Entrepreneurs of the Future face Business Minds of the Present

Young Start-up Talent are an initiative targeted at aiding and encouraging 16-25 year olds who are in the process of starting up their own business. Marking the project’s first year in Chichester, a 121 speed-networking event took place at Chichester Park Hotel on the 18th of July.

Multiple applicants from across the region applied online to be whittled down to a final five.  These young minds took part in the speed networking event which saw business professionals from the Chichester area face the aspiring entrepreneurs and their business plans. Sponsor Gary Shipton said “Young people come up with the most genius solutions to problems that we hadn’t even noticed – it’s fascinating.”

Chichester District Councillor, Gillian Keegan said “It goes without saying that we want to have more people setting up businesses. We’re very keen to get more young people staying and working in Chichester.” She went on to say “I’m really looking forward to meeting the people and listening to their ideas and the entrepreneurial drive of the young people.”

Semi Finalists for the day included:

Angelika Hegedus

Charlie Keegan

Paul Nicholls

Charles Taylor

Khee Tan

Contestant Paul Nicolls said “The process has taught me a lot already. I’ve had some great feedback and tonnes of ideas to go away and develop for my business.” While Charles Taylor said “I’ve really enjoyed today, I’ve even managed to make a sale!”

The semi-finalists were previously invited to a business know-how workshop to polish up their business pitches in time to face the sponsors. With ideas ranging from handmade bespoke pens to a porcelain doll gallery, the day was certainly not short of entrepreneurial spirit. Offering feedback and guidance, the professionals deciphered who has what it takes to carry their business plan to the next stage of the process. Chichester Judge, Warren Cooper of NatWest said “It’s been interesting to see the different ideas and the way the young entrepreneurs have approached things” Finalists will be put through a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style presentation event on the 22nd of September at the Bishops Palace with the winner of a prize fund worth upto £50k will be chosen and announced at a showcase event on 27th October at the South Downs Planetarium.

Sponsors involved this year include:

NatWest

Social Marley

Chichester District Council

Chichester Cathedral

Media Word Waves

Creative Pod Ltd

Chichester Observer

PEP Printers

Chichester Chamber of Commerce

South Downs Planetarium

Chichester Park Hotel

Simmons Signs

Initiative seeks Young Brighton Business Minds

The business world is heating up for 16-25 year olds in the Brighton and Hove area as Young Start-up Talent (YST) prepares to launch its fifth annual entrepreneurial competition in region.

This year’s launch took place in the charming Jurys Inn Waterfront Hotel, which is renowned for its calming seaside views. During the event, several influential speakers were in attendance, including Entrepreneurial Spark’s Fiona Anderson and Dan Simpson of Hartley Fowler who commented that being part of the initiative was “a truly humbling experience.”  He continued “If this year’s entrepreneurs bring a similar level of entrepreneurship, care and skill as others have done in the past couple of years I think we’ll do very well.”

Guest speaker and previous Brighton and Hove winner Nick Musto who sailed to success with his company RADAR said “The help, advice and direction I have had from the YST sponsors has been invaluable.” 

The project has been running successfully across several other regions for the past six years and will continue to scout for the best business minds in the area. Alan White oif long standing sponsor, Fastsigns said “It’s really rewarding being able to work with these young entrepreneurs and develop their ideas and try and help them solve some of their problems. It’s something we thrive on as a business, we like to try and help them achieve their goals”

Guest speaker Fiona Anderson was enthusiastic by the opportunity YST provides, stating that “The initiative very much manages to retain the talent in the regions it works in, meaning these young entrepreneurs are actually contributing back to the local economy.” Entrepreneurial Spark Chicklet and first time attendee of the launch, George Lengyel, CEO of Hubbub said “It’s been an amazing experience hearing from the different business leaders and it’s been inspirational to hear from successful people who are doing successful things in the Brighton and Hove area.”

This year is set to be as thrilling as ever, with local businesses, schools and aspiring young entrepreneurs from the area already becoming involved in the initiative. All the contestants will be in with a chance of winning the £50k prize fund for the first year of business. Claire James of Pivotal Moment said “I think it’s fantastic, I really see how much it’s impacting the young people who go through the programme. After being a sponsor last year, I’ll certainly continue to do so this year and beyond because I think that the contribution that it’s making is absolutely invaluable and I think that making this kind of influence at the start of someone’s career leverages their talent in a way that is very difficult to do later in their career.”

To find out more please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Brighton Sponsors:

Sea Life Brighton

Avensys Ltd

Hartley Fowler LLP

Gatwick Airport

Young Enterprise

BIS

Hewlett-Packard Company

Acumen Business Law

Brighton City College

Brighton and Hove Jobs

Brighton & Hove Council

Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce

Thebestof of Brighton & Hove

Brighton and Hove Independent

Media Word Waves

Natwest

The Let’s Do Business Company

Creative Pod

Juice Brighton

University of Brighton

Platinum Business Magazine

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Bennett Christmas

Beta Futures

FASTSIGNS

Latest TV

Pivotal Moment

PSD ICE ART

Social Marley

Structured Communications

Sussex Innovation

Strong Flavours

Jurys Inn Brighton Waterfront

Face Media Group

Shaking Hands crowned Croydon young entrepreneurs 2016

Croydon Entrepreneurs Crowned winners of Prize Fund

             Laurence Grant & Rob O’Sullivan – Shaking Hands Young Start-up Talent winners Croydon 2016

On Thursday 7th July Fairfield Halls played host to this year’s Young Start-up Talent showcase where one successful business was chosen to walk away with a £50k prize fund worth of business products and services.  The initiative, which is set to seek out the region’s most promising entrepreneurial spirit, whittled a range of applicants from across Croydon down to a final six entrepreneurs. Robert O’sullivan and Laurence Grant were crowned this year’s winners with their business – Shaking Hands Interactive Partnership (SHIP), a platform for Croydon-based small-medium business owners to inform, smarten and grow their businesses. Laurence said “We are so thrilled to have been chosen as this year’s Croydon winner, this experience has been invaluable and the year head looks very exciting.”

