smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

The combination of a changing jobs market and an increased interest in enterprise amongst young people is making entrepreneurial skills increasingly important, a business start up expert has claimed.

Changes in the employment market have meant young workers are increasingly less likely to be able to follow a planned career path, making enterprise an attractive alternative, claims Catherine Swift, spokesperson for the Enterprise Education Trust.

She also believes the continued popularity of television shows such as 'The Apprentice' and 'Dragons Den' has resulted in increased interest amongst young people in the idea of a small business start up.

Commenting on the programmes, Ms Swift says: 'They are a great of way of making young people more aware of their opportunities as learning about business is not something they are necessarily guaranteed from their education at school.

'If you are ambitious and want to get ahead in life you need to be able to see every opportunity,' she adds, 'Enterprise could be the way forward if you can't find what you are looking for'.

Figures provided by the Enterprise Education Trust revealed that while 33 per cent of young people expressed an interest in running their own business in 2001, by 2005 53 per cent had done so.

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