Super Scottish Student Entrepreneurs

Despite the alliterative anticlimax in the title, there are plenty out there, and many ways which you can do it as well.

Via flic.kr

According to recent studies, 25% of young people believe they will be their own boss within the next five years. 27% say they are thinking of starting their own business.

A land of invention

Scotland has claim to some of the world's best inventions - insulin, the decimal point, Irn Bru - the list goes on.

In today's world, you don't really see the term 'inventor' thrown around much. But, one that you do see is 'startup'. Any new company, or even just an idea can be considered a startup. And anyone can initiate one.

One of the best things about the world we live in, is the information we have access to, and the tools and resources we have available, like the internet, for example.

Because of this, those that are getting into the world of startups, are becoming younger. On average, 51 people under the age of 25 start businesses in the UK every day.

And many of these young people, are still students at the time.

Scottish student entrepreneurs

Now, while there are many Scottish student entrepreneurs out there, some are better known than others. Over the last few years, Scottish students have made great strides in many areas, but there are two that stand out. You'll find these in the biotechnology and small business marketing industries.

Via heraldscotland.com

Chitresh Sharma and Louis Schena were students at The University of Strathclyde when the met. After a while, they had come up with the idea of an app that will help out local businesses and reward their customers.

Their loyalty app, Swipii, has now raised £2m from investors and their customer base is continuing to expand. With over 1,000 business on board, and over 400,000 users on the app, they do appear to be going places.

The next steps for Sharma and Scena are to increase the number of merchants using the app to 4,500, and the number of users to 2 million! Lofty goals, but, considering what they've already achieved, it's not an unrealistic target.

Via vivomotion.co.uk

Another student who decided to start their own business is James McIlroy. In his senior year studying medicine at Aberdeen University, James believed that he could start a business centred around bacteria. And like the microscopic life that grows on an agar plate, his idea grew.

His company, EuroBiotix, tell us that not all bacteria are bad, as this was McIlroy's personal philosophy. His goal was to create a company that improves the lives of patients and support health services who perform FMT.

Now, this may be something you've never heard of, but it's an important procedure for a number of ailments. And now, this student's idea that he cooked up while still studying, has a 90% cure rate and is saving the NHS £11,000 per patient.

How can you do it?

Well firstly, you need an idea, and a good one at that. You can't just decide that one day you're going to move into the world of startups with no real plan. The students discussed above's ideas came from their disciplines - Sharma and Scena were studying Internaltional Marketing, and McIlroy was studying medicine. You need to know what you're getting yourself into, understand the market, and have a plan. But, there are many places out there that can help you on your endeavours.

Via sie.ac.uk

Take the Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) for example. Their remit is to help Students in Scotland develop their business and enterprise skills.

They either go to higher education facilities to run workshops and classes, or set up their own events to which you can go along. They've even helped the aforementioned Swipii guys turn their concept into a reality.

According to the SIE, more Scottish students than ever are ready to take their first steps towards starting their own business or startup.

So, if you've got a solid idea, but are unsure about where to begin, then the SIE will be a good place to start.

Via sie.ac.uk

Closer to home, you'll be able to find support from your universities in the form of clubs and societies. A little extra-curricular activity is always something to think about, but in terms of learning business and enterprise skills, they're a great resource.

If you're at The University of Glasgow, you can join their Business Club; Strathclyde have their Student Enterprise Society; and if you attend Glasgow Caledonian, you can sign up to their Student Society who look to improve your entrepreneurial mindset.

If you're studying out with Glasgow, then all you need to do to find your equivalent is a simple search on your institute's website.

Whatever you decide to do, there will be someone out there that can help you develop both your idea and your business acumen.

Looking at the prominent success stories from those similar to yourself is also something to keep in mind. These students not only had passion and drive, they were resourceful enough to take advantage of the support around them, and if you want to develop your idea, you should be thinking the same way.