The process began in April when selected applicants took part in a business-know how workshop followed by a 121 speed networking event at Jurys Inn Croydon. After having their businesses scrutinised by sponsors from across the region, a final four were chosen to face a panel of business professionals. It was at this stage that finalists battled it out to take home the prize fund worth up to £50k of business products and services that can help their business take flight.

Three guest speakers featured at the showcase event, shining a light on the significance of the initiative. Attendees heard from 2015 Croydon winner, Stephanie Kane who is making her mark on the creative community of Croydon with her quick-selling paintings. Other guest speakers included successful young entrepreneur and winner of the YST Kent region, Dean Day who is CEO of up and coming Indie games studio – Greenlight Games and loyal Croydon sponsor, Simon Maddox who said “It’s been incredible working with these guys, seeing their enthusiasm andseeing a great idea flourish. Stephanie’s story this year has just been amazing and to be part of it is just heart-warming.”

With 2016 marking the initiative’s second year in Croydon, judge Mark Burgess of Natwest commented “They’ve all got excellent ideas, I think they all presented perfectly and I’m sure they’ll all go on and move on to bigger and greater things in whatever path they choose.”

                                             Young Start-up Talent finalist and judges Croydon 2016

Other finalists who faced the panel with their impressive pitches included Kurtis Peck, 17, Serena Evans, 16 and 22 year old duo Harry Flaherty and Maddie Ellison.

                                                  Young Start-up Talent Croydon 2016 finalists
                 (Left – Harry Flaherty, Laurence Grant, Robert O’Sullivan, Kuris Peck, Serena Evans)

Reflecting on the initiative, Annabel Fogden of The Croydon Chamber of Commerce said “It’s a really inspiring, creative and supportive process which is great for young people in business.”

The initiatives newest sponsor, Morton Michel attended the evening, with Steve Hodgson saying “It’s been a great evening, they’re all very worthy winners, I’m pleased for the people that won and I thoroughly look forward to hopefully assisting them moving forward.”

Joanna Ford of Cripps summed up the evening saying “It’s been inspirational to see young people who have such amazing ideas, really innovative and so passionate about what they are doing and fabulous to see such talent that we have around us locally.”

To find out more visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

The judging panel consisted of:

Mark Burgess – Director of NatWest

Simon Maddox – Partner – Owadally & KingBen Towers – CEO – Towers Design/Social MarleySalim Somjee – Partner – Cripps Law

James Booker – Editor – Croydon Advertiser

Matt Turner – CEO – Creative Pod & Director Young Start-up Talent

Lorraine Nugent – Director – Media Word Waves / Managing Director-Young Start-up Talent

This year’s Croydon sponsors were:

NatWest

Owadally and King

Fairfield Halls

Gatwick Airport

Media Word Waves

Avensys Ltd

Croydon Advertiser

Minuteman Press Printers

Croydon Chamber of Commerce

Creative Pod

FASTSIGNS

Young Enterprise

3D Change

Platinum Business Magazine

Coast 2 Capital

Matthews Yard

Hands On IT Services

Jurys Inn Croydon

Frost Group

Social Marley

Structured Communications

Whiston Solutions

Sussex Innovation Croydon

CrippsMorton Michel

Young Solent Entrepreneurs Take the Lead

Young aspiring entrepreneurs from across the Solent area are competing for a prize fund worth up to £50,000 towards their first year of business. Young Start-up Talent is a program geared towards 16 to 25-year-olds who are looking to gain access to the business world. These promising minds gathered at Fareham Innovation Centre on July 5th where they were placed in a 121-speed networking session with business professionals from around the region in a bid to see their business take flight.

With his moto “Find the gap and stay focused!” Chief operating officer of Mission Performance, Bobbie Fung, gave entrants a motivational speech before they faced the professionals. With only seven minutes per sponsor, the area was flooded with entrepreneurial flair as the young talent competed for their places in the final. Young entrepreneur Harry Phelan said “I’m incredibly excited to be part of Young Start-up Talent. I am of course slightly nervous for what’s ahead of me tonight but it’s great to be amongst so many young entrepreneurial minds and to see great innovation being used.”

Richard May, Innovation Director at Oxford Innovation for the South, and mentoring co-ordinator, said: “This evening’s semi-final was a tense affair because the quality of ideas and innovation has been nothing short of astonishing – it was difficult to pick out the five semi-finalists because each of the 10 entrants had commendable ideas that could fly commercially.”

Geoff Collis of Wilkins Kennedy further commented “It’s been really interesting this evening in meeting all of the different candidates, there’s a huge variety of ideas.”

Only five will be able to make it through to the ‘Dragon’s Den’ style final.  Each entrepreneur will pitch a refined business plan to a panel of judges in a bid to be the 2016 Solent’s Young Start-up Talent champion. The final showcase is set to take place at the Novotel Hotel in Southampton on October 20th, where the final winner of the prize fund will be revealed. Councillor Sean Woodward from Hampshire County Council said “Nobody is going to hold your hand all through life and you’ve got to get out there and compete, you’ve got to find the gap and exploit it and that’s exactly what these young people will be doing after today.”

