The next generation of entrepreneurs
by Michelle Millar, NESTA
When Tom Stanley established his first business selling odds and ends when he was just eight years old, he knew he'd discovered his true vocation as an entrepreneur. Now 16, Tom has recently won the runners-up prize for his latest business venture at the Hotshots Entrepreneurs Academy - a NESTA-funded competition designed to encourage entrepreneurship among young people in Merseyside.
Tom impressed judges with his innovative digital music-making pack: an all-inclusive product, enabling artists to produce their own music. "It comes with hardware, software, a sample library, instruction booklets and a microphone that links to your computer," explains Tom. His company, Dry Ice Online, which he established before the competition, has produced several versions of the pack, specifically tailored to meet the needs of a variety of users, ranging from bands, instrumentalists and DJs to producers and vocalists.
Tom is no stranger to the music industry, having already established his own record label and managed a recording studio with help from music industry professionals in Liverpool. He has a number of apprenticeships lined up with musicians, advertising agencies and club promoters, which he plans to pursue after he sits his GCSE exams and leaves school to become a full-time entrepreneur. "I'm hoping the apprenticeships will help me to develop my business, CV and increase me as a person," says Tom. "I'll be essentially replacing the qualifications that I would've got through A-levels with proper experience."
Unlike the majority of teenagers who participated in the Hotshots Entrepreneurs Academy, Tom already had prior knowledge of running an enterprise; however, he says the experience taught him about other facets of running a business. "I learned more about how to interact with people and how to tailor my ideas to suit other markets. It also proved to me that my idea could work."
As part of Tom's prize he got the opportunity to spend some time with real life entrepreneur and founder of the global YO! empire, Simon Woodroffe. "It's been fantastic spending time with Simon; I've learned how to take my ideas to the next level."
Simon, an advocate of improving the climate of entrepreneurship among young people, says the timing for those wanting to establish their own enterprise couldn't be better. "I think there is an entrepreneurial spirit, which has come about because there's this atmosphere that you can go out and do things. It's important to have role models like me, or even Tom, because then kids grow up and think I can do that too."
He adds: "Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones was famous when he was 17, so he's never known what it's like not to be famous, which is why he's very good at being famous. In the same way, Tom from the age of eight knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur: we're a product of our own experience."
While Tom admits that following his dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur hasn't always been easy, he reiterates that hard work and motivation pays off. "You've got be enthusiastic, believe in yourself and give everything 110 percent."
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