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It is easy to list the perceived attractive benefits and advantages to being a self-employed entrepreneur; work when you want to, make money for yourself, perhaps take up golf and drive a nice car. However there are of course many not-so-nice things that are involved with being an entrepreneur such as the long hours and the hard work. Still, many people are not put off and would love to be in control of their own business. It seems that the young people of Leeds are no exception. Leeds University reports that four per cent of students are already running their own businesses and 27 per cent intend to when they finish their degree.Take a look at Richard Branson for a great example of entrepreneurship and one that most of us would like to emulate if we could. But desire is not enough; you also need ideas and guts to take the risks that are involved with starting up an enterprise. Even if someone is creative and a risk taker, this does not automatically translate into entrepreneurial qualities. So what exactly does it take to make it? Psychologists believe there is an entrepreneur personality type. Those with ‘e-type’ personalities aspire to be leaders as they are ambitious and in control of others whilst needing to be personally free of restriction. Throughout various research studies, psychologists have also found entrepreneurs scoring highly on extraversion and conscientiousness but low in neuroticism and agreeableness. So it would conclude that entrepreneurs are a bit feisty!However, it is more than just personality that determines whether someone could really pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, as psychologists argue that educational background, authoritative parenting and interaction with entrepreneurs when they are young are also key factors. In order to explore the mind of a young entrepreneur, The Hype spoke to Tom Greveson of Revolution Viewing (www.revolutionviewing.co.uk); a Leeds based company offering virtual tours as a marketing solution on the Internet. The business is still expanding, and has already taken him to exotic locations throughout Europe, as well as Canada. The answers gained from questions asked to Tom about his character seem to confirm that he has an e-type personality. As for other factors such as his upbringing, Tom describes it as stable and supportive.With regards to experiencing examples of entrepreneurship at a young age, Tom agrees with the psychologists: “I certainly think it can affect a person’s entrepreneurial qualities and can help you along the way.” Tom’s father also runs his own business, but Tom does not agree that someone’s upbringing would automatically make them an entrepreneur, as his brother is not at all inclined. Instead he believes that a person’s attributes are the key to success: “Determination overrides all other characteristics. It takes a certain sort of person to be determined enough to see things through.” Despite this belief, Tom does not deny that luck has played a part in his success, in particular when he was a runner-up in a business concept competition run by the Leeds Business Spark group as he only found out about the competition two days before the entry deadline. Tom explains how winning the £2,000 prize was the catalyst for him to start up his own business: “It tipped me over the edge to think, OK, I’ll set up my business straight away.The plan was always to be my own boss but not necessarily straight after University, especially as I’d been offered another job in London.” So with a little bit of luck and quite a bit of guts Tom began setting up Revolution Viewing, which he saw as effectively filling a niche in the market. Although the service the company provides is proving to be profitable for Tom, he maintains the notion that it is the person behind the enterprise that really matters: “Some people I’ve met can make anything work.”Notwithstanding all this talk of e-type personalities and characteristics, there is not any special questionnaire you have to take to establish if you can or cannot be enterprising.If you have the idea and desire to be a success it can be easy to transform your dream into reality, especially if you turn to the White Rose Centre for Enterprise Teaching and Learning located on the University of Leeds campus. Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England it provides support for enterprise initiatives. The centre is in partnership with similar centres at the Universities of York and Sheffield and is part of a five-year project, concluding in 2010.
The centre is equipped with many facilities as part of its Enterprise Zone, including what is called a micro-incubator; a space equipped with laptops, WiFi technology, printers and telephones to help students conduct research for their enterprise and contact people in a professional manner. Another facility at the centre is the business simulator, which uses a program called SimVenture, similar in design to The Sims computer game, whereby the computer is the marketplace and rookie entrepreneurs can practice their business skills. The centre has had numerous success stories, with students who have used its facilities going on to run successful businesses. These include Jason Dainter, co-director of eurogiveaways.com, which provides online clients new customers by offering incentives such as iPods to people surfing the web. Also the founders of The Smoothie Company were helped by the White Rose Centre when they were inspired by Australian juice bars.Tom Greveson also used the White Rose Centre’s facilities when he was starting out and acknowledges that they were a vital part of starting his business: “Knowing that I didn’t have to pay for office space, computer equipment and phone calls for a year certainly made the decision [to set up the business] a lot easier.” Not only are amenities found in the centre useful but the atmosphere is also unique, with many creative and inspiring people at work there. Tom adds: “Being able to start a business in a room with other people doing the same thing was invaluable.” Again, it appears that the importance of personality and character type is closely linked to the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur.David Bulmer, the Enterprise Zone Co-ordinator at the centre comments on how he sees students with ‘a certain personality type’ who are definitely going to succeed. David also agrees with the idea that the person is more important than the product or service being sold. As he sees it: “Someone with the right ideas, enthusiasm and strategy can probably sell anything.” Whilst David highlights self-belief, courage and good organisational skills as essential traits for an entrepreneur, he is adamant that the White Rose Centre can not only help develop a promising entrepreneurial vision but also an individual’s entrepreneurial qualities. He says: “A lot of people come to the centre with a great idea but don’t know what to do next. Here at the centre we have links with so many people across Leeds, Yorkshire and the whole country, we can help them develop and move forward.”The White Rose Centre is not the only place where help for young entrepreneurs is available in Leeds. In fact there is a whole list of groups whose main aim is to support and assist young people in setting up enterprises. For example, Inventure is the name of the Leeds Enterprise Society - a fun and friendly way to make contacts in the city and share experiences with others.The society is open to professionals, students and recent graduates and has dedicated business mentors to give advice to those starting out. Inventure is also sponsored by KPMG, a global accounting company, which shows that the big names in business are backing the entrepreneurs of Leeds. There is also Spark, another affiliate of the University of Leeds, aimed at helping graduates. The new Institute for Enterprise at Leeds Metropolitan University hopes to increase the quality of enterprise education, creating a vibrant learning community complete with an ‘enterprise café’ perfect for networking.The benefits of being in Leeds do not end there for an entrepreneur, as Tom Greveson feels that Leeds is a great city for new businesses: “Being based in Leeds is really useful. We’ve made good relationships with other local businesses and that’s great for sharing experience.” With so much help and support for young entrepreneurs starting out, it is possible that in the big bad global marketplace they are at a disadvantage because of their age.Tom Greveson confirms that this was a problem for him: “In the first year and a half of business I’d go to meetings and people thought I was inexperienced and lacked knowledge. They were right! But those things come with time.” David Bulmer on the other hand believes that becoming a young entrepreneur shows that you are good at taking risks and have a lot of energy and enthusiasm - qualities that should be attractive to others who are looking to do business with you. Personality plays a big role in becoming an entrepreneur as certain characteristics lend themselves to enterprising activities, but lots of other factors are also important. Gaining technical and business advice and support is clearly invaluable as the high success rate of the White Rose centre proves. However it is important to remember that if you have the passion and ambition you can be successful, and with plenty of thriving entrepreneurs in Leeds you should not be short of inspiration.Useful Links:www.whiterose.ac.ukcareerweb.leeds.ac.uk/sparkwww.leedsinventure.com
www.revolutionviewing.co.uk |
