Catch them young

Students get advice from successful entrepreneurs

Is business the new rock and roll?

Entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson and James Dyson are familiar figures to young people, and vie with sports and pop stars as role models.

And just as pupils can hone natural sporting ability at school, a flair for business can also be harnessed in the classroom.

We try to give a realistic approach - it's the highs and lows of running a business

Tarryn Lloyd Payne, Tees Valley Young Enterprise

Young Enterprise is an education charity which has been teaching teenagers about business since 1963, through programmes run in schools, colleges and universities.

We visited an entrepreneurship masterclass at Eaglescliffe near Middlesbrough.

About 200 students from schools around the Tees Valley had gathered to pick up advice and tips from people who had already tasted business success.

Teamwork is important

Paul Morgan chairs Young Enterprise in the region.

He was on the programme himself as a youngster - now he runs a recycling company with 30 employees and a turnover of £1m.

Entrepreneurs of the future?

"Today is about giving you an opportunity to get a feel for Young Enterprise, a feel for business and a feel for entrepreneurship," he told the audience. "And it's designed to be a fun day."

Simon Brown recalled how his hopes of a football career were brought to an early end.

He determined to get two degrees and be running his own business by the time he was 26.

He now heads Chilli Media, an internet solutions company. He spoke of the importance of teamwork, and of recruiting the right people.

And he reminded the students that for every pop star or sportsman getting mobbed in the street, there were hundreds of successful entrepreneurs, with all the money and other trappings but none of the hassle.

It's still early days for the students just setting out on their year-long Young Enterprise journey.

They're refining their business ideas, which ranged from running a tuck shop at school to making plant pots and selling novelty shaving mirrors as Christmas gifts.

Tarryn Lloyd Payne: "Business is possible, but it can be hard"

Like any company, roles were allotted - managing directors, operations directors, heads of personnel.

"The idea is to set them on the road towards business, get them thinking about the ideas behind business, the ideas behind being enterprising and to get them to discover the roles and responsibilities in running a business," explained Tarryn Lloyd Payne of Tees Valley Young Enterprise.

But while plenty of advice is available, all the decisions are down to the company directors themselves.

Failure is openly discussed - there's even a liquidation process.

"We try to give a realistic approach - it's the highs and lows of running a business," said Tarryn. "They go away with a sense that business is possible but it can be hard."

Rachael Deverell was clear about what she wanted to achieve from the scheme. "Learn different roles, how to be successful, how to approach people in the right way and to make sure we succeed and earn money," she said.

Motivated by money

Money was a motivation for many of the students who said they wanted to go into business for themselves. But others marched to a different drummer.

"I want to run my own nightclub," said David Porter. "I enjoy the club scene and want to get into that sort of thing."

"I'd like to be my own boss," said Rebecca Braithwaite, a sentiment echoed by Phillip Guba, who looked forward to "being able to have all the control, being able to do things for yourself and deciding what goes on".

Latest research indicates that the number of small businesses is set to increase by nearly a quarter over the next decade.

The chances are that students from this year's Young Enterprise scheme will end up running those new companies.