Budding entrepreneurs from three Scottish high schools are going for growth after showing the power of social media. CityFibre, the Gigabit City builder, is providing additional funds to a trio of businesses which form part of the Young Enterprise Scotland Company Programme. The top prize of £150 has gone to 10 Scent, which consists of nine students from Lochend Community High School, for the exceptional campaign it ran to promote its hand-poured and eco-friendly soy wax melts. CityFibre previously sponsored an entire programme and invested in social media training and a specialist workshop for the students involved. The enterprising team at 10 Scent has taken the lessons from the session and grown their social media following and driven awareness of their brand by sharing updates, customer feedback and sneak peeks.
Why did you take the plunge? I started my business following redundancy from a role that I loved, so trying to build a positive from a very tough situation. What were you doing before you took the plunge? I’d always worked in-house in HR within the technology sector and had been very lucky to work for inspiring, innovative companies including Wolfson Microelectronics, a spin out from Edinburgh University which designed audio chips for Apple’s first iPod products. I went on to work for other founder-led software companies, building and leading their HR functions from scratch. I realised there was a growing market for this as an outsourced service which I felt well placed to address.
It’s been an extraordinarily tough year for most businesses. However, If you think that the current Covid-19 pandemic has put younger people off the idea of becoming entrepreneurs, you would be wrong. According to a recent survey by the finance company SME Loans, no less than 63 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds in Scotland dream of taking up self-employment, powered by the desire to be their own bosses, make money, have flexibility, and work from home. It’s a trend welcomed by Young Enterprise Scotland, the registered charity that works to inspire and equip young people to learn and to succeed. It offers support from primary school level through to university and beyond.