The ten candidates involved in the semi final process were:

Conrad Manning

Calvin Macleod

Josh Harris

Jordan Bellot

Casper Djurhuus Nielsen

John Weal

Harry Phelan

Ming Wu

Kayem Ali

Joe Saveall

Sponsors involved in this year’s initiative include:

Oxford Innovation

NatWest

Social Marley

All Star Marketing Club

Wilkins Kennedy

Verisona Law

The News (Portsmouth)

Media Word Waves

1st Computer Services

Portsmouth Technopole

Ocean Village Innovation Centre

Creative Pod

Novotel Hotel Southampton

Splash Display Ltd

Fareham Innovation

Little Kanga Consulting

Tunbridge Wells’ Future Business Owners Put to the Test

Two of Tunbridge Wells’ brightest entrepreneurial minds continue their push to become the best Young Start-up Talent in the Kent region.

These budding young entrepreneurs both resident in Tunbridge Wells met at Trinity Theatre to receive feedback on their business plans. Among this year’s selected finalists for the Kent region were Serena Christie (Imperial Industries) and Ben Jeffries (Influencer).

The initiative works with over 140 local and national businesses who all contribute to a prize fund worth upto £50,000 in business products and services in each of the six regional areas it currently operate in. This gives vital support and guidance for young start-up businesses to ensure them a more sustainable future. The workshops are currently delivered to over 60,000 youngsters across the South East. These projects work within schools, colleges, universities and youth groups to inspire and encourage a ‘can-do’ attitude towards business.

Both Ben and Serena met with Lorraine Nugent, one of the founding partners and directors of Young Start-up Talent, to receive feedback on their business plans. In this meeting the importance of a clear cash flow forecast was highlighted in order to be successful in their final pitch. Lorraine also advised these young entrepreneurs to try to enjoy their pitch as much as possible and to prepare for the questions the ‘Dragons’ may ask following their pitch.

Serena has founded her own business (‘Imperial Industries’) specialising in the production of cufflinks made from old British coins. She specialises in Silversmithing and also produces textured and twisted silver rings. Serena has a clear vision for the future as she looks to expand her business abroad to reach a wider target audience.

Serena Christie said that: “I am really excited for the final, I got lots of ideas from today and it has given me lots to think about”.

Whereas Ben’s business is based around the idea of social media marketing. ‘Influencer’ has many high profile celebrities which brands can approach to promote their products. Their headline stars include Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho and British model Amy Willerton.

Ben Jeffries also added: “I have spoken to many people during this process and they have given me lots of useful insights. To get to this stage and to see that other people like my product has given me a lot of confidence”.

The final five candidates must submit their completed business plans by 18th July in preparation for the ‘Dragon’s Den’ on 21st July at Maidstone House. This is an opportunity which could prove invaluable for their future business careers.

To find out more please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Take a look at Kent Entrepreneurs of the Future

Aspiring young entrepreneurs from across the Kent region are competing for a prize fund worth upto £50,000 to go towards their first year of business. Young Start-up Talent is an initiative built for 16 -25 year olds who are looking to move their start-ups off the ground and into the business world. The bright minds gathered at the Business Terrace, Maidstone House at the Gateway on the 22nd June, where they were met by an assembly of business professionals from all over Kent for a 121 speed networking session.

The initiative is sponsored by 140 sponsors who all contribute to the prize fund across the South East with Town & Country Housing Group and NatWest being headline sponsors for the Kent region.

After submitting their business ideas online and following an initial workshop, eight successful applicants were chosen to attend a business know-how workshop in the first stage towards growing their companies in preparation for the pitches ahead. With only ten minutes per sponsor, the Business Terrace was flooded with entrepreneurial flair as the young talent pitched for their places in the final.

Dara Chauhan of NatWest and judge commented “I was really impressed by the quality of the business ideas that were presented to us this evening. It is a treat to see such an incredible amount of enthusiasm in one room.”  The evening saw ideas ranging from handmade jewellery right through to a social media agency and healthy lifestyle brands.

Also on the judging panel is Simon Warne from Crowe Clark Whitehill who commented “Some of these ideas are already flying, some of those ventures are already businesses and some of them are more ideas, but nearly all have good commercial possibilities.” Pete Kenyon of Cripps added “This is my fourth year taking part and I’m always very interested to see the vast range of ideas that come out, this year has been very diverse.”

A final five will be going through to the ‘Dragons Den’ style stage of the process, where they will each pitch their refined business plans to a panel of judges in a bid to decide who will be crowned 2016 Kent’s Young Start-up Talent winner. The showcase is set to take place at Gulbenkian Theatre on the 15th of September where it will be announced who will be walking away with the prize fund to see their business take flight.

