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Hi, I'm Anthony Gerrard and I left school with no direction and no idea what I wanted
to do with my life. I've been to college, university and I've had various jobs but it
never felt quite right for me. In the last two years I've set up three companies
and I'm just about to begin my fourth. I now get to work down here at The Hub in
Glasgow and if you'd like to come in, I'll share my top tips in setting up a business.
Have an idea and explore it. Talk to people about your idea but don't tell
them how to do it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes - everyone
does, but make them small and make them early but most importantly learn from them.
Funding is a big part of setting up a business and there's lots of ways to get it. One of
the main ways is through grants. Over the last two year I raised over £120,000 to support
my businesses. There are other options like personally guaranteed loans but I believe
in the very early days, crowdfunging is the way forward.
User your experiences - school, part time jobs, even extra-curricular like being in
a sports team. You pick up lots of transferable skills and you don't realise it.
Get out and network - there's lots of networking events you can go to and you can turn these
experiences into opportunities. Just remember, when you're born no one teaches
you how to walk, you just figure it out.