Fresh Meat
Young people are natural entrepreneurs and must be able to grow their talents, writes Seema Malhotra MP
Entrepreneurship is oddly absent from debates about youth unemployment. The young people I have surveyed in my constituency often cite starting a business as something they want to learn about. Yet this enthusiasm is overlooked by our education system and society at large. We celebrate success when people have an IPO or attract a big investor, but we do not talk about the preceding journey, or the inequality that characterises it.
We have failed to make the case that entrepreneurship is core to a long-term growth strategy for Britain. Instead, we characterise it as an add on, something that “just happens” later in life, and create policy using the mental model of Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg – the genius coder in a university bedroom. This model prevents us from seeing opportunity and talent in every postcode and at every age. To move beyond it, our central message should be that the government is creating an ecosystem that can support young people everywhere to grow a business, including by exporting abroad.
Everything we do in government should reflect our commitment to spreading entrepreneurship around the country. We must ask ourselves two questions (among others): first, are we anywhere close to matching other countries in developing young talent of the enterprise leaders and the traders of tomorrow? Second, how are we working to ensure that opportunity to start and grow a business is as much reaching state school pupils as private school pupils?
In my role as minister for growth in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, I cohosted a young entrepreneurs’ and traders’ marketplace organised with five key youth entrepreneurship organisations: Ultra Education CIC, Young Enterprise, The King’s Trust, Future Leaders UK and Unloc. Walking around, it was impossible not to be inspired by young people pursuing new ideas and creating new products. One teenager was creating a Google maps-style app centred around accessibility, which, among other things, flagged the location of steps for wheelchair users. Her aim was to enable greater independence for disabled people after the experience of being a carer for her uncle. Other young people there were already making history. Hephzibah, one of the “Kidpreneurs” present, is a world record holder for the longest novel ever written by a child. The youngest “Kidpreneur” that joined us was eight years old. It was clear that even at very young ages, these innovators had understood not only the excitement of starting something new, but also the accompanying challenges and risks.
The spirit of enterprise can be seen in many young people when we take the time to look for it. Beauhurst data suggests 187 active high-growth UK companies have a founder aged 25 or younger. Yet for too long these entrepreneurs, and those who aspire to reproduce their success, have lacked societal and institutional encouragement. Going forward, we should have three main messages for young entrepreneurs across the country.
First, always believe in your potential. Every successful business starts with an idea and someone willing to support it. The very fact that you want to start a business shows creativity and determination. These qualities matter: they are what drive innovation, create jobs and strengthen our economy.
Second, think internationally from the start. The marketplace event was held at the heart of the Foreign Office, the department that leads the UK’s diplomatic work abroad and promotes trade and prosperity across the world. Whether you are building an app, launching a product or growing a local business, the opportunities available to you do not stop at the UK’s borders. Our job is to help open doors around the world. We continue to build awareness among SMEs of the UK’s free trade agreements and awareness of opportunities for British businesses.
Third, to build networks and partnerships. None of us can succeed on our own, and that includes the government. Growth in every postcode is not just about capital investment reaching new regions. It is about working together to inspire and build a culture of entrepreneurship which will enhance our economy and change our world. That starts with ensuring every young person feels that entrepreneurship is open to them, regardless of their background.
