accelerating young business ideas
accelerating young business ideas
CALLING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS - LAST CHANCE TO WIN £10,000
SEARCH FOR WESTERN ISLES' TOP YOUNG BUSINESS-PEOPLE NEARLY OVER
The search to find the Western Isles' best young entrepreneur of 2002 will soon be drawing to an end as the final deadline for entries into the Shell LiveWIRE Young Business Start Up Awards approaches on Friday 15 March 2002.
The awards competition which is sponsored locally by Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar is open to young people aged 16-30 who have started their own business and have been trading not less than three months and not more than 18 months on 31 January 2002.
Entrants must submit a Business Plan together with an application form. All entries will be scrutinised by the Business Advantage Team and the five best businesses put forward for the local final.
An independent panel of judges will assess all the finalists and their business plans at Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar on Friday 29th March. The winner of the Western Isles stage of the competition will win substantial cash prizes and go on to represent the Islands at the Scottish Final, to be held at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh at the end of April.
Nationally, over £200,000 is up for grabs and the two winners of the Scottish Final will go on to compete against ten other top young businesses from throughout the UK for a first prize of £10,000 and the prestigious title of "Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year."
For the past four years young Scottish entrepreneurs have beaten off competition from across the UK to win the prestigious Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award with a unique ‘five in a row’ now firmly in Scotland’s sight.
Jane Campbell, local Shell LiveWIRE Co-ordinator said: "We believe that the Shell LiveWIRE awards are a fantastic opportunity for young people to win a cash boost for their business and also put them in the spotlight. It would be wonderful if the 2002 national winner was from the Western Isles!"
If you are aged between 16-30 and would like to enter the Shell LiveWIRE Young Business Start Up Awards competition, please contact Jane Campbell NOW by telephone: (01851)-709-271 or email: jane.campbell@cne-siar.gov.uk.
The same telephone number can be used by 16 - 30 year olds for free business start-up information and local one to one business advice. To find out more about Shell LiveWIRE online, visit their website at http://www.shell-livewire.org
ENDS
Issued by:
Jane Campbell
Youth Enterprise Development Officer
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
Sandwick Road
Stornoway
Isle of Lewis
HS1 2BW
Tel: (01851)-709-271
Fax: (01851)-709-388
Email jane.campbell@cne-siar.gov.uk
Shell LiveWIRE is a UK wide initiative supported by Shell UK to develop, manage and share quality programmes which improve opportunities for young people to realise their potential principally through the creation and development of business enterprises. Such programmes will contribute towards a more buoyant economy and a community of more fulfilled individuals.
Shell LiveWIRE’s main objectives are to:
Over one in three young people would like to start their own businesses. The desire to be their own boss, and the opportunity to create a better future are two of the main reasons given by those who start up. Not an option for the fainthearted, starting a business can be a daunting prospect, and survival can feel like a continuous struggle. Out of approximately 450,000 businesses that start up each year, just over half of them will go on to celebrate their third birthday.
However, sound preparation and a structured business plan will significantly improve the chances of success, and Shell LiveWIRE has 19 years experience of helping young people to create a brighter future for themselves by starting their own business. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, eight out of ten start-up businesses in the UK collapse every year due to a lack of sound advice, however national schemes like Shell LiveWIRE can double a business's survival chances. Since its inception by Shell U.K. Limited in 1982, over 300,000 young people have contacted Shell LiveWIRE for free local advice, information and business support on ideas ranging from worm farming to computer networking.
The Shell LiveWIRE Outreach programme encourages young people aged 16-30, and those whom they turn to for advice and guidance, to see starting a business as a viable and desirable career option. By contacting the national telephone hotline on ( 0845 757 3252 ( cost of a local call ), enquirers will receive a free business start up information pack tailored to their specific idea, and the opportunity to receive one to one advice on starting up and running a business from a local business adviser.
Shell LiveWIRE also rewards and raises the profile of Britain’s most promising young business people through its prestigious annual Shell LiveWIRE Young Business Start Up Awards competition. Over £200,000 worth of cash awards and "help in kind" support is provided through a series of county, regional and UK competition events. In addition, awards are made to young businesses that have demonstrated considerable progress since starting up.
LiveWIRE encourages sound business planning and monitoring of the business on a continual basis. This approach to business planning enables entrepreneurs to be more flexible and responsive to opportunities which arise, and improves the business’ profitability and prospects for long-term success.
LiveWIRE operates through a UK-wide network of over 100 local co-ordinators all of whom have been identified as a focal point for youth enterprise development.
Shell LiveWIRE International. Following the success of LiveWIRE in the UK, similar schemes have been set up in Australia, Chile, the Netherlands, Hungary, Oman, South Africa, the Republic of Ireland, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Brunei, and Singapore. Shell is committed to expanding the programme into five new countries per year over the next five years.