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Starting your own business
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Did you know that lots of young people think that starting your own business is a good idea?
Many job areas lend themselves to working for yourself - construction, hair and beauty, catering, art, finance to name but a few. It's not easy working for yourself - you can't just go on holiday to take it easy for a while without thinking about how it could affect your business - but there are lots of advantages too.
You can work in lots of different ways if you're self-employed:
- Starting and running your own business (selling products or a service)
- Working for different organisations on a number of short-term or part-time contracts
- Freelancing (many people who work in the media freelance. So do writers and business consultants)
- Teaching (private tuition at people's homes)
- Franchising (for example, running a pub for a brewery)
- Setting up a partnership or co-operative (owning part of a business with other people)
There are a number of questions you should ask yourself if you're thinking about working for yourself:
- Do you know what type of business you want to develop?
- How will you finance your business?
- Have you got a business plan? You'll need to provide a business plan to organisations such as banks, training and enterprise councils etc who give loans and grants for business start up.
- Where will you work from? Will you have to rent or buy somewhere? Can you work from home?
- Will you make enough money?
- Will you need to employ other people?
- Do you have the self-discipline and determination to succeed?
What skills will I need?
Lots of skills will be useful if you want to be an entrepeneur!
- Creativity
- Innovation
- Initiative
- Open mindedness
- Selling skills
- Communication skills
- Decision making
- Problem solving
- Team working
- Time management
- Taking responsibility
- Presentation skills
- Risk management
Where can I get more information?
There are many organisations who provide support and some who provide funding to young people to help them set up a new enterprise.
Use the links below to help you find out more...
Useful links:
Information, support and advice for 16-30 year olds who want to set up their own business.
Help lots of young people with their business start-up programme.
A free support service for people aged 16 and over. They also offer training and short courses to help you with aspects of business planning, marketing and finance.
More useful websites...
