We keep hearing how we are a nation of entrepreneurs and that more and more young people are trying to set up businesses, but in reality how much funding is there really out there for these budding entrepreneurs. We've frequently reported on the lack of funding from banks, but there are other options out there and new suggestions constantly being thrown about. Richard Branson, for example, has put forward the idea that young people who do not go to university could use their student loan to start a business instead. This would give them access to much needed finance, but with the low interest rates and long payback terms that undergraduates receive with the student loan system.
You may have come across the Get Mentoring scheme, which aims to create a network of thousands of business mentors that will give SMEs access to the wealth of experience from entrepreneurs. This is all well and good, but advice is of no use if businesses haven't got the funding to get started in the first place. So, it has been suggested this idea of mentoring be used in a different manner with the help of large corporations.
Franchising can be perfect for those individuals who want to run their own business without worrying about the pressure of starting from scratch and/or coming up with new ideas. It is also suited to people who believe in selling a proven product and like the idea of having the backing of a large organisation.
In a recent blog we discussed how age is no barrier to starting a business with entrepreneurs in their teens up to the nineties starting businesses. The government has obviously been listening, well in part, as the prime minister, David Cameron, is believed to be looking at funding young people looking to set up in business using a student loan style scheme. The idea was first proposed by Sir Richard Branson as part of the 
With the increase in university tuition fees due to kick in next year there was the inevitable rush to get a space at university this year, but did all those students consider the alternatives? With more and more young people starting their own businesses perhaps a (costly) degree is no longer as important as it once was.
It has apparently proved successful during the trial run in Merseyside this year, but will the Government’s New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) prove itself as effective nationwide? The scheme works with the long-term unemployed (receiving Jobseekers Allowance for at least 26 weeks) to provide them with the opportunity to start their own small business by offering access to a business mentor who will work with entrereneurs to put together business plans. They will also receive a £65 per week stipend for the first thirteen weeks (reducing to £33 per week for the subsequent thirteen weeks) and in addition the entrepreneurs will have access to a £1,000 business loan.
