I’m a firm believer in the power of entrepreneurialism to help people take control of their lives and realise their potential. Having succeeded in setting up a business after overcoming barriers in my own life, I’m passionate and determined to help others do the same.
This year, I’ll be launching a new project, the Entrepreneur’s Allotment. The name gives a good sense of what it’s about – developing young entrepreneurs by helping them address their underlying personal and practical problems before nurturing and supporting their bright ideas.
It’s a holistic, long-term programme with a focus far removed from the traditional reading, writing and securing funding. Instead it concentrates on sorting out lives, inspiring healthy new habits, building self-esteem, developing business nous and getting going quickly.
We’re taking a phased approach, kicking off by partnering up with a major university to focus on enabling young entrepreneurs to create a vision and help them to turn it into a reality. It will be an inspiring and immersive programme to help young people understand what matters most to them and what they love doing.
Soon after, we will be taking our learnings and turning our focus to educational and employment training in Northampton, inviting young people in our town who may have lost their way to join the Entrepreneur’s Allotment. We’ll provide mentoring, advice and activities, all aimed at inspiring people to believe they can be better and improving their self-worth, which, through the good work they’ll be inspired to do, will have a positive impact on society.
Take the disadvantaged 18 to 24-year olds who make up the greatest proportion of Job Seeker Allowance claimants here in Northampton. They are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as their peers. They’re having to deal with problems like troubled family relationships, incomplete education, mental health issues and lack of direction and faith in themselves. Is it any wonder their talents can’t always shine through?
Lastly, we will take a pilot scheme into the classroom, working with primary and secondary school pupils to help them develop creative ideas and initiatives to enable them to launch their own small-scale business. We’ll support this with a small amount of money and the idea is that the business venture will benefit the local community in some way. I’m really keen to encourage ‘seedlings’ to grow. There’s a large skills gap in this country, and there’s a huge pool of talent that can fill it, if we just provide the opportunity.
If we can improve self-worth, we see a positive impact on wellbeing which in turn increases productivity and helps UK GDP.
I want to work with these young adults to help them create their vision what they want their future to look like and then enable them to take the steps to get there. I hope this will enable individuals to become self-employed, or maybe start their own business and shape their own future, create their own legacy.
I think, as entrepreneurs, it’s our responsibility to give something back and help others to be their best selves – believing in themselves and seizing all opportunities.
Losing my parents was the catalyst to inspire me to start my own business. I’d seen an opportunity, I knew I wanted to do something with technology. I realised how short life is and I wanted to leave a lasting mark on the world by making a meaningful difference.
I’m always fascinated hearing about people’s stories and how they’ve made a go of something – in business, in the community, inventing something or creating a piece of music or dance. What they all have in common is that they were inspired by something – maybe from TV, maybe from a mentor, maybe from a bad experience. If we can spark people’s imaginations and get them to say ‘Yes, I can do that’ imagine what they could achieve in 5, 10, 15 years’ time.
That’s why now I want to take what I’ve learnt and give back by helping others. I’ve realised over the years how small the world is. Everybody has the opportunity to contribute and one person can make a huge difference.