In collaboration with Digital Islands, Horsham District Council has launched a new programme which seeks to hone the entrepreneurial skills of local young talent. Through the ‘Horsham Young Entrepreneurs’ programme, young adults aged between 18 and 30 years old will be able to access a range of free online resources and one-to-one support to assist them in turning their dream of starting a business into an actionable plan.
The programme will take aspiring young entrepreneurs through various stages, starting with an online behavioural assessment and online business competency assessment. Participants will then be encouraged to watch a series of videos on market research. A key output of the project will be the production of a business plan, constructed with the help of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool and one-to-one support with Digital Islands’ subject matter experts.
Commenting on the Horsham Young Entrepreneurs Programme, Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development & Property, Councillor Joanne Knowles said:
The next generation of young entrepreneurs play an important role in supporting a growing, resilient, and innovative local business community. I am pleased we have developed this programme to help empower young adults to work towards achieving their ambitions to become an entrepreneur and make their business idea a reality. I hope to see many make use of this fantastic, free opportunity.
Gavin of Digital Islands said:
According to The Prince’s Trust, over half of young people aged 18–30 dream of starting a business, but 70% say they don’t know where to start. We believe that honing talent at a young age can enable an individual to succeed early in life. We are pleased to be working with the Council to create this new programme dedicated to helping young adults in Horsham District with business support through our subject matter experts and technology.
If you are aged between 18 and 30 years old and want to learn the basics of how to be a young entrepreneur or know someone who does, you can find out more and express an interest on the Young Entrepreneurs website.
Participants will then be invited to sign up to the West Sussex Business Hub for free and join a private Horsham Young Entrepreneurs group, where they can access online resources, learning materials and any relevant comms and updates on the programme of support.
The Horsham Young Entrepreneurs project has received £49,000 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to deliver this programme.