To find out more please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

The eight candidates involved in the process were:

Kelly Culver  - Dover – age 20

Johnathan Wood – Rainham – age 16

Ben Jefferies– Tunbridge Wells – age 20

Chloe MacKeon – Ramsgate – age 18

Shantal Charles – Medway – age 18

Joice Joseph – Maidstone – age 17

Serena Christie – Tunbridge Wells – age 23

Edoardo Abati – Canterbury – age 24

Sponsors  involved in this year’s Kent initiative include: 

Crowe Clark Whitehill

Town & Country Housing

NatWest

Bowles

Cripps

West Kent Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

Maidstone Borough Council

Creative Pod Ltd

BetaFutures

Media Word Waves

Infinity Integrated Technologies

Breakfast Friends

The Kent Foundation

Gulbenkian Theatre

Young Enterprise

University of Kent

BIS (Department for Business Innovation & Skills)

Kent Regional News and Media

Let’s Do Business Group

Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce

The Kent Foundation

Basepoint

Bludel

Social Marley

Discovery Park

Meet the Man behind Crawley’s Viral Videos

Twenty Three year old Sussex Graduate and internet sensation, Will Bower is taking the web by storm alongside his company Royalty Three. Having recently featured in The Metro and Daily Mail for taking lonely holiday snaps with his absent girlfriend, the people of Crawley are looking to see what is next from the director of Crawley TV and 2015 Young Start-up Talent finalist.

                             Bower starring in Viral Video “Things You Don’t Hear People In Crawley Say.”

The young entrepreneur, who is known for his viral spoof videos, set-up creative, corporate video production agency -Royalty Three, in 2014, providing content for companies to use on websites, YouTube or social pages. Following its initial success, the company has expanded its services and now offers Digital Marketing and Social Media Management in package deals along with their videos

Since its inception, the agency has spawned ‘Crawley TV’, a website aimed at entertaining the local community, which has taken off in popularity over the past year. With hit videos such as “Things you don’t hear people in Crawley say” and “Old Age Hipsters”, the team have seen one of their videos reach an astounding 100’000 views, nearly accessing the entire population of Crawley.

One of the team’s most exciting projects this year has taken form in collaboration with Autism Parent Empower. Among the series of videos for the charity is a piece of content highlighting the excellent facilities available for autistic people at Virgin Atlantic. Will commented “We were extremely proud of this piece of work, especially after seeing it shared by the official Virgin Atlantic Twitter.” An email was later received from Richard Branson’s secretary, emphasising how pleased they were with the video, featuring a personal thank you from Branson himself.

Will’s ethos to think outside the box and send messages out creatively is spiking the interest of local businesses across Gatwick wanting more exposure. Will said “Video in particular is becoming a huge medium on social media and companies are recognising this as its popularity grows.”

To get in touch the team and get your business speaking creatively visit www.royaltythree.co.uk

Written by Cara Dawson

Pitches to professionals prove Croydon to be home of Business Flair

Selected finalists for business initiative, Young Start-up Talent (YST), gathered at Jury’s Inn Croydon to pitch in front of panel of professionals in a bid to be crowned this year’s Croydon YST winner. The initiative, designed for 16-25 year olds, works across six different regions and is now in its second year working in Croydon, looking for the next set of young entrepreneurs.

After the projects first year in Croydon saw winner and artist Stephanie Kane rise to success, judges are eager to find the latest business idea destined to advance in the Croydon area.

Six bright young minds stepped up to the plate this week, with four business pitches set to impress. After being accepted into the semi-final 121 speed networking stage, a final four businesses were chosen to take on the judges at the final. After polishing their enterprises over the following weeks, finalists pitched to a panel of judges made up of Simon Maddox – Owadally and King, James Booker – Croydon Advertiser, Lorraine Nugent – Media Word Waves, Ben Towers – Social Marley, Matt Turner – Creative Pod, Mark Burgess – Natwest and Salim Sonjee – Cripps. Commenting on his first time on the panel, Salim said “I was incredibly impressed by the quality of pitches tonight. It’s great to see the young talent of Croydon showcasing what they can do.”

Finalists included:

Seventeen year old Kurtis Peck with his green energy company, Peck Energy, creating an eco-friendly concept to be installed across new builds.

Duo, Harry Flaherty and Maddie Alison, who have come up with an app-based platform named Kitch, to pair busy families and individuals with their own affordable, personal chef.

Twenty-Two year olds, Laurence Grant and Robert O’Sullivan, who pitched their business – Shaking Hands Interactive Partnership, a platform for Croydon-based small-medium business owners to grow their businesses. 

Croydon College student, Serena Evans entered the initiative with a game animation to help people who are suffering from mental health issues. She said “This whole experience has just been fantastic. I’ve enjoyed it from start to finish and has some really useful feedback for my business.”

Mark Burgess of Natwest reflected on the performance of the evening saying “Tonight’s contestants have shown a fantastic amount of entrepreneurial flair. I am eager to see all of their businesses grow following their experience with YST.” Simon Maddox of Owadally and King said “It’s been extremely rewarding to see how far these young entrepreneurs have come since the last stage of the process and I’m sure they will continue to excel.”

On July 7th the winner will be revealed at the grand showcase taking place at Fairfield Halls, marking one of its final events before the venue closure. The winner will walk away with a £50k prize fund made up of business products and services, all donated by local sponsors, to see their business take flight.

To find out more about the initiative please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Greenlight Games Hit Go on Latest Project

Indie Studio get Funding for Up-and-Coming Game

Indie games studio Greenlight Games is rising to success with yet another achievement under its belt. New talent development programme funded by the UK government – Tranzfuser, have deemed Greenlight Games a successful applicant in this year’s competition, granting them a £5,000 budget to begin developing the prototype of their newest game.

The studio, run by award winning entrepreneur Dean Day, has taken off over the past year, having created four mobile games available on Google and android, with their most popular game, Deul, now reaching over 250,000 downloads.

All successful applicants of Tranzfuser will reconvene at the end of a ten week span for a grand showcase where selected teams will be invited to pitch for extended funding of up to £25k from the UK Games Fund in a bid to market and launch the game on a larger scale.

