Where young entrepreneurs can get support?
Today’s young people have a whole host of exciting technology and opportunities at their disposal. This has led to a surge in creativity and exciting new ways of thinking. The problem is, often young professionals have insightful ideas for a new business venture but not the support or funding to get this off the ground.
In recent years, there has been an increase in young people starting up their own business which in turn has led to an increase in schemes and support for young entrepreneurs.
This is great news for those hoping to get started on their entrepreneurial journey. But how do you know where to find these?
In the guide, we’ve pulled together a list of resources that can help young entrepreneurs to explore their ideas, get business advice and even get the funding to make their dreams a reality.
Check these resources out below.
1. Government support for young people
It is in the interest of the government to encourage young entrepreneurs and the creation of new businesses as this contributes positively towards the countries economy.
As such, the government has several initiatives and schemes in place to offer support to those who want to start their own business. This ranges from financial help to mentoring and training opportunities.
So we’ll first start by looking at how the government helps to support young entrepreneurs and startups as this is an important body and is often the first place people will turn for help.
Start Up Loans Scheme
The government aims to offer financial support to help young entrepreneurs grow their business and this can be done through the Start Up Loans Scheme. As well as offering mentoring and support services, the scheme offers up to £25,000 in startup loans at a fixed interest rate.
Tax reliefs
- Employment Allowance - If you are employing others to help you with the running of your business, you can claim up to £3,000 off your employer’s Class 1 National Insurance bill per tax year
- Small Business Rates Relief
- SME R&D Tax Relief - This research and development (R&D) relief is available to businesses working towards advances in science and tech-nology
- Creative Industries Tax Relief (CITR)
- Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) - not strictly a tax break but SEIS is a form of venture capital scheme designed to draw investment into your business. If eligible, you could receive a maximum of £150,000 in investment
Business mentoring
Financial support is not the only important aspect when starting up a busi-ness. As such, the government also funds a lot of bodies that deliver training and mentoring programs for young entrepreneurs.
For example, Tech City UK is a government-funded programme that focuses on the growth of digital businesses across the UK. You can find more of these schemes online.
Apprenticeship schemes
For young people who aren't in a rush to start their own business, govern-ment-funded apprenticeship schemes can be the ideal way to start earning and saving all whilst learning new skills and getting real-world experience in the industry. Then, equipped with their knowledge and new qualifications they can begin their own businesses venture.
General support for small businesses
The government website has a whole host of useful resources that offer general support to small businesses. For example, the website offers support, advice and inspiration for growing your business. What’s more, it includes important information such as tax advice and intellectual property protection.
2. The Prince’s Trust grants
The Prince’s Trust charity has been offering financial support to young entrepreneurs since 1976. There are exclusive Enterprise Programs that you can sign up for that provide funding and mentoring help to young people who are looking to start their own business.
Plus, it’s reasonably easy to do! You just need to fill in an application form on their website. Of course, there are terms and conditions and to be eligible for the funding you must fulfil certain criteria. You can find out more about the support they offer on the Prince’s Trust website.
3. Youth Employment UK
Youth Employment UK offers a whole resources centre for young people making their way in the working world. But more than just career advice, they have a whole range of resources (which can be found here) that offer advice to young entrepreneurs including:
- Tips on important topics such as networking and staring a business
- Latest research and market insights
- Help and resources for entrepreneurs including tips on where to get funding and training
4. UnLtd support and funding
For social entrepreneurs and those who want to change the world, UnLtd is the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in the UK. They offer invaluable support and every year they award funding and resources to hundreds of individuals to help them get their social enterprise up and running. This can range from anywhere between £550 to £20,000.
As well as funding they offer ongoing advice, networking and support. You can find out more about this on their website, here.
5. School for Startups mentoring and support
School for Startups is an international company set up to equip local entre-preneurs with the tools they need to get their business started.
They do this to support the local economy as a whole. By offering entrepreneur training programs as well as a whole host of advice, new businesses can help to create jobs, new industries and regional and international trade that leads to economic advances in the area.
You can check out their training program here.
6. Virgin StartUp support
Last on our list is Virgin StartUp. Richard Branson is an extremely famous entrepreneur and he founded Virgin StartUp as a way of supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business.
This not-for-profit organisation can offer funding, support, Virgin mentoring, PR opportunities and more for young entrepreneurs.
You can find out more about their mentoring program and startup loans, here.
You can find out more about the funding and mentoring support available to young entrepreneurs below:
