The entrepreneurial initiative ‘Young Start-up Talent’ was launched for the first time in the Chichester area on 2nd of February 2016. The initiative was established six years ago, now working across seven regions in the South East alongside 140 businesses who all support a new generation of entrepreneurs including; Chichester District Council, Chichester Observer, Chichester Chamber of Commerce, NatWest, Rolls Royce, Chichester Cathedral with even the Bishop himself being involved.
Young Start-up Talent offers 16-25 year olds a chance to start their own business with the winner of the process receiving a prize fund worth approx. £50,000 in business services and products from local and national sponsors. Participants are provided with mentoring and support throughout the process from experienced business professionals to help them develop their ideas into sustainable and real world businesses.
The team having already started running a number of workshops and drop in’s at local schools and the Universities have already attracted a number of good business ideas.
Applications can be made individually or in groups of upto five, and can be submitted online via the website www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk until the 10th of June.
Managing Director Lorraine Nugent is looking forward to this year’s intake from the Chichester area. “Lots of talented young people live in the Chichester District and great to see that we have already received a good number of entries despite the deadline still being over two months away, so there is still plenty of time to enter with your business or ideas”.
Previous winner and young entrepreneur, Stephanie Kane gave a speech during the launch event held at the Bishops Palace providing an example of the potential young entrepreneurs harness. The artist after winning the competition has already run events at Tate Britain and worked with Apple. It is exactly these kind of success stories Young Start-up Talent was created for.
Those that have taken part in the process in the past emphasise the importance of having someone believing in them. “The comfort of knowing the support is there behind you is really encouraging”, Stephanie Kane admits. The obstacle that hinders young entrepreneurs is often the lack of resources and guidance, as starting a business venture from scratch can be daunting at first. This is why the initiative promotes a ‘can-do’ attitude towards business and is hoping to see more young people joining the growing entrepreneurial community in the South.
After a successful launch in the area, Young Start-up Talent continues to engage 16-25 year old budding entrepreneurs within the area. Workshops run in local schools, colleges and universities encourage creative young people to apply their skills and interests to business, and consider entrepreneurship as a future career option.