Award winning entrepreneur and CEO of the studio Dean Day said “I applied for Transfuser with just an idea, the fact that they believe it has great potential proves that it’s something we must do. I’ve got a brand new team for this project and we’re all very excited to get started. The funding will allow us to make a great prototype that may get developed in to a full game.”

Following the good news, the team will begin work immediately on their latest project – Colonise. Colonise is a decision based, episodic, real time strategy game that the studio are bringing to PC and hoping to put on Steam for sale.

        The Colonise team from left to right: Dean Day Rob Hurley, Rochelle Fennell and Austen Dawson.

The four part team which are made up of University of Greenwich graduates from the past two years include Austen Dawson, Rob Hurley and Rochelle Fennell as well as founder, Dean Day. Dean has been passionate about offering recent graduates and students work experience in the games industry since launching his programme Green Jamwich which is set to run across the UK this year.

To keep up to date with the latest news on Colonise visit: colonisegame.co.uk or to find out more on Greenlight Games visit http://www.greenlightgames.co.uk/

Croydon Artist takes a Kardashian Twist

Stephanie Kane on Success of New Art Series

Up and coming Croydon Artist, Stephanie Kane, is soaring in popularity with her latest S-KK series that has recently evolved from the twenty-three year olds collection. The S-KK series was created around reality television star – Kim Kardashian and was produced using an iPad and Adobe Sketch.

Feeling frustrated with how the public idolise celebrities that don’t do much to create a positive change, Stephanie endeavoured to warp the images of celebrities that are instantly recognised, such as ‘Kim crying’.  As a comment on the reality star’s warped sense of reality, ‘KRYING KIM’ was re-worked and hand finished to feature black tears made with diamond dust which was later dubbed ‘RIP DIAMOND EARRING’ in reference to the infamous moment Kim lost her diamond earring in the sea.

The artist’s most popular piece ‘WAKE UP MRS. WEST’, named after the song ‘Wake up Mr. West’ from Kayne West’s album ‘Late Registration’, has now sold out after high demand. Stephanie intended for the piece to be used as a direct comment on how our society worship’s someone that has triggered multiple generations to feel the need to contour and drastically enhance their features.

The emerging artist’s typical style involves taking the traditional use of oil paints and layering with crayons for a fast mark making effect. Stephanie, who is CEO of rising art gallery – Studio14, has been selling her work internationally over the past year and seen her portraits take off in popularity. After recently meeting with the creative director from GQ, he told the artist, ‘I’m not laughing at your work, I’m just laughing because it’s so ballsy.’

To keep up with Stephanie’s latest work you can catch her artwork on display in Boxpark, Shoreditch with UTTERcouture or see two of her original works displayed in WeWork, Spitafields for the next 3 months where they are available to buy.

Those who aren’t based around London can catch Stephanie’s work at an exhibition in Leeds on the 2nd June run by magazine – Paint by Number. The young artists work has been featured in the second issue of the magazine, this one night exhibition is set to celebrate the issue launch and its featured artists.

To find out more please visit: www.stephaniekkane.com

www.uttercouture.com
www.wework.com/locations/london/spitalfields
www.paintbynumber.co.uk/

Turning an Idea into a Reality

1.   Believe in the power of an idea

Every successful business was born from an idea, a thought or a passion. The key to success really all begins in believing in your idea. Often, our natural reaction to conceiving an idea is to shrug it off or tell ourselves it could be a waste of time to peruse – but how about giving yourself a chance to prove yourself wrong? Take away the self-doubt that we so often impose on ourselves and route for your idea like you would your football team. If you have the drive to make it work then it really could.

2.   Stop talking and make it happen

So now you’re behind your idea, it’s time to move forward.

Think of it like the first time you went swimming. What if you spent all your time sitting on the edge, worrying whether you would sink or swim? We learn as we go, and while it’s great to take a step back and work out how you’re going to tackle a problem, no progress can be made until you really get stuck in. You can explain your idea to as many people as you like but only you know what your vision is. Be strategic, but remember if you hadn’t have jumped in you’d never have learned how to swim.

3. Invest in a notebook

Remember, ideas are what keep your business moving forward instead of standing still. Our minds are working 24/7 and by the end of the day it’s hard to remember what we had for breakfast, let alone all the passing thoughts we had throughout the day. Invest in a fancy notebook to keep in your bag or back pocket so you can jot down all those brainwaves, little or big. Come Friday, have a shuffle through and pick out the best ones – there could be a winner in there.

If you’re already feeling inspired, take a look at these:

Notebook One

Notebook Two

Notebook Three

Notebook Four

4. Perseverance

Steve Jobs once said “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” He wasn’t wrong. If you endure struggle, it means you’re pushing towards something even it means pushing hard. The secret isn’t in understanding this notion but instead in reminding yourself of it. This is your vision so only you can tell yourself to keep going. Don’t be defeated. 

5. Listen

“There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees, which are falsehoods on the other.” – Blaise Pascal

Learning to listen is one of the hardest challenges many entrepreneurs face. This is your idea, your business and your baby, but listening to feedback is crucial to seeing your business flourish. The greater wealth of perspective, the greater your chances are at growing in the right direction. You can never know everything, so take advice, accept criticism and value opinions.

