Encouraging Youth Startups – A Refreshing Approach from Schools & Colleges

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of speaking at Barnsley College at its Enterprise Society event.

Speaking with my good friend Daniel Maw, also a partner at DMSQD, we addressed the 15-18 year old audience (including a large group from Horizon Community College) with a view to providing some insight into what it takes to start a business.

What actually came out can be paraphrased thus:

Find something you love, get great at it and then figure out how to make money from it.

The talk went well but afterwards it got me thinking about how I was taught to seek employment as a kid, mainly from careers advisors but also from anyone in the generation previous to me.

It was all about finding steady employment and creating a gainful income, many times I heard the phrase “not many people like their jobs you know”.

It's with glee and real pleasure that I ignored them and it's with even more glee and pleasure that I see the next generation of entrepreneurs being encouraged to foster a more daring approach to their aspirations.

It's credit not only to this next generation for embracing this approach, but moreso it's credit to those around them; the teachers, careers advisors, parents & local initiatives (IKIC, Enterprising Young People in Barnsley) who allow young people the opportunity to try things out and support them if they fail, ready to pick them back up and put them back up on the horse.

The next generation of entrepreneurs will without a doubt be more daring than the current generation and as time ploughs on, it excites me to see just what advancements this generation can make.

Go get what you want, there's no one to stop you.