Graduate Advice - So you want to be an entrepreneur?

Becoming an entrepreneur is one way to avoid joining the growing mass of unemployed graduates. But while there are many advantages to working for yourself, it can be a risky business. The good news for enterprising graduates across the UK is that help is at hand, as both the government and the private sector have responded to need for more entrepreneurs to help boost the struggling economy.

Certainly the coalition government is keen to encourage would-be entrepreneurs to start their own business. David Cameron's attitude is "Now is the time to do it" and he claims that "There are thousands of people out there who are entrepreneurs but they just don't know it yet."

So if starting your own business sounds like it's for you, here are some of the perks involved:

1. You get to be your own boss. This means that the only person you have to answer to is you, and there's a huge amount of freedom in being able to run you business exactly as you see fit.

2. You get to be creative. Starting up your own business means you get the freedom to express yourself and develop your concept as you want.

3. It's easy to do. The amount of red tape that small businesses face has been dramatically reduced in recent years, as has the amount of tax that these business are expected to pay. There are numerous schemes that can be found online that offer advice and support to budding entrepreneurs.

4. It can be very profitable. Although starting up your own business isn't easy, the rewards could potentially be huge. If you identify a gap in the market and then come up with a great product then you could make a lot of money. And what's more, most of the profit that you make will be yours to keep!

5. You get to do what you're interested in. It's your idea and your business so the chances are that you're going to be interested in whatever you're doing. Not only can this be a source of personal satisfaction but it can also motivate you to work harder and better which in turn can help your business succeed.

6. You can have a second career. Although it may reduce your free time somewhat, running a business in your spare time allows you to have the adventure and possible reward of starting a business without all the risk of having to quit your job.
Of course starting your own business is never an easy task. In a report entitled 'Make a Job, Don't Take a Job: Building the Creative Society', Barbara Gunnell and Mark Bright highlighted the challenges facing graduates who want to do just that.

Gunnell and Bright identify three main things that up-and-coming entrepreneurs need to get their business off the ground: sufficient financial support, the right physical space in which to develop their business, and finally appropriate business support and skills training.

Fortunately for those graduates interested in becoming entrepreneurs, help is available. The private sector has responded to the government's desire to encourage people to start their own businesses with the creation of the StartUp Britain initiative, created by some of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs. StartUp Britain has seen established businesses provide millions of pounds worth of support to Britain's entrepreneurs and small businesses, with companies such as Microsoft, Barclays and Virgin Media backing the programme. What this means for graduates wanting to start their own business is that they will be entitled to claim a support package worth £1,500. The StartUp Britain website at www.startupbritain.org has advice about how to start a business. Sir Richard Branson, one of Britain's most successful entrepreneurs, has said of the initiative that "Now thanks to Start-Up Britain, thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs will have a big helping hand with their communication, travel and finance to kick start businesses and try to create Britain's great companies of the future."

For those who are currently unemployed but want to start their own business, the government has introduced the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA), which provides budding entrepreneurs with a support package of up to £2,274. This allowance is now available to people who have been claiming a Jobseekers Allowance for 26 weeks or longer, and participants will also get access to a volunteer business mentor who will provide advice and help them develop their business plan. Those claiming NEA will get a weekly allowance of £65 for the first 13 weeks and £33 for another 13 weeks after that. For those who need a larger cash injection to get their business going, it's also possible to get a £1,000 loan to help cover their start-up costs.

Meanwhile, the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship runs two start-up programmes: Flying Start, which focuses more on helping enterprising young students before they graduate, and Make It Happen, which helps graduates get start-up support. The Make It Happen Programme, which launched in 2009, includes face-to-face training days, online training seminars and mentor support, plus the opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs. And the best news about the programme is that it's free! To find out more, visit their website at www.mihmentoring.com.

It seems that there are plenty of good reasons why young people should consider starting up their own businesses. However, not all ventures are successful. Toby Reid, an entrepreneur who almost went bankrupt in his first business, has set up a website (www.inafishbowl.com) to give potential entrepreneurs a brutally honest look at what it takes to start a business from scratch. Reid claims that in the UK "We're very good at encouraging entrepreneurship but we do it without considering the consequences" and warns that "Of four graduate start-ups featured on our website, two no longer exist." According to Reid an unrealistic outlook about starting a business is one of the main problems among young entrepreneurs, and he says that graduates should consider gaining a few years experience in a job or internship before they launch their own business.

Starting your own business is a high risk, high reward strategy to beat graduate unemployment. But any budding entrepreneurs out there can know that if they take the chance, the support they need to make it a success is certainly out there.

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