Written by Cara Dawso 

Game Jam takes Universities by Storm

Indie studio introduces programme to inspire creative gaming students

Young entrepreneur and CEO of Indie games studio Greenlight Games, Dean Day, has filled us in on his latest ventures for 2016. After becoming winner of the Young Start-up Talent initiative in 2015 and being awarded the Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday award (#SBS) the studio has taken off in popularity.  Since its inception, Greenlight Games has created four mobile app games available on Google and android, with their most popular game, Deul, now reaching over 100’000 downloads.

The studio’s latest endeavour has been established through an exciting new programme being introduced to universities and colleges across the UK.  Green Jamwich is an educational game jam, set to be run across establishments that cater to Gaming and Media Students.

Launching the programme in 2015 at the University of Greenwich, the studio saw a number of enthusiastic teams take part in the initial pilot scheme – a 42 hour game jam in which students compete to develop the most promising game. Judges of the programme then scored all participants and announced the winners, with runners up also walking away with prizes. Creators of Run Fox Run and winners of the 2015 scheme, were given three months paid employment with Greenlight Games to develop, complete and publish their game. The success of the pilot scheme has inspired the young entrepreneur to expand the programme across as many universities and colleges as possible, in a bid to encourage, engage, inspire and support creative talent in the gaming industry.

Dean Day – Founder and CEO of Greenlight Games added “After finding out personally how hard it was to get a good position within the games industry with just qualifications and seeing my friends get turned away job after job, I decided that starting my own company was the way to go. I started Greenlight Games whilst still at university and have never doubted its success. The idea behind the studio was to accept students and graduates to fill our roles rather than relying on industry professionals that cost the earth and move on very quickly. A game jam is a common event within the industry, awarding a cash prize or physical items but there isn’t a game jam that offers employment or experience, that’s where the idea for Green Jamwich came in. Green Jamwich will become a recognised employment opportunity that will help students and graduates gain the experience they need and the backing to get the jobs they want within the industry.”

With the belief that students and graduates are the lifeline of the game industry, the Green Jamwich project are looking to work with more gaming companies, universities, students and members over the coming year in order to reach as much talent as possible and provide a much needed platform to showcase talent for the industry.

Please watch our short video clip of our game jam with students from University of Greenwhich – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELwmwcEX0J4.

To find out more visit: http://www.greenlightgames.co.uk/ or http://greenjamwich.co.uk/

Youth of Croydon Pitch to Leading Business Bods

Croydon’s Jury’s Inn played host to the Young Start-up Talent speed networking event which saw an array of young entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a group leading business professionals.

Young Start-up Talent is an initiative for 16-25 year olds with entrepreneurial flair and a hunger to see their vision become a reality.  The process offers mentoring and coaching sessions, offering the winning entrepreneur a prize fund worth £50k of products and services to go towards their first year of business. Business men and women from the local area gathered at Jurys Inn on 28th of April to decide which entrepreneur and business showed the most promise.

With ideas ranging from home cooking apps and animation right though to entertainment agencies and an innovative green energy product, the evening was packed with a host of ideas. Simon Maddox of Owadally and King said “This year is interesting because the businesses seem far ahead, I’ve been really impressed with the standard I’ve seen tonight. I’m really looking forward to seeing the businesses flourish as they progress onto the next stages of the process.”

Entrepreneurs were each placed on a numbered table along with their business plans and presentations before undergoing two hours of pitch deliveries to experts from various fields. Business professionals set out to advise and aid the aspiring entrepreneurs on how to best grow their plan into a business before scoring each pitch in a bid to decide who would be moving on in the process.  Mark Burgess of NatWest and judge said “The entrepreneurial flair was there across the board. It was so nice to see a variety of concepts and ideas and after tonight they’ve got some great input and something to work on.”

As deliberations went deep into the night, judges settled on a final five to enter the ultimate stage of the process where finalists will deliver polished pitches to a panel who will decide the winner of Croydon’s 2016 Young Start-up Talent. Contestants will learn in the coming weeks whether they have been successfully chosen to face the judges on the 9th of June and the person walking away with the prize fund will be announced on the 7th July at Fairfield Halls – marking one of the last events before its planned closure of two years for refurbishment.

The initiative has 140 sponsors across the South East – those that took part in the speednetworking event included:

Gatwick Airport

NatWest

Owadally & King

Minute Man Press

Oxford Innovation

Media Word Waves

Cripps

Fastsigns

Structured Communications

Frost Group

Beta Futures

Whiston Solutions

Creative Pod

Social Marley

Strong Flavours

Croydon Chamber of Commerce

The entrepreneurs chosen to compete in the evening were selected from around the Borough with the youngest being 16 to graduates of 25 and included:

Aisha Williams

Chanelle Jordan

Serena Evans

Kartik Joshi

Andrew Lori-Skin

Kurt Peck

Madeleine Ellison

Harry Flaherty

Laurence Grant

Robert O’Sullivan

To find out more please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

STUDIO14 Artist Stephanie Kane is Fast Making Marks in Croydon

Twenty-Three year old up and coming artist, Stephanie Kane, is one to watch as her latest collaboration with Apple went down a storm. The young artist from Croydon was approached by Apple in 2015 after taking part in a successful art collective at the TATE Britain where she performed a live illustration of her abstract portraiture over a spoken word performance using an iPad.

After her success working with Apple and Adobe products in 2015, Stephanie led an interactive workshop in the Covent Garden Apple Store on the 16th of March for Mark Making and iPad Portraitures. The workshop was intended for people who are familiar with traditional methods and was designed to expand their knowledge on how to transform art work into digital form. The evening explored a range of techniques that endeavoured to exhibit the iPad as a perfect tool for artistic expression.

