Student Entrepreneur

Starting up a business whilst studying can be so much fun and hardwork. The university environment gives you the perfect platform to discover and experiment ideas, but as you know sometimes having a part-time job or putting your student loan money into the business just might not be enough especially when you‘re running a business that needs a lot of cash to keep it running or it might just be that you just need a bit of money to help grow/scale the business.

Graduate Entrepreneur

Being a graduate and running a business can be very tough, especially if you’re focusing on running the business full-time without a job and probably just crashing on a friends couch bootstrapping and hoping to start making revenue soon or working part-time/full-time and spending most of the weekends and evenings focusing on your business.

The opportunity to get some finance can enable you to focus fully on the business especially during the startup phase where you are mostly experimenting.

The Competition

NACUE and Lloyds TSB have joined forces to give students and graduates the opportunity to win £50,000 in investment through the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards and all entries closes in just 10 days, 30 Jan 2012. Apply here

All entrants will be considered for two titles - Best Start Up, which will be awarded to a business in its early stages; and Best Enterprise which will be awarded to the business judged to show real potential to grow over the next five years to become a recognised SME within its respective sector.

The overall winner of the Awards will receive £50,000 to invest in their business, together with a comprehensive two-year mentoring programme, involving senior executives from Lloyds Banking Group, designed to provide coaching and support on critical business issues such as planning, finance, recruitment and marketing. Each of the winners will also receive free legal advice with an independent specialist law firm

The Awards are open to entrepreneurs currently studying at universities across England, Scotland or Wales - or who graduated within the past five years and have been trading for more than one year.

The prizes

Heats

Best Start-Up - £1k plus two years mentoring from senior Lloyds Banking Group representatives
Best Enterprise - £5k plus two years  mentoring from senior Lloyds Banking Group representatives

Grand Final

Best Start-Up - £10k plus two years mentoring from senior Lloyds Banking Group representatives and a business session with a Lloyds Banking Group executive
Best Enterprise - £50k plus two years mentoring from senior Lloyds Banking Group representatives and a business session with a Lloyds Banking Group executive

The heats

Wales – Cardiff 15 February
London & South East – Reading, 16 February
South West – Bristol 21 February
East of England – Essex, 22 February
Midlands – Nottingham 23 February
North West – Manchester 28 February
Yorkshire & North East – Leeds 29 February
Scotland – Edinburgh 1 March

Grand Final

Liverpool 13 March 2012