The Side Hustle Initiative is a nationwide search for all 14-18-year-olds who either are already delivering a side hustle or who have an amazing business idea that they are passionate about launching. We are providing an opportunity for young people to gain access to one to one professional mentoring to support them in evolving their ideas.

The top finalists will share a £10,000 investment fund to go straight into growing their business.

Nominations open on June 15 and close on June 29. Once nominations have closed, a public vote will be open from July 1 to July 15. The finalists with the highest number of votes and nominations from the judges, will secure six months of professional mentoring and will be invited to an event to pitch for their chance to win a share of the £10,000 investment fund.

Starting your own business and becoming an entrepreneur often seems unachievable. It is perceived as if you can only be successful if you start off with a wealth of money and relevant networks or mentors. With Youth Employment UK reporting that 55% of respondents had never had a discussion about starting a business as a future career option at school, it is clear young people are missing the advice and support to take this path.

The Side Hustle Initiative also wants to break the rhetoric of traditional entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur can be an artist selling pieces of work; or making positive social change by raising money or awareness; or using social media to create new industries.

The Side Hustle Initiative hopes to help further the careers of the business leaders of tomorrow through our mentoring scheme and £10,000 funding pot. For the majority of the young people participating in the Side Hustle Initiative, this will be an opportunity to network and learn from an individual whose experience and journey will be inspiring and improve their chances of having a successful future.

Danny Heath, founder of YourGamePlan, said: “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.”

Sam Smith, CEO, finnCap Group, who has teamed up with YourGamePlan, added:  “We live in the era of the side hustle, and many established and successful entrepreneurs are those who have managed to take their side hustle full time and turn it into a small business. The side hustle is often the first step in converting a passion into a viable business – and every young person deserves an equal opportunity. I’m incredibly excited about enabling young people to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit and embrace their side hustle. This initiative empowers the next generation of entrepreneurs, giving them vital access to expert advice, networks and funding along the way.”

Claire Bennison, head of ACCA UK, commented: “We want to help to encourage the changemakers of tomorrow to take their first steps towards success. It’s clear that the world is changing and young people need to develop the mindset and skills that will help them to embrace opportunity. Those with drive and ability should be able to aspire to entrepreneurial success whatever their background and we believe this initiative can help to inspire them.”