Teenagers given £10 to kickstart their own business

Ten pound notes are being handed out to entrepreneurial North East teenagers to see if they can transform the loan into a business.

The ‘Tenner Scheme’ presents young people with the opportunity to run their own firm for a month, using a £10 note.

The project is launching for the first time this year by Young Enterprise and is aimed at stimulating business thinking and action to create community improvements among young people in hard hit areas such as the North East.

The idea behind the Tenner Scheme is to give the region’s youngsters their first taste of enterprise as a means of boosting their employability skills so they can land a job or ultimately go into business for themselves.

Richard Reed, of Innocent Drinks, has helped to launch this year’s scheme, he said: “If I took a ten pound loan, I’d go out and buy £10 worth of fruit and I’d crush it, squeeze it and turn it into juice and smoothies and sell those smoothies for £20 and go back and buy even more fruit and squeeze it and make even more juices and more smoothies and sell the £20 for £40.

“ It’s exactly how we started our juice business and I bet Tenner participants can do it too.“

Successful entrepreneurs have also lent their support to the project, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has recorded a video telling his own story of building a fledgling business empire.

He said: “Does starting a business always require a big pot of money? No.

“It can be better to start with very little money, since the skills you’ll develop as you overcome the challenges of growing your business will be invaluable.”

The North East has the highest regional Neet (not in education, employment or training) rate in England, which stood at 9% of 16 to 18 year-olds in the region during the last quarter of 2012.

Tenner is run by Young Enterprise, which has been operating in the North East since the 1960s, and social enterprise agency UnLtd.

Michael Mercieca, Chief Executive, Young Enterprise said: “Young Enterprise is delighted to be launching such an exciting scheme in the North East.

“Tenner’s competition strapline, ‘It’s in your hands’, really encapsulates our philosophy to give young people a chance to explore their entrepreneurial instincts and desire for community improvements in any direction they choose.

“We look forward to seeing some of the ingenious money making methods that we know North-East youngsters will try.”

Registration is now open and will close on 22 April, with the competition running throughout the month of May.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →