Welcome to The Side Hustle Initiative 2023
Brought to you by YourGamePlan and finnCap Group
Now in its third year, The Side Hustle Initiative is a nationwide-campaign helping young entrepreneurs grow or launch their own business.
It is hosted by The Apprentice star and first-ever winner, Tim Campbell, who will be joined by three other high-profile judges.
The competition is open to anyone aged 13-18 (at the time of applications opening) and is based in the UK.
There is a £10,000 prize pot available for the top 10 young entrepreneurs - good luck!
How it works
Entries are open to individuals or in teams of up to four people.
The entrepreneurs will be invited to attend a ‘Dragons Den’ style event
to pitch in front of our panel of four industry-leading judges in London.
Through the Side Hustle Initiative, the top 50 finalists will also gain
access to one-on-one professional mentoring with matched-industry
specialists to support them in evolving their business or charity.
Apply Now
Have a side hustle you’re already involved in? Or have a new business/ charity idea? Then click “Apply Now” and complete the application form.
Deadline Day
After the entry deadline all entrants will be sent a link to their very own profile page which gives an insight into their idea, we will then open up a public vote.
Top 50
After the public votes, the 30 students with the most votes, along with 20 students selected by the judges, are invited to October’s junior Dragon’s Den pitch day to compete for a chance to win The Side Hustle Initiative 2023.
The Big Day
The day will include a 10-minute pitch and Q&A to our judging panel of 5 as well as workshops and a day of learning about entrepreneurship from amazing guest speakers.
Support
If you make the final 50 you will receive a support package from us with support and advice on how to build your presentation and top tips and advice before the event.
SIDE HUSTLE INITIATIVE TIMELINE
WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER
Don’t take our word for it, here’s what some of our previous finalists had to say…
Be inspired
Discover their stories – meet our past winners and our bursary award winner…
1ST PLACE
BEN3D
A simple and successful online store selling specific 3d printed items who wanted to expand and widen their services to create large scale advanced manufacturing specialising in providing custom 3d printed parts ranging from prototypes to medical equipment in the future.
2ND PLACE
youngtutor
An online GCSE tutoring service offering affordable education for all students – tutored by GCSE alumni who have attained the top grades. They are aiming to revolutionise the academic space for the national youth cohort.
3RD PLACE
The Backyard Barber RWB ltd
Started as a lockdown venture offering a wide variety of garden maintenance jobs including lawn mowing, weeding, fence painting and hedges. They help people have a garden to be proud of while employing and supporting local students whilst giving them workplace life skills.
3RD PLACE
Jawbone Scotch Egg Co.
Homemade gourmet scotch egg business offering 11 unique, experimental flavours using locally sourced produce run from a shipping container.
3RD PLACE
.wlroo
A freelance motion designer creating animated videos and graphics for companies all over the world. They also offer physical branded merchandise, digital ‘graphics packs’ for educational and personal use, as well as run a support program teaching ‘underdog’ creatives the business of design.
RUNNER UP & BURSARY AWARD
New Beginnings
Two sisters originally from Iraq, moved to Jordan before arriving in Cambridge. Inspired by their own experience these sisters want to set up a business that offers support services for teenagers who are new to the UK and who would like advice and help to settle in.
A few words from our event partners
“YourGamePlan was launched to ensure that young people across the UK have the skills and confidence to pursue any career they want, we wanted to go a step further around entrepreneurship, the best way to ensure a fairer distribution of societal wealth is to engage more people from different backgrounds into launching their own companies, but to do that they need a platform, this is what we hope the Side Hustle Initiative will give them.”
Danny Heath, founder of YourGamePlan
“Judging the Side Hustle Initiative is a real high point of my year. Meeting a large group of young people passionate about their business ideas, some already building their own businesses is simply inspiring.”
Richard Snow, Chief Financial officer at Fincapp
Application form
Before you start your application Here are some points to help you showcase your business idea in the best light!
- Important
- Summary: Give a short explanation of your business idea and who it's for
- Problem: Describe the issue your idea solves and why it's better than other solutions
- Unique Value: Explain what makes your idea special and why customers would choose it
- You/Team: Introduce the people involved in your idea and their expertise
- Conclusion: Summarise your business idea, focusing on its potential for success
- Optional extra information
- Market: Research the size and growth of your target market. Look at competitors and trends.
- Marketing and Sales: Share how you plan to attract customers, including any unique methods.
- Risks and Solutions: Identify potential problems and say how you would handle them.
If you have any questions please email [email protected]