Stephanie said “It was a great turnout and the intimate atmosphere really lent itself to the dynamic of the workshop.  I really enjoyed working with such a diverse mix of people – from art students to those who had never worked in this way before.”

Coordinator of the event said “We really loved it! I think the format of getting people to create their own selfie portrait worked really well and was great to see so many people sketching away on their iPads.”

Stephanie, who is CEO of emerging artist gallery, STUDIO14, has been internationally selling her art work, which takes the traditional use of oil paints and layered with crayons for a fast mark making effect.  She has been sharing her skills across local schools in the Croydon area too inspire other young people in art and recently stood as a guest speaker and panellist at Croydon Councils international women’s day celebration sharing her experiences.

Canadian clothing brand – Kit and Ace, who scout out native artists to their Borough branch, exhibited Stephanie’s wall art in their shop and held a launch party for the occasion, which saw a gathering of people admiring the new addition. She is to be showing in group exhibitions dotted through out the year and is currently in talks with TATE collective to be a part of their Late at Tate exhibition this year.

Looking to the future, the aspiring artist hopes to showcase her very own solo gallery show at a renowned venue in London by the end of the year with a new body of work that is currently in its infancy but expected to be an exciting new series in her portfolio.

To find out more please visit www.wearestudio14.com  or www.stephaniekkane.com

Croydon Business Workshop Bursting with Talent

Budding young entrepreneurs selected to go on to the next stage of the Young Start-up Talent (YST) initiative arrived at Jury’s Inn Croydon for a two hour workshop on the 7th of April. The project is designed for 16-25 year olds hoping to start-up their own business with the winner walking away with a £50k prize fund worth of business products and services to help in their first year of business.

The workshop was in preparation for the exciting journey ahead, a process that will involve 1-2-1’s with leading business professionals, business planning and polished pitches to a panel of judges for the chosen finalists.

Applicants were asked to provide an elevator pitch for the group workshop – a short one minute pitch to best describe their business and what it does. Managing Director, Lorraine Nugent encouraged the group to evaluate various aspects of their business such as creating and discussions around a SWOT analysis, target audiences, research, marketing, legal and finances among an array of other business features. Lorraine said “This is a very important stage of the process where the participants can share their concepts and learn from one another.”

The group shared the early stages of their business ideas and the evening saw the young business minds team together to support and develop ones another’s ideas in the interactive workshop. Ideas ranged from hair salons to animation straight through to kitchen apps among other diverse concepts.

In the next phase, on the 28th of April at Jury’s Inn, the youngsters will be facing 1-2-1’s with leading business professionals from across Croydon, where the young entrepreneurs can expect their business ideas to be examined and scrutinised. Although one entrant seems more than ready as she commented “This workshop has really prepared me for the next stage, I’m eager to go home and work on my business now!” This year’s winner will be revealed at a grand showcase event, held at Fairfield Halls on the 7th of July.

For more information on the project please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Young Start-up Talent Reaches out to Budding Entrepreneurs in Chichester

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.

Young Start-up Talent: An Opportunity to Become an Entrepreneur

16-25 year olds in the West Kent area have until the 31st of March to submit their application to the process in which the winner receives £50,000 in products and services to launch their business.

Young Start-up Talent aims to help young people with an entrepreneurial flair for business and make their dreams a reality. The initiative works across seven regions in the South, and has already given rise to 52 successful start-ups over the past six years.

The application should include a brief business plan and it can be made individually or in groups of up to five people. The process will provide the budding entrepreneurs with mentoring and workshops to help them develop their skills and business knowhow to the next level.

Participants have the chance to work alongside business professionals including Ben Towers, the multi-award winning young entrepreneur who started his first business at the age of 11. By the final Dragons’ Den stage, candidates will have gained valuable experience, and a chance to build their portfolio and professional networks to accelerate their careers.

“The process made me believe in myself. As a young entrepreneur you always doubt yourself, but after winning the competition it drowned out those negative thoughts”, Dean Day concludes. The 2015 West Kent winner is the founder and CEO of Greenlight Game, an independent games studio based in Greenwich. After winning YST, Deans business has really taken off and is backed up by Greenwich University among other sponsors.

Young Start-up Talent’s managing director Lorraine Nugent praises the immense potential young people have and assures the process is open for everyone. “We are looking for potential and enthusiasm, not fully developed business plans. Participants learn about entrepreneurship and develop at a personal level during our process, which is why we often discover incredible hidden talent.”

To find out more, visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Greenlight Games Hits Start Button on 2016

Dean Day, an up and coming young tech entrepreneur and CEO of Indie games studio Greenlight Games (GG) has sailed into 2016 with a host of achievements under his belt, including the Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday award and a range of successful games including Deul and Minecart Dash. This year is set to be an exciting one with the studio’s plans already packed with updates, new programmes and even entering the world of virtual reality.

The studio’s latest venture comes in the form of a Game Jam which was set up in partnership with the University of Greenwich. After running a 48-hour Game Jam, ‘The Green Jamwich’, in a bid to find a worthy winning team, the most promising game was chosen to be developed and published over the next 3-6 months. The crowned winners were a team of three – Luke Parsons, Nick Sheehan and Megan Elliot who have created ‘Run Fox Run’. Following this victory, the students are now working at the studio one day a week, developing the game. This opportunity will offer the talented team the experience and portfolio work required for a job in the industry while they study, as well as earning some extra cash!

