Global Entrepreneurship Week off to a flying start
Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011 set to address the concerns and anxieties of budding entrepreneurs; enabling many more people to create successful ventures
This week, entrepreneurs will be engaging in a national conversation about enterprise which will help to connect people, share ideas and address regional issues to drive the next generation of business owners. Global Entrepreneurship Week endeavors to make it easier to turn those conversations into action in the coming year and celebrate entrepreneurship over the previous 51 weeks.
Those involved in this prestigious series of events, use Global Entrepreneurship Week to have exchanges that help them launch something new, showcase their projects, or just generally raise the profile of entrepreneurship in their locality. They do this because they all recognise that entrepreneurship is a force for good. It can lift people out of poverty, enable people to take control of their own lives, or simply turn their passions into profit.
Studies are suggesting that around half of UK businesses will be putting a freeze on the number of graduates they employ this year. Recent measures to tackle unemployment such as the Government Work Programme have generated optimism but for some bright sparks, other avenues have opened to create companies of their own.
A perfect example of this concept in action is that of Shopow.co.uk. Kevin Flood and Mike Harty, a pair of clued up young graduates have set up a unique online company straight out of university as an alternative to jostling in the crowded graduate jobs scrum. Their message is that other business savvy graduates with a great idea can be masters of their own destiny and become their own boss.
Shopow.co.uk, their Social Shopping start-up, is a new type of shopping search engine that aggregates thousands of retailers and millions of products across all areas of consumer goods. Not only does this allow users to compare goods by criteria such as price, retailer, service and delivery, it also integrates various social functions so shoppers can find all the information they need to make the right decisions when buying online.
Kevin Flood, CEO of Shopow, said, “Our novel idea has meant that we were able to compete against some of the long established names from the outset. All budding entrepreneurs across the UK wishing to succeed shouldn’t underestimate the importance of a strong concept. We coupled this with our hard work ethic, detailed research and willingness to take the odd calculated risk in order to get our business off the ground and gathering momentum quickly.”
This momentum has resulted in the pair winning a Young Guns Business Award. Since the launch of Shopow in May 2010, the business anticipates revenues of over £3m in the first year of trading. The pair are confident they can achieve a ‘critical mass’ in the UK this year, and are looking to expand into the USA and mainland Europe imminently.
The message from Kevin and Mike is that business savvy individuals with a great idea can be masters of their own destiny and bypass the busy job market.
Kevin Flood, Co-founder and CEO of Shopow, said, “We set up Shopow because of our love of business. There were so few opportunities in the job market that we opted to take a risk and move in a new direction, one which we would strongly encourage other young people to pursue.”
