Explore how young entrepreneurs could be better supported with insights from volunteer Youth Ambassadors and Special Guests attending our Youth Voice Forum.
What kind of support could help young entrepreneurs and who should provide it?
Answers to this important question for young business owners have been compiled by young people and youth-friendly experts as part of our regular online Youth Voice Forum, with thanks to all attendees including Chair Charlotte Jeffreys, Special Guest Ellie Taylor, and our amazing volunteer Youth Ambassadors.
Can you only get help in starting your own business if you meet the criteria?
Ellie: I do believe there is a misconception somewhere that you can only get help from an organisation if you’ve had certain troubles or you need to meet some criteria, which is a misconception. However, most organisations are there to help everybody, which is something I didn’t realise until I started my journey.
Should role models be more reflective of who can be a young entrepreneur?
Nyasha: I think it’s great to have third sector input including mentoring and coaching which can be really impactful. Some things you would have to pay for so we need to think about accessibility. Also, it was really useful to see local entrepreneurs and their stories.
Charlotte: There seems to be an idea around who can be an entrepreneur because of issues around funding. In addition, as you suggested, role models that reflect the diversity of who can be an entrepreneur are important.
What barriers do young entrepreneurs face in getting careers guidance?
Angel: I think the problem with careers guidance is that there doesn’t seem to be a single centralised source. Without that support, you may not know where to go to or even what you are searching for. There are a lot of services out there but if you don’t know they exist, or you aren’t eligible for the provision then that can cause problems. These provisions need to be made accessible to people until they know about them, and support is important, whether it’s earlier in school or after school. Some people are becoming disengaged with the idea that they can do it.
Charlotte: When services are constrained by funding or eligibility criteria, you end up with only a small subsection of people that can reach it. You end up with the problem where people just aren’t sure what the path is, whether they can access it. When you get confusing then you end up alienating people.
Careers education needs to reflect diversity to reach and support more people
Josh: When I think about who I was told about self-employment at school, I didn’t see any women, and I only saw white men. They were represented as our business owners. I think if we really want to get into a new group of young people, we need to be representing them. That includes those from the LGBTQ+ community, those from ethnic backgrounds, those who are men, those who are women etc. We need to hone down on that kind of representation. You need somebody who can be an idol and a mentor.
Ellie: Adding onto what Josh said, when I started my journey with the trust, the majority of people in my enterprise course were black people like me. After talking to my mentors, I added the people I met in the course onto social media and I still keep in touch with them. There were around 15 other people and it is only me out of that group who is running a business. Do you think something else is going on in the community as to why we don’t end up pushing self-employment? I have to go into a lot of people’s homes, and every time I go into someone’s house, I do get anxiety because I think ‘are they expecting me to be black?’. Probably not, and I don’t like to think like that but I can’t pretend that I don’t have that anxiety.
I remember I posted a picture on our Facebook page of myself and the animals, and then interaction just stopped. So now I’ve removed pictures of myself or people of colour on my page. It’s very sad that we live in that type of world.
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Would you like to volunteer with us if you are aged 16-24 and care about your future? You can build your skills, confidence, and CV online or at exciting local events near you as a volunteer Youth Ambassador. You can also take part in our regular Youth Voice Forum.
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