The programme has been such a success thus far, that Dean is keen to expand the platform as far as possible by involving universities from all over the UK, allowing all gaming and media students to take part in ‘The Green Jamwich’.  Teams from each university will compete against one another in a bid to be the next Green Jamwich champions and have their game published.

Reaction based game, Deul, has been recognised by widely known game engine – Unity and is now featured on their showcase webpage at madewith.unity.com. Deul, which is available on Android and more recently on iOS is set to be receiving a huge update in the near future with added features for all the keen gamers.

In latest news, the studio hope to be collaborating with virtual reality game company – Trinus VR on an exciting new first person racing game. Dean is keen not to give too much away but can reveal that this creation is set to be located in a future wasteland armed with plenty of weapons to hand.

With plenty more surprises up their sleeve, Greenlight Games is sure to be one to watch out for. To find out more, why not visit: www.greenlightgames.co.uk

Shaking Hands to host high-profile Croydon business events

                                                                 Laurence Grant and Rob O’Sullivan of Shaking Hands at The Exchange

Two of Croydon’s most promising young entrepreneurs are preparing to take their business to the next level. Together, Laurence Grant and Rob O’Sullivan have founded their own company, the ‘Shaking Hands Interactive Partnership’, which won the Young Start-Up Talent award for the Croydon region in July of this year. This gave them a prize-fund worth up to £50,000 in business products and services.

Both Laurence and Rob are keen to stress that since their ‘YST’ triumph, “Shaking Hands has enjoyed a new lease of life as a result of winning the Young Start-Up Talent Awards, and we have discovered a whole new arena of support and benefits.”

Since their launch on April 1 2016, Laurence and Rob have helped organise over 40 projects for various local businesses going forward. At its heart ‘Shaking Hands’ is a platform for Croydon-based small-medium business owners to communicate, collaborate and shape the future of business operations in Croydon.

The duo have since moved into The Exchange Workspace as part of the prize fund and, with some of the cash from Young Start Up Talent, have invested into a new CRM system which is helping them to organise their business operations going forward.

The pair are now looking towards a new set of events lined up for the autumn of this year.

When speaking about a prospective Q&A session with Westfield, Laurence said: “We’re hoping to inform Croydon business owners about what they can expect from the Westfield Development, and give our members and opportunity to ask any questions they may have.”

Very soon, ‘Shaking Hands’ are preparing a Property Social event with the help of Inspired Assets Management on September 28th at Croydon HQ. The event is scheduled to use state of the art technology to incorporate a 360° panoramic view of the virtual spaces across the world.

The duo have also been laying down the foundations for their biggest event yet which will take place next year, entitled ‘The Big Shake Festival’. The plan is for it to be held on The Exchange Square, just off Surrey Street, with over 60 charities lined up to take part. It is pitched as an event for all of the family, including face painting, candy floss, a petting zoo, sports zones, fashion zones, and entertainment platforms. A pre-launch for the event takes place on 21st October with a sponsorship drive, with the aim to raise £25,000 for the festival.

It seems the sky is the limit for this Croydon duo, as they are beginning to look to take on their first freelancer. They now have over 55 active members of their business, with many ‘big-name’ clients on their books. Rob said himself “the direction we are going is very positive”.

If your business wishes to be a part of the Shaking Hands partnership, prices begin at £75 (incl VAT) for a three-month trial, and £35 (incl VAT) per month thereafter. Further details can be found on their website https://shakinghands.co.uk.

If you would like more information on the Young Start-up Talent awards please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Entrepreneurial finalist receives full time apprenticeship at Crawley accountants!

Matthew Tyson from Richard Place Dobson and Young Start-Up Talent Finalist George Fisher.

Richard Place Dobson Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers have awarded a full time apprenticeship contract to student and Young Start-Up Talent finalist, George Fisher.

George first came to the attention of Richard Place Dobson director and Young Start-Up Talent judge, Matthew Tyson when George, who was then 17, took part in a workshop at Reigate College as part of the Young Enterprise initiative.  “George shone through as a leader with a good head for business right from the word go – I saw something of my younger self and thought he could go far in our practice” commented Matthew.

George spearheaded his team of five and took the group through to the final stages of the Young Start-up Talent initiative back in 2010 with the idea of a customised calendar. The team had to endure a demanding and grueling process to get to the final – having to firstly prove their idea, team spirit and entrepreneurial flair for business along with the arduous questioning from the panel of six judges and at the same time remaining composed in front of the camera crew filming the ‘Dragons Den’ style final.

Since taking part in Young Start-up Talent George has shown a keen interest in a career in accountancy. George has received several weeks of work experience at Richard Place Dobson over the last eighteen months whilst also studying for his A levels. George proved himself as capable and intelligent and fitted in well with the charity specialist accountancy firm’s existing team.
Richard Place Dobson regularly take on trainees and George was keen to fulfill this role once he had finished his studies at Reigate College obtaining A levels in Business, Economics and History and excelled by obtaining A*, A and B.

George was up against stiff competition from other applicants, including those having a degree and wishing to pursue a career in accountancy at the established firm.  “It was George’s enthusiasm, drive and more importantly excellent interpersonal skills that gave him the edge” added Darren Harding, director at Richard Place Dobson.

“Young Start-up Talent and work experience at Richard Place Dobson gave me the drive and determination to achieve great results and gave an invaluable insight into business life beyond College. I am now hugely excited and grateful to be offered this opportunity and look forward to my career at Richard Place Dobson” commented George Fisher.

www.placedobson.co.uk