One of the key objectives of the Company of Entrepreneurs is the encouragement and support of entrepreneurship at a range of different levels, using whatever means of communication are available. The Education Committee of the Company has a specific brief to engage with schools, and work with the academic staff to help identify and assist pupils who believe that they may wish to forge a career in their own business.

Starting and successfully running a business can be a very challenging process, and with the right guidance can lead to enormous returns in terms of satisfaction and personal fulfilment.  It can also of course lead to significant financial rewards if the business is set up and operated along the right lines. Discovering what the right lines are, and understanding how they can be interpreted in the context of an individual business idea, is where the Freemen of the Company of Entrepreneurs have something valuable to offer.

In order to become a Freeman of the Company, an individual must have created a business using their own time and money, and have established a successful and sustainable business model.  Imparting an understanding of how this can be communicated to budding entrepreneurs is part of the mission of the Education Committee.

One of the methods chosen by the Committee has been the recording of short videos made by the Freemen themselves on their own mobile phones.  Volunteers were sought amongst the membership of the Company, and at the time of writing 10 “voxpop” videos have been recorded and made available to the academic staff of selected schools for sharing with their respective students.

These videos have not been recorded using professional equipment or techniques, to emphasise the homespun nature of the process.  This is potentially more impactful, as it represents a number of entrepreneurs who have chosen to spend a short time crafting a summary of their own personal motivation and experiences in setting up and running their own businesses.  Each recording was intended to last no more than a couple of minutes at most, and was aimed at addressing four basic questions:

•    Why did you start your own business?
•    What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur?
•    What are your biggest challenges?
•    What advice would you give to others who are thinking of starting their own business?

Summarising this led the Freemen who chose to participate to some interesting soul-searching.  In many cases new businesses have been started as a consequence of unexpected circumstances, in others it may have been the fulfilment of long-held ambitions.  There is no one-size-fits-all formula for success, but there is definitely much to be gained from learning from the experiences of others.

Most of the Freemen who recorded their own voxpop video felt that the quality of the recording was rather doubtful – the question “do I really look and sound as bad as that?” was a frequent response.  In truth it does not matter; the object of the exercise was not to present broadcast quality videos, but a simple personal summary of the entrepreneurial journey.

The videos have been uploaded to a secure website, so that the requirements of the UK Data Protection Act can be satisfied.  From there they can be accessed and downloaded by school staff to share with their students.  A range of different professions are represented, including law firms, IT companies, property management, help with starting new businesses in specific industries, as well as a number of consultancies and mentoring services.  The Company is continuing to seek the addition of more voxpop stories, to offer as much help as possible to the next generation of entrepreneurs as they complete their formal education and move into the exciting world of business.