Start your own business says Apprentice star Nick

Apprentice star Nick Hewer is urging people to beat unemployment by starting their own business.

Business advice from a household name

Nick, who became a household name from his role advising Lord Sugar in the popular BBC TV series and is now the host of Channel 4 game show Countdown, claims he first became self-employed because he wanted to protect himself from ever getting sacked.

He has started a campaign with business card provider Vistaprint  to encourage more British people to become entrepreneurs.

Beat the recession

Although many people may be put off creating a start-up business because of the recession, Nick claims it is actually an ideal time to become your own boss. His public relations company was hired by Lord Sugar back in the 1980s when he wanted to promote Amstrad.

He is encouraging people who have been made redundant to use it as an opportunity to set up on their own, either in the area they have been working in, or something different which they feel passionately about.

And he says that the lack of job security in the workplace now means people no longer have the excuse of being frightened of the risk involved in being an entrepreneur.

Rise of entrepreneurs

Since the start of the economic crisis in 2008, the number of self-employed people in the UK has risen by 367,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Nick will be answering questions on starting a business on Vistaprint’s Facebook page at 11am on August 2.

The Build Your Own Business campaign aims to offer low-cost solutions to start-ups and show them things like creating a website don’t have to be expensive.

Nick told The Guardian: “Entrepreneurship is a very sexy yet abused word. Rather than talking about it, people need to get out there and actually start their own businesses. There are few barriers to starting up nowadays as long as your business model makes sense. It’s apathy and lack of knowledge which stops people.”

He wants children to be taught about business right from primary school, to encourage a new generation of enterprising youngsters.

He says: “Starting a business is a wonderful thing because it allows you to be master of your own destiny. If you’re made redundant and you have 15 years’ experience in your industry, get a couple of people together, start a website, get some business cards and set up on your own.”