The Princes Trust Enterprise Programme

What is the Princes Trust?

The Princes Trust is an organisation origionally funded by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. The organisation has helped thousands of people between the ages of from the age of 16-30.

They help all kinds of different people from young offenders and people recently released from prison to people who have been unemployed and are on the doll for long periods of time.

Their main goal is to reshape someones life or at least offer them the chance to obtain extra skill's that wouyld help them from day to day

The Enterprise Programme

The Enterprise programme is an opportunity to anyone who wants to go self employed and get funded up to £4000.

To apply for funding they make you go on a 4 day business course where you will learn the keys to achieving a successful business. This course covers

• Sale forecast & cashflow forecast
• How to fill in a tax return and to know what is taxable from your business
• How to build a business plan ( which you would need if you wetre applying for funding )
• How to market your business on and offline
• How to do market research
  
• How to do a swot analysis

My experience with the Princes Trust

I recently have set up a window cleaning business and I wanted to use the reach and wash system so I could cut time and make available commercial contract's. To do this I needed £5000 and that wasnt including the van.

I signed up for the Princes Trust Enterprise programme having been unemployed for 3 months. I went on the 4 day business course which I personnally found very insightful and interesting and basically the thing's you need to know when starting out on your own.

After the course they ask you to build a business plan detailing everything from where the money is going to who and where your customers might be.

You have to build a sales and cashflow forecast but after I had made one I realised I'd learnt how to use Microsoft Excel properly as I had never need to use it before.

Then after making your business plan which can take a couple of weeks, You go before a panel and they decide on your plan and your idea and decide whether or not it is viable.

My window cleaning business has just been set up. I have a van and the equipment and now I am trying to build the round so I can maybe get another van on the road within a couple of year's.

The Princes Trust is a great organisation and  I recommend them to anyone who is thinking of going self employed in England but do not have the fund's to set up,