Entrepreneurial Way – Short proposal deadline

The Entrepreneurial Way is a new initiative offering university students and recent graduates since 2005, the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges, including  Yoganathan Ratheesan the co-founder of Lebara; for investment, funding and additional support, such as mentoring. The scheme will offer potential entrepreneurs practical advice on how to develop their business ideas and make it work in the real world.

Yoganathan Ratheesan, Chairman and co-founder of Lebara Group officially launched The Entrepreneurial Way at Cass Business School, London in the presence of many of London’s Tamil student community.

Ratheesan began by introducing the concept of The Entrepreneurial Way (TEW), committing to invest a seed fund of £5 million between now and 2020. He highlighted that he is keen to inspire future generations of young Tamil people, both students and recent graduates, by giving them the opportunity to find out more about business and the rich experience that a career in business can provide.

Ratheesan set out ambitious targets for the programme, namely that it’s his hope that the £5 million, through its various projects, will generate revenue of £100 million by 2020. In  addition, he laid down a challenge that in the next 25 years, he’d like to see the Sri Lankan Tamil community contributing 1% to the UK’s GDP.

For those interested in applying for The Entrepreneurial Way investment, they first need to check they are eligible to enter, by looking at the FAQs section on the website.

The key dates for the TEW 2012/2013 application process are:
ï?· Short proposal deadline – 11.59pm on Wednesday 12th December 2012
ï?· Workshop – Wednesday 6th February 2013
ï?· Business proposal deadline – 11.59pm on Friday 1st March 2013
ï?· Presentations and Interviews – 11th – 15th March 2013

The workshop on Wednesday 6th February 2013 will be an interactive session where interested applicants will be given some practical advice on how to write a business plan, and will learn about what makes a successful company from sales and marketing to finance, legal and HR. After this session, TEW applicants should have all the know-how to complete their TEW business proposal. In order to attend the workshop, applicants will need to submit their short proposal by midnight on Wednesday 12th December 2012. The proposal should be submitted online. The final business proposal will need to be submitted by Friday 1st March 2013. Presentations and interviews for those shortlisted will then take place with a panel of judges, including Yoganathan Ratheesan, during the week of the 11th March 2013.

TEW applicants who have any questions, should email: dreams@dreamitachieveit.co.uk.