From post primary LLW and CEIAG programmes to graduate and post graduate first destinations alot of column inches have been devoted to this career option. The following articles consider a number of possible pathways as one explores the current entrepreneurial landscape.
In November last, Business Secretary, Vince Cable, announced a new Entrepreneurs' Forum. to provide informal and personal advice on new business and enterprise policies.
The announcement was made at the beginning of Global Entrepreneurship Week, seven days of events to boost enterprise and start-ups across the globe.
The forum is part of the Government's agenda to engage with business people to hear their views on unleashing enterprise and encouraging entrepreneurship as an alternative career. The Business Secretary wants to break down the barriers that deter people from taking the leap into starting a business and encourage them to make a job, not take a job.
The ever-changing economic environment represents an incredible opportunity for those willing to take a risk, for small businesses to flourish and for innovations to drive growth and create jobs.
Up to 26 entrepreneurs will sit on the forum, including Jan Fletcher, Dawn Gibbins and Sarah Tremellen. They have been drawn together on the basis of experience they can bring to the development of enterprise policy. A significant proportion of the forums are women and increasing the rate of female entrepreneurs is one area the forum will be encouraged to look at.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
"People with the courage to start up a business will be crucial to driving the growth of the economy. Start-ups create jobs, stimulate innovation and provide a competitive spur to existing businesses to encourage them to increase their productivity. I am delighted with the quality of the membership of my new forum and look forward to bouncing ideas off them and hearing their views."
The forum will meet around four times a year, with a flexible schedule according to the material to be discussed. The first meeting is expected to take place early in the new year.
Members were chosen on the basis of individual experience and advice they can provide on new business and enterprise policies.
The forum is just one of several ways in which the Business Secretary will hold dialogue with business. The forum will complement other groups, such as the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group; the Secretary of State's Business Advisory Group; and the Small Business Economic Forum.
On 1 November the Government announced a range of initiatives to promote small business and enterprise. Lord Young was appointed as enterprise advisor to the Prime Minister to promote small business and entrepreneurship; initiatives to increase access to finance were unveiled and barriers to social tenants starting a business from their home were removed.
The Government has also announced an enterprise allowance scheme to encourage unemployed to become entrepreneurs.
Britain's burgeoning army of stay-at-home Mumtrepreneurs is vital to the economy
'Britain's burgeoning army of stay-at-home Mumtrepreneurs is vital to the economy' says Krista Waddell
Stay-at-home mums, who feel under attack by a Government that is clawing back their Child Benefit, are restoring their financial independence by creating businesses at home according to entrepreneur Krista Waddell
"Over 60% of new businesses are started from home and most of them are being created by mothers who want to stay with their children,"
Stated Krista Waddell, founder and CEO of gold party organisers Ounces2Pounds, who was speaking today during the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week. She continued
"Many middleclass women are worried that they will lose their personal income when Child Benefit is removed from homes where one earner is in the high tax bracket. Modern IT capabilities and internet speeds mean that they can restore their income by setting up a business at home," said Mrs Waddell.
According to a report by the government adviser Enterprise Nation more than 1,400 new home businesses are created every week - far more than any other type of start-up.
Mrs Waddell who created Ounces2Pounds on her laptop at home following the birth of her daughter commented further
"There has always been pressure on women to stay at home with their children and they can be left with feelings of guilt when they leave their child in a nursery. Home-working is the ideal solution which allows a woman to bring up her children and run a business,"
Stay-at-home mums are responsible for setting up the most home-businesses followed by young people and the over 50s.
"The home-business is a route is an excellent way to bring people into employment who might otherwise not contribute to the economy," said Ms Waddell, whose company was included in The Guardian's top 50 good ideas for home-working.
When Parents do the business
Rebecca Smithers wrote a very interesting piece recently in the Guardian (20th November) in which she reflected on the current state of the graduate market given the enormous debt many young people are leaving university with today. Graduate unemployment is at its highest level for 17 years, competition for those most sought after vacancies running in some areas on average of 69 applicants for every place, and with the government about to vote on increasing fees three fold in England (no decision has been made in NI yet!), some Parents are asking the question
'Is business ownership (through franchise) a better bet for their children than a degree?
(possible debate topic for post 16 lesson)
There are 842 franchise brands in the UK today, which contains 34,000 units of operation. This creates employment opportunities for apprximately 465,000 people generating £11.8 billion for the UK economy.
Figures show that that while 50% of the population want to start a business, only 5.8% are doing so!! Strikingly, young people between the ages of 18 to 24 are FIVE times more likely to be UNEMPLOYED than they are to START THEIR OWN BUSINESS read more
Lesson idea
Get the class to identify as many local franchises that they can think of to post up on their Enterprise notice-board
To conclude, entrepreneurs are in the limelight as never before. They are being heralded by the media and government ministers as pioneers forging a new era of prosperity - thrusted centre stage, tasked with creating new opportunities, spearheading economic growth by creating new jobs and new markets.
Could this be the most entrepreneurial decade in our history?
The role of enterprise education - schools, colleges, university must be at the centre of any meaningful growth strategy.
Evidence shows that enterprise education doubles the likelihood of someone starting a business. Over 50% of young people say they would like to set up their own business, yet fewer than 1:8 actually do so! In the USA, twice the number of business owners are under 35 years of age - an advanced network of entrepreneurial colleges may have something to do with this statistic.
Lesson idea
I'm suggesting that those CEIAG teachers delivering to post 16 students should consider how they could revamp their enterprise programmes to rise to the challenge posted below by Tom Bewick, chief executive of Enterprise UK
The number one challenge for any educator in the next decade is this: How do I help my students make a job, rather than take a job?
Lesson idea
Create your own Global Enterprise Day in the school by showcasing a range of entrepreneurial options including;
Mums who have recently set themselves up in business, young franchisees, past pupils (some of whom may well be servicing the school e.g. trades people, suppliers, educational facilitators etc), retired teachers who have gone into business for themselves etc.
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