With youth unemployment just under a million, young people are turning their hand to gardening, graphic design, baking and beauty therapy to escape the dole queue and kick-start their careers. For many young people, the transformation from unemployed to entrepreneur is life changing; giving them back the skills, confidence and motivation that being out of work has taken away.
To provide context, it's been an uphill struggle and I can't ever forget what I've overcome. After having a tough time at school, dropping out of University, finding out I'm in the bottom 2% of the world in reading due to my severe dyslexia, it was hard to believe I could achieve success. Especially doing it all on my own.
Robert F. Kennedy famously said "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly' and in the case of young entrepreneurs this is absolutely true. Most start ups fail. That doesn't mean your own start up will never succeed, but it probably won't be your first and possibly not your second either.
We're looking for 16 to 25-year-olds who think they've got something to shout about, or who think they're onto an idea with the power to change the world, bring fresh perspective to timeless challenges, or simply start a conversation. Whether it's a video of your latest song cover, a picture of your artwork, or a business idea, we want to be the place you go to share it.
I am an entrepreneur with a passion for business. For a long time Ben & I pondered upon the idea of setting up and running our own business. On the 1st June 2012 our business dream became a reality and we established YourStudentShoes.com. How did we start it?!...Well it was with £500 left from a student loan.