NextGen talents

How can young people be helped with their new business ideas? Here’s Greg Ingham with EntreConf Go…

Connections, inspiration and mentoring loom for young entrepreneurs at EntreConf Go, a new conference we’re running in Bristol on 14 November at Arnolfini, and Bath on 19 November at Komedia. And it’s entirely free for 16-25 year olds.

So what’s the story here..? What does it mean for these aspiring entrepreneurs and how can the City’s business community help?

The aim is to help this cohort of young people with their new business ideas. They’ve got the thinking and also the desire: 60 per cent wish to run their own businesses – way higher than any previous generation.

But they often don’t have the networks, connections, even awareness of the types of relevant, recent business successes. Nor some of the practical elements of starting and running a business.

Enter EntreConf Go.

It’s open to any young person from whichever educational background or level, and is socially inclusive. We wanted there to be no barriers to involvement. As well as being free to attend, we’re holding the events at Arnolfini and Komedia so that all will feel comfortable attending. Our city’s schools, colleges and Unis are exceptional: but for some, particularly if you’ve left education, formal places of learning can create a barrier.

Similarly we didn’t want a traditional business environment or a coworking space. EntreConf Go is for young people on their terms.

Next, what would help? Luck, timing, innovation, determination and vision are all central to being a successful entrepreneur. All good. But what about confidence, a dawning belief that what you are thinking of creating might work?

To aid belief, EntreConf Go features young, easily-relatable entrepreneurs talking about their businesses, how they started, what they’ve learned, what they would do differently now – and what advice they would give.

Traditionally, business success stories are told by older, more experienced people who, oddly enough, are often the heroes of their own stories. But rather than hearing about such daunting, distant brilliance, imagine discovering the earlier stage inside story from peers who have created their own companies, almost certainly using similar digital skills, social media channels and refreshingly new business thinking?

“If they can do it, so might I…” That validation, that prompt to action, that confirmation is so important at the earliest stage, all the more so if you don’t have a business framework or network of contacts or parents who have created start-ups.

Then there will be the emergent businesses themselves. The NextGen creators, talking through their ideas, from side hustles to fully-fledged commercial offerings. This isn’t a pitch-off. Not some performative reality TV equivalent with divisive ‘winners’ and – worse – ‘losers’.

No. This is about giving a platform to smart new ideas. For some, this will be the first public articulation of what they do and why they do it. That’s good. Vital experiences. And raising profile should help yield connections and even advice.

And then there are the companies. We’re partnering with a limited few to give practical help on setting up a company; or financing routes; sales development; or mentoring.

There’ll be good connections to be made with the rising stars of the future. There’s the bigger picture strategic picture aiding the NewCos which will add so much to the region in time to come.

And there is also the social responsibility of helping the NextGen, the group most affected by the pandemic, educationally and socially.

Imagine that just one young person is inspired at EntreConf Go to start their own business or to build with greater confidence on what they have already begun. (By all means, imagine more than one: we do.)

Now wouldn’t that be a good thing..?

So if you are an aspiring young entrepreneur with an idea for a new business, or a parent or teacher of one, please sign up for free on the EntreConf Go site. The doors to a new world might be opening…