believe that our economy is a small business economy and to keep our economy afloat we should all be encouraging the next generation of Entrepreneurs from a young age.

So imagine my surprise after a young lad, Ben, interviewed me on Thursday as part of his dissertation to be told that out of a list of Entrepreneurs he’d already interviewed at 40 minutes my interview lasted the longest. I’d shared with him more insight, stories and information than anyone else, and he even commented that one interview lasted 10 minutes with the “Entrepreneur” answering most questions with “I dunno”! How on earth is that person still in business?

Ben asked me whether I felt that Entrepreneurialsim can be taught, and hoping I didn’t knock the University course he is doing, but I said no I don’t believe it can. I believe Entrepreneurialism is born out of an event that triggers the person to make a decision for themself and make a future for themself. I do, however, strongly believe it can encouraged. To inpire young people of the challenges, the highs, the lows and wonders of running your own business and being in charge of your own destiny.

He also asked me whether I was taught the skills to be an Entrepreneur at school. To be honest I do not believe so. I don’t believe I became a true Entrepreneur until my daughter was born and my first business started to go horribly pear shaped. It was the need to secure a future for my child that drove me to become an Entrepreneur, where failure was not an option. That was my event, my trigger, and if you look through the past of any Entrepreneur and read any autobiography you’ll find similar triggers.

I’m not saying I wasn’t hungry for success before then, because I was. In my working career and childhood I’ve always been competitive and determined to succeed, but it was that one trigger that flicked a switch inside of me and gave me that extra push to take things more seriously. I had a dependant, and her future relied on me.

It is these stories that Ben wanted to know, not big trade secrets to rip you off. So if you are an Entrepreneur don’t treat it like some big secret, don’t be afraid to share your experiences with the next generation of Entrepreneurs. They are our future, the future of our economy, and it is extremely rewarding to feel their enthusiasm as they talk with you about your experiences. Further more, you can also learn a